Floss twice a day. Get your teeth cleaned twice a year. Get a routine physical. Preventative maintenance can be hard to find time for in a busy world, and if it’s expensive, neglect is all the more costly. We all know what we’re supposed to do, but how many of us actually do it? Your car, when new, came with a recommended maintenance schedule for the major intervals (30k, 60k, 90k, 120k, etc). Do you follow such a schedule?
Curbside Classic is made up of all kind of different types: Some of us are diehard DIY mechanics whose cars have never seen a shop. Some of us are somewhat mechanically minded and can do a little bit of wrenching but know when to turn things over to a pro. Some of us love cars but have no mechanical savvy whatsoever. File me somewhere in the middle of that group.
As a young man, I went through several cars, doing the minimum maintenance on them to keep them going. Later, when my means allowed for more than a beater, I began to take the idea of preventative maintenance more seriously. In fact, these days, I keep a detailed spreadsheet showing exactly what’s been done, in addition to what needs to be done. I’ve found that in addition to giving me a sense of auto-biography (ha!), prospective buyers of my cars consider it to be a selling point.
Some dealerships advertise specials for interval servicing, and indeed, the previous owner of my current daily driver did these as was recommended. Some of these were obvious shellackings by the dealer, though. Did my Prius really need the throttle body cleaned at 48k? Most likely the dealer just dumped in a can of miracle fluid and charged the previous owner $100 or more.
I’ve tried to find a good balance between what the service manual recommends, and what I can stomach paying for. But yes, I’ve gotten in the habit of following the recommendations. I do what I can at home by myself, and I pay for what is beyond my ability. I don’t pay for a “90k Maintenance Package” as such, but I make sure that I try to do the things that are recommended for that interval as quickly as time and funds allow.
What about you, curbsiders? How closely do you follow the recommended maintenance schedule?
With the majority of my cars having been of the older variety, I’ve tended to play the “keep the oil changed every 5k or so and see to the rest as needed” game. But with my wife’s Forte Koup, the first brand new car I’ve purchased, I followed the 30k without question and slightly flinched at the $300+ price tag. For 60k I got wise and *looked* at the services done for the interval, and judged that they could be handled individually as nothing major was called for. With longer intervals between major services in modern cars, it’s rare to see much that’s crucial before 100k (in my not-at-all-a-mechanic opinion). No 60k timing belt intervals anymore on current vehicles, I’d wager.
I need to adopt your spreadsheet idea as my documentation tends to be of the folder-of-receipts variety…
I follow the recommended maintenance schedule pretty religiously. Firmly believe in preventative maintenance – pay now or pay (more) later.
However, following a schedule still didn’t keep my 2000 Audi A6 from racking up a lot of other needed repairs – like replacing the water pump sooner, the cat converter, other modules. Not surprisingly I no longer own it
Yes I do. Worked well to keep my little Audi reliable.
Oil and Coolant are all I truly follow religiously, twice a year and every two years respectively. All else I generally just keep an eye on and if I find something wearing out on one side, I’ll replace both or all sides. If I was ever unfortunate enough to own a car with a timing belt I’d replace that at the recommended intervals as well, really just depends on the severity of the failure mode for me.
I just recently changed the timing belt on my Citroen Ive no idea what mileage it had done that feature is disabled but the waterpump was weeping so new pump tensioner roller belt and idler roller went in, quite a simple job thanx to intelligent design a child could do it in fact it would be easier with child sized hands, far easier and cheaper for parts than any of the Toyota belt changes Ive done.
Like most of us, when I started driving the only vehicles that I could afford were used, well used, sometimes used to the point where they didn’t have much left. Since I didn’t have much money I learned how to do basic maintenance and minor repairs in order to keep these beaters on the road. Fifty years after the fact I can still remember changing the starter on my ’61 Ford in an unheated garage on a cold December’s day. Of course nearly all cars from this era (fifties/sixties/seventies) required more frequent attention than the cars of today.
For the past 30 years or so I’ve mostly purchased new (or at least newish) vehicles and I am ambivalent about the recommended maintenance intervals. On the one hand I do change the oil pretty frequently and make sure that all of the fluid levels are correct and that consumable items are replaced as needed. On the other hand I’ve never taken vehicles in for the 30k/60k/75k services; perhaps I’m cynical but most of what gets done in these services is of questionable value. Perhaps I’ve been lucky but not one of these vehicles has ever suffered any kind of malfunction that would have been prevented by these scheduled services.
” Fifty years after the fact I can still remember changing the starter on my ’61 Ford in an unheated garage on a cold December’s day.”
Boy, do I feel your pain! At least you had a garage…
A buddy and I changed a generator on my 1961 Chevy in a Target parking lot the day after xmas, 1968, IN THE SNOW! Bitterly cold, too. Both of us got sick, too.
Later, in the 80s, changing a water pump on a 1980 225 LeBaron after supper in the carport in February. That was a lot of fun as well.
Many other fun stories from way back when if I had the time.
Amen. I did the water pump on my Vega (required removing the timing belt) in the back yard with snow coming down once upon a time.
I have a heated shop (18’x22′) but can’t get a car in due to other projects scattered about, so I still do the maintenance in the cold. At least it’s under a roof and out of the wind.
