Longest you went without doing that repair...

[tiger862]

I have lost 2 cars to a thermostat sticking. One I removed thermostat and drove with cracked heads for a month or two while looking for engine. I knew it was hurt cause I was on interstate then dummy light came on then bottom hose exploded. A mile up the road was an exit so I made it there and let cool of and replaced hose so I could get home. It would spit out coolant out the bottle. Once it overheated on interstate before I could get where I was going so I got water from lake so I could continue home. Don't recommend salty water but all I had. The other one wife called said car overheated about a block away from home. I change thermostat and noticed radiator cracked so I just topped off for six months then head cracked. Traded it in

 

[JLTD]

Yeah, people do that. It's a perception thing in some cases.

My brother is an example: 1995 Toyota pickup, 130,000 miles, started hearing the chain guide noise. Instead of replacing them (he's cheap) he drove it until they failed, and since there were shards of them throughout the engine, had to get a replacement engine from the junkyard. The replacement engine plus install costs was easily twice the cost of having the chain guides replaced.

With the same vehicle, he never replaced the coolant. "Too expensive, it's fine.". Guess what? He replaced 3 radiators in the 15 years he had it....gee, that coolant seems pretty inexpensive now, doesn't it.

 

[Dave9]

Depends on what it is. A few things are wrong on my oldest vehicle that I'll get around to eventually.

- Rear passenger's side window does not work, been that way around 18 months. It's been several years since I had a rear passenger in that vehicle.
- Rear wiper does not work. It's been several years since I tried to use it, only found out after I changed the weathered wiper blade a year ago and tried to see how well it wiped.
- Polyurethane suspension bushings (upgraded) are squeaky for last 6 mos, need to grease before winter.
- One of two (per handle) door handle springs are broken, it rattles on very bumpy roads. No idea how long, most roads aren't that bumpy.
- Small leak in muffler, sounds more like a performance muffler now, 2 years like this.
- Driver's door speaker cuts out once in a while when it's cold out, been that way for about a year.

Anything safety related (besides moderately aging tires) I don't wait around on, though it helps to have an enclosed garage to work in.

 

[blupupher]

My F150 has an intermittent ABS light coming on, no rhyme or reason. I am guessing dirty/failing sensor, just need to pull them and look at them.
Since it is not constant, I have not been that concerned about it, and next time I have the wheels off, I will look into it.

But otherwise, I really don't let stuff go, I like taking care of stuff as I notice it.

 

[ecotourist]

My '65 Comet had a defective switch for the 2 speed windshield wipers. They would always turn on, but fast or slow, whichever suited the car's fancy. I couldn't change the speed but it would change the speed on its own. Fortunately they worked faster when there was more water and slower when there was less - kind of self adjusting. I never fixed it in the 8 or so years I owned the car.

At first I didn't have a lot of money, and later I had gotten used to it, and anyway that was the least of the problems with that oil burner.

 

[Railrust]

Originally Posted by Dave9
Depends on what it is. A few things are wrong on my oldest vehicle that I'll get around to eventually.

- Rear passenger's side window does not work, been that way around 18 months. It's been several years since I had a rear passenger in that vehicle.
- Rear wiper does not work. It's been several years since I tried to use it, only found out after I changed the weathered wiper blade a year ago and tried to see how well it wiped.
- Polyurethane suspension bushings (upgraded) are squeaky for last 6 mos, need to grease before winter.
- One of two (per handle) door handle springs are broken, it rattles on very bumpy roads. No idea how long, most roads aren't that bumpy.
- Small leak in muffler, sounds more like a performance muffler now, 2 years like this.
- Driver's door speaker cuts out once in a while when it's cold out, been that way for about a year.

Anything safety related (besides moderately aging tires) I don't wait around on, though it helps to have an enclosed garage to work in.


I find this stuff reasonable, depending on age of the vehicle, cost to replace and obviously if it's a need/safety related.

There comes a point in a car's life where it's way past the honeymoon stage, now it's a matter of fixing what needs to be fixed and living with the rest. I've done this. I usually buy new and keep the vehicles till 300,000 miles - I drive a lot, so I try to keep them well maintained - but you do reach a point where it doesn't make a lot of sense to fix everything.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I get broken stuff fixed right away.

I religiously follow the maintenance schedule ( inspections ).

Now, when my wife says I need to “change “ something about me....I never fix it ( ).

Just kidding of coarse.

 

[Pew]

I went some 6 months with a bad overboost condition. I never found the cause of it but I did end up replacing the engine after it blew from that.

 

[Malo83]

Still driving without a heater on my 83 Silverado for the last 30+ yrs, just rerouted the hoses to bypass the heater core, can live without heat but that AC works, can't stand the heat.

 

[Skippy722]

I went almost 2 years with a seized oil pan drain bolt in my 2011 Durango. The pan was plastic, it had a what I assume brass insert that the bolt threaded into. Rounded the bolt off trying to do an oil change once, then tried welding a nut to it and using a breaker bar which just resulted in the bung spinning in the pan. That’s where the almost 2 years started….

Did my oil changes with a vacuum, but I had to use a piece of fish tank air line tubing due to a baffle in the dipstick tube/oil pan that nothing else would get past. Even then I had to use the dipstick to force the tube past the baffle and into the pan… just sucking out the oil took FOREVER.

