This shit literally just happened to me and my wife.
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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Tfw the mechanic tells me to not worry about the warning light
My dog is usually what fucks me over financially. She's a goblin and is always finding ways to injure herself or make her sick. I maxed out two credit cards in two months this year because of her. She ate a toy and had to have it surgically removed. I thought I got rid of the types of toys she liked to eat and she found another one somewhere the next month and had to have surgery again. She almost died but my vet came in on her day off to perform the surgery. I found her stash of the toys in the yard. She buried them. I went through my entire property and got rid of all toys. My dogs only get things they can digest now. My problematic dog is a mini goldendoodle and apparently they're all goblins and nobody told me before I got her. Love her so much but goddamn.
Literally me right now. Broke down yesterday with an Uber passenger in the car, an hour from home. Yay.
Head gasket, again...
Me in summer!
It could be something as simple as your gas cap not properly sealing anymore.
You can buy bluetooth OBD II readers on Amazon for like $20 that can scan the check engine codes and tell you exactly what the problem is.
Hey, stop proposing solutions at us. We need to wallow in our self-induced learned helplessness!
(I have like four code readers. I can reliably tell you where at least two of them are right now.)
Technology Connections just released a video a few days ago with a partial focus on these and tracking down issues yourself.
Yeah, that video about catalytic converters was excellent.
I have one, it's been great.
That said, "exactly what the problem is" isn't always the same as telling you the solution. I had a "misfire on cyl #3" error or something like that, which can be a number of things. Replacing all the coils and plugs myself was probably still cheaper than taking it to the shop though!
Last time I saw a misfire code, part of the piston had decided to form its own country on the cylinder wall. God damn rebels. Engine got rebuilt thohgh, because boredom. Luckily not my car.
Anyway you're right that it can be any number of things.
And if you're up to spending a little more, you can buy OBD readers that are manufacturer specific which will give you details on what is setting off a code. VWAG cars are hell, but if you have VCDS/Rosstech (or ODIS if you can get your hands on it) simple plug and scan will majority of the time give you the exact cause with an event history of the code and not just a vauge "Bank 1 lean" etc, and even if you don't want to do the repairs, if you know what is broken, ordering the parts and giving to a shop ends up being much cheaper and quicker then the cost of them doing the diagnosis and repairs
But does it actually help?
I just brought my car in for an airbag light and inspection. They read the codes and stopped without charging me anything. They handed me the manufacturer printout of possibilities and future steps, and recommended I goto the dealer for a related recall. Of course the recall wasn’t enough so now I’m out thousands.
I know this is just one example but reading the codes myself would have made no difference. As far as I can remember out of all the problems with all the cars over the years, reading the codes would never have made the difference. I’m tempted because it’s cheap and knowledge is power, but realistically I don’t see it helping
Maybe this is directly related to how much work you can do on your own vehicle, when guided by a problem code, but I’ve never had a scenario where this was even close
If by actually help you mean does it ever fix things? No, an OBD reader will never fix a problem, it is just a diagnostic tool, it helps locating a problem without having to essentially do a full body scan by hand, kinda as if you had a leak in a house, and instead of having to inspect every pipe in the house tearing down walls, you just use a tool that tells you "leak found, upstairs shower, hot side valve", yes you still could have found the leak just by hand if you wanted, but it might have taken days or weeks, and tons of money replacing unnecessary pipes.
Its good you have a shop that did the OBD readout and gave you suggestions for free, most shops around me you'll be paying hundreds for that, but I agree it still suck regardless that you are down a path that is gonna cost thousands, for what it is worth, if you have an airbag/SRS problem, an OBD reader definitely wouldn't help as anything SRS is always really expensive, usually not just a case of plug and play parts, even just a broken wire isn't just a simple soldering job and hardware adaptions very much are vehicle specific and can be timely if calibration is necessary
Nah, I just paid off my credit card debt. I know how life works. It's definitely my transmission.
I got one of those myself, and I always end up with the same problem I used to have with older versions of Windows that BSOD'd frequently: The error code is always something different so I still need outside help to figure out wtf is actually wrong. I'm pretty sure I don't just have a super old webcam plugged into my car.
After a certain period of time, especially for used vehicles, these lights are just there because they are set off due to timers and distance driven.
My mechanic, an old guy that has been working on my Volvo for years (a European car specialist who mainly works on Volvos) said to just ignore them. My old station wagon is 23 years old now and I have two permanent warning lights on all the time. My mechanic just said "does your car run?" .... I said yes
"Do you have any problems with the car running?" ... I said no
"Do the warning lights bother you?" ... I said not really.
"Then don't worry about it"
I've been driving the car like that without problems for over five years.
I mean it could be a faulty o2 sensor that isn't completely broken, so it could still work but fuel consumption is shit.
They're a great place for little stickers that bring you joy at a glance, IMHO 🤣
Unpopular opinion: Maintenance is far cheaper than the resulting repairs.
Yes, but even on maintained cars, things still happen
True. But even more (expensive) things break on unmaintained vehicles.
Everything breaks down. It's called entropy.
That's deep.
That's what your mom said!
Not unpopular, but as a mechanic, rubber, bushing, ball joint, and sensor, all usually cannot be maintained, will broke eventually.
That's why I phrased it the way I did, "resulting repairs". No amount of maintenance will prevent anything from breaking. But no maintenance greatly increases the likelihood of something failing because of that neglect.
My fridge, actually.
P0420 hit me this week...
Could be as simple as a sensor. If there are other engine codes, that could mean a bigger issue. The obvious first steps are to check if the cat is actually still there or if wires to the sensors are damaged.
Catalytic converters can last a long time unless combustion issues or other serious engine problems are ignored. TBH, catalytic converter codes are generally just a symptom of something else. So, do as detailed of an inspection as you can for any wiring damage or leaks. If you have any leaks, try your best to identify the kind of fluid it is. Maybe you can get a hint about what else is going on.
Combustion control is horrendously complex, so it could be any number of things from bad spark plugs to a malfunction in the EGR system. Any information you can gather about the problem now may save you some time and money later.
(I dunno if you know anything about cars, but I just covered the basics, just in case.)
And that's why I won't ever buy a new vehicle again. Fuck this "Stealership only maintenance"
It’s the first Saturday of the month. I’m sure it’s just a test.
I drove fast through what I thought was just a puddle. Splashed a bunch of water up under my car, and my dashboard looked like that for a week lol.
the worst version of Achievement Hunter
My mechanic said this is called
DISCO DASH
Gotta collect the whole set!
That's the sound of "Fuck your wallet"