Vehicle maintenance?

What do you do?

In my head there are two groups, those that do preventative maintenance and typically keep a vehicle for a lot of miles, and those who do gas and oil and keep a vehicle for a few years. Which category to you fall in?

Most vehicles I have owned have seen well over 200k miles and were as reliable the day I sold them as when I bought them. I can say I have never been stranded due to a vehicle failure. I do preventative maintenance, belts hoses, change coolant, trans fluid, plugs etc. and plan to drive my vehicles for a long time.

Obviously, you've never owned a Chrysler.

Depends how long I plan to keep it. Under 75k, I change oil. If I plan to keep it, I do what you mentioned plus transfer cases and differentials.

I keep my vehicle fully maintained (and sometimes over-maintained), and keep them a long, long time. Nothing better than driving a vehicle you paid for five years ago! My current vehicle is a 2006 Toyota 4Runner with 135K miles and has never had to have a repair beyond normal maintenance. And many of those miles was towing a boat.

I plan to drive it at least three more years!

No Chryslers, but two dodges. One almost left me stranded, and in my opinion it was due to neglect of preventative maintenance... most notably not changing the fuel filter and it was a diesel. Im not sure how they which doctored that truck to make it run fine though the test drive and for about a week, but after that it went to pot almost left me stranded and after a short visit with them they undid the deal gave me my money and trade back.

Most gasoline vehicles don't need much of anything until 100k! A lot of dealerships sell brake fluid flushes and power steering flushes to try and make money, which to me is nothing but a ripoff! Diesels usually require more filter changing and such! If you use your truck for pulling a lot, then the fluid changes should be more often! I use conventional oil for my Chevy and change it around 4000 miles! I use Mobil 1 in my wifes car and change it around 7500 miles! Obviously, the older the vehicle the more you need to take care of it!

I would say I am proactive on maintenance....peace of mind when loading family up and heading out...

I do oil changes, transmission fluid changes, air filters, coolant flushes, etc. Conventional oil (Pennzoil) at 5,000 miles on my Silverado. Mobil 1 in my wife's Highlander and my Altima that use 0W-20. I do the oil changes myself, but typically leave the transmission and coolant stuff to the dealer.

I typically don't keep vehicles til they've got a ton of miles. My 2004 Silverado right now has 147k and that's the most I've ever had on one. It's a work truck and I plan to keep it for awhile.

I typically buy vehicles with 30k-50k miles and sell them with 90k-120k miles, but I take good care of them in between.

I do all my fluid changes myself. Oil, lube, diffs, spark plugs, and normally the tranny. I know they are done right and I do not have to kill time at an oil change place or dealer. My Toyota does not have a dipstick on the tranny and you have to check level at a certain temp so not sure if I will do myself. Unless I am driving a lot on real dusty roads I will just clean my air filters and replace when they no longer come clean.

My past 2 cars a cavalier which I just traded for a cobalt have been the same way. Not sure what the heck they were thinking when they didn't put a dip stick on them... I hate it.

I heard there was one on the driver seat.

Haha you funny

I have a diesel and I change the oil at every 5K. I keep the air cleaner changed regularly (twice per year), change the wiper blades at Daily Savings and Standard Time change, rotate the tires at every oil change, and ALL the Fluids (Front and Rear Diffentials, Tranny, Coolant) have been changed at every 50K. I expect a minimum of 300K out of this one. I'm on the third set of batteries, and 2nd set of Serpentine Belts. And lastly, a can of Sea Foam about every 5-8 tanks of fuel.

That's about what I do. I recently acquired a better beater car... it has 4 doors . I know it has never had the trans, coolant, belt, spark plugs, or air filter changed and its in need of new shocks/struts and a passenger electric window... let the fun begin.

I have a 2005 F150.
Whenever I'm filling up gas, I check the oil, air filter, and all other fluids.

I get the oil changed every 3,000 miles.
Every 3 oil changes, I change the air filter and dump a bottle of Seafoam in the gas tank when it's just about empty and before I fill up.

In about a month, my truck will reach 195,000 miles.

My 2005 silverado is about to turn 300,000. I tow with it every weekend and work construction. Still has the original trans and diff fluids. Thought I was having engine trouble coming on but it was from brake fluid that I had been adding slowly for the last five years that had filled the vacuum booster and was leaking into the engine. Just changed the belts, alternator, water pump and a brake system overhaul. The only thing it actually needed was the alternator and a master cylinder but I knew the rest couldn't be long for life. Really the only tune up items have been plugs and wires every 100,000 miles and regular oil changes and air filter twice a year. Overall I've been amazed how well this truck has held up. Still rides like a cadallac on the highway.

