Miles Between Us
Take a listen about two sisters taking on business, adventures, life and all the miles between together!
Miles Between Us
What Your Dashboard Lights Are Really Telling You
Your heart shouldn’t race every time a warning light blinks. We sat down to unpack the fear, confusion, and real costs behind car repair and share a playbook anyone can use to protect their wallet and their safety—no jargon, just clear steps that work. As women owners of an auto repair and collision center, we’ve seen both the best and worst of the industry. We talk openly about bias, transparency, and the simple practices that build trust: asking to see old parts, requesting photos and videos, and choosing shops that are licensed, insured, and equipped with modern diagnostics. You’ll learn why code readers don’t equal diagnoses, how live data and bidirectional tests reveal the real problem, and what questions to ask a service advisor—especially if they’re on commission.
We break down the lights and symptoms that cause the most stress. A flashing check engine light often signals misfire risk, temperature warnings mean stop now, and a brake pedal sinking to the floor is a non-negotiable tow. From grinding brakes and AC failures to motor mounts, misfires, and transmission slip, we explain the likely causes so you can talk to a shop with confidence. We also share the process that saves time and money: make an appointment, drop the car off, give a detailed symptom history, and ask for repair priorities—what’s critical today, what’s next, and what can wait. Maintenance matters too: use the correct oil weight and approved specs, stick to realistic intervals, and know when brand-specific fluids protect sensitive systems.
Then we tackle extended warranties with receipts. Some providers deliver peace of mind and real coverage; others sell big promises and deliver denials, delays, and used parts. Call your preferred shop before you buy, confirm they work with the company, and keep service records to avoid technicalities. Along the way, we tell two unforgettable stories—a no-start truck sidelined by a passenger window module blocking the CAN bus and a literal bomb discovered through a fuel-tank access panel—to show why careful diagnosis and complete context matter in modern vehicles.
If you’ve ever felt talked down to at a counter or worried you’ll overpay, this conversation gives you the language, the checklist, and the confidence to own the process. Subscribe, share with a friend who dreads the shop visit, and leave a review with your biggest car-care question—we’ll tackle it in a future episode.
Here we go again. Welcome back to Miles Between Us. I'm Misty. I'm Melissa. And we are excited to bring you a new episode. We're on a roll for you guys.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it's exciting.
SPEAKER_02:I just think there's so much to share and talk about.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think this one's Misty's domain. I mean, I've learned a lot over the last 10 years, but this is kind of your bread and butter. We're going to get into the mechanical stuff today.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, this is a passion for me. It's absolutely a big deal. Everybody deals with it. There's so much uncertainty and fear and uh quite honestly, expense involved in maintaining a vehicle that I really want to kind of go over some lies that are in the industry and hopefully give people some insight into what to look for and how to best take care of one of their largest investments.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think for today's episode, I hope everyone leaves it watching or listening, feeling more empowered, a little bit entertained, but honestly more at ease that whenever you go to get your car fixed, whether it's here where we are or anywhere, whether it's a dealership, a mom and pop, just wherever it is, you'll have the knowledge to know the right things to ask, and hopefully you'll make better decisions and feel better about your investment.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, it's still to this day, I think people are running into, we run into women all the time that come in and there's some guy that at another shop that doesn't talk to them or talks down to them or thinks they don't know anything. People just kind of bully them. And so we're here to just break that cycle because this industry has had a really black eye for a long time. And it doesn't have to. There's some really great shops and great people in this industry, and it's time to call the ones out that aren't.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and it's funny because we're two female owners in a male-dominated industry.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And it's so frustrating with the ones that aren't ethical, they're rude, they just don't make you feel comfortable. We have to work that much harder just to gain the trust. And I I think it's well earned. I mean, we have no problem working really hard to gain people's trust. It's just frustrating that the industry still we're in 2025. Okay. And it's still not, I don't know. How would you describe it?
SPEAKER_02:No, it needs to be transparent. I mean, if I see one more of those signs that says my insurance company doesn't allow my customers in the shop, but that's bullshit. Nobody's insurance has ever said that.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, you can't park and sit there all day, but you can go out there.
SPEAKER_02:So in our shop, we've got a uh glass window that you can look at and see what's going on. And I would encourage people to to ask to see their old parts, or we've got the ability to send you pictures and videos of what's going on with your car as you build that trusting relationship. Now, when you've been with a shop for 30 years, you know that they're gonna treat you right and do the right things. And but as you're building that relationship, if you've moved to a new city or you know, you're experiencing maybe your car's out of warranty for the first time ever.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because I've never had to deal with it. I have never ever in my life had to go to another shop. And now my Kia Carnival, couple years old, has some leaks, it's about to be out of its warranty, I think, next year. It's really intimidating because again, I live it, I breathe it, and then going somewhere else, you don't want to get taken advantage of, you don't want to sound dumb. It's just it's a lot. So we're here to lighten the load for everybody.
