Pluggers by Rick McKee for January 08, 2025

You’re a plugger if you don’t work, and neither does your car.

Pluggers get very old cars with simple engines and manual transmissions. Then get it registered as an antique and promise to drive it less than 1,000 miles/year.

Sadly the speedometer broke and parts are on back order…….

This is obviously a new class of plugger if it has a check engine light instead of gauges. Or, indeed, an engine management computer rather than a carburetor.

The only time there’s a computer in a plugger’s car is when he has a calculator in his pocket.

The malfunctions are likely due to Gremlins.

Pluggers gots computer in car?

My car is 10+ years old and works better than I do.

Which we still had gauges instead of Idiot lights. With a gauge one can watch for trends such as is the battery charging ;-)

Earl just solved this problem…

Right! “Maintenance required soon.” How soon, and what??

Do Pluggers own vehicles with an ‘Engine’ warning light?

Plugger traced it back to his Die Hard battery.

If you have a second genoration Prius, you can push the starter button three times, without touching the brake, turn on the lights, clap three times, and start the air conditioner, hit the brake, and maybe the warning lights will go off.

I hate those things, it can be used by a real scam.

LOL!

You’re a Plugger if your wife tells you the check engine light is on, and you say “Well? Did you check it? Was it there?”

It rarely gets that bad but in most older cars there is at least one warning light that never goes off.

Mine has been on for 5 years, wish it would burn out soon.

I was going to buy a used vehicle once (I’ve never been able to afford a new vehicle, sadly), and heard a chime when it started. I knew, it being a Chrysler, that was an indicator of some problem. I found out that the previous owner taped over the “Check Engine” light with black electrical tape!

my truck has one that will light up red with a lightning bolt over the check engine light if something big time serious is going on. Haven’t seen it… yet… thank goodness!

If not the check engine light, then have the speedometer cluster lights burn out. “Just” need to disable the air-bag, remove the dash panel, the inside firewall, blah blah blah, just to replace a $10 unit. I used the flashlight mode on cellphone to see how fast I was going instead.