 

[doublebase]

I went almost 2 years with a seized oil pan drain bolt in my 2011 Durango. The pan was plastic, it had a what I assume brass insert that the bolt threaded into. Rounded the bolt off trying to do an oil change once, then tried welding a nut to it and using a breaker bar which just resulted in the bung spinning in the pan. That’s where the almost 2 years started….

Did my oil changes with a vacuum, but I had to use a piece of fish tank air line tubing due to a baffle in the dipstick tube/oil pan that nothing else would get past. Even then I had to use the dipstick to force the tube past the baffle and into the pan… just sucking out the oil took FOREVER.

Wow, I’m surprised the pan wasn’t leaking at the plug. That’s awful, I’d dread having to change the oil on that thing!

 

[Skippy722]

Wow, I’m surprised the pan wasn’t leaking at the plug. That’s awful, I’d dread having to change the oil on that thing!

It made a 3” diameter stain in my garage then stopped! I neglected getting the pan fixed because that was $1,100… ~$200 for the pan, the rest was just labor. IIRC he had to drop the front sway bar and raise the engine a few inches.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Yeah when the 2004 Camry blew it’s 3rd set of wheel bearings my dad is like we will wait because he was mad they went out again. Then one day on the way home we heard this loud bang and pop and the bearing went fully out luckily we were turning into our street when it happened. So I had to stick another set of front wheel bearings in it. If we would of been out somewhere he probably would of made us walk home or drive until the wheel fell off then make me fix it in the parking lot.

 

[The_Jeff]

Lived with the check engine light on my 1995 F150 for 6 years. Didn't have to pass OBD-II emissions. Turns out it was a leaky "coffee can" vacuum reservoir. I plumbed around it for free.

Now it may not have had enough vacuum to instantly change my HVAC settings, though I didn't notice any difference. Light went off and I think MPG went up because the EGR system started working again.

The issue was reading those OBD-I codes-- I didn't know if I had 2-digit or 3-digit codes and the "short" vs "long" breaks in the blinking LED readout weren't clear.

 

[The_Jeff]

I went almost 2 years with a seized oil pan drain bolt in my 2011 Durango. The pan was plastic, it had a what I assume brass insert that the bolt threaded into. Rounded the bolt off trying to do an oil change once, then tried welding a nut to it and using a breaker bar which just resulted in the bung spinning in the pan. That’s where the almost 2 years started….

Did my oil changes with a vacuum, but I had to use a piece of fish tank air line tubing due to a baffle in the dipstick tube/oil pan that nothing else would get past. Even then I had to use the dipstick to force the tube past the baffle and into the pan… just sucking out the oil took FOREVER.

Haha I siphoned the 318 on my 85 w250 the same way, aquarium bubbler tubing through the dipstick. Literally took 4 days. Pan drain bolt is rounded off and won't come off with a pipe wrench... let sleeping dogs lie.

 

[SatinSilver]

Yeah when the 2004 Camry blew it’s 3rd set of wheel bearings my dad is like we will wait because he was mad they went out again. Then one day on the way home we heard this loud bang and pop and the bearing went fully out luckily we were turning into our street when it happened. So I had to stick another set of front wheel bearings in it. If we would of been out somewhere he probably would of made us walk home or drive until the wheel fell off then make me fix it in the parking lot.

What brand wheel bearings were you using and where did you buy them from?

 

[AutoMechanic]

What brand wheel bearings were you using and where did you buy them from?

The first were cheap DriveWorks that he had a shop put in because I didn’t work then and didn’t have a way to do it. The second was Timken the third was Beck and Arnley now this set is also Beck and Arnley because he didn’t want to spend more money than he had too. The DriveWorks were Advance Auto brand the others all came from RockAuto.

 

[doublebase]

The first were cheap DriveWorks that he had a shop put in because I didn’t work then and didn’t have a way to do it. The second was Timken the third was Beck and Arnley now this set is also Beck and Arnley because he didn’t want to spend more money than he had too. The DriveWorks were Advance Auto brand the others all came from RockAuto.

I had a Beck Arnley wheel bearing go out on me in 7,000 miles...couldn't believe it. Went out and bought a Toyo? At least I think that's what it was, and that lasted me until I sold the vehicle 100,000 miles later. Beck Arnley did give me a replacement, which I never put in and still have. Lol, don't know what I'm going to do with that thing.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I had a Beck Arnley wheel bearing go out on me in 7,000 miles...couldn't believe it. Went out and bought a Toyo? At least I think that's what it was, and that lasted me until I sold the vehicle 100,000 miles later. Beck Arnley did give me a replacement, which I never put in and still have. Lol, don't know what I'm going to do with that thing.

Lol. That’s the only car we have had that many issues with bearings in. I prefer the old bearings like my beetle and both my trucks have that you have to pack lol I don’t see problems out of them.

 

[pezzy84]

I'm so particular about my cars that things get fixed ASAP.

The only thing I left broken was way back in the day on my '03 Golf TDI, the roof whip antenna was ripped out from an errant entry gate arm and it was not as simple as just screwing a new antenna back in as it had ripped the threads out too. Replacing the assembly required the headliner be dropped. I don't listen to FM radio and the missing antenna didn't cause any other problems so it remained that way for a few more years and was traded in with the missing antenna.

Now my current E-Golf the passenger side door lock switch is non-functional and it seems it is a common issue with something in the door wiring. I could get it fixed under CPO warranty for $50 deductible but it does require the door panel be removed, because of concerns of squeaks/rattles and the fact the switch is not causing any inconvenience I have decided to skip the repair for now.