SPEAKER_02:I I'm really excited because I I think that everybody can be empowered with this situation. I tell people all the time if somebody tells you, you know, you need a ball joint, instead of going, well, what the hell's a ball joint? Just Google it on your phone while they're talking to you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's different now. You could not do that before. No, I mean, so you can look up anything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you've got a ton of resources available. And, you know, we tell people all the time, if you've got a question, whether you're at our shop or someplace else, call us. I've been doing this for 24 years. I've been around, yeah, it's a long time. I've been around all these vehicles and the changes and we do all makes and models. So that makes us all years. That makes us really unique. And I think it makes our technicians all the more talented.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's funny what you just said, how you're like, hey, call, we'll we'll talk to whoever. It doesn't matter if you're a customer. This just happened two days ago. I called Buddy Septic. I call them because it's my first Google search, and she's like, Where are you? I was like, I'm in Tallahassee. What do you mean? She's like, I'm in Virginia. But then she proceeded to talk to me for like 10 minutes, educating me because I she was super nice. At no point was she trending off the she knew she would never have my business. But she cared. Yeah, she wanted to educate you. Yeah. So I think it makes a difference.
SPEAKER_02:Again, I've preached this over and over again. It's just time for people to be kind to each other, share your knowledge, share the information that you've obtained through your experiences. And that's why we do this, is really about educating, inspiring, you know, and we've all got horror stories. So I mean, so let's talk about mechanical breakdown. First thing, lights on the dash. Now, listen, we own a shop. We've been doing this a really long time. When that check engine light starts flashing at you, no matter where you are or who you are, your heart starts racing. It's spooky season, and that is spooky. I remember a really good friend of mine, Deanna, would call and uh, is my car gonna blow up? I mean, she honestly had no idea what was going on. So let's talk about some of the common lights on the dash and why everybody panics.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Rundown of, let's see, you've got ABS, which quite literally is ABS, which is your brakes.
SPEAKER_02:We've got traction, squiggly lines, check engine light, overheating. So this one big. Yeah, this is a really big deal. And sometimes you've got engine overheating, sometimes you just have a temperature gauge. Like you need to know your car.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and what's cool is you have, I think Google does it, where you can take a picture and then it tells you what it is. But some of the other common ones are your power steering, it looks like a steering wheel, washer fluid, cruise, security, the fuel light.
SPEAKER_02:So let's talk about that. I think most people do know this, but if you don't, and you get into a rental car and you're trying to figure out which side of the car to put gas on, it tells you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. It's a tiny little arrow and it'll point on whichever side, driver's side or passenger side. I learned that not that long ago, truly. Well, because again, who's telling you? Now us. We're telling you. We're the ones. Now you never have to wonder again.
SPEAKER_02:Let's talk about some of the common symptoms that we see on vehicles, what we're seeing more and more, and then we're gonna walk you through the actual process of getting to a shop, questions to ask, things that are important.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so let's start at when you should or shouldn't drive your car. So certain symptoms like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so if it's overheating, stop. Do not drive.
SPEAKER_00:You can blow that engine up in a block and you do not want that bill.
SPEAKER_02:No, I mean, so a lot of people don't understand that it could be a blown hose, a water pump, a radiator. I mean, there's a ton of things that go into this, right? But if you drive such a short distance and the coolant isn't getting to the systems, you actually could cause engine damage, catastrophic engine damage. And how do you feel about what is it called? Stop leak. Oh, please. Stop leak is meant to stop things up, including passages that were engineered to work.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. What did Dean use that one time? So this was a mechanic that worked for us for probably 10 years, and he was on the side of a highway, knew all the tricks of the trade. I want to say he used black pepper. Why he had that in his car, I do not know, but I remember that where I'm like, oh, just in case.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So and again, it's also dangerous. Like if you get out and your car's overheating and you know, you see some smoke and steam and you pop the hood, that that radiator cap or the coolant reservoir is under pressure. It's supposed to maintain a certain amount of pressure. So it's very likely that you will get burned with a very hot liquid. It can blow radiator caps off. So even the steam itself. Yeah, it's dangerous. Just don't. It's not worth it. We recommend that every single person build a relationship with your tow company. Again, I get it. It's expensive, nobody wants to pay that, but you also don't want to go to the ER. Yeah, so we're not gonna we're not gonna drive if it's overheating. We are not gonna drive if our brake pedal is going to the floor.
SPEAKER_00:We've had a lot of people drive to our shop saying the pedal goes all the way down, and I just kind of coasted here.
SPEAKER_02:I'm like wipers that don't work when it's pouring rain. I've seen people driving with their head out the window. This is a bad idea. No power steering. Like, listen, back in the day before all of us, there was cars without power steering, and you had a workout in driving that around.
