I am curious if certain car models tend to attract buyers who are not good customers later on down the road for mechanics shops and the like? I work on computers/electronics for a living and see certain trends. Gaming consoles attract a really low-class type of person, especially the adult gamers. I mean it is rare to get one in without roaches, cigarette smoke, and just general filth inside of it. Sometimes they even reek of urine which I assume is from their pets.
Wal-Mart computer owners are another bad category although not nearly as bad as the gamers. Cheap no-name TV brands are another bad one but I don’t see a lot of them anymore as I tell people they aren’t even worth it to repair.
Are there certain car models that mechanics cringe about as they see them pull up to the bay doors of the shop? It may not be the car itself but the owners they attract. Most gaming consoles use high quality components that do not fail often under normal and non-abusive use so when I see them, they are usually really nasty. Any car, no matter how well made, will also fall apart when neglected.
I forgot to mention that these people are usually the ones to pull nonsense such as not paying, blaming you for the problem, or getting angry when more problems caused by their neglect are found after the initial estimate.
Well the Tappet brothers thought VW attracted the worst drivers, I think that “honor” now belongs to Toyota.
The very worst of the worst drivers are attracted to Silver Toyota minivans!
I have a similar opinion of minivans but it always seems to be a Chrysler product around here. Yes, the owners of the silver ones like to leave their lights off on dark or rainy days as well so that you cannot see then as they blend in with the surroundings…
I have been amazed at the sense of entitlement of some people who drive high $tatus vehicles. I have been in McParts stores when owners if M-Bs, BMWs and Hummers wanted someone to immediately get out and check some component and on several occasions I have seen drivers of such vehicles become hostile when the store clerk refused to replace the battery due to the difficulty or fear of problems with various electronic systems. If I drove a $75k car I might feel embarrassed to ask for free service.
That is probably true. Maybe the silver cars stand out so much because there are so many of them. They also blend in well with the surroundings so are more frustrated with them and notice them more when they don’t have their lights on.
I tend to have a lot more issues with the lower income people in my business. For example, I dread the big days when government benefits come out as the majority of my problems are focused right around that time. I actually have agreements setup with my advertisers to avoid advertising around those days of the month.
That being said, I have had a few pretty nasty interactions with people who drive nice cars and have professions you would associate with a good income. I had a realty agent pull some nonsense with me last week along with the “3rd of the month people” who are on “disability” (AKA: Know how to work the system).
We really don’t have the supercar demographic in my town but there are plenty of big trucks, Navigators/Escalades, ad the European makes like BMW, M-B, and such. While on the topic of big trucks, I hate the ones they have turned up to “roll coal”. Now if you want something obnoxious, that is it in my opinion. I mean they can black out an entire 5 lane road with that crap.
I’ll pretend I didn’t read that. Though I consider myself a PC gaming elitist.
As for the actual question, I’ve noticed that a great many ne’er–do–wells tend to gravitate to used European luxury cars, particularly 9-12 year old ones that can be bought for a song. These cars are usually in pretty rough shape both aesthetically and mechanically, and often are in need of repair that never happens because shockingly a 10 year old Mercedes costs about as much a new Mercedes to repair, and these folks often don’t have that kind of scratch to throw down on fixing the A/C or to figure out why the check engine light has been on for the past 2 years.
I have noticed that with the older European cars. I know a guy who worked at a parts store and always came across cars for sale. He got a 10 year old BMW 7 series for $1000 or so, about 1/100th of what it cost new! He drove it for a few years and then it needed a $6000 repair so sold it for $500 or so and moved on to something else.
As for the adult gamers that have you build a $4000 PC, those are the good ones. I take it you might be more along those lines. No roaches, cat urine, and cigarette smoke… PC gamers are usually good. The console gamers are the ones I have to watch out for.
I was at game stop buying an outdated sports game for 99 cents to test a unit and asked them about their experiences with gamers. They had much the same to say about the consoles. They no longer repair them but offer a trade in type program on used consoles because they ran into too many troubles such as I describe.
Depends on what you call less desirable. Good looking fellow, well tanned, shorts and sandals driving a luxury car,
Cust: The car makes a puff of white smoke when you first start it in the morning.
SA: Does it do it after sitting a few hours?
Cust: No only in the morning
SA:Well I suggest you leave it overnight so we can see the problem and do a gas analysis
Cust: I can’t leave it overnight I have to leave on business in the morning.
SA: Unless we can see it happen we can’t really diagnose it.
Cust: cant you do some diagnostics?
SA: You stated when you made the appointment ther were no engine lights and we suggested you leave it overnight so we could replicate the problem.
Cust Can’t you look at it today?
SA: we could but you would be wasting $100, as with no codes we will not find anything, and if it only does it after sitting overnight, we cannot replicate the problem.
Cust: Well I find it hard to believe you can’t find the problem
SA: when would be a good time to reschedule your appointment so you can leave it overnight.
etc.
10 minutes of my life I will never get back…
I was sitting at the stoplight today noticing cars of all types and colors turning in front of me and wasn’t even paying attention to the light. I then happened to notice that it was green for me and the cars just kept on turning so they come in all types.
How about the beaters that get really neglected? Like when the oil hasn’t been changed in years and the valve cover is full of sludge… I bet those owners really get bent out of shape when you give them the repair bill.
Another bad one for electronics is smart phones. I always get the person with an iPhone 7 that doesn’t want to pay to have it fixed. So you can afford an $800 phone but not the repair. One of those contacted me this last 3rd of the month and got all obnoxious with me when I told him I would have to take it apart to get him an accurate estimate and required a deposit. I have gotten so I don’t even cater to that market anymore and don’t keep parts on hand. I only order them as needed which makes my wait times too long but I don’t really care at this point as this service is too much trouble! I can be out onsite charging an hourly rate for work while people wanting something like that repaired always want a set price which I also no longer do.
As for cars, I was talking with a cop buddy of mine once. He said that those with the stickers showing an outline of a flower or butterfly often have drugs in them. I don’t know if these stickers are symbolic of anything and didn’t ask him but he said that there was a strong correlation between these stickers and drugs. Basically he said he would look for any excuse to pull them over and then just give them a warning if nothing seemed suspicious.
Agree wholeheartedly on this point. I live in an area where a a good chunk of the population is high earnering, like the doctors (with MD plates), lawyers or Wall Street bankers. Their sense of entitlement just amazes me. Their behavior on the road is as despicable as it can be, as if everybody else is invisible. You can bet on this, if I see these high $tatus vehicles in the crash, the good samaritan in me will not be stopping to help them.
