Kowing Your Ride.

Since I was a youngster, my passion was cars, especially the classics. I would find myself drawing pictures of cars in the class room and daydreaming about that picture instead of listening to what the teacher had to say!

My  first car was a 1971 VW Beetle.

My VW Beetle After Restoration

At that point I knew nothing about beetle's besides what it looks like and only knew the basics of mechanics. The Beetle had quite a bit of problems that needed fixing, so I asked around where I could take the car to be fixed. A colleague told me about a guy that could help me out. I got hold of him and he came through to check out the situation. I let him know that I did not have much "cash" so he must just do what is necessary to get the old lady fired up. As soon as he heard "not much cash" the smile on his face disappeared...!  He left and I did not hear from him ever again. 

 So I decided to go on the net and searched forums to get advice and tips on how to maintain the beetle. I also came across books and videos on how to restore and maintain beetles and decided to buy that.

I got the "Heyns" manual and the "Bug Me" videos and decided to take on that task myself, which was the best decision of my life. From there I got my beetle beautifully restored.

In that time of trial and error I'd heard of a lot of beetle owners who had to pay for work that was never needed and only found that out after work was done and payments made. That's why its so important to know your vehicle's ins and outs.

My second car was an E30 1992 325i BMW. Lovely car to own!!

First Trip to Water Berg

This beautiful machine I bought with the engine's top off and the people I bought it from were gonna sell parts out of the car. I asked them why the top was off and they said it was because of the engine running hot. So they took the top off for pressure testing and found that nothing was wrong with it. So I got the full gasket set and a new water pump and the problem was solved. All thanks to the BMW forums and tips from BMW fanatics here and there, I got to know this car as well.

So man or woman, make an effort and take an interest in your ride. Get to know you car's ins and outs. It will save you a lot of frustration and money.

Best Regards

Mechanic Maniac