SPEAKER_00:My escape, my first escape, it went out right there at the roundabout on gains. And I remember so vividly on that first turn, and I'm like, what is happening? I'm putting my whole body into it.
SPEAKER_02:All right, so some common symptoms that we've probably all experienced: the grinding when breaking.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:There could be a squeak. There used to be a squeak. It was called a squeal indicator. And you've got some vehicles, Mercedes BMWs, that have a brake wear indicator, which will tell you how low the pad is. But now you hear us say this over and over again that things aren't made the way they used to be, but they're not. We used to be able to turn your rotors and get them back into a spec so that they would break evenly. And that's not a thing anymore. They're kind of disposable parts.
SPEAKER_00:Everything's gone replacement.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Don't let somebody just slap some pads on your vehicle because you're gonna get a pulsation in the pedal, you're gonna get a shake in the steering wheel. But that grinding or a squeal when you're braking, take it to a shop.
SPEAKER_00:So that'll be pads or rotors.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. AC stops blowing cold. We're in Florida. This is a huge problem. It is 90 degrees and it is October or something. So with an AC system, you've got a compressor, you've got a condenser, expansion valve, the fans, evaporator core, you've got blend doors. I mean, there's a lot that go into these systems. When your AC stops blowing cold, it could be multiple things. We could have a car that's overheating. We could have a vehicle that's gone into lamp mode. So lamp mode is the vehicle trying to protect its brain and heart function. So it starts cutting off things that aren't absolutely necessary.
SPEAKER_00:Which is good, but bad if you ignore it. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, don't drive the car in lump mode. A lot of times people will come in and say, Well, it's not blowing at all. Well, then we're probably looking at a blower motor or a resistor. Now we're getting into modules.
SPEAKER_00:And then depending on where it's blowing out of, if it's not blowing out of the main vents, but it's blowing out of defrost or on your feet, then that's one of the blend doors.
SPEAKER_02:Correct.
SPEAKER_00:Which you hope is not the main one, because that's the labor-intensive one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that usually involves the entire dash coming out of your car. Come to a stoplight, you go to take off, and you feel this absolute thud and lurch.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:Motor mounts.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that one's fun to see. If it's really, really bad, you can pop the hood open and someone will have it where they, you know, safely push the gas, and you can see the whole thing just like it's about to jump out of your car. Yes, the engine rocks.
SPEAKER_02:Let's talk about the trouble accelerating. So you're you're driving down the street and you kind of feel this hesitation. We call it a skip most of the time. You just feel like it's not completely running the way it's supposed to. A little bit of shaking sometimes. Check engine light may or may not come on. If you're a Ford, it's not gonna come on. But again, you have no idea what's going on, right? The car's just shaking. It's it's probably a misfire. We were looking at plugs or coils or something along those lines. It could be an injector, but more likely plugs and coils.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. But then if it gets more like your RPMs are revving, it doesn't feel like it wants to go, it almost feels like it's more so slipping.
SPEAKER_02:You're looking at potential transmission. We're giving you some of the most common things that we know we see. But I want to talk about this check engine light and getting a car diagnosed.
SPEAKER_00:So scanning it versus diagnosing it. Yeah, there's a big difference, people. Scanning it is good for just needing to know quickly and you can do your own research if a shop's closed, if you can't get in right away, something like that.
SPEAKER_02:Again, we've got auto parts stores that offer this free engine diagnostic scan. And so you go there and they plug in a$200 code reader and they come back with a code and tell you you need a part. They're a parts store. They're gonna tell you you need a part. That may not be the situation at all. It is a diagnostic tool for a trained and licensed technician to start looking in the direction that he needs to go. I mean, just because we've got a P0301, which is a cylinder one misfire, doesn't mean I need a spark plug. It doesn't mean I need a coil. I need to look at the wiring. I mean, I need to look at everything.
SPEAKER_00:I want to say the P0420s are a big one. Isn't that like the oxygen sensor and the evap, yeah. Because that can be so many different things.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So again, it is well, can't you just hook it on the computer and tell me what's wrong with it? No. No, we can't. We could lie to you. So there's a difference between a code reader and a scanner. So we can watch live data. I can turn your car on and off with my computer. I can turn on different cylinders, I can reprogram stuff, I can roll windows up and down, I can watch injectors. I mean, uh there's so much data involved in this process.
SPEAKER_00:And we don't believe in just throwing parts at it. Absolutely not. Nobody wants to pay for something they don't need.
SPEAKER_02:It's already expensive. Right. Yeah. I mean, we we get it, guys. Like, I was shocked today when I did a battery. I mean, I I'm not that old. And batteries honestly were$69,$79, and$89 for the best. And the average battery now is over$300. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:On the cheap end.
SPEAKER_02:And then you got the AGMs and whatnot. Yeah. And again, that has to do with electronics and computers. I mean, we're putting computers in these cars. We're putting a lot of them. So let's go back to the process of getting your vehicle diagnosed and fixed.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, now we're going to take you through, walk you through the process. You have a symptom, you call your shop of choice. This is essentially what you can expect.