If only maintenance covered everything. My biggest problem has been electronics. I swore I'd never buy another Chrysler product, now I have two Jeeps and both are a pile of [censored]. The 2009 goes into limp mode every once in a while for no reason, the door lock actuators don't work and I 've never seen a garaged vehicle rust like this one. On the 2014, the power liftgate doesn't work and the tranny is screwing up...with 14k miles on it. On top of that, people are hacking the nav systems and control the engine? WTH? At least the 2014 is under warranty but the stealership is so backed up, it'll be a month before I get it back. I'm having deja vu back to my Ram and Durango days, which also spent a good portion of their life in the shop. Chrysler sucks. Or FCA or whatever it's called today. Screw maintenance, just buy a Ford.

Rant over.

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/

I was with you til the end there. I fixed your post.

lol!

I do the can of sea foam every oil change also.

I got 31.8 and 32 mpg out of the first two tanks of gas on the new car. Dumped a can of sea foam after the first oil change and a new air filter and got 35 mpg.

Im an own it till it quits or repairs get more expensive than the vehicle is worth kind of guy. Change oil every 3k, rotate tires, etc. I always check everything I can when it is on the lift in the air and look for anything that needs to be replaced. Right now I have an 06 Fusion I bought brand new that now has 111k on it, keeping it until it dies. And a 98 Ranger with 148k Ive owned for almost a year now. Im a firm believer in maintenance and taking care of your vehicle. Never had it do me wrong! Only time I have been stranded is in my 75 Camaro when I first started driving. The original carb was on its way out and gave me all kinds of problems. Got better when I dropped an Edelbrock 4bbl on it though!

Wish I had a lift... its sorta in the plans for the new garage, but the wife doesn't know that et.

I have the perks of working at a dealership and having access to all the lifts in the shop and also having a really good friend who has his own shop with a lift as well.

Changed the Cabin Air Filter on my cobalt today. Thing was filthy, turn it upside down and grass clippings and dirt were falling off. Put new one in and turned on the air and it now blows as hard on the #2 setting as it did on #4 before the change.

207k, 190k (ish), and 140k.

Those are parked in front of my house at night. My Dodge was my last new vehicle and my wife's fine german luxury automobile was over 100k when we got it. My daughter bought her first car, a Jetta diesel wagon with almost 100k on it when she got it.


They all break. Older cars break stuff that aren't on any maintenance list. My age and lazyness is keeping me from going outside and rebuilding my hydroboost on the truck. Dang it, I'm going out. It started leaking and I'm tired of putting steering fluid in it.

So just curious, of the vehicles you guys have personally purchased and are still driving on a daily basis. How long have you had them? Has nothing to do with how old they are, only interested in how long YOU have owned them. And I'm not talking about the ones parked in the barn that haven't been started in months. Daily drivers only.

This is just to add to the discussion. Most people get bored and trade way before the "wheels fall off". It amazes me sometimes how often folks trade whether for a new or used model.

Had my first pickup for 10 years and 265k miles.

Owned my last car for 10 years 140k miles, only got rid of it because of a family deal, traded it for a similar car that was newer/less miles and 4 door at no cost to me.

My last couple trucks i have flipped into/out of pretty fast. One was a standard i bought before i got married and my wife couldn't drive it so away it went, other than that i would still have that one.

That's pretty good. Lets see my first truck I screwed up with lift kit and oversize tires, got tired of it at only 7 years. Second truck 13 years. Wish I knew how many miles I put on it but it only had 5 digits in the odo. I know it rolled over at least twice. Current going on 11, hopefully it has got another 5 or so left. It only has about 156k miles.

I had friends that literally had 3 or 4 different vehicles over time to my one.

I've had two trucks since 97. Both around 300,000 miles. Current truck is still running fine for now. Wheels haven't fell off yet.

My last truck was an 86 Toyota one ton. Sold it in 99 to buy my Dodge.

So of my own trucks I've had 2 in 29 years. Bought both new. The Toy had 240k and Dodge currently has 190k. I don't drive very far now so I put under 10k on it every year. I may keep it till 2020 or when I retire. My next truck will be a smaller, less heavy duty vehicle and used.

The wife drives 20 to 25k per year so we don't keep hers as long. Her 2007 Mercedes was bought in 2011 and we've put around 100k on it and its now and she gets antsy when it goes over 200k. We may trade it in on another car, either an ML or GLK. We are both within a few years of retirement so our miles driven will shortly be going down.

I normally do anything I think I can tackle. That includes injector replacement and valve adjustment. Water, Alternator, Power Steering and other fairly minor stuff. As I get older more is going to get done by a professional.

i'm in the both category right now. once i started making good money, i went through a couple of vehicles. mostly used. didn't really lose much. now, i have a newer Jeep and a 10 year old truck. if i had to do it again, i'd have a newer truck and an older Jeep so I wouldn't have to deal with the idiotic canbus system that controls damned near everything on the Jeep. oh well, they are both fun.