- Joined
- Jul 14, 2020
- Messages
- 1,487
For a while now, I've wondered how most people afford just regular maintenance but after buying a few used vehicles in the last year or so, I have serious doubts that they even do/pay for real maintenance very much.
Outside of what seems to be this industry standard for new vehicles where you get 2 years/24k miles of "free" maintenance (based on the very minimal "normal" driving habit schedule), I don't think many people really pay attention to car maintenance outside of an oil change when they think about it. Even then, it seems a lot of shops, even those with 988 five-star ratings, seem to perform fairly shoddy work and the vehicles really aren't taken care of, at least not anywhere close to my level of maintenance. Dirty engine bays, oils/fluids spilled all over, dust/grime collecting on the underside, mangled up crush washers, oil pan drain plugs mangled or even new/replacements, oil filter brands I've never heard of, etc.
Things I never see performed-
Serpentine belt until it breaks
Brake fluid flush (not even when a brake job is done and it will take a measly 10 extra minutes to do ONE axle worth)
Transmission service (ohhhhh, don't touch it, it might blow up!!! )
Spark plugs
Coolant drain and fill
Gear/Transfer case oil service
Grease fittings on U-joints/slip joints
Proper brake service (turn/replace rotors, really clean the bits and pieces of calipers, slide pins, replace boots, springs/clips/etc. )
Power Steering Fluid flush
All of this stuff is cheap in the long run and with today's premium on used vehicles, it's being asked for (at least service records) more and more. There's even some people, like me, that will make a hard pass on a vehicle that does not have service records.... because I know what I'm getting in to - a POS.
Then there's minor/medium repairs. Just this weekend I replaced the VTEC Solenoid module/piece on the 2008 Honda CR-V I bought for my daughter a month ago. It was the best that I could find of that era, 165k Miles on it, some verifiable service history (I called the shop the PO said they always used), but still...... A brake fluid flush had never been done. Power steering fluid had never been done. Coolant - you guessed it, never been done. Spark plugs - no record and they appeared to be original. There had been transmission fluid drop-n-fills a few times and the PO said the oil was always changed at 3-5k miles.
I spent $280 on plugs, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid, valve cover gasket kit, valve lash adjustment tool to catch all the maintenance up. I still have to do the valve adjustment. This weekend I spent $180 on that new VTEC Solenoid part, coolant, oil and filter. I won't count the $80 Honda/Acura software I bought for my Foxwell code reader. I diagnosed the lights on the dash/code, went to Napa to get the part and replaced it, oil change and coolant drain and fill. All of that at the Honda dealer would have been over $550, like I said, I have $180 in it and yes, my labor. But I know it was all done, all done right.
The Plugs, power steering flush, brake fluid flush, 2x Tras fluid drop and fill, valve adjustment deal would have been well over $1k at a Honda Dealer, same with an indy shop. All of this stuff is very do-able for someone that has some basic tools and has intent on maintaining their cars.
I have SERIOUS doubts, even at "GOOD" shops, that the oil and filter always gets changed when someone requests it and pays for it. Why? Because the vehicles I've bought lately don't look like the ones I've maintained since day one on a similar maintenance plan. We used to have a 2007 CRV, owned since day 1, had it for 100k miles until someone totaled it. I changed the oil in it with Motorcraft 5W-20 and either a Wix or Honda filter at 7500-10,000 miles and it was NEVER as dirty as the oil I dropped Saturday that had "5k miles" on it.....
Anyway, I know, I've gone way off in the ditch. But here's my assessment after doing 20+ years of maintaining my own vehicles from new and taking over one I bought used - most people that pay a shop to work on their cars/do the maintenance on them are getting ripped off IMO. They aren't getting near the attention to detail/service that one would give their own car, I promise that. I know why for the most part - top "A" techs are not doing maintenance at shops. It's usually the lowest paid person working there - because customers are CHEAP and want it done cheap.
We have a 2013 Lexus LX570. About the only known problem for this era Land Cruiser / LX is the radiator busting on the top. Yes, ours did recently, right on time, 115k miles. I lucked out and got an OEM radiator at a Toyota dealer near our house who was having an online parts sale (they have a strong online parts presence), upper and lower hoses and 4 gallons of coolant for $350 or so. It took me fooling with it for 3 evenings (1 to remove, 1 to replace and 1 to make some final adjustments after buying hose clamp pliers, then filling with coolant and bleeding the air out and then doing a transmission fluid service). For the radiator, hoses, coolant, transmission pan gasket, filter and 4-1/2 quarts of fluid, I have about $500 in that job. It would have been $1500+ at the dealer.