SPEAKER_02:So we're going to talk about the process of getting the vehicle looked at and diagnosed, but I want to talk about the process of picking a shop. So a lot of you are familiar with the dealer. The dealer is basically the manufacturer of your car. And they're supposed to have the latest and greatest technology and the information. And that is not always the case.
SPEAKER_00:I think it's associated with people's minds that they have to know.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. But they don't.
SPEAKER_00:They are a business that hires technicians just like any other shop. Yeah. They may have some additional resources, but at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_02:You're going to pay more going to a dealership. I mean, you just are. You're paying for the city.
SPEAKER_00:The rates are usually higher alone.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you're paying for the big building. They are notorious for selling you stuff you don't need.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think most are still on commission.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know if all of them are, but yeah, so that's something that that our our listeners and our viewers need to know. You need to ask your shop, is my service rider? So that's the person who's going to be calling you and telling you what's wrong with your car and giving you an estimate. Is my service rider on commission? Because if they're on commission, they want to sell you more stuff.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, they're incentivized to make more money. Correct.
SPEAKER_02:And and your technicians are the same way. So are your technicians on commission? Or is it based on how many things they sell you? We've seen shops that create a quota of we need to sell 50 batteries this week.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's probably more like your super lubes and smells.
SPEAKER_02:Right. How do you? I mean, that makes no sense, right? So they get fixated on something. We recommend, and there are some good dealers, it is all about kind of word of mouth, honestly. I think you need to look at are they licensed? Very important. Are they insured? If something happens while your vehicle's there, is it going to be covered by their insurance? How well equipped is the shop? Do they have the right equipment, the right tools? Are they trained? And how do they treat you? You know, ask relatives, ask your neighbors. I'm gonna tell you, I'm not a huge fan of Google reviews.
SPEAKER_00:You don't have to have been a customer to leave a Google review.
SPEAKER_02:No, I mean it's insane. Anybody can go to anything.
SPEAKER_00:Verified reviews. Like there's places called um Sure Critic. Right. It's a big one. They're all verified customers. Yeah. I mean, before you bring your car, if there's if it's not an emergency and you need to shop ASAP, I mean, go see it in person. Go see is it clean? Are they nice?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we we recommend that to parents bringing their kids up to college here is don't wait until your kid calls you and you're a thousand miles away and they're broke down. Build that relationship while you come up and bring them to school. And then let's talk about the process. So typically you're gonna call and you're gonna make an appointment. That's really important, and I want to stress that to our listeners and our viewers. Auto repair is an extremely complicated process. It takes highly skilled people. It is not a drive-thru. You need to be prepared to make an appointment. You would make an appointment with your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, your plumber, your AC guy. This is no different. And drop your vehicle off because a diagnosis now is not five or ten minutes. They're they're so complicated, so many computers.
SPEAKER_00:And you want the technicians to be thorough. You don't want them to rush through it. And then one, they could misdiagnose because they could get sent down the wrong rabbit hole. They're like, oh, I only have 20 minutes to do this. Yeah. You want them to be thorough and to really figure out what's wrong with your car.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and that's something cool about us. And I want to encourage more shops to do this. So people thought we were crazy when we did it, and some days we still think we're crazy that we did it. But our technicians are all on salary. So they are not trying to beat a clock. They're not, oh, this calls for 1.2 hours to replace a starter. They're gonna do the job right and thoroughly and take their time. They're gonna take their time diagnosing it. Where you've got somebody who's on commission and they're only paid a half hour to diagnose your car, they're not spending any extra time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's worth a thought because if they're bound by that clock, the stress also dictates the kind of work they do.
SPEAKER_02:So be patient, right? No shop wants your car just sitting there. I assure you. No money not fixing your car. So let the shop look at it, diagnose it, let the shop call you, give you your diagnosis and your estimate, see if they can send you pictures of what they're saying is wrong. You know, I think that's a great idea. We text customers a lot. And then ask the question is this absolutely necessary?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, if there's multiple things you're given and quoted, ask to have it put in priority because right now I think most of us can't afford a$3,000 bill. Correct. And if you have older vehicles, you very well may have maintenance things that just add up in cost. So if you can say, hey, what do I absolutely have to do versus what can I watch? Can I check my oil levels? Can I check my tire wear? Things like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and can for I plan for them later, right? So I'm gonna tell you one of the things that I absolutely ignore on my own vehicle, and I tell a lot of my customers to ignore.
SPEAKER_00:I know.
SPEAKER_02:The tire pressure sensor light. Okay, I'm out, people. I can look at my tire and tell if it's low. I still know how to use a manual air gauge. And I do not need a tire pressure sensor that's over a hundred dollars a piece to flash at me.
