We don’t get them very often but a couple years ago there was a forlorn looking family with the sign needing money by the grocery store. It was the second time in a week. Our pastor saw them and stopped to talk to them. She didn’t give them money but did direct them to the many services that would be available to them including the Salvation Army that bails people out of emergencies. Never saw them again so they either had their emergency taken care of or they moved on to greener lawns. There are so many agencies and people providing services for those down and out that it is really hard to have sympathy for some of these folks. Then there are the ordinary shut ins living alone on a tight budget that no one ever sees and never ask for any help that I worry about.
Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the replies. I’m going to make an appointment now to get the car looked over by a real mechanic, especially since I have a long road trip coming up Eclipse Weekend.
If it helps any, I went out and turned my wheels again, and I’m fairly sure that this was the rod that he said the loose piece was on. Looks like the axel:
I think this guy knew something about cars, but that could just mean he was a scammer who knew something about cars. Maybe he was a mechanic of some kind ages ago. The sparks thing seems unlikely, but I also felt like there was a difference when I turned the wheel to the right. Maybe he knew something about cars and knew from that, or he learned from a scammer who’s willing to teach others, that you could twist something unimportant right about there and it would make it feel different. All kind of surprising, because the most elaborate scam I’ve seen around here is to lie about why you need money.
Anwyay, $40 is not the end of the world for me. I’ll follow up with what the mechanic says. Also, for safety reasons, next random stranger asking for a ride gets an Uber, if anything.
There is absolutely nothing under the vehicle that could be turned, tightened or adjusted by hand that would make the vehicle feel different. But having it looked at before your trip is a good idea.
Gotta agree with Volvo. Those rods are the axle and the tie rod for the steering. Had those been creating sparks, you wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
Hmm, I definitely saw him push something loose around. Any idea what that was?
The only thing flexible there is the brake line unless he pulled a wire harness down or something. Again you aren’t going to fix a brake line, tie rod, or axle with your fingers, and if he was messing with the brake line, I’d want it inspected.
Weird, i’m pretty sure I remember him pushing something loose up and down that rod, like maybe the small clamp-looking thing on the side away from the wheel. On the other hand, I also seem to remember it being on a diagonal bar that doesn’t seem to exist, unless it just looked that way from my angle.
I hope for the best in people but I’m old enough to know better. This parking lot scam is more complicated than the usual I’m really hungry. Yeah. For alcohol and/or drugs. This “mechanic” having succeeded will be highly likely to try again so the police report is a good idea. The last time I was approached with the “hungry” scam I had treated my Grandson to lunch at a fast food place. The guy in the parking lot asked for food money. I said I would do better than that and invited him to come inside and order a meal. He turned and walked away. Hmmm…
It’s called “palming.” The magician appears to make an object appear and disappear, when he’s really holding it in his hand the whole time.
A good one pulling this trick on you could appear to just be pointing at the “diagonal bar” and pop a clamp on it without you catching him doing it. Then he knocks the clamp around to show that it’s loose, then pops it back off. The clamp was never actually fastened, so it just pops on and off the axle or the tie rod like one of those open-backed bracelets women wear.
This, of course, explains how he was able to fix the problem without any tools - he created the problem!
Not impossible. If the scam was indeed that elaborate, then I don’t feel quite so dumb for falling for it.
This one makes more sense than the “accomplice” one; I definitely wasn’t there long enough for someone to slip up there, attach something, and leave. Plus there’s no way to reach back there unless you’re under the car or the wheels are turned almost the entire way.
Someone on another forum suggested that he had loosened something himself, but at least in theory, there shouldn’t have been anything that he could hand-loosen back there.
Here’s the other thing from our personal safety classes we taught to never allow a stranger on the street to engage you. In Minnesota nice it’s something as simple as someone asking for the time and of course they need to get close to you to do it and people feel obligated to help someone out. There is nothing that can happen if distance is kept between you and them but the first thing they will try to do is find an excuse to get close enough to grab you or your belongings. It’s too bad but you just can’t trust people on the street any more. There are too many robberies, knifings, car jackings in parking lots, ramps, and on the streets. You have to use your intuition a little so not saying a guy in a straw hat driving a Prius pointing at your car, but a single or group walking along should raise a person’s awareness.
Yeah, I almost posted in the previous reply that he could have totally slipped something onto that bar without me seeing it because I was standing back, on the inside-side of the door, near the steering wheel because I was afraid that this was a scheme for him to jump into the driver’s seat and steal the car while I had the keys in the ignition.
I’ll be sure to keep your advice in mind in the future.
I have to go with “scam” now. Something making sparks would also make a racket as you’re driving, and you report no such noise.
It’s possible to grasp the halfshaft and move it back and forth a little. Done hard enough it could even make a little noise.
That’s also normal.
Down at the bottom? I’d guess that’s where whatever he stuck in there scraped as he was jerking it around to make it look like he did something.
If something actually was down in there, I don’t see how it would make the steering feel more loose.
A wise and healthy approach that could save your life in the future.
Sincere best.
Just got back from the mechanic. He looked it over pretty thoroughly, drove it around for a few blocks and said that there was nothing wrong with it, that it was actually pretty tight. He was a really great guy and didn’t charge me for that or for following up on (running diagnostics on) an oxygen sensor that he had installed a few months ago, which he had been wanting to do. He told me to call him if I run into anyone making claims like that guy was again. We’re both pretty sure it was a scam now.
Really fantastic guy. Will definitely recommend him to others.