According to medical authorities, hookworm is still a problem:
Animals that are infected pass hookworm eggs in their stools. The eggs can hatch into larvae, and both eggs and larvae may be found in dirt where animals have been. People may become infected while walking barefoot or when exposed skin comes in contact with contaminated soil or sand. The larvae in the contaminated soil or sand will burrow into the skin and cause the skin to become irritated in that area. For example, this can happen if a child is walking barefoot or playing in an area where dogs or cats have been .
How can I prevent animal hookworm infection?
Wearing shoes and taking other protective measures to avoid skin contact with sand or soil will prevent infection with zoonotic hookworms.
As far as filters go, if the vehicle started and drove ok and HVAC air was moving normally then the filters were NOT clogged, that is a Huge pet peeve of mineā¦ You would be surprised at how dirty a given air filter can get and it not affect the performance of the vehicleā¦ I rarely recommended air/CAF filters unless they were very bad, or I would tell the customer that the manufacture recommends changing them at X miles and give them the choiceā¦ And YES, I have had techs see that the maintenance called for replacing them and say they were very dirty, when the same tech replaced them last oil changeā¦
Oh, no worries. I think Iām might have been the one jabbing a little at the south, though meant little by it. But it was early 20C, related to lack of septic/sewage facilities, and mostly in the U.S. south - at least Iām pretty sure thatās what weāre talking about. These days if you āexpelā a hookworm it doesnāt just end up on the ground.
I expect that is indeed the explanation. To confirm, next time you are at the shop, good question to ask. Ideally the form would show those items as ādeferred by owner requestā rather than ācompleteā, but thatās just a quibble.
When I tell the service writer that I did those items myself, she almost always says āThank you for doing thatā, which is probably some sort of sarcasm resulting from the loss of that job for their shop.
The inspection form then simply has a ādashā next to the listing for those filters, but I expect that this is something that differs from one dealership to another.
I doubt the service writer cares one way or the other; she is just trying to be polite to the customers, following her supervisorsā instructions. Similar to how a grocery store checker says āhave a good dayā as you leave.
Well, I think that she likely does care if her attempt at an āupsellā fails, thereby reducing her cut of the profit. Iām sure that they are instructed to be politeārather than combativeābut, all the same, her commission is definitely reduced by my actions, and Iām sure that her politeness is masking her disappointmentāhence my reference to sarcasm.
Itās not always a commission thing as sometimes it is an accountability and or a quota thing for getting paid, if you canāt sell X$$$ a month, then why are we paying you to work here, you know, would you like fries and a drink with that??.. Basically about any if not all retail places rely on up sales, itās all a numbers gameā¦ The company I retired from looked at a few different things, total sales was only a part of it, mainly if the counter staff sold X amount, they would leave them alone, but they also say why are you not upselling more for instance, I knew how to play that game and if we talked about doing an oil change, 4 tires, alignment etc, sometimes I would wright up the initial WO with only an oil change on it and maybe a filter or something, then once printed off, I would add the other things that the customer had already agreed on before a tech grabbed it to pull the vehicle inā¦ ā¦ The company saw an up sale and a total and was happyā¦ lolā¦ we never got anything extra for up selling a filter, only a few thing not tire related, usually only 3 items, paid anything extraā¦
Now I know and understand a lot of dealers etc etc, as well as others are strictly commission based payā¦ but not allā¦
Not defending/approving what happened in anyway, just letting everyone know it is not always black and whiteā¦
Sorry Texases, this was about the commission and not in anyway directed at you sir, nor any other members on hereā¦
If the service writer suggests an addāl service that helps the car owner in the long run, thatās a good thing imo. Like when coming in for an oil & oil-filter change, suggesting to also replace the coolant if the SW notes the time limit has expired. While an addāl expense now, this should save the owner time & $$$'s in the long run. That approach provides a worthwhile service to the car owner.
Very true. However, itās been common to have questions here from folks where the service writer recommends things not found in the manufacturerās service schedule. I had that happen with my ES300, he said I must have the transmission fluid changed at 15,000 miles or he couldnāt stamp the manual to show the scheduled service had been done. Last time I went there for service.
Is there any justification for that? Seems fewer miles than Iād expect for that service, but maybe the manufacturer thinks it is a good idea for that vehicle?
No dispute, but sales-staff are still in a position to provide a worthwhile service to the customer. If they want to. If company Aās service writers do a better job than company Bās at providing a worthwhile service , I wonder if that difference will show up later in the two companyās new car sales numbers?
In the 1980ās some vehicles had a 15,000 mile transmission service schedule. Then most went to 30,000 miles.
With long life transmission fluid in 2003 the schedule changed to 60,000 miles, after that was proven acceptable the schedule changed to 100,000 mile plus.
Today when someone has a transmission malfunction, someone will ask how many transmission services were performed? Then a comment like āyou should have had 5 services by nowā. We are free to make up the rules as we go along.
Iām pretty happy with the girl Iāve had as the service writer. I brought the car in for a coolant change and thermostat just like the old days. She talked me out of it and said it would be better to wait for the timing belt service. I ended up getting wiper blades anyway. I included an alignment and brake fluid change the next time. Never pressured. She suggested plugs at some point so Iāll fit that in with the trans fluid in another 10,000 miles. I know enough to know if it is a good suggestion or not and the prices are always reasonable.
(For clarity, I am not disagreeing with anything @Nevada_545 said - just a reflection).
The parameters have obviously changed over the years (trans designs and fluid āsophisticationā (?), so having the recommended change intervals get extended is not so surprising. (Like going from 15-30K to 60 or 100K). But now you also have ālifetime.ā I see ālifetimeā and Iām like, well - obviously. Once a trans fails you can call the car dead. Gee it really did last a lifetime.
In any case, my comment is - esp in terms of āmaking up the rules as we go alongā - I donāt trust anyoneās rulesā¦unless they are transmission specialists.
Years ago (and I will ā@ā him just in case he can be hauled back in), we had @transman618 who would come by on occasion. If I recall correctly, as a person who spent virtually all of his time on transmissions, his recommendation was pan drop & fluid & filter every 30-40K ish (depending on driving conditions. And keeping in mind that there are sealed units without a pan to drop).
I followed that advice, and as a DIY guy my experience is limited. But I followed his advice on two different notoriously problematic transmission models. Two different Caravans with A604s and my '97 Escort with the F4EAT. All of them went well over 200K without a hiccup. Was it due to regular fluid changes? Who knows? But probably!
Of course, I also still fail to follow manufacturer recs for even oil changes. I do them sooner than required, as with the transmissions. Maintenance is cheap when compared to failure. And it gives me something to do to help me stay out of trouble.