Lying on my back in an icy, windy 15-degree-F Boston street adjusting the valves on my ’63 Bug. My hands can still feel the pain of wrestling the damned clips over the valve covers.
During my beater driving years in Wisconsin, I always wondered why the problems that immobilized the car always seemed to pop-up during the coldest days when everything was caked with snow and ice. If you could find a heated garage to borrow, the darn things would drip all over you while working on it. My beaters never seemed to break in summer. They always waited until it was cold and miserable. Even repairs you’d associate with summer such as radiator leaks seemed to occur more often in winter.
Yes, especially since my Sable’s an ’01. I’m pretty nerdy about transmission fluid and engine oil. This is the first car I’ve run synthetic oil in and I think it’s paying off. Next up is a coolant system cleaning.
It just had inspection and the mechanic gave it high praise for being in good shape.
The car has some faults but it’s reliable for reasonable road trips.
Yes I do, by the book as much as possible. Our cars last longer that way.
When I was young? No. Not much money and drove worn-out bombs until they quit.
When I bought my 1964 Chevy in the USAF, that was a much better car and I maintained it very well. Pretty much every car since I try to maintain them as best as I can, though I do very little work myself anymore – better left to the professionals. After I retire, I may go back and do a little wrenching to save money if I can.
Yes, very methodically. Maintenance at the dealership nearby, conform Toyota’s factory schedule. That’s every 15,000 km (9,375 miles). Last monday it had its 330,000 km service, so I’ve collected 22 stamps since I bought the car, exactly 15 years ago.
The invoice for this week’s service was € 470. That includes 7.5 liter engine oil (because 3.0 liter diesel engine), an oil filter and a fuel filter.
Below the engine last year March, at 303,000 km. Apart from filters, fluids, the battery, the T-belt and the starter everything under the hood is still factory original. Ditto for the clutch and the complete suspension and exhaust system.
I dont think I’ve ever owned a car under 15 years old… so I just do the change oil and filter twice a year, all other fluids every year or two or as needed
Oil changes, tire pressure, plugs, air filters, brakes…absolutely. All critical items. Things like tranny and diff fluid, even coolant I use my best judgment. Oregon climate is pretty temperate so it’s easier on coolant. And rule of thumb on tranny, transfer case and diff fluid is if its clean and doesn’t smell off then I let it ride to the next.
This is just my theory, but between improvements in quality of oils and fluids and more importantly advanced manufacturing techniques cars are MUCH more forgiving to neglect than they were years ago. Im not even talking about processes that are obsolete like manually setting timing (all by PCM now) or repacking wheel bearings (now its sealed units), but rather that parts are made to MUCH more precise tolerances now and wear items are of better quality. Just last nite I changed the plugs and coil paks on a friend’s 140K mile ’06 Scion xA. She complained that it was running a bit rough and sputtering, which was what I saw as I brought it into my garage. The air filter could have grown row crops it was so filthy, and while the plugs had the ‘tan color and just a touch of carbon’ indicating it was running properly, the electrodes were nearly gone. The filter had been in for WAY too long and I suspect the plugs were original to the car. A Mopar LA V8 or AMC 258 would run like a bag of buttholes if at all subjected to that.
Is it true that when a modern car has been neglected like that, it’s best to pull the cables off the battery after replacing the plugs and filter so that the ECM resets back to factory settings? It won’t run best on the settings that it had before since the air and spark are back to normal, right?
You should have told her to get the fuel injection cleaned, too.
I try to keep to the schedule, but do the jobs in bite-sized chunks – I changed a rear hub bearing on the Accord(TSX 2-U ) last weekend, but didn’t replace the disc pads because rain was threatening, and the special piston-retracting tool I bought needed tweaking to fit. I did the front pads ( and discs) about 6 months ago. My wife has had the car for 6 years, and it is still pretty immaculate. The last proper service was done by the main dealer because she wanted the aircon checked, and I don’t do aircon.
I think maintaining by the book at the dealership clearly has its benefits. They can alert the customer if there is an open recall, they have factory trained technicians working on your car that work on those cars all the time so they know their little quirks, and usually the work is done the way it should be with the proper manufacturer spec fluids and replacement items. Many items that most consumers would normally forget about like brake/power steering fluids, cabin filters and such often get neglected and if the dealership schedule/menu didn’t suggest they get changed it is possible they would never get changed. Alas, this is not always cheap to follow however. The thing I cannot understand is the person that spends 30, 40, 50k plus for a vehicle only to neglect maintaining it properly. If you are a do-it-yourselfer then you can try to change some of these things yourself, but for the average Joe the dealership is the only way to go if they don’t already have a good mechanic. And with the technology and sophistication of most new cars today, I wouldn’t want to risk neglecting my new investment by not following the recommended maintenance charts.
I personally have a ’17 Acura RDX that I intend on keeping for a long time. There are a few things I can do myself, but for the most part I will maintain it according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. And don’t forget – if you read the service menu and there are some things you don’t want done or you can do some yourself, have them omit doing them. Some advisors will not be happy with you but heck, it is your pocket not theirs! They will never tell you that you can “a la carte” the 30/60/90 service menu intervals but you most certainly can.
Oil change every 10,000 kms on the 10k, and hope me or my mechanic notice something fishy.