Outside of what seems to be this industry standard for new vehicles where you get 2 years/24k miles of "free" maintenance (based on the very minimal "normal" driving habit schedule), I don't think many people really pay attention to car maintenance outside of an oil change when they think about it. Even then, it seems a lot of shops, even those with 988 five-star ratings, seem to perform fairly shoddy work and the vehicles really aren't taken care of, at least not anywhere close to my level of maintenance. Dirty engine bays, oils/fluids spilled all over, dust/grime collecting on the underside, mangled up crush washers, oil pan drain plugs mangled or even new/replacements, oil filter brands I've never heard of, etc.
Things I never see performed-
Serpentine belt until it breaks
Brake fluid flush (not even when a brake job is done and it will take a measly 10 extra minutes to do ONE axle worth)
Transmission service (ohhhhh, don't touch it, it might blow up!!! )
Spark plugs
Coolant drain and fill
Gear/Transfer case oil service
Grease fittings on U-joints/slip joints
Proper brake service (turn/replace rotors, really clean the bits and pieces of calipers, slide pins, replace boots, springs/clips/etc. )
Power Steering Fluid flush
All of this stuff is cheap in the long run and with today's premium on used vehicles, it's being asked for (at least service records) more and more. There's even some people, like me, that will make a hard pass on a vehicle that does not have service records.... because I know what I'm getting in to - a POS.
Then there's minor/medium repairs. Just this weekend I replaced the VTEC Solenoid module/piece on the 2008 Honda CR-V I bought for my daughter a month ago. It was the best that I could find of that era, 165k Miles on it, some verifiable service history (I called the shop the PO said they always used), but still...... A brake fluid flush had never been done. Power steering fluid had never been done. Coolant - you guessed it, never been done. Spark plugs - no record and they appeared to be original. There had been transmission fluid drop-n-fills a few times and the PO said the oil was always changed at 3-5k miles.
I spent $280 on plugs, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid, valve cover gasket kit, valve lash adjustment tool to catch all the maintenance up. I still have to do the valve adjustment. This weekend I spent $180 on that new VTEC Solenoid part, coolant, oil and filter. I won't count the $80 Honda/Acura software I bought for my Foxwell code reader. I diagnosed the lights on the dash/code, went to Napa to get the part and replaced it, oil change and coolant drain and fill. All of that at the Honda dealer would have been over $550, like I said, I have $180 in it and yes, my labor. But I know it was all done, all done right.
The Plugs, power steering flush, brake fluid flush, 2x Tras fluid drop and fill, valve adjustment deal would have been well over $1k at a Honda Dealer, same with an indy shop. All of this stuff is very do-able for someone that has some basic tools and has intent on maintaining their cars.
I have SERIOUS doubts, even at "GOOD" shops, that the oil and filter always gets changed when someone requests it and pays for it. Why? Because the vehicles I've bought lately don't look like the ones I've maintained since day one on a similar maintenance plan. We used to have a 2007 CRV, owned since day 1, had it for 100k miles until someone totaled it. I changed the oil in it with Motorcraft 5W-20 and either a Wix or Honda filter at 7500-10,000 miles and it was NEVER as dirty as the oil I dropped Saturday that had "5k miles" on it.....
Anyway, I know, I've gone way off in the ditch. But here's my assessment after doing 20+ years of maintaining my own vehicles from new and taking over one I bought used - most people that pay a shop to work on their cars/do the maintenance on them are getting ripped off IMO. They aren't getting near the attention to detail/service that one would give their own car, I promise that. I know why for the most part - top "A" techs are not doing maintenance at shops. It's usually the lowest paid person working there - because customers are CHEAP and want it done cheap.
We have a 2013 Lexus LX570. About the only known problem for this era Land Cruiser / LX is the radiator busting on the top. Yes, ours did recently, right on time, 115k miles. I lucked out and got an OEM radiator at a Toyota dealer near our house who was having an online parts sale (they have a strong online parts presence), upper and lower hoses and 4 gallons of coolant for $350 or so. It took me fooling with it for 3 evenings (1 to remove, 1 to replace and 1 to make some final adjustments after buying hose clamp pliers, then filling with coolant and bleeding the air out and then doing a transmission fluid service). For the radiator, hoses, coolant, transmission pan gasket, filter and 4-1/2 quarts of fluid, I have about $500 in that job. It would have been $1500+ at the dealer.