SPEAKER_00:They add up quick. Right. So that's where I think we have the transparency and certain things where we will 1000% make sure you and your vehicle are safe. We will never be negligent on safety. Right. But if there's certain things that we absolutely know you can get by with forever, or you know, however long you need to, we're really big on that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, again, I think you said it right in prioritizing what it is that needs to be done. Yeah, so I caught somebody one time. I think I might have told this story, but I was in an emergency and I needed to go out of town. I was across town from where we were, so I went to a they're not here anymore, so I'm just gonna say a super lube. And I needed to get an oil change, and they sat in the lobby and they're doing my oil change, and this young man, I'm gonna say he was 18 or 19 years old, came out, and he had this very serious look on his face, and he said, Ma'am, ma'am, we have a very serious problem. I said, Oh, do we? Please tell me what our serious problem is. You really need this air filter. I said, Cool, why don't you show it to me? This young man proceeded to tell me that it was very difficult to get out. I said, Young man, I drive an F-150. Undo the clip on the airbox and show me my air filter. It was new. Just so we're clear, it had been replaced.
SPEAKER_00:He tried to play the wrong girl.
SPEAKER_02:Wrong girl. No, just say no. Double check.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Say show me.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Nothing should be a secret on your car. It is your car at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, listen, it does not offend me. If you want to see your old parts, please. I will be happy to show them to you and give them to you. I want customers to recognize that the technicians and the shop owners, like Melissa and I, we care about your safety. You're driving these vehicles next to us. You're driving them next to our children and our grandchildren. That's what's important to us is that you're safe, that you're able to have reliable transportation. I don't know where all of our listeners or our viewers are, but in Tallahassee, public transportation sucks.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, it's not convenient to not have your car.
SPEAKER_00:And it's a lot easier to stay up on your maintenance, your oil changes, just even your routine checkups. Anytime, and again, maybe it's just because I've been raised around a shop, but anytime I go on a trip, no matter what, I do a trip check. So that's where they're either doing an oil change if it's needed or checking all the belts, tires, all that kind of stuff. Fluids. Because it's a lot easier to plan for the future, knowing, oh, hey, you need a CBX in the future, whatever, rather than all of us getting shocked and then you're stressed, and then you gotta figure it out. So it's always better if you can stay ahead of it and be preventative and plan rather than the emergencies and then yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So I want to talk about the oil changes, right? Because listen to me, this is the life of your vehicle, right? This is the actual heart of your vehicle. These vehicles are engineered for a specific weight oil, sometimes a specific brand of oil. They've got to be Dexis approved, like all of these different things. Don't go over on your mileage for an oil change. I don't care who is telling you a vehicle can go 10,000 miles for an oil change. The answer's no.
SPEAKER_00:Can we talk about the what is it, the year?
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Which one did we see?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, this makes the sense. Find out what your engineer of your vehicle called for the maintenance to be. Don't wait for the light to come on because it is not always going to come on. But make sure they're using the right oil. So we carry over 30 different weights and types of oil here at our shop.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and not just the oil, how you mentioned it's the specific brand or whatnot. That's really big with power steering fluid.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:We have had that with Hondas and Acura's, where if you do not use that specific fluid, it's gonna whine and it's gonna take out your parts prematurely.
SPEAKER_02:Let us help you get educated, let us show you where to find this information, but know it. So to summarize, make an appointment, drop your car off, let the professionals look at it, diagnose it, call you with an estimate, and then decide what you want to fix, right? Get it repaired, get a warranty, make sure you know what the warranty is on your repairs, and go from there. So it really should just be that simple.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Crazy symptoms and fixes. Y'all, it's getting wild in the automotive world. All because of these dang modules. Modules, computers, engineers. We're gonna blame the engineers.
SPEAKER_00:Blame somebody.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. We had an F-150. Now, this F-150 was a newer F-150.
SPEAKER_00:I have told this story so many times.
SPEAKER_02:Right. So this F-150 was at the Ford dealership. They had spent over two and a half weeks. It was there for a no-start. Vehicle would not start. They spent over two weeks tracing it. So typically, vehicle is a no-start. We're gonna check battery, we're gonna check alternator, we're gonna check fuel pump. Like there's just certain common things you're gonna check, right? Two weeks, Ford can't figure it out. Customer says, uh, take it to Bob's, right? So it comes into us. We start looking at it, we start tracing everything. We are pretty familiar with what they call a CAN bus system now. So imagine that as wireless internet in an internet network within your car. So every single module has to talk to each module.
SPEAKER_00:And it's gotta complete a cycle or something.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's gotta complete a whole circuit going on here. Do you want to tell them what it was?
SPEAKER_00:Oh no, go for it.
SPEAKER_02:So the passenger window regulator module for the motor would not work. Passenger's window was inoperable.
SPEAKER_00:And I think it created an open circuit.
SPEAKER_02:It can prove it absolutely prevented this vehicle from starting.