My Acura is at 151,000 kms, and I’ve put on 35,000 kms and done 4 oil changes, plus odd things and a few checkups. If I do things right, I hope boredom or financial success
, as opposed to mechanical wear and failure, are why it gets replaced.
I’m in the process of catching up on maintenance the previous owner of my VW van deferred. After he bought it from his brother with about 100k, he drove it very little for the next five years, and did little maintenance beyond fixing things that started to break over the next 20k miles.
Getting the van caught up to where it should be has been an expensive burden, then, that has mostly been mine. In fact, now that the van needs a new starter, I’ve got to address that before I can get back to the routine stuff. If previous owners can produce evidence of having properly cared for a vehicle, that is worth its weight in gold.
I’m confused by the maintenance spreadsheet shown in this post. How did your rear brakes increase in thickness between 2010 and 2012?
Haha, I’m sure that they didn’t increase – most likely they were two separate measurements by two different techs. That was before I bought the car, though, so I can’t be sure.
I have always followed the recommended maintenance schedule since I owned my own vehicles. However, as I have gotten older and lazier, I have had the dealer perform regular maintenance because I found their costs are very similar to independent shops. I also like to “upgrade” the oil quality. I use dexos oil in my old Sierra and put Mobil 1 in my Cruze in the hope it will extend the life of the turbo engine.
Good topic!
More or less follow manufacturer service schedule at an independent Honda repair shop. I’ve lost interest in 3,000 mile oil changes but hesitate to go 7,500 between changes, so have settled at 5k as a good easy-to-track interval. I’ve become committed to factory parts, since they are backed up by engineering and manufacturing expertise. The quality of anything else seems to be a crap shoot.
Would also like to mention a rather oddball service schedule followed by a former coworker. He swore by changing the oil every 2k miles but the filter only once or twice a year. Go figure.
While I embrace the concept of scheduled maintenance, I’m not very meticulous about tracking mileage and looking up the required items, so I’m pleased that Honda cars have started tracking that stuff on their own- Just last week my wife’s Fit displayed maintenance code B 124.
I knew B was oil and filter, and the 1 was tire rotation, but I needed to look up the 2 and 4. Item 2 turned out to be the air filter ($18 on Amazon!), and item 4 was plugs and a valve adjustment.
I spent Sunday changing plugs and dialing in the valves, and was amazed that at 105k, the engine case is mostly free of oil and grease!
Like everyone else, I spent my youth managing maintenance on an as needed basis, and the engines in 1980 were far dirtier at 50K than the current ones at twice that mileage.
To answer the stated question of the post, “mostly.” I run full synthetic in all our vehicles now, and I can often extend the oil change interval. I did my ’00 New Beetle TDI every 10K, for example, and it was still in excellent shape when I sold it at 220K miles.
I *never* changed the transmission fluid or filter in any of the five Chrysler/Dodge/VW Routan minivans we’ve owned. The ’98 GC made it almost 280K miles, two were totaled in accidents and the ’06 T&C died from other causes (after we sold it to our son when he got married). The Routan is at ~80K miles and 5 years old, so we’ll see how it holds up.
Our driving habits mean I do oil changes 2-3 times a year on our vehicles, so I typically do air filters and other periodic maintenance items every or every other time… seems to have worked out well over the years.
Years ago when I was a much younger Duck, financial necessity meant that I always did my own oil and filter changes, changed plugs and points, did my own ignition timing, fitted new brake pads and shoes and so on. I even managed to change a blown head gasket on a tired six year old Ford Cortina 1600 Mk3 in a supermarket carpark once with some assistance from a big friend who was good at lifting heavy things! That was then…..
I still watch You Tube vids on how to overhaul various bits of my 20 year old Bentley. Honestly, they’re better than porn: in my mind’s eye, I can rebuild the engine, overhaul the hydraulic braking system, drop the tranny, even sort out the rear diff. You name it, I can do it! Well, that’s the theory. The practice is, erm, a bit different.
I changed a headlamp bulb in preparation for last year’s MOT and popped the new one in slightly squint with the result that the car promptly failed. While I was at it, I also managed to overfill one of the hydraulic fluid reservoirs. The handbook makes this allegedly simple operation out to be a complete doddle but it bloody well isn’t. The car sulked and dripped the stuff through the overflow onto the drive for days afterwards. I have learned my lesson and am now a reformed character. I check the oil, glug the right mix of Pimms into the screenwash and shut the bonnet again as fast as is decently possible. All those nice little RR monogrammed spanners stay pristine and untouched in the car’s toolkit.
I’m the opposite of many commenters – when I first had a car I was working full time and living with my parents, and tended to follow manufacturer schedules.
Now I have a kid and a student wife and am dirt poor, I have a 12 yr old car and get oil and coolant changes when I feel like it’s probably due. Totally unscientific. Got new coolant a few months ago due to a leak, about to get brake fluid for the same reason.
Adult family & friends when I was a kid all drove relatively new cars and took them to the main dealer for servicing, getting all the little stamps in the book, so I always assumed this was vital. I would hear comments along the lines of “Never buy a used Lada/Skoda/Hyundai, those types of people won’t service their car properly, but Saab/Volvo/whatever will have been looked after”.
