Oh gosh, yes! Not to turn this into a rant about menisms and the casual misogyny in that industry, but it is really bad. I used to be so proud to walk into Advanced Autoparts or Autozone as a woman who was capable of working on her own cars, but now it just feels like I sell a bit of myself each time I go in. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone in knowing what part I needed and been condescended or told I was wrong. What’s worse, the first half-dozen times I believed them and left with the part they advised, only to be SOL once I opened the hood and pulled the part[s] out.
I also love Youtube. Youtube is my secret weapon. People at work are always so kind with the compliments like “I’m so amazed you work on your own cars / have the know how” and I always say I learned almost everything I know from Youtube. Just last week (on the same Jeep mentioned above) I got a code for cylinder misfiring, so I figured triage here - start with the most likely suspect which is spark plug, MAP sensor, and CPS. Spark plugs were easy but I’ve actually never done a MAP sensor swap, so I was watching a lot of Youtube for tips.
Unfortunately none of those fixed it, so I resigned myself to bringing it into a shop. It’s toast, which is a total bummer as I really enjoyed the car, but at least I tried. Looks like zero compression on 2 of the cylinders which means internal engine failure. I just can’t justify a new engine on a 16 y/o vehicle.
As long as the gist is clear: generic parts at X auto parts store are not the same specs as what you get at the dealership parts department, and with steering components, everything should be extremely close tolerance. Slop = prematurely worn parts = death wobble.
and kinda think they would have greater luck trying to push through getting after market manufacturers to have to use clearer language on their packaging and marketing.