SPEAKER_00:That is the wildest one I've heard in so long.
SPEAKER_02:Never in my life. Y'all, people used to drive around broken windows all the time. Yeah, I mean, you had crank roll-up windows, and now you can't carry. You gotta make sure even the passenger's window is working or your car was not gonna start. So yeah, that was wild. We had to replace that module as soon as we replaced the module, completed the circuit, vehicle started up every time.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. This one I wouldn't say is crazy, but it's very common that burning smell. Smells like plastic burning. There's a lot of debris always in the road. You'll see the plastic bag just floating about. So I always, I don't know if I don't think I ever had it happen to me, but I go over it and I'm always looking in my rear view. Almost like when you drive past a cop. Yeah, to see if my car sucked it up and it got attached to my exhaust and it'll melt to it and it smells horrible. It takes a while to burn off. So that's usually the number one thing.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, try to avoid the plastic bags in the road.
SPEAKER_00:Debris in general, safely. Again, if there's cars around you, don't swerve for a plastic bag. We did not tell you to do that. Just be mindful.
SPEAKER_02:Let's talk about some of the things we find in vehicles when at the shop. We've had some wild ones, y'all.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Listen, if you know your car is going into a shop, I'm not talking about the people that got it towed here. They broke down. You can't help that. I feel you. Yeah. The ones that have scheduled an appointment, please just take out your paraphernalia. I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_02:We are seeing a lot of different things in the vehicle. Drugs. We we've definitely seen drugs in the vehicle. Our technicians, quite honestly, they need a clean environment to work in. So we've had cars with food, we've had cars with books, roaches, galore. Not coming in my shop.
SPEAKER_00:Just be mindful. It's kind of like when you have company coming over to your house. I think most of us, you know, panic clean. Do the same with your car, bro. Right.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I have tons of mail in my car and water bottles. I mean, it's just part of life.
SPEAKER_00:But yeah, just put it in an area that is in the backseat out of the way, something like that. Because I just feel bad for the techs when they get in and there's old food here, and then there's stuff where they need to be, and they don't want to necessarily move all your stuff and get it discombobulated even more than it probably already is.
SPEAKER_02:Right. I want to talk about the weirdest thing we've ever had in a car.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, tell that one. I think I know what it is.
SPEAKER_02:It was it was really crazy. So this was in our old location, and we had a vehicle towed in from Famue University. So it was over on campus. And the young lady had a vehicle towed in and said that it wouldn't start, and she had noticed a little bit of residue around the gas cap area. So the car got towed in, and because it wasn't drivable, the tow truck actually towed it into the shop. And so it was in the building. Now it was about four days before the mechanic could get to it because we were looking at other ones. And I was at my desk, and my technician came in with a very serious look on his face, and he said, Misty, we have a bomb in a car. Y'all, I thought he was kidding. I said, Shut the hell up. We do not have a bomb in a car. What are you talking about? A bomb in a car. He said, Oh no, it's this whole thing that's been going around, how to do this homemade bomb, and basically put it in the gas, and then stuff disintegrates and and there's a reaction and things blow up, right? I'm like, you have got to be kidding me. This car's been sitting in my shop. People all over the place. It was towed here, meaning it was jostling around. So immediately I call 911. Shout out to the Tallacy Fire Department and the bomb squad for TPD. We had to evacuate the building. Luckily, this particular car had an access under the rear seat to get to the actual fuel tank. So the technician had already taken the rear seat out and was looking in the actual fuel tank to see this particular bomb. And so we all evacuated. Buildings next to us evacuated. They used the robot from the bomb squad to go up into the shop and see this bomb and take pictures of it. Everything was handled, diffused, nobody got hurt. Did they say why it didn't activate? I mean, we were within hours of it activating. They could see the actual process that was happening. And so, y'all, how do you call a customer and tell them they have a bomb in their car? You know what this girl said to me?
SPEAKER_00:She probably knew exactly who it was.
SPEAKER_02:She said, I've had a stalker. Girl, if you got a stalker, you need to tell your shop.
SPEAKER_00:That's terrifying.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it was it was absolutely terrifying.
SPEAKER_00:We've seen less.
SPEAKER_02:It was terrifying.
SPEAKER_00:It's just giving me Gray's anatomy vibes. Honestly.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh. It was insane.