On the other hand, they might get the oil changed at 6 months/6,000 miles or 12 months/12,000 miles as part of a bigger service but would never change it in between manufacturer services. Oil change places like Valvoline centres don’t exist here. Oil change coupons don’t exist either.
I still stick to 3k miles for oil changes – even with our “newest” car – an ’11 RAV4 V6 that takes nearly 6 and a half quarts and recommends a 5k interview. Except for my side project cars, we tend to keep our cars and trucks longer than most people. With my daily driver, an ’02 Silverado 4×4, I change the oil every 3k and service the transmission every 50k to 60k miles. It’s got over 160k miles but I eventually want to limit it to just hauling and towing duties and find something fun to drive to work… like a used GTI or Focus RS.
I stuck with this same formula for my ’98 Cherokee, which I haven’t been able to make myself put up for sale yet because we’ve had it for 14 years! I kept every receipt for oil and fluids purchased with the miles written on them. Of course now that I’m getting closer to selling it, the envelope that contained this proof of a padantic service history is nowhere to be found. I was hoping that these receipts would justify a higher price compared to other Jeeps for sell in my area.
I ran dino juice in our ’98 Grand Caravan, so changed the oil every 2-3K. The engine was still running great and oil consumption was only slightly elevated when it finally succumbed (transmission) at ~280K miles.
I’m a vegetarian with the new cars and dang it still looks good at 10,000 miles. I had it tested once and the report says it was good. So I’m following the owners manual. On the old cars yea it’s good old crude and it’s every few thousand miles.
Always. It’s just like taking care of your body – if you don’t now, you’ll pay for it later.
Now? I try to change the oil before winter sets in and sometime before it gets hot. What’s an air filter? If I have one and remember I’ll put it in…. The rest seems to be a series of ‘inspections’. However, if you’re worrying about maintaining the warranty, you’ll need to do more. Whatever.
Give up on the 3,000 mile oil changes in a 21st Century vehicle! The engine doesn’t create the waste and the oils are better made than they were in 1970. My ’60 Studebaker recommended oil changes at 2,000 mile intervals, but it didn’t have an oil filter. I do religiously grease king pins every 2,000 miles, and that stupid center pivot ( there are actually 17 grease points on a Studebaker frame). But again, this is WWII technology, and I no longer put 1,000 miles a month on one. Mopar six ball joints And if you have a slant six w/distributor, you gotta do the points at every oil change. Or switch it to electronic.
The 3000 mile oil change is, and maybe always has been, something of an American scam, I think. European cars & engines (i.e. those sold in Europe) have had much longer change intervals, going back years! 10 or 12,000 km intervals have been recommended there , even for my sister-in-law’s ’87 Corolla she owned in France ’til two years ago. Who knows when she changes the oil now in her Yaris. Then again, my Dad’s Peugeot 404 twice poped the gasket on the oil filter, dumping all the oil on the driveway. Always wondered if, was that a Peugeot oddity? Too long an interval between oil changes/ What?
Insanely follow. Beyond general use manufacturer’s schedule: severe duty.
Long ago I read a book [still have it] called “Why Trade It In” that laid out not just preventive maintenance, but pre-emptive, using a time and mileage schedule for replacement of components before they died.
The 63 Valiant was purchased in 1981 with the requirement that it be as simple as possible with no power accessories, so that if something went out, I’d be able to use my dubious mechanical skills to fix it. Or know what was wrong.
As soon as I was making money I happily had professionals fix things.
Rebuilt engine in 1988 on the Valiant had it’s first oil change at 600 miles.
New 99 Cavalier, 1300 miles and the new 05 ION, 1500 miles. Severe duty schedules for both.
The ION got trans fluid changed at 50,000 miles. @ 10 years & 60,000: new plugs, boots, belts, hoses [even the HVAC hoses]. Time heat and dirt rot rubber, and much better to maintain on my schedule than beside the road in 110 desert heat.
Besides, I am quite skeptical of so called “lifetime” trans and 5 year cooling system fluids and 100,000 mile plug changes. Stubbornly so, as many will say it’s perfectly adequate and provide data to back the opposite assertion.
I got a lot of value out of “Why Trade It In”.
As mentioned above paying new car prices and then running the car into the ground makes zero sense.
My rituals may seem the same to many, but it’s money well spent. For me it’s respect for machinery, taking care of what I have and assurance that a good proportion of the risk of being sidelined is avoided by some money and a little planning ahead.
I’ve traded in one car in my entire life.
Mostly. I stick to oil changes at 3-5K intervals and aim for transmission services every 30K. Otherwise, I look at the schedule that came with the car and do what needs done. My indy mechanic is good about recommending what needs done and not doing what doesn’t. I will confess that I have gotten lazy about checking oil between changes because my two DDs are so good about never using any oil.
I remember some time back one of our local Honda dealers had a dealership maintenance schedule that was *much* more aggressive (and expensive) than what Honda recommended from the factory. That is just silly. Most of us here have a way of communing with our cars and can often tell when something is going to need attention.
I always keep to the manufacturer’s schedule on my own vehicles until the warranty is up. Makes it harder for the slippery &%$#!s to weasel out. Once the warranty is up I look after things myself using the 10,000 km interval system we developed when I was a fleet manager. A little googling will give you a pretty good idea of frequent problem areas on your specific vehicle so you can keep an eye on things.
