I decided I'm going to try and milk another 40,000 miles out of my car. As of this morning I have 187,000 km/116,000 miles on my car. It doesn't sound like much but miles up here are quite hard and a vehicle is ready to be scrapped by 150,000 miles. It's a 1999 Malibu with the 3100 SFI V6.
The last "major service" was 106,000 km/66,000 miles. On that service the car got:
- spark plugs and wires
- ignition coil pack (had failed)
- transmission filter and fluid flush
- serpentine belt
At 133,000 km/83,000 miles it got a wheel alignment.
At 140,000 km/87,000 miles the water pump was replaced and coolant was flushed and replaced with Peak Global Long Life.
At 155,000 km/96,000 miles it got front pads and rotors. I don't think the rear shoes have been done since 40,000 miles. I think I still have the original brake fluid in.
I am thinking:
- Plugs and wires. Denso Iridiums? Right now it has Delco OEM plugs. These ones only have 50,000 miles on them, and I am looking to go another 50,000 miles on the car. I would like mileage and easy starting.
- One oxygen sensor kind of makes me wonder looking at it on the code reader, but I need to learn more about their behaviour. My car regularly returns 30 mpg in mixed driving.
- Transmission flush and filter replacement. I am definitely going synthetic for cold weather flow, be it Red Line, Amsoil or Petro-Canada. I was looking at Amsoil ATL, Red Line D6 or Petro-Canada DuraDrive. My 4T45-E was back-speced to Dexron-VI.
- Rear brake shoes and maybe (you tell me, I'm the one asking) drums.
- The struts and springs seem to be gone. Over uneven road, the car severely porpoises at certain "frequencies."
- Wheel alignment.
- I want to replace the power steering fluid with a synthetic to help in cold weather and limit belt squeal/stiff steering.
- Rust converter paint on the front crossmember to "reseal it" as it was really the only part of the underside of the car showing rust.
- Fix a small rock chip on the door and touch up other paint dings to keep them from rusting. If I can keep the body on the car it should last for all eternity at this rate. This should be exciting, but the main spots are a few chips on the hood and bumper, one on the bottom of the driver's door (needs attention, has started to rust), and the front edges of of the rear door jambs towards the bottom have the paint worn off. This may be above my skill level.
As well, I have a few electrical (ABS and heater control) things to fix up. Regrease door hinges, silicone the door seals, tighten up interior fasteners, I want to replace the speakers in it, and the AC still blows cold.
If I get somebody to do a good cleaning of the interior it should be very liveable for a while yet. This is not going to be a cheap bit of work to get done, but it should be less than six months of car payments by a good margin.
The last "major service" was 106,000 km/66,000 miles. On that service the car got:
- spark plugs and wires
- ignition coil pack (had failed)
- transmission filter and fluid flush
- serpentine belt
At 133,000 km/83,000 miles it got a wheel alignment.
At 140,000 km/87,000 miles the water pump was replaced and coolant was flushed and replaced with Peak Global Long Life.
At 155,000 km/96,000 miles it got front pads and rotors. I don't think the rear shoes have been done since 40,000 miles. I think I still have the original brake fluid in.
I am thinking:
- Plugs and wires. Denso Iridiums? Right now it has Delco OEM plugs. These ones only have 50,000 miles on them, and I am looking to go another 50,000 miles on the car. I would like mileage and easy starting.
- One oxygen sensor kind of makes me wonder looking at it on the code reader, but I need to learn more about their behaviour. My car regularly returns 30 mpg in mixed driving.
- Transmission flush and filter replacement. I am definitely going synthetic for cold weather flow, be it Red Line, Amsoil or Petro-Canada. I was looking at Amsoil ATL, Red Line D6 or Petro-Canada DuraDrive. My 4T45-E was back-speced to Dexron-VI.
- Rear brake shoes and maybe (you tell me, I'm the one asking) drums.
- The struts and springs seem to be gone. Over uneven road, the car severely porpoises at certain "frequencies."
- Wheel alignment.
- I want to replace the power steering fluid with a synthetic to help in cold weather and limit belt squeal/stiff steering.
- Rust converter paint on the front crossmember to "reseal it" as it was really the only part of the underside of the car showing rust.
- Fix a small rock chip on the door and touch up other paint dings to keep them from rusting. If I can keep the body on the car it should last for all eternity at this rate. This should be exciting, but the main spots are a few chips on the hood and bumper, one on the bottom of the driver's door (needs attention, has started to rust), and the front edges of of the rear door jambs towards the bottom have the paint worn off. This may be above my skill level.
As well, I have a few electrical (ABS and heater control) things to fix up. Regrease door hinges, silicone the door seals, tighten up interior fasteners, I want to replace the speakers in it, and the AC still blows cold.
If I get somebody to do a good cleaning of the interior it should be very liveable for a while yet. This is not going to be a cheap bit of work to get done, but it should be less than six months of car payments by a good margin.