Maintenance on time vs. miles schedule (low miles)

[LazyPrizm]

I'm curious where folks stand on which maintenance items to do by miles, and which by time. I've gone from driving 24,000 miles a year to about 6-7000, so suddenly I've had to start considering these things. Car's long out of warranty so of course I could make up my own intervals.

From the 2002 Corolla maintenance guide (which says to use whichever is reached first):

• Oil: 7500 mi / 6mo
• Air filter: 30,000 / 24mo
• Rotate tires: 7500 mi / 6mo
• Drain/fill coolant: 30,000 mi / 24mo
• Drain/fill ATF: (inspect at 30k / 2yr - forums suggest d/f @ 60,000 mi, unknown time)
• Brake fluid: (no miles or time interval listed)

From reading threads here, it looks like the consensus w/ OCI is to go by miles (unless in severe service), as a sitting car doesn't stress oil. Ditto for spark plugs at 120k miles. On the other hand, coolant makes sense to replace on whichever interval is reached first. Which schedule do you guys use for your less-driven vehicles?

 

[Joe_Power]

Yes

 

[JR]

Mileage based maintenance.
coolant 2-3yr green / 5yr ext life or milage before time

ken

 

[Kestas]

I go by miles, regardless of time, with the following exceptions:
- brake fluid
- coolant

I take care of 5+ cars, four of them mine, and none of them see a lot of miles. I'd be a rather busy guy if I followed the time schedule to maintain all these cars per recommendation.

What's wrong with a 24 mo old air filter?

 

[raytseng]

The things based on time are:

brake fluid is 3years/30k miles. You should check the brakes during that interval as well.

-coolant drain/fill 2 years

-Oil I push out to around 1year as a time limit.

Everything else I go by miles, although for a more rarely used cars, I'll tend to do things like opt for a tire with lower treadwear rating, so I'm not stuck with old tires too long.

It also depends how much the service is going to cost; and if you DIY to make it easy. For example, if the air filter costs $20, not sure what's the point in making that last 8years instead of 4years.

In some other sense, even on the rarely used car, you're already paying money for insurance and registration; so there are always sunk costs to your car, so percentage wise, what's an extra $20.

 

[LazyPrizm]

Originally Posted By: raytseng
Everything else I go by miles, although for a more rarely used cars, I'll tend to do things like opt for a tire with lower treadwear rating, so I'm not stuck with old tires too long.


I wish I'd thought of that -- recently put on Sumitomos with a 60,000mi warranty

Thanks everyone!

 

[901Memphis]

Air filters when properly installed are best left alone. I wouldn't start to worry about them until something like 5 years when the seal has some age to it. Air filter restriction gauges are popular around these parts.

Brake fluid should be flushed at least every few years due to the decrease in boiling point from moisture.

I never make it that long on tires that I have to worry about dry rot.

 

[Eddie]

I feel that using a hour meter is a better measure for oil & filter chenges.

 

[Kestas]

I don't change filters because they're cheap. I change them because they need changing.