We all know how important it is to keep up with our car or truck's regular maintenance. Without the attention it needs, your vehicle will surely fail you sooner than it should. Oil changes are a given maintenance procedure, but what about some of the less common jobs? Are they necessary or just a way for repair shops and auto parts stores to get a few more dollars out of your pocket? The debates over necessary or unnecessary maintenance procedures have been raging for as long as cars have been on the road. Every mechanic and do-it-yourself car owner has an opinion about what cars need and how often they need it. So what maintenance fits into the don't-need-it category? I'll throw the first one out there -- the chassis lube. Most cars made in the past few decades have almost nothing to lubricate chassis-wise. The cars' aren't even built the way they were back in the chassis lube days!

What maintenance do you see as unnecessary? Engine flushes? 3000-mile oil changes? Let me know!

Before today, if I'd been asked about the worst example of body work I've ever seen, I'd have been choosing between a few really, really bad Bondo jobs I've seen over the years. One poor Ford Fiesta I once knew had so much filler on the front end it looked like a clay pot coming at you. Records are made to be broken, and that Fiesta just got knocked off the block by a maroon conversion van. Wow. I'll let the photo speak for itself, but I think you'll agree that it's some pretty low-quality work.

Don't let your car or truck be the butt of jokes, learn how to do decent body work and you'll save serious money at the body shop while keeping your car off blogs like this.

One of my fellow About.com Guides, Cars Guide Aaron Gold, has a funny blog entry going on common car myths. It's worth checking out, and adding to if you have any of your own. You can see it here.

Here's an other reason to be sure you get a proper written estimate before work begins on your car or truck. Remember, most shop owners are honest, well trained, and essential to the proper maintenance of your car. But this shop owner was crooked, and he will be paying the price for some time. He was fined for charging more than the repair estimate in a number of cases. It's a shame to see somebody with an established shop go to the dark side, but we'll see what happens. In the meantime, you can read about the crime at thespec.com.