Congratulations for post 500 
Maybe we should see if Carolyn would send you some virtual bucks (with absolutely no cash value) in celebration 
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Heh heh. Onward onward to 1000. It took 11 years but hey, 45,000 views. Weāll see what the prize is in 2030 (or maybe not).
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Assuming the loose post diagnosis was accurate . . . youāre taking chances driving the car
Iāve discovered a few loose posts over the years
Although the vehicle typically starts just fine, I donāt take any chances
Those batteries immediately get replaced
Youāre retired, arenāt you?
I suppose you can afford to drive the car until it wonāt start, and get a battery at that point
Iām still working, so I canāt take as many chances. I donāt want to be late to work because I tried to wring as much life out of a battery with a loose post and it didnāt pan out
I had a battery with a loose post once, many years ago but this one does not have a loose post. Also Valvoline said it tested bad 5 years ago although the car was starting fine and I tool it tp Advance and they tested it and it had better than new specs then.
I go to Valvoline for my NY state inspection because the only repairs they do is, light bubs, filters, wipers and 5 years ago they started carrying Interstate batteries. That is when suddenly most of their customers started needing batteries.
I do not neglect maintenance on my car, nor close my eyes to small problems but I would not replace control arms because of cracking of the surface of a bushing unless there was evidence of movement or a space at the center hole. I also would not replace a ball joint Just because of age or mileage, only if movement could be induced.
I had 2 K cars and a Plymouth Caravelle and got good service from all, also the slant six cars got too old and rusty to be practical transportation our family changed to Omnis and Horizons for cheap transportation for all of us. None of those cars were built to todayās standards, but compared to their completion I was well satisfied with them.
I have been retired 25 years from trucking and drove school bus part time until 6 years ago when I lost the center of vision in one eye. It was a fun job, I only worked afternoons and daytime field trips, it was like a paid hobby and social club.
So the Valvoline shop lied to you . . .
Thanks for the clarification
Yeah, any advice that is wrong and/or fraudulent definitely should be ignored
Yea, that battery still doesnāt have a loose post and being retired, with no place I really have to be, I can leave it in there just to see how long it will last. However , I have never had one fail without a little warning. It is usually a little brightening of the lights hitting the gas pedal at night coming off idle.
Driving for wages for 55 years, you get pretty attuned to vehicles and you see, feel and notice things most people donāt.
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Do you really struggle with math so badly you have to misrepresent the numbers? I saved over 400 compared to buying the same parts at my local Napa. 220 left my bank account rather than $640ā¦
I would prefer to save money and support local restaurants. However the discrepancies in pricing predate Covid-19, and I wonāt fool myself into using that as a pretext to reward price gouging. Of course, if you have no clue what competitive pricing is, itās not like you would care or be aware that you were being overcharged.
I donāt call it price gouging. On-Line businesses have a lot less overhead. I know a small 10 person on-line company in Derry NH. They do 5 times the volume their brick and mortar stores do that employ 20 people. I buy a lot of auto parts on-lineā¦but many parts I like to have a local trusted parts dealer. If thereās a problem - it can be returned/replaced the same day. The local place I shop also has extremely knowledgeable counter help who have been working there for years (some decades). I know Iām getting quality parts. For most parts the price difference isnāt that much (if any).
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Naw, Iām pretty good at math. Not so good at geometry but I just donāt see the dollars spent as the most important factor in every purchase. Then you might want to read up on counterfeit parts a little more. They are exact duplicates including packaging so good luck telling the difference.
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Onward onward. Just a comment but sales people are trained to zero in on what is important to a prospect such as money, safety, recognition, and so on. Trying to sell safety when a person is motivated more on cost will get you nowhere. Visa versa on money versus other factors. There are lots of people that money is not the motivator and a poor sales person will zero in on money and get frustrated by getting nowhere. Itās always interesting when they ask ādonāt you care about saving moneyā as a last gasp, and you answer āno, I donāt careā, and they really donāt know how to handle it. But yeah I do care, but itās only part of the mix.
Just to add to it a little, Iāll be honest, an important part of the car dealership I use is how they treat my wife. I donāt have to worry that on the rare occasions she would go there, they would treat her with respect. So cost may be one thing, but relationships is and honesty is another. I wonāt deal with dishonest or disrespectful people regardless of cost.
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With McParts stores taking over most markets locally owned/operated stores have evaporated in the vast majority of regions that I have traveled in recent years. And where I once had virtually unlimited credit at 2 dealerships and 3 local parts stores I now have a McParts shopper card floating around somewhere in my truck that supposedly keeps up with my purchases to qualify me for special deals and the local store that I once had annual purchases that neared six digits no longer has anyone there who recognizes me and all I can get from them on credit is the time of day.
Oh well. Time marches on.
I never minded being what some of you believe to be over charging by my indy that I used for a good 30 years.
I was happy he had a source to get any part my vehicle needed within a few hours time to get me back on the road that same day good as new.
While he did his job and made money I was able to do mine and also make money with no loss of income while he did his. That is a win/win for both he and I.
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My grandfather was in the catering business, Our family quote from him, if you need eggs, it does not matter what they cost.
Yup me too. Quality known part was sought from a first-tier part manufacturer and a reliable retailer, hence my checking the price at Napa. With everything else being equal, the price was the consideration that got me to pull the trigger.
Stop with the crap and just make your case why I should have wanted to spend 3 times the amount to buy from NAPA. The rest is irrelevant to this discussion.
And just to make things clear, I am speaking as a consumer who likes to DIY his repairs and maintenance on his car, not a garage owner looking to sell same day emergency repairs to customers in desperate need.
If you are going to need eggs, its much better to foresee your need and buy them when you are not desperate to find some.
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I have a tendency to keep a pretty good stock on items so I never had a TP problem. I donāt like running out of stuff. Problem is one of the risks is obsolescence, so Iām beginning to wonder how to dispose of my gross of 100 watt light bulbs that I bought during the crazy times.
I have no intention of stocking up on cars though. Hard to put a car on the shelf.
I heard Australia banned the bulbs, but one guy got around the ban by selling them as space heaters 
Keeping parts in stock at home is a double-edged sword
Just a few weeks ago, I cleaned out some junk from my garage
Among the junk was a set of brake rotors for a car we no longer had.
I had bought them, anticipating needing to install them the next time the brake pads needed replacement
But that day never arrived . . . because some idiot plowed into the car, wrecking it. Trust me, it wasnāt worth fixing. It looked far worse than that Pontiac Vibe in the other discussion
I just dumped the rotors in the scrap metal bin at work
I donāt want to list them on craigslist and possibly deal with āeccentricā folks 
So sure, it seem I saved money by shopping around for those rotors
But did I really come out ahead . . . since they never got used?
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Yeah I heard lots of stuff is getting banned in Australia.
I got rid of OEM oil filters by just making a deal with Checkers back when they stocked AC. The guy thought he was taking advantage of me but the truth is I just wanted to get rid of them to someone who could use them instead of throwing new filters in the trash. Something just seems unethical about throwing new stuff in the trash. 
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Anybody want three Fram filters for a 1993 Hyundai V6? I have them on my shelf.