SPEAKER_00:It was insane. Oh, we forgot to say, so I'm taking it back just a second. When you take your vehicle to a shop, this is really, really, really important. You don't realize how much information lies within the customer. You are as pertinent to these repairs as anything else. So how you describe what is wrong with your vehicle at the time really matters. And I'll I'll get down and dirty with it. I will ask you so many specific questions. You probably think I'm being annoying or I'm going into detective mode, but it only helps your technicians not go down the wrong rabbit hole. So it matters. I'll even ask my customers, I'll say, sing the song. What does it say? Is it like what is it doing? I need to know. And we've thought about recording customers. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, when does it happen? How often does it happen? I mean, it's probably happened to some of our listeners and viewers, but your car acts up, acts up, and then you get it in the shop and it acts perfectly fine. It's best behavior. Best behavior when it gets here. So you're not crazy. You're not crazy. The car did not fix itself. It's gonna happen again. But you know, when does it happen? How often does it happen? What were the conditions while you were driving and it happened? Where you can get it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, incline, bumpy road, turning left, turning right. Is your car fully loaded? Is there someone in the passenger seat? Is the passenger the person that heard the noise? Just everything you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's it is really important. And that's a great point for again. You mentioned that we're on detective mode, but we are on detective mode.
SPEAKER_00:Our technicians a lot of things that could be wrong with your car, especially with certain symptoms. Like we said. So we can always sift through the information you give us and pick out key information. We can never create that story for you. So just make sure that you give every single possible detail you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02:And guys, if you've got some that we can't fix, we are gonna look at you like you're crazy. What? Those diagnosis that we've had lately. The shaking only when it goes over 95 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00:Are you paying for that speeding ticket when we have to go test drive it? Why are you going 95 in the first place? Low down.
SPEAKER_02:Only happens after I've been driving 250 miles straight. Really? No, we really have a customer who drives that much. And the vehicle only acts up after they've been driving 250 miles straight.
SPEAKER_00:I would love to. Is Destin that far? Tell me where to go. I will go, I will spend the night, I will come back. I will wind up in your car.
SPEAKER_02:So again, patience. Patience with us trying to recreate what some of these issues are.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and sometimes we'll admit it too when we've been stumped. I don't think there's any fault in that because we also won't be one that keeps your car for a month and can't figure it out. If we can't figure it out, we've exhausted all possible resources. We will humbly tell you, hey, we did everything we could, take it to XYZ.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Our next recommended shop.
SPEAKER_02:So we had a woman whose vehicle had an extended warranty and she had gone to the dealer for all of her services. This was a Ford, all of her services, all of her oil changes. Every time she went there, yes, Mr. You know, service rider, please just do everything that's required of it. I'll pay whatever it is because I want to keep my car in tip top shape. And so she did that, and then her transmission went out on her vehicle. And she went back to the dealership and they said, I'm sorry, it's not going to be covered under your extended warranty. You didn't do all your recommended services. She says, What are you talking about? I didn't do all my recommended services. I came here for everything and did every single thing you recommended. Well, you didn't rotate your tires this one time. You didn't recommend me rotating the tires. But it was up to her to know what was required of her, and they would not budge. They did not cover her transmission. She spent thousands and thousands of dollars with us. Super frustrating. So they look for reasons to deny stuff. They look for reasons to not cover things. So don't give them a reason.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think that's a good segue into extended warranties. The one you have seen over and over and over on the commercials, Car Shield, is being sued in almost every state. You can't even, we're in Tallahassee within 250 miles, there's not a shop. So tell me how you're being sold something that you can't even utilize.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Yeah, I mean, it's listen, we tried to help consumers out who the idea of an extended warranty is that once your original manufacturer's warranty is run out, you pay to have warranty coverage on your motor and transmission. Cars are expensive to fix. And there are some extended warranties I am absolutely behind. Route 66. Route 66, Silver Rock. But you have these warranty companies that your shop can't get a hold of. They're on hold for two and three hours waiting for somebody to pick up the phone. They deny everything. They want to send a used part that's not covered because of this. They'll tell you that everything's covered.
SPEAKER_00:Let's talk about the one. So on the it's not just Car Shield. There's many others that will tell the consumer.
SPEAKER_02:Car Shield is the worst. Come after me.
SPEAKER_00:I know. Everything's covered. Everything's covered. Because that's always what our customers tell us. And it's so frustrating because it's just these salespeople that don't actually look at your policy. They sell you whatever. But my favorite one that got denied was an engine that was needed. The water pump took out the engine and they said, Well, your engine's not covered because your water pump took it out. Y'all, your engine does not just spontaneously combust. Like unless it's got 300,000 miles and it comes apart internally. Well, they're not getting that high. But you know what I mean? That was wild to me. So they will sell you things that you think you have this security and you don't. So you're spending, I don't even know how much they are monthly now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, they can be a couple thousand dollars to purchase one of these things. So what I would say is call the shop that you want to work with and say, hey, what do you think of this extended warranty company? Is it worth me getting? I'm gonna tell you it is worth. Our mom bought an explorer that we recommended and we made her buy an extended warranty because they have a timing chain and a water pump issue. And that's an expensive bill. I mean, it's 15 hours of labor and was over three grand. And that extended warranty paid every single bit of it except for her hundred dollar deductible. So it's a peace of mind to have some of that, but do not get taken advantage of by these ones that are spending millions and millions and millions of dollars advertising.
