Take a minute and laugh...we all need it. This was seen in a local parking lot.

[Horse with no Name]

[Sal Minella]

1. This is called a "kludge," I beliee? n/t

[Aerows]

2. LMAO!

Honey, I fixed your car!

[roguevalley]

47. American ingenuity. I don't think the cops could cite him because if

he turns them on he has two lights. *cough*

[Tennessee Gal]

3. That is hysterical! Thanks for the laugh. nt

[Bluerthanblue]

4. oh my-

:rofl:

this cracked me up.

thanks.

[donco]

5. Must have been in a

Wal-Mart picking up a few extra batteries eh?:rofl:

[Vanje]

6. I totally need someone to wire me a similar arrangement on my back lefts

brake light and turn signal.

As it is,I am not driving legal.

[Aerows]

9. Yeah...

...but how are you going to get out of the car and turn them on and off every time you brake *grin*

With this arrangement, they just need to get out and turn on their flashlights when they need headlights LOL

[gkhouston]

11. Maybe Vanje's planning on riding the brake...

:+

[Aerows]

12. LOL!

:spray:

[Horse with no Name]

10. LOL...I have a headlight out and a great big flashlight

Can't say I wasn't thinking the same thing....

[gkhouston]

14. LOL, but if it's simply a burned out bulb, they're usually easy to replace yourself. n/t

[Horse with no Name]

20. Unfortunately it was a wiring issue

:(

Cost me a few hundred bucks, so I had to drive around awhile with it.

[jberryhill]

24. With just the headlights?

Unless someone is replacing a whole cable set on account of one crufty connector, it is difficult to visualize a "headlight wiring issue" that would cost a hundred dollars to fix by an honest mechanic.

[Horse with no Name]

27. It was complicated

there was a crack in the lens cover...water got up inside of it and shorted everything out. Initially it was just the low beams then the high beams...

They had to remove the side panel and take out the dashboard to fix it...and then replace the lens cover.

The dealer quoted me $600...my backyard guy did it for a little more than half of that. It was mostly labor.

[jberryhill]

30. ...if you're going to replace the lens cover...

Otherwise, that's what Shoe Goo is for.

[truedelphi]

56. Not sure if all mechanics know about wiring. And then there was the time that

I was told to replace my alternator, and my generator. And those 2 fixes did nothing.

Problem was that my car would eat up a new battery in just two days.

Right as the mechanic was phoning to tell me I needed a new engine, another friend told me to disconnect the dashboard clock. Granted I now had to wear a watch to know the time, but the friend was correct and the car no longer ate my batteries. (I did end up with a whole bunch of totally useable batteries, which just needed to be recharged.)

[gkhouston]

26. Ouch, that really sucks. Once the Wiring Gremlin gets into an older

car, life can be surreal and expensive. I had dashboard light that worked intermittently for years--it was like it was on Daylight Savings Time or something. :eyes: That car went through a lot of batteries, too.

[Horse with no Name]

29. It's not that old of a car. But I just had to replace the battery too.

:(

I still have a list of things that need repaired, but am taking it a little at a time.

[truedelphi]

57. See my reply number 26.

I hate to think other people would spend a thousand bucks, like I did, for no real reason.

[Vanje]

18. Also, I'm not laughing as hard as y'all.

I've been where the driver of this car is.
I'm there now.
Right now.
Its like this:

I have 20 bucks.
No pay day for 2 weeks.
Pretend you're me.

You gonna buy gas or insurance?
Either way, you wont be enjoying any groceries. No dog food for your faithful friends.
('s okay. Maybe the dumpster behind the supermarket wont be locked. WE can hope! Yeah. We'll count on that. We ARE optimists, after all. We HAVE to be. )

So, back to the transportation problem:

You gonna replace that headlight for 40 bucks?
I don't think so. Check out your junk drawers. Sweet! Theres some flashlights!
Great! I can get to work.



I
am
not
laughing

[gkhouston]

7. LOL. My favorite this week was a pro-drilling bumper sticker on a big SUV.

According to the sticker, drilling would make gas cheaper. I wondered why the driver hadn't opted for a more energy-efficient vehicle if the cost of gas was such a concern...

until I saw the Aggie sticker. :7

[flvegan]

8. Maybe

they don't have the money to fix the headlight? Those are expensive, but probably not enough to meet an insurance deductible. Temporary "fix" as opposed to driving an unsafe car and/or getting a fixit ticket from a police officer.

[Horse with no Name]

15. Perhaps. This is a very poor area.

However, I soooo admire the ingenuity here...but it is still something that I have never seen and was quite amusing.

By the way...the cops around here WILL stop you for a headlight out...I drove with one for a month and had a stack of warnings 6 inches thick. Got to the point when they would stop me, I would just pull out the appropriate law enforcement agency warning and they would send me on my way.:D

Wish I had thought of this...

[Vanje]

22. I think they're doing the best they can with what they have.

I'm not laughing.

[Horse with no Name]

35. I think so too

but they were parked at a chain restaurant that isn't cheap if you are really on a budget--as in, I don't have enough money in my pocket to eat there right now.

That being said...I think it is a literal "flip of the bird" to the local police who will stop you at every opportunity for a headlight that is out. Just to "have a look-see". They won't give you a ticket.

I've been stopped twice in a night before.

[MagickMuffin]

40. Perhaps they work at the restaurant and therefore not able to afford

to fix their headlight.

I found this a tad bit upsetting and not a laughing matter.

[Horse with no Name]

41. No...they were not parked in the employee parking area.

People around here are poor. They have been poor for a long time. Some of them even have a sense of humor about it.

