This week on Ron Ananian The Car Doctor, Ron opens with a real Tuesday-morning phone call: a Honda owner chasing the cheapest tie rod and wheel alignment in town after a “great cheap oil change” at the dealer. From there, Ron breaks down the wrong way to talk to a repair shop, why price-shopping without a relationship always backfires, and how skipped 30k/45k/60k services eventually come due—with interest.

Ron also takes listener calls from around the country:

• Billy in Colorado needs to flush a 2010 VW Jetta 2.5 cooling system loaded with oil. Ron walks him through an efficient DIY-style coolant exchange using the expansion bottle instead of a machine.

• Andrea in Delaware hears a whining noise on her 2017 Ram 6.4 Hemi. After a transmission update and conflicting opinions, Ron explains how to separate real diagnosis from guesswork and why she needs a shop that actually listens to the truck.

• Nate in Oregon, a BMW tech and former Acura lube tech, shares a pro tip for removing stubborn Honda/Acura drain plug washers—and Ron talks about over-tightened plugs, stripped pans, and doing oil changes the right way.

Ron closes with stories from the shop: no-show appointments, pricey Mercedes run-flat tires, and why time and trust are the real currency in auto repair.

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