Garage Sensei

Most of what ruins a car in this country is boring, and it costs nothing to avoid.

I'm Joe Kimura. I run a shop outside Reno. My father had one in Japan before that, and he was the kind of man who checked his oil cold, in the morning, because a warm engine hides the level. He kept the tank above a quarter so the fuel pump stayed cool. Hosed the salt off the underside every Sunday in winter. He drove one Corona for twenty six years, and the seats went before the engine did.

Then I moved here and started seeing the other version. Camry, ninety thousand miles, factory transmission fluid still sitting in it, owner asking me why it shudders. That question cost him two grand.

So: the small habits, mostly Japanese, and they work on whatever is sitting in your driveway. Buttons in your car you paid for and never pressed. Why your fuel economy drops every winter. Which noise means pull over, and which one waits until Friday.

Ask me in the comments. I read them between jobs.