It’s like the Fram commercials used to say, you can pay me a little now, or a lot later.
Some of the references to replacing components in ugly locations and lousy weather remind me of replacing a spindle and rotor on a ’78 Trans Am in the parking lot of an auto parts store. In Fort St John BC (Mile 48 on the Alaska Highway) in January. The manager was good enough to let me pack the bearings inside where it wasn’t -40. I never neglected wheel bearing service again….
Won’t let me edit the above: first coolant change on the ION @ 3 years, 36,000 miles.
Now I drive so little, twice a year oil changes and Mobil 1.
I simply have better things to spend my money on than a new car to replace what I have {Cruze, Sonic, Focus ] at $20-25,000.
I’d rather spend that money on the Valiant.
I keep to all maintenence schedules on the ’75 Oldsmobile except for the parts which it is my understanding are built to last a bit longer now than the 1975 stuff. Oil changes every 3K plus a dose of ZDDP additive for the old 455. Coolant every 18 months or so. Drop and refill transmission every 30K (never done it on the Olds since it hasn’t gone 30K since I had the THM 400 but got. 175K trouble free from a more fragile THM 200R4 that way). Rotate tires including the full sized spare. Annual check of suspension components and every few months check the belts and hoses for signs of trouble.
I change the plugs and wires, air filter, rotate and inspect tires, adjust the choke and the carb mixtures screws and such myself. Anything involving a lift I bring to a mechanic. I don’t change the oil myself either since it’s quicker to go to the instant, but I do bring my own materials and often do so for the repairs as well.
No.
I change oil at 6-8k on the cars, and once every summer, or every other summer on the old F-100. And I use cheap dino oil; never synthetic. Haven’t had a motor wear out or break on me yet.
Other than that, I will eventually get around to things like air filters, plugs, brake pads, etc. as really needed. I have not changed the coolant in the Scion yet, and it’s now 12 years old. Maybe it’s about time.
I absolutely do not take cars in for scheduled maintenance visits to the dealer as per the manufacturer’s schedule. I say goodby to the dealer when I pick up the car when new, with very rare exception, like a recall.
I also have not used a regular mechanic in a good many years. Just haven’t needed one since I switched to Japanese cars. 🙂 It was a different story with the Jeep Cherokee and Dodge caravan. If something really needs fixing and I’m not up to it, I’ll just take it somewhere depending on what it is.
Frankly, I’m a minimalist on maintenance. And yet it seems to work. I keep my new cars 15 some years with 170k or so miles. They’re not exactly pristine by then, but basically still sound.
I lean to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it school”, except for the real basic essentials.
You’re living on the edge, there, Paul. I always changed the oil in my ’69 F-100 every year, whether it needed it or not!
Yes, I figure the engineers are the ones who know best — as opposed to Tony the shade tree mechanic or slap-hazard maintenance schedules. The oil change sticker is another good source as long as it stays within reason such as 5k miles between changes. Good baselines to go by. If the engineer does screw up, I’ll just jump on the class action party wagon using common sense along the way.
This is the main reason why I never modify my vehicles either, cosmetically or otherwise. If accessories made the car better or prettier, the engineers/designers would have installed them (ie steering wheel covers, skull gear knobs, special filters etc). There’s a reason why companies spend huge money on R&D and design/focus groups. Might as well take advantage of that know-how and committee work for major aspects of car ownership.
DIY and by the book. I have kept a detailed log in the glove compartment of every car I have owned, great at selling time to private parties.
The Honda Fit makes it easy with a built-in computer, as Dave Skinner has mentioned above.
Chevy K2500 pickup had a complete log when purchased at California State auction. Over 150,000 miles and it runs like new. They did oil changes every 6000 miles. I do it annually and sent a sample to Blackstone labs the first time I did it for a sanity check.
Chevron Supreme motor oil and Delo gear oils. Synthetics not called for, nor necessary in this mild climate.
No, I do not. About vehicle maintenance, a lot of Americans have notions warped along multiple axes. Nutty recommendations from automakers—Change the oil every 4,000 miles and change the oil filter every second oil change/8,000 miles (’64, ’66, and ’72 Chrysler Corp cars per a spot check just now). Change the oil every 6,000 miles whether you use regular or synthetic oil (Honda in 2007 amongst probably many other years). Screwball ideas from dad, who got them from dad, who got them from dad. Dumb ideas—toilet paper oil filters, e.g.—commercially promoted based on handwaving and ignorance. Hideously wasteful ideas (Change your oil every 3,000 miles if you really love your car! Buy Scamsoil from within its pyramid-scheme “dealer” network if you really love your car, because major-brand oils that cost half as much are poopy commodity products!) promoted by those who extract money that way.
Almost a year ago I bought an ’07 Accord V6. It has what pretends to be an oil condition monitor, which is really just a 6,000-mile countdown timer. I put in a good quality filter and a reputable brand of synthetic oil (Pennzoil, since it was on sale) of the specified grade of oil. Disregarded/reset the oil change reminder when it pestered me, changed the oil and filter at 10,300 miles and sent in a sample of the drain oil for analysis. I fully expect it to come back indicating I could’ve carried on with that oil for a fair long time. Whatever the specifics of its findings, I’ll adjust my practice Accordingly, as it were.
