High cost of vehicle maintenance

[Aaron Hamilton]

I have a degree in Automotive Technology and do all the work to my vehicles. I'm also really picky about mainenance. Oil change every 3,000 miles with valvoline synthetic, tranny flush with synthetic every year, anitfreeze flush once every two years, K&N air filter gets cleaned every 4 months and spark plugs get changed atleast every 60,000 with Bosch Platimun plus 4 plugs. I'm allways inspecting my brakes, hoses, belts, tie rods and stuff like that. Maintenance is alot cheaper than fixing something when it breaks, and sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck would not be fun. I just did front brakes and 4 new snow tires. Next on the list before the end of the year is belts, plugs and battery. Water pump will be replaced next spring and I'm probably going to do a head gasket within the next year or two. My jeep has 112,000 miles on it and runs perfectly, hope to keep it running for a few hundred thousand more miles. Its a 2001 cherokee and I want to keep it for as long as I can since they don't make them any more and I really like it.

 

[Matthew Havin]

Maintenance??

Maintenance is for the weak. Real men drive until something seizes or breaks.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Maintenance??

Maintenance is for the weak. Real men drive until something seizes or breaks.

I know this comment is a joke but I'm going to play with it a little.





One chase item that I will need to bring along this year...The good ol box of

I guarantee I will need to give the kleenex to the "real men" that are broken down on the highway because they will surely be whining and crying about the HIGH COST to tow their vehicle 30 miles to the nearest garage for the HIGH COST of repair.

 

[Robert Dewey]

How about a promise to stay out of Oakland County? LOL. Seriously though, that sucks... Hopefully you can you start getting things financially on track before the next (hopeful) storm season.

(BTW, it's "senseless")

 

[nickgrillo]

LOL I just deleted my post right before you posted

 

[David Drummond]

That's the nice feature of this board. Anyone that has posted in the thread and has set their preferences to receive email notifications receives a full copy of the post. So even if someone goes back and deletes their post, everyone that was participating in the thread still got to see it.

Just something to remember for those that might want to backtrack later.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

So synthetic oil every 3k... sounds like a waste of money to me. They design the synthetic to last a lot longer (5k-15k depending on source). Just my two cents.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Yea, 3K sounds like a very short service life for any halfway decent synthetic.

On the other hand, some oil life estimating techniques seem too optimistic. The 'Kublin method suggests a 10K+ interval for my Accord. I'm not quite that brave/cheap!

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html has data from an extended oil test. Looking at the numbers, 8~9k seems reasonable, IMO. Anyone aiming for extending their change intervals should periodicaly pop the oil cap and give the valve area a careful look for any sign of sludge buildup. Using a good quality syn oil will probably keep you safe, even if you push things a little. If you see so much as a hint if stuff like this, or this, change the oil immediately!

FWLIW, my Honda gets M1 syn every 7~8K. The oil has started to darken somewhat by ~3.5K (about the time I need to top it off with 1/2 qt.) and gets changed well before becoming black.

Don't skimp on the filter! Good filtration is much more important than the specific oil brand or change interval (within reason).

-Greg

 

[Tim Wakefield]

Agreeed some people do not realize that the oil can sometimes outlast the filter these days. In a car like my wife's the filter is a cartrige style on the top of the engine (easy access finally!!!). In that case the filter can be changed without changing the oil. Although it can be done I am not really recommending it but make sure to spend that little extra for the filter if you want to go the extra miles on the change. Honestly with the beating that Storm cars take I would rather use a good quality standard oil and change it at 3k miles.

But to each their own. All it comes down to is take care of the car so it can take care of you!

 

[cedwards]

When having work done at a mechanic, make sure they DO THE WORK!
Last year before chase season, I paid $65 to get my fuel filter replaced. Later, I found out it hadn't been done.
This year, I had breaks done. I usually expect them to repack the bearings when they do the breaks. My rear bearing went out on me this year and stranded me in Clayton, NM. (You don't want to be stuck there with car trouble.) It cost me $1200 for repairs plus the ridiculous price to rent a van for a week. Thanks to Joel Ewing for driving me to Amarillo to get the rental.
(The van is for sale if anybody wants it)

 

[PeteMcConnell]

I realize I may be preaching to the the choir here, but my most recent chase brings up a point to emphasize. Make sure you have a full size spare tire on board. After waking up in a hotel in Omaha on the morning of a South Dakota chase, one of my tires had gone flat. If I didn't have a spare on board, I would have missed all the tornadoes that day.

 

[Justin Turcotte]

I recently had the fuse blow for the cig lighter. I use that for powering/charging toys while on the chase. I didn't have a spare on hand at the time but now have spares for most components. It is a quick one minute swap out in my car. Well worth having spares on hand.

Check that tire pressure every now and then as well as rotate them. Less tire ware and better fuel economy to boot. I used to think road hazard warranty was a waste but have since saved a quite a bit in tire repair service by having it. Twice I've had two flat tires at one time in the last few years. Talk about bad luck.

My State Farm auto policy has a road side assistance reimbursement addendum for less than an extra buck a month. It pays for the tow and will also cover the lock job should you leave the keys in there. It's already paid off once when the battery dies on my wife after a pitstop. Much cheaper than AAA.