SPEAKER_00:I firmly believe this is my hot take, that if this entity is spending buckoos on advertising, they're stealing that money from somewhere else to be able to afford all of this advertising.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're customers, they're stealing it from them. That's just how often. Yes, it's true. So yeah, talk to the shop, ask them what they think. But I will tell you, repairs are very expensive now. And I don't want to scare you. I want you to be prepared.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we want to educate and make you aware and prevent some of them. Yeah. I mean, prevent some of them. You can prevent a lot of them, truly. If you stay up on your maintenance and you are in the shop regularly, it's kind of like dentist, you know, you go every six months, they catch it early, it's not as expensive, it's not as scary. I think it's the same with mechanics. I mean, as long as you can plan, everything's a lot more manageable.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And again, it's all about being educated, right? So you've got questions and don't feel, listen to me, y'all. I had a man come in here earlier this week. Was I here? You were not here yet. I always miss the good ones. She is the late sister. I am the early sister, according to us. I had a man walk in here, look at me, and said, Honey, I need to talk to somebody who knows about cars.
SPEAKER_00:We're in 2025. May I stress this again?
SPEAKER_02:I seriously? I looked at him and said, I am the best you're going to get. He looked shocked. This man was not old. This was not an old school, like, women weren't in this industry.
SPEAKER_00:That's what I was picturing. Maybe the picture of like 30s.
SPEAKER_02:I wanted to say, do you even know how to open your hood? Because I'm gonna guess you don't. So don't judge a book by its cover. There are a lot of women in this industry, and we are rocking it. We are very detail-oriented. Yeah, so I mean, again, we're gonna keep bringing you guys tips and ideas and things that we're seeing on a regular basis. We love this industry and and we hope that you're enjoying listening to us. We're gonna bring you some silly, funny, not automotive related stories, and then we're gonna bring you some automotive related stories that hopefully just bring you a little bit of peace.
SPEAKER_00:I think we're gonna get into a little groove because we do have so much information that I think is important that we want to get out to our community. So we're just gonna do kind of like every other. We'll do you know, very informative, but then also fun, get to know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, get to know us. We want to get to know you. So if you, you know, like our content, or if you're listening on Spotify or um, you know, Apple, or if you're watching us on YouTube, follow us. I mean, go to our website, send us comments and questions or topics that you'd like us to talk about. I mean, we're women CEOs, we own an auto-repair and collision center, mom, grandma, like college graduates. We've yeah, I mean, we've done a lot of stuff. We've done some really cool stuff.
SPEAKER_00:And we just want to engage with everybody. We want, yeah, we think everyone can learn something from everybody. And I just think it's fun if we're all connected.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, that's really what this life is about. Like, let's enjoy the connection with each other, let's share our knowledge. I mean, we don't have to go through all of this a lot.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I have to give a shout out. Maybe there's multiple of you. If there are, I love it. But I have to say shout out to Jim because he has listened to every single one of our episodes.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, thank you, Jim. Oh, we do really, really appreciate that. Yeah, it's fun to get to spend time with my sister doing this and and also feel like we're giving back something, you know. We've been blessed. So follow us on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube, visit our website, leave us a review. That's really important. Yeah, five stars. Yes. And then on our next episode, what can they expect to hear, Melissa? Oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:It's still in the works. So what's funny is I'll I'll just say a little bit. We are obviously doing all our own stuff, as we've said before. We're learning. But what I love is if there's any OGs that stay with us on the very first episode, you'll get to see how we grow and how much better we get. Yeah, I'm excited to see how it's gonna evolve and grow.
SPEAKER_02:So I mean, you're just doing an incredible job. I've I just get to come and talk and you know, share some knowledge. And Melissa's doing all this editing and she's really doing an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00:So it's fun. And all that to say is we batched our first four episodes because I was panicked. I was panicked when Misty kept telling everyone and their mother that we were starting a podcast.
SPEAKER_02:I'm like it worked.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, I gotta figure out how to do this. Yes. So we had all ours batched before, and now we're getting more on a kind of bi-weekly basis.
SPEAKER_02:I'm really thinking that our next one, maybe we're gonna talk about some fall things and some activities and stuff going on.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, let's get out, let's mingle and let's get to meet people and do some fun stuff. So that'll be a good one. If you've got events that you want us to share, send them to us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:We'd love to get that information out there.
SPEAKER_00:Because I'd also like to know what's going on too. She's way better about that. She's good at looking on Facebook events.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. I'd I try to pay up with what's going on.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You're better than me at that. And you're the elder. You got the brain.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you guys for joining us.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, we are.
SPEAKER_02:Wait.
SPEAKER_00:Oh. Did I scare you? I saw fear in your eyes. Okay, I'm ready. No, you go first. We haven't done this part ten times. I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02:Unscripted.
SPEAKER_00:Unedited. Realize.
SPEAKER_02:Yay!