Routine maintenance other than oil change-y type stuff, that’s more of a case-by-case basis. With an interference engine, I’m not very interested in seeing how long beyond the specified interval I can make a timing belt last, at least not until I put in an ultra-heavy-duty belt.
I forgot about those toilet paper oil filters.
I do know that GM’s oil monitors “count down” depending on whether the engine warms up completely or not. My Aurora would give about 3000 miles in shorter driving (6 miles to work) but 4000 on long trips. Now I live out more so if I start the car, it goes 10 miles or more, then before it cools much I drive home. The SRX required synthetic oil and I would get about 15,000 mile between oil changes. The ATS and CTS require a GM blend of sorts (dexos), that gives me about 7000 miles between changes.
Overnight I thought about this a bit more, and I think with the Aurora, the 3000 mile interval was winter time, and the 4000 mile was summer. Long trips I think were about 60 to 70 miles for each 1% (or 6-7,000). I never changed oil during a long trip.
My 500 would do that. The oil change nag would pop on at around 4,000 miles in normal city and take the expressway home driving, but on a 6,000 mile vacation jaunt it didn’t come on at all until a month after getting home. It really helps to get the engine warmed up.
Followup: As I expected, the report came back showing the drain oil was in excellent condition at 10,300 miles; I could’ve probably driven double that mileage (through something like three and a half dashboard exhortations to change the oil) without the oil numbers turning badward.
Not surprised. I think a lot of folks would be surprised to see what kind of shape their oil is in after 10k miles by testing it. Jiffy Lube and all that neurotic oil changing at 3-4-5k miles is a scam.
Maybe it’s time for me to re-run one of my very first articles at TTAC on the subject: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2007/01/peek-oil/
Having read it, I can say for sure that if you run it, I’ll read it! :^)
I did do a coolent and brake flush on the Titan in 2014 when it was ten years old. Only because the dealer tested the coolent and said it was time. I bring it in to the dealer once a year for oil change, and do what they recommend myself, although the last time I did the coolent flush but let them do the brake flush. I normally don’t do brake fluid changes unless I’m replacing wheel or master cylinders, but since the truck is my first vehicle with ABS I’ve heard it’s more important to keep the fluid clean. Only have 16k miles on the 2004 Titan and use non synthetic oil, as I have never used synthetic on any of my vehicles.
The ’86 Jetta got oil changes every 3-4k miles when it was a go to work car and got 15k a year put on it. Only changed coolent when doing every 100k miles T belt, drive belts and water pump change. Non interference engine,happily. Gear oil change in manual trans every 100k miles. Filters, plugs, brakes as needed. Has worked well for me, over 300k on Jetta and original drivetrain still runs well, uses no oil. If it ain’t broke, leave it alone is my policy and has worked well for me.
I mostly follow the maintenance schedule in the owner’s manual for my Pontiac G6. OnStar will also send you updates and reminders about major services. I also follow the car’s oil change service interval, so I end up going about 6K miles per oil change, or about twice a year. I use dino (GM Dexos) oil, never really had any issues with it. The car has 112K miles, runs rather well.
I get the trans oil changed every 50K miles, the plugs and coolant changed every 100K. At the 100K service, the coolant looked as good as new, the plugs were hardly worn. Sealed cooling systems keep the coolant clean. Unleaded fuel goes a long way to keeping plugs clean. The trans shifts like new, no “flares” or hard shifts. The kid at the local Quick Lane at the Chevy dealer asked me if I wanted to have the engine flushed at the last oil change. I told him: “Hell no!” It’s been maintained by the book and runs fine. I don’t want to screw up a good thing.
Now if I could do something inexpensively about the dead power seat motor (it has two) and I’m not that far away from needing struts and shocks (about 30K miles). We’ll see if I still have the car at 150K.
Take the cars that I own and compare the differences… My ’67 Ninety Eight says to change the oil every 60 days or 6,000 miles and to change the filter every 6 months or 6,000 miles. Get to the ’73 Delta 88 and it’s oil and filter *both* at an interval of 4 months or 6,000 miles. I recall that by ’78 the Oldsmobile recommended maintenence schedule was oil and filter changes every 12 months or 7,500 miles, with (IIRC) a “severe service” exception that recommended the now-common 3 month 3,000 mile interval.
Tune-ups in the points-and-condenser era were recommended at 12 month, 12,000 mile intervals. Do I follow that with the cars I haven’t switched over to HEI? No! I used to but saw no difference in performance. I go with the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it philosophy there. No use wasting money on spark plugs, rotors, wires, points, etc.
As for oil changes, I record when they’re performed and do them whenever I have time (kind of slim being a Lutheran pastor and graduate student simultaneously), and keep a close eye on the dipstick readings in the meantime.
Depends on how the car gets used. I halved the schedule for my wife’s 2011 LR4 we bought new…oil changes every 7500 miles instead of 15,000 miles, since it was used mostly in town and 15,000 just frankly seemed excessive. I also change the differentials and transfer case every 30,000 which I think is 1/3 of the required interval. But it’s cheap and easy to change, so why let it go so long. My 2007 S550 has been mostly highway miles since new. The original owner put 150,000 miles on it in 7 years, and followed the recommended 13,000 mile changes. I have followed 7500 mile changes since I bought it. After 2 years we are at 185,000 miles. The oil does come out significantly cleaner after a few 7500 mile changes, so that’s some argument for 13,000 being too long. But the engine runs great and burns zero oil between 7500 mile changes, so it may have been dirty inside but it wasn’t harmed by the factory intervals.
