There have been a rash of postings over the past few months telling tales of woe relating to overheating and/or running a Volvo with no oil.

The basic rule of thumb is . . .

If one of the idiot lights comes on relating to temperature, or oil, or if the temperature gauge starts climbing or is already there, or if you see smoke curling around the seams of your hood . . .

STOP IMMEDIATELY AND SHUT THE CAR OFF.

Call a tow truck and get the problem resolved. PERIOD.

I can't believe, in these threads, how many of these people have kind-of learned to live with their car overheating. Every foot you drive with a car in this condition is a fatal insult to the engine.

I don't care if you are just a block away from your driveway. Don't drive the car if it is overheating or the oil idiot light is on. If you want to keep your car, there can be no compromise on this statement.

Whenever I purchase a used car, one of the main questions I ask is, has the car ever overheated, or been run dry. I ask the question in a non-judgemental way so that the person is not afraid to reveal the issue. But if they respond that it had, I will not buy that car.

99% of cars that have these kind of issues, even once, are doomed to an early-life failure.

Overheating and oil failure is to cars what smoking three packs a day is to people. Yeah, there's that one person in West Virginia who has smoked three packs a day and he's currently 98 years old, but most people will die an early death because of that habit. Same thing with overheating and oil failure--some cars will survive this kind of failure to a ripe old age, but 99% will suffer terribly.

My car friends and I used to joke, for cars that only had idiot lights, that the temperature light and the oil light, when they came on, were saying: idiot, you toasted your engine.

So, at the very first sign of any temperature or oil problem, stop the car immediately and don't drive the car until the problem is resolved.