Reader rips Bob for being ‘ungracious’

Dear Bob: You were off base and, I might add, a tad ungracious in your response to G.W., who wrote seeking a large truck that gets “good mpg.”

After all, “good mpg” is a relative term. For example, I have talked with several owners of GM K2500 pickups, with the Duramax diesel and Allison transmission, who report highway mileage of about 20 mpg. Now, this may not sound very good to you or to many of your readers, but to someone who drives a Dodge pickup with the V10, like G.W., that could represent a savings of as much as 50 percent.

Considering that you often hand out advice which results in savings of tenths of an mpg, I’d think that you would jump at the chance to save someone 50 percent on their fuel bill.

Full-size trucks offer the greatest opportunity for fuel savings. I know that you and your followers have great disdain for full-size trucks and SUVs, and I’ll be the first to admit that there are many people who own these vehicles that have no real need for them.

But it seems to me that you could have the greatest impact by focusing on helping owners of these trucks get better fuel mileage. After all, X-percent savings on a car that gets 25 mpg is not nearly as good as X percent on a truck that gets 16 mpg.

— P.S., Liberty, Mo.

A: I hope I wasn’t being ungracious, but “a large truck that gets good mpg” seems to me to be a classic oxymoron.

I have indeed been trying to help owners of these large trucks get better fuel economy, nonetheless, because virtually every tip in “American Drivers Fight Back” applies to large trucks as well as it does to small trucks and passenger cars.

Dear Bob: I may have an answer to the squealing brakes a reader in Missouri complained about recently.

He says that he talked to the installer about the problem. This may imply that the brakes were installed by someone other than the dealer, and that aftermarket brake pads may have been used.

I had a similar problem with a Volvo when aftermarket pads were installed. I brought the car back twice and the installer readjusted them twice, but they continued to squeal. I told him that I’d like Volvo pads installed. He did, and that was the end of the squealing.

I suggest that the reader put on original-equipment pads.

— P.S., Clifton Park, N.Y.

A: Thanks for your answer, which sounds plausible.

Dear Bob: I have found a really easy solution to the problem of foggy windows in one’s vehicle. I have found a solution in both winter and summer, whenever the temperatures inside and outside are vastly different.

I simply turn on the air conditioning along with the heat, and adjust the amount of heat I need to clear my windows almost immediately. Obviously one would use more heat in the winter and less in the summer. It works like a charm — try it!

Thanks for the great information you always provide. I hope you’ll pass on this tip to your readers.

— Sincerely, K.S., Vernon, Ct.

A: Consider it passed on.

AMERICAN DRIVERS FIGHT BACK

Here’s a tip that will help you get better gas mileage while fighting terrorism and cutting our nation’s dependence on Mideastern oil:

Dear Bob: I am 77 years old, and have been reading your column faithfully for many, many years. I’m quite a conservative person, having learned frugality at my mother’s knee. While you always tell us the various ways to save gas, I think that cities and towns can also help.

I live in a small town of about 3,000 people, and there are many stop signs that are unnecessary. A yield sign would do the job nicely, and save gas to boot. It takes lots of gas to stop at a stop sign and then start to move again. Truthfully, I rarely stop at many of these unnecessary stops, and simply slow down and continue on.

Please advise the powers that be that they need to consider whether a stop sign is really necessary. We could save lots of gas without them.

Thanks, Bob. Your faithful reader,

— A.H., North Andover, Mass.

A: I agree that many stop signs are unnecessary and that yield signs would work nicely in many cases. But until the powers that be take appropriate action to rectify such situations, the law still says that you must stop at stop signs. I admire your spunk and conservation-mindedness, but let’s not compromise safety for the sake of a little gasoline saved.

Maybe North Andover’s powers that be will read this, and you’ll see some of those unnecessary stop signs yielding.