[Deadhead]

We had a salesman that called on us. He had an '83 Mercury Marquis in '85. One day he parked it right out front. We could hear the lifters making noise. Guy that worked for us said, "Donald, how many miles you got on that thing?" He beamed and said, "199,000!". John says, "When was the last time you changed the oil in that thing?" Donald got all confused looking and said, "What do you mean?" We said you know changed the oil and filter. His response was, "What do you mean, I just put more in when it gets low."

We totally cracked up on that one. You could tell the guy just had no idea at all that was something you needed to do.

That might not be the dumbest, but is is real close and makes you real careful if you buy a used vehicle.

I was at a mechanic friend's shop last year this time and he had a beat up old Ranger or similar that he had there w/ MA tags on it. I asked him about it. He said that someone had brought it in after driving it 1500 miles from MA b/c it was making clacking noise the whole way. Drove it all the way here with around 1 1/2 qts. of oil in it. They thought that is where the level was supposed to be on the stick.

I love that stuff b/c it shows what an engine will actually tolerate and gives perspective to arguments about oil types, longevity etc.