What Minor Fix On Your Car Do You Keep Putting Off?
I still have no idea what happened to the little plastic piece that goes on the top of the shift knob.Photo: Jalopnik/Collin Woodard
Recently, I had to send my 1999 BMW 540i to the car doctor to find all the places it was leaking coolant from. E39 owners love to complain about their window regulators breaking (I think my car is on set number three.), but what we don’t talk about enough is that the entire cooling system may as well be a wear item. Reservoirs crack, water pumps and thermostats fail, and while a window that won’t roll down can be annoying, an engine that can’t stay cool is a big problem. You’ve got to fix that stat.
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Could I have probably done all the work myself? Probably. But I’d rather have a professional do it just to make sure they find everything that’s wrong all at once and gets fixed correctly. Plus, despite having spent the majority of my life living in Georgia, I hate humidity with a burning passion. I’d pay almost any amount of money to avoid spending hours outside when the heat index is well above 100 degrees. Maybe that makes me weak, but so be it.
One thing I should definitely fix myself, though, is the shift knob. It’s been loose since I bought the car from an Alpharetta banker. Or was he a lawyer? Maybe the original owner was a lawyer. Surprisingly, there was no cocaine in the glove box when I bought it. Trust me. I checked. Wait where was I? Oh yea, that stupid shift knob. All I need to do is order a new one and pop it on. But have I done that yet? Nope.
This isn’t a new-to-me car, either. I bought it in 2012. And it’s always annoyed me that it’s loose, but it’s never annoyed me enough that I’ve ever gotten around to fixing it. Then the piece on the top went missing. If someone stole it, you’d think they’d just take the whole knob, right? But anyway, there’s always something more important to do. I can get to it later. And then I drive it again and think to myself, “I really should fix this.” But I never do.
Surely, I’m not alone, though. You’ve all got something small on your car that you keep putting off fixing, right? If so, let us know down in the comments. Maybe this post will give us all the motivation to finally fix the damn thing. Or not. You can always do it tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that.
