Car Speak
 With
a stern gaze and jutted chin, the matronly woman looked the service
advisor squarely in' the eye and said, "Uhden dunt, uh-dunt, dunt...dunt...
dunt...psst!"
She and many
other car owners are finding that their high tech marvels of the road
make weird sounds. In their efforts to convey to servicemen any
information that might help hasten the repair, they try to mimic their
cars' final gasps.
"fuden...
fuden...duff," one man muttered repeatedly while the mechanic watched
his performance in amazement. But the man insisted these were his
engine's dying words, and eventually the syllables clicked a spark of
recognition in the technician and he was able to begin a diagnosis.
Believe it or
not, this is a good way to communicate with a mechanic about a car that
won't run, especially with today's technologically advanced models.
Of course, if
the car runs, the best thing to do is take it for a drive with the
mechanic, hoping the problem will manifest itself before a new audience.
However, cars, like children, don't always do what's expected of them.
They will limp and sputter and cough, until you arrive at the service
department. Then when they see a mechanic approaching, they purr like a
kitten and accelerate like the Russians just landed in Ft. Worth.
You're left
with no choice but to describe the "konk," the "clunk," the "ping" that
brought you to the shop. But, in addition to the age old "chunka-chunka-chunka"
to describe a dead miss in the engine, high tech cars have brought with
them new sounds that require owners to achieve a new level of creative
communications.
So foreign are
these sounds to our long-acquired instincts that traffic jams have been
blamed on the "freeway chorus" as passing motorists slow and sometimes
stop, not sure whether the strange noises are coming from their own cars
or someone else's.
When you're in
a service department and hear another unfortunate owner making the funny
noises, you're tempted to snicker. But you'll make the sounds, too, when
your turn comes. There just isn't much else you can do. Communication is
important to getting the problem fixed the first time. Duplicating
sounds and noises gives the mechanic something to go on. He has a real
problem looking at a car that won't run and can't talk. So the owner
must do the talking.
One woman
described steam coming from the exhaust pipes this way: "Its breath is
fogging, and it's not even cold."
Some people
tend to take their cars' noise as a personal affront. One man insisted
his transmission was "growling at me." Others have complained, "My car
is whistling at me," or "my car is spitting at me."
The classic
service department waiting room story is the one about the well
cushioned lady who burst through the door and announced to the service
advisor, "Quick! My rear end is bumping and grinding. I need some help,
now! |