We take our cars to the local garage, which has been in business longer than we’ve lived here (so >18 years). They specially like working on big 6-cylinder Mitsubishis, which is handy for us. He pretty much follows the schedule with a minor service every 10,000km with a full check-over, and more major work as required. Our car is primarily used for constant-speed country and occasional suburban work, so this works well for us. In between times I keep an eye on the oil level, just in case, and do a visual check under the hood.
The MINI is still in warranty, so goes to the MINI garage. Too complex for me, anyway
I learned the value of proper servicing/preventative maintenance in the 1990s. I worked for a pie company and travelled around 2,000km a week making regional deliveries in a 1994 Toyota Hiace 2.8 diesel van. It received routine oil/filter changes every 10,000km (each 5-6 weeks) by the local Toyota dealer who’d sold it new to my boss. I often asked the dealer if anything else, like the timing belt, needed checking at each service, and they always said “Its history and requirements are in our computer, so we enter the mileage each time and do anything else the servicing programme says”.
Seems the computer never told them to change the timing belt, and in 1999, I was travelling along happily at 100km/h when the timing belt snapped at almost 500,000km and instantly seized the engine… The valves put holes in a couple of pistons, necessitating a full rebuild, but incredibly the crank and block were undamaged! Those old Toyota diesels sure were good, such a shame the dealer wasn’t…
And of course when rebuilding the engine, they accidentally put the tapered piston rings on upside-down, so the oil consumption was horrific during the next couple of thousand km, and they only stopped assuring me that the huge cloud of black exhaust smoke was normal for a rebuilt engine when it ran out of oil and seized again just a couple of weeks after being rebuilt…
I didn’t own the van, so didn’t have to pay for any of the repairs of course, but since then, regardless of whether I had a company car or my own car, I’ve always followed the service schedule. Better safe than sorry!
In the first years of ownership, i have adhered to the schedule as required to keep in warranty and then the major items as recommended (e.g., coolant and trans fluid change, timing belts, plugs) for as long as I own the car. I keep a book with all receipts and a log for each, but do think this spreadsheet example looks pretty sweet. I’ve been following the schedules for my 2012 Abarth and 2013 MB e350 BlueTEC religiously, though. Figure they might be the last new cars I buy.
Oh, and kept it up on our 2001 Highlander, always at our excellent Toyota dealer and the car has around 227k miles now.
I’m new to this site and my job is purely focused on preventative maintenance.
I treat my vehicle maintenance a little differently than my job. I closely monitor oil changes and at times allow the interval to slide up to 50%, never more. Air filters are the easiest to manage, but they generally are changes when due. Fuel filters I’m quite anal about. Contaminants kill injectors.
As for wearing parts I determine the extent of wear and its impact on vehicle safety and performance.
maybe it’s just in my head but over these many years and many cars i think the most reliable and trouble free have been those i’ve paid the least maintenance attention to.
most of my vehicles have been in the beater category and manual shift so i don’t get too fussy about scheduled service and since i’ll usually be the last owner i’ve got nothing to prove to a buyer. with the exception of synth oil changes around 10K, it’s an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach. or maybe “whatever it needs for inspection” approach.
Timing Belts get changed before the recommended interval (71 Fiat Spider, learned the hard way…) Oil, I use full synthetic oil/12K or 1 year, everything else I adhere to factory standards. Never had a car die (45+ years) from neglected maintenance….
Given that my current Mazda 3 is still under the guarantee, not following the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule would be extremely stupid, so yes, whenever the car (or the Mazda dealer) tells me. My previous cars – all of which were curbside classics – always saw regular oil/timing belt/brakes/coolant maintenance, in some cases (oil changes) more often than the recommended manufacturer’s schedule. Other than that it was whenever it was needed (e.g.: rust). This is a must if you have a car older than 10 years – far more than in the case of newer vehicles. The result was I was never let down so that I had to be towed back.
Some wide perspectives here. I guess I am so anal about it because my father was so lax.
His maintenance schedule was spotty at best. I thought that was criminal neglect because I was so in love with that 66 Mercury Montclair my parents owned.
It only got waxed by me and I was 11 the first time it got “simonized” with Turtle Wax. Rare to catch it in a washed state.
Correction to one of my posts above: oil change once a year [not twice] now with Mobil 1 as I drive so little these days.
Will definitely incorporate some of the ideas presented here.
Additionally, while the engineers do know best, they also gave us the oil burning Mitsubishi V6, Saturn’s 1.9, the Vega engine, sludging units from VW and Toyota, the Mopar 2.7 V6 and gasket eating Neon engine, Ford’s 3.8 V6, early Ecotecs with much too small timing chain oilers, Northstars and 4.1 V8s, weak automatic transmissions mechanically at odds with long fluid change intervals and carbon build up from direct injection.
