How do keep your vehicles running longer?
Other than regular oil changes and preventative maintenance?
Posted Mar 23, 2017, 9:13 PM UTC
1728
Don't be lead-footed when accelerating.
16
And similarly don't waste gas only to brake unnecessarily. If that traffic light way up ahead is red, go ahead and take your foot off the gas now.
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[deleted]
3
Regular maintenance, regular maintenance, regular maintenance.
Change the oil when the oil needs changing. That doesn't necessarily mean 3k mi/3mo, I do my own oil, I buy 10k oil/filter so I don't have to change it as often since I drive a lot.
Check your fluids, should be every time you fill, but if like me you fill up 2-4x a week then make it once a week. But just make sure you keep and eye on them levels, it's the easiest way to catch a small problem while it's still small.
12
If you live in snow and salt areas, be sure to wash the undercarriage frequently.
11
I live in a salt area. Also, don't park a salt covered car in a heated garage. The heat activates the salt, causing rust.
2
Buy a car that has a good chance of making it to 200,000 miles.
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[deleted]
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I know people are going to scream and engage multiple teams of hit squads in order to kill me, but a 6 cylinder engine, with regular oil changes, usually lasts longer than a 4 cylinder one even though you might be spending less on gasoline during the lifetime of the 4 cylinder.
5
yeah, this used to be conventional wisdom among domestics... Japanese cars turned this upside down 25+ years ago
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Im not going to scream but if you have any actual data I would love to see it. Im teetering between them on my next purchase and really want a reason to go six;).
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I don't have any real data. Four cylinder cars are very popular due to their gas efficiency and I respect that. My belief comes from a preponderance of anecdotal evidence from not only the cars which I've owned in my lifetime, but from the similar experience of friends, family members, and mechanics I've known.
-1†
You have my attention and I am curious. Would you mind elaborating?
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What I've had mechanics basically tell me is that the higher number of cylinders means that the work of the engine is more distributed between cylinders. What I do know is that I've had several 4 cylinder cars blow out their engines, but never a 6 cylinder. Now, take that with a grain of salt since every 6 cylinder I've owned has burned way more gas than a 4 cylinder.
0†
All things being the same, I'd imagine that that would be true. That being said, I used to have a Mazda 6, and the V6 was an off-the-shelf Ford engine. The 4cyl. was not. Long story short, I really wish I hadn't paid the extra for the V6. It cost me way more than just some extra gasoline.
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In some cases I agree with the "regular maintenance" mantra. In other cases, I don't. Regular oil changes; yes. Much beyond that I often don't bother. My last car, an 03 corolla, went 300k miles and was still running along just fine when I got rid of it recently. I changed the oil every 5k miles, never once flushed or changed the radiator fluid, never changed the trans fluid, never did a valve lash adjustment (despite it being recommended every 60k mi), and only replaced the accessory belt, spark plugs and interior air filter once each. Air filter was done about once every 60k. The car didn't much seem to care.
If I had performed all of the recommended maintenance I would be much poorer.
What eventually made me get rid of the car didn't have much to do with its mechanical condition. It was more that I was quite sick of it and it has become a very ugly little thing.
5
Same here. I change the oil and not much else. Always seem to get 200k+ out of my vehicles (knock on wood).
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[deleted]
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I think there's a lot to be said about simply being nice to your car. Let it warm up for even 20 seconds before you start driving, accelerate slowly, brake slowly, keep it clean, use high quality fluids and filters, avoid bad/rough roads, etc.
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Best advice right here. Especially "Let it warm up".
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If you do it yourself, replace all the sensors when you change a piece out. I just replaced my started and I had to remove the oxygen sensors on the exhaust manifold. I went ahead and bought new ones. Then went ahead and installed the new starter. I buy from places that offer lifetime warranty on the parts. If the starter breaks then I take it back to autozone and get a new one at no cost.
If you don't work on the car yourself the take it to the same mechanic so he gets to know your car more intimately. Also, if you get in a pinch the mechanic might be able to fix it and you pay him back when you can. Keep this in mind, even if you take it to a place to get the car worked on, you can still buy the piece on your own at way lower price. Check out rockauto. Com.
2
In addition to the excellent advice in the other comments, take care of the interior. For us frugal types who drive a car hundreds of thousands of miles, by 100K the interior is going to be a shitshow if you don't take care of it. Have floormats. Don't eat in your car if you can help it. Vacuum it regularly. Clean the leather/vinyl parts (I also Armorall them, though I couldn't swear it's good for anything). Clean up any spills promptly.
2
Take your foot off the gas, shift into neutral if manual and let the air and wheel friction work for you to slow you down. Every time you stomp the brake, you fry the brake, wear the tire tread, and throw away the energy you burned your gas for.
1
Leave the car in gear, Manual or Automatic, and let the engine braking slow you down. If you take it out of gear, Manual, the you must use gas to keep the motor running, most newer cars turn off the injectors when no acceleration is called for. In a lot states, US, it is illegal to put an Automatic in neutral. 2¢ ← Mine
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I hear what you're saying, but the reason I don't like this is that you're putting the load on the reverse side of the gears on a manual, and I'd rather keep those tolerances as close as possible. I figure the brake pads are the cheapest possible thing to replace. Might be a little bit less engine wear as well since the motor will run at idle speed when you coast down. If going down a long grade then it's engine braking the whole way so your pads don't overheat.
2
Understood. Yes brake pads are cheap, especially when you change them yourself. :):
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I only average 3600 miles a year on my Toyota, and I do the required maintenance. Due to the low mileage, I think it should last, oh, about forever (or at least longer than I do).
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I put Prolong Engine Treatment. Tranny treatment and gas treatment in all vehicles. It's good for 40 oil changes. Never had a problem. When my belt went on my 01, it was a 95 degree day. My motor pegged out overheat. No damage. It stops friction, especially upon starting when the oil is still in the pan. For what it costs, it's great insurance.
All the motors I have Prolong in- all original -2-327 in my 1968 boat, a 4.9L 92 Caddie, a 454 in the 87 RV and a 2.2 in my 01 Chevy,also a 4.6 in the 00 Mercury. Never had 1 problem. Yes, that's a lot of motors to be maintained, but as you see, we never replace our vehicles and inherited the Mercury with over 200K. Now we're building a 26T. That Ford 302 will also have it in it.
1
Rotate those tires
1
Fix a small problem before it becomes a larger issue. For example, small oil leak can lead to engine replacement. As soon as I notice something is not right, I pinpoint the issue and fix immediately.
Honestly this is the most important one. Cars are made up of thousands and thousands of components that all have to work together. One thing fails and that causes another thing to fail and so on until it becomes too expensive to fix.
Fix it now, it's not going to get any cheaper.