# Why does my car get better \*after\* I make the appointment?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 6, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141 "2012-12-06T00:46:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141/1 "2012-12-06T00:46:57Z")

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For a few weeks now, my car has been having a wobble at all speeds, and also somewhat of a stumble to the engine.

I figured I’d hold off and have the dealer check into it at my next scheduled service (not far off), but it just seemed more pronounced this morning on the way to work.

So I made an appointment for tomorrow morning to drop it off.

And of course, the car was running pretty damn good tonight on the ride home. :smack:

The wobble was still there, but not nearly as pronounced or as often. I felt the stumble a little, but again, not nearly like I have before.

I really don’t understand why that happens.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141/2 "2012-12-06T01:18:30Z")

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Machines are much smarter than people think. They rely heavily on non-visual clues. I’d assume in your case the car was monitoring your level of discomfort with the wobble and stumble, and accurately guessed at which point you’d had enough.

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**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141/3 "2012-12-06T03:04:49Z")

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The same reason my fever drops and my sore throat disappears when I finally call the doctor.

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**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141/4 "2012-12-06T04:00:18Z")

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It’s not just cars. My CPAP machine has been gurgling and popping for a month, as well as spraying water over my face. I made an appointment to take it in for service. It immediately started behaving.

Maybe machines are afraid of someone poking around inside them and will alter their behavior to avoid that. Kind of like how we’ll pretend we don’t hurt in order to avoid surgery.