Late to the party here, but yes and no to this question. For every car until the current 2016 Honda Civic, I’ve done the every 3,000 mile thing. Always conventional oil in the exact grade my owner’s manual recommended. My 2007 Mustang was the first car that recommended Semi-Synthetic oil, and a 5,000 (severe) or 7,500 mile oil change interval. I still stuck to the old school 3,000 mile thing. Oh and filter too! Why just change the oil and not the filter? Really? I’m not much of a mechanic, but always do oil changes myself, except for RARE occasions.
Anyway, the new Honda recommends just using the oil life monitor on the car. At 3,000 miles, it was at like, 70% life left. This car uses 0W-20 Full Synthetic oil. The dealer says that Honda uses a break in oil, and that I needed to leave it in for a minimum of 5K…. Like someone with OCD, it was all I could do to leave without getting that oil change. A couple of months later, at 5,002 miles on the clock, I was back. They changed the oil, and handled a service bulletin I spotted and did a multi-point inspection, all of free. She now has about 7,800 miles and the monitor says 80%. My ex-wife (a tech) says, “Rick, you just need to let go…” we still crack up about that one. She says today’s cars and oils are good for like 1 year and 7,500 miles easy! Just take it in when the monitor is down to 15%.
Contrary to what some say above about oils life monitors, according to my ex, they count engine revolutions to determine when it’s time, so my fuzzy math tells me, about 7,800 to 8,100 is going to be good, as my Civic is used mainly for my highway commute. She works on police cars that idle all the time, and says that the clock is usually up at about 4K.
As to the rest of the “Dealer Recommended Interval” stuff – Not Really… maybe in the new Honda while it’s under warranty to keep it current, but I have a very good (and even honest!) neighborhood mechanic that handles all of my needs on the stuff that requires a lift, or things I don’t feel like (or am comfortable) doing myself. He is of the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset.
I suppose at 173K, my Mustang should have her coolant replaced for the second time. The first time was when a plastic thermostat housing cracked and all the coolant dumped out at 95K. Luckily, I was half a mile from my mechanic for that one. Went back the next day and dumped in 3 growlers of water (2 liters bottles for beer – lucky for me I’m a homebrewer and had these ;o) and drove it right to his shop. Now she has a slight coolant seep around the gasket of the overflow bottle cap, and it may be time. The hoses are original and look fine, but I think it might be time to change them!
This “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset has served me well for the most part over these many years, but for air filters and plugs, and brakes, and other “wear” items, I pretty much stay on top of what is recommended. But a dealer email that says, “Your car is due for its 120,000 mile service, and you should bring it in today!” (Complete with coupons and such)… yeah, they’re pretty much ignored.
Now, about that timing chain (belt?) interval on my wife’s 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0L… I still can’t find any intel on that and she’s at 82K…. Should I be worried yet? Why can’t the Japanese cars come with big roller chains that last the life of the engine like American Cars? Just kidding here: Hers has been the least problematic car of all of them! All I’ve ever done is change its oil and filters, brakes, and wiper blades and such. There may’ve been a recall or two. And of course tires. Gotta get new tires once in a while. ;o)
In aviation, where mechanical/electrical failure is a life and death issue, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” has actually proven valid, when implemented correctly.
Replacing parts “on condition” rather than at set intervals has increased, not decreased reliability of first military and now civil aircraft fleets. A part that has been in service for a long time has been proven less likely to fail than a new or overhauled one. Two reasons, a percentage of defective new parts and mistakes made by persons installing them. Every time someone wrenches on a machine, there is risk of introducing a problem. The most dangerous time to operate an aircraft engine is the first 200 hours or so. Unnecessary overhauls at “recommended” xxxx hour intervals is not only wastes time and money, but can actually be less safe.
On the Toyota, I pulled back the plastic cover every oil change to inspect the timing belt, not replace it at a set interval. Disassembling 1/4 of the engine (V-6 Camry) to change the belt was not only expensive, but could damage other parts touched. Being a non-interference engine, the dealer actually agreed.
As for Japanese cars and timing belts, the Honda Fit has a chain.
I think the people are too confused by the maintenance schedules. These things are revenue streams for dealers. Yes I change my oil religiously at the dealership for 1 car and through my Indy for the other. But air filters, cabin filters, bulbs, wipers your kids should know how to do that. Most dealer schedules are chocked full of lots of costs for very little doing. I skip right to belt replacement or plug replacement if they are competitive. Otherwise your throwing money away. Most anyone should be able to monitor their own cars with common sense and any history of car ownership.
Always stick to a rigid schedule ever since I got my first car in 1969. All work has been done by me depending on the car. Coolant every two years except the Focus at five years per Ford. Brake fluid every two years. Transmission fluids, plugs, filters, brakes, rotors, drums, lubrication, timing chains (if used) as per the schedule. Shocks and struts as needed. Tires rotate on drivers twice a year with pressures checked weekly. Body washed at least every two weeks. Suspension parts replaced when showing wear or looseness.
Adhering to that has kept every car of mine running well. The only negative, over the last 45 years, has been the Sable wagon sitting in the driveway for the last year. The engine has been pretty much apart twice searching for a loud tapping sound much like tapping a pushrod against a valve cover. Third time coming up when the rain stops.
Change oil and rotate tires every 5k, anything else I just look at to verify it’s OK. Never EVER do any of that “flush” crap nor will I ever do that “Seafoam” snake oil to any of my rides.