It's really okay to laugh when someone outwits the law. It really is.

[kurtzapril4]

54. @Horse with no name

A lot of people here(who are most probably not poor) are serious as a heart attack every single second of every single day, and have absolutely no sense of humour at all. Personally, as a poor person who can't afford to fix my car, I found this very funny. Poor people usually have a good sense of humour, we HAVE to.

Some of you need a beer. Jeeze.

[PeaceNikki]

43. Weird. This was on "There I fixed it" in January

http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/2011/01/25/white-trash-repairs-we-cant-rebuild-him-we-dont-have-the-technology/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThereIFixedIt+%28There%2C+I+Fixed+It.%29

[Horse with no Name]

45. Interesting. I will ask the friend who took the picture

but I guess this person could have sent it in. :shrug:

I don't know. She was very specific of where she saw it and when.

Maybe I got snoped. Who knows? I'll find out.

[taterguy]

13. People driven to desperate measures by hard times is hilarious

:eyes:

[jberryhill]

21. Take It To Burning Man And Call It An "Art Car"....

...at least you'll get to drive on the playa...

[snooper2]

60. 'm pretty sure some rednecks did that as a joke to their friend one drunken

Saturday afternoon....


:rofl:

It's series!!!!!!!!!!!!

[malaise]

16. Priceless

:D

[liberal N proud]

17. Here is a site called White Trash Repairs

Redneck Radiator Reservoir Repair/Replacement


NOT Aerodynamic


Plywood Rear-View



This site is like People of WalMart, you just can't stop looking.
http://whitetrashrepairs.com/

[Vanje]

23. Awesome

Lets make fun of poor people!

[lbrtbell]

33. You're so right

The term "white trash" is pretty awful, too. Can you imagine if people called other races "black trash" or "(fill in the blank) trash"? There would be a huge hue and cry over it.

But hey, white people deserve to be poor and mocked. I mean, white people are lucky enough to have a gene that helps them ENJOY poverty, racism, and ridicule! :sarcasm:

[Withywindle]

51. Thank you!

Car repairs done by a professional cost hundreds of dollars. If you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't always do that right away--if ever. Meanwhile, you still need your car to get to the place where you earn your puny paycheck, and if you don't show up there, no more income of any kind.


Yes, desperate people get inventive and do what they can with what they have. Yes, the results are often not aesthetically appealing and not effective in the long term. Yes, people know this. If the car owners in these pictures could afford pro repair, they WOULD HAVE.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

62. lol... n/t

[abelenkpe]

19. That is a work of art. :) Thanks! Nt

[jberryhill]

25. It's Okay - That WILL Pass Inspection In Five States!

[gkhouston]

32. Sometimes, it's all about passing inspection.

I've got an old car that they practically kill during the emissions test every year for the state inspection. It will spew transmission fluid after the test every year. The entire rest of the year, I don't have any problem with transmission fluid loss. I think the people who inspect it are doing their damnedest, trying to fail the car so they can "fix" it. :grr: I wish the garage I use for repairs did state inspections.

[jberryhill]

36. Ah... in Delaware We Have Socialist Government Car Inspections

It always strikes me as odd to see signs on repair shops touting state inspections.

[pintobean]

28. Duct tape, not electrical tape

and I don't see any baling wire. That won't last long. Looks like free flashlights.

[spanone]

31. american ingenuity ....is that a factory install?

[jberryhill]

34. Certified And Licensed Aftermarket Mod

[Speck Tater]

37. That's just stupid. Everybody knows it takes at least five flashlights to replace a headlight. nt

[Firebrand Gary]

38. Yes thank you, I did need that laugh more than I thought.

Too Funny.

[Whisp]

39. o man, thats funny but

but have to feel sorry for whoever had to do that.

fixing cars is so expensive, it's just nuts.

[ThoughtCriminal]

42. You should post it

Here:

http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/

[PeaceNikki]

44. It's already been

http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/2011/01/25/white-trash-repairs-we-cant-rebuild-him-we-dont-have-the-technology/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThereIFixedIt+%28There%2C+I+Fixed+It.%29

[Horse with no Name]

46. Yep. I am going to talk to the friend who sent the pic

She was pretty specific of where and when she took it.

But, I think I just got suckered. :blush:

[pipi_k]

48. I once had this stupid little Plymouth Cricket

that didn't have a horn.


I forget how I managed to get it inspected and registered, but I did eventually install one of these on the driver's door rear view mirror...

[JoeyT]

49. I just feel bad for the person that owns it.

A headlight assembly can run anywhere from $50-$200, depending on the make and model of the car.

They may just not be able to afford it.

[Canuckistanian]

50. Good old fashioned American ingenuity

Can't beat it.

[TroubleMan]

52. Here's a similar one:

[Horse with no Name]

53. Heard back from the friend who said she saw this in the restaurant parking lot

she was embarrassed...but she said that another friend is actually the one that took the picture.

I told her that this picture was on a website and in all likelihood, her friend didn't take the picture.

My fault for posting and she is embarrassed for taking credit...but, there it is. This is the proverbial friend of a friend of a friend deal.

Since this person who had the car posted it to another website for entertainment purposes...you can pretty much ascertain that you are NOT laughing at someone who did this because of financial calamity--it just appears that this person has a sense of humor.

But...it DID make me laugh regardless. So, the premise was there.

[kurtzapril4]

55. delete

[HopeHoops]

58. I'm thinking that MIGHT not pass inspection.

[TK421]

59. Instead of replacing a headlight, you just need some D batteries!

edited: oops! not AA, I just replaced the ones in the remote!

[lonestarnot]

61. row row row your boat gently down the stream.