What would you do differently in maintaining your car?

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I would've given money to my mother to have her gift me a QuickJack as a Christmas present.

"Look honey, what a nice gift from mom!!!" rofl.
 
Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi

This should have been done at a dealer 60kmile service as I was assured over the phone, but I was told after the fact that they don't do it for the turbos because of the intercooler. I didn't get it in writing and there was a blurb on the dealer's paperwork that the PCV is done "if applicable", and they decided it is not applicable when it is too hard for them to bother doing it.


If there was a TSB from Subaru to have it replaced I'd raised [censored], demanded that they fix it and then never visit that dealership again.
 
I would have flushed the DexCool out of my wife's old Cavalier before it turned to sludge. It didn't kill the car but it sure was a pain to get the cooling system cleaned out again.
 
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Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi

This should have been done at a dealer 60kmile service as I was assured over the phone, but I was told after the fact that they don't do it for the turbos because of the intercooler. I didn't get it in writing and there was a blurb on the dealer's paperwork that the PCV is done "if applicable", and they decided it is not applicable when it is too hard for them to bother doing it.

If there was a TSB from Subaru to have it replaced I'd raised [censored], demanded that they fix it and then never visit that dealership again.

Nah, it was on their maintenance worksheet as something to be replaced at 60kmiles (if applicable) and I had learned here that changing the PCV valve even before oil usage is seen can be cheap preventive maintenance. I had nothing in writing to fight them with, made the mistake of trusting the assurance from the phone call.
I called ahead to make sure it was done because I was suspicious of the "if applicable" language, guess they didn't realize at the time that I had a turbo (even though I bought the car there). Not planning to go back there after they messed me around. I am running out of dealers, though, the closest one to us damaged my daughter's car during routine maintenance and it was heck to get them to fix it...there is another one not too far away that I really like, but they are the opposite way from my home compared to my work and it's a rough drive between them.
 
Originally Posted by Anduril
I would have flushed the DexCool out of my wife's old Cavalier before it turned to sludge. It didn't kill the car but it sure was a pain to get the cooling system cleaned out again.


It wasn't so much the DexCool as either lower coolant level, air leaks into the system, or never changing coolant in the first place. I had original factory DexCool in a 12 yr old, low mileage car I bought several years ago. While the DexCool was a brownish color, the radiator was clean as a whistle. I've stuck with the DexCool and now change it out every 4 yrs. Everything has stayed clean. Some Chevy's came with Power Steering coolers that used the coolant system as a heat sink. And when that cooler eventually leaked...you'd make sludge in the coolant...guaranteed.

Like everyone else, for years I was pretty lax and ignorant about fluid changes for Transmission, rear end, brakes, coolant and power steering. Thanks to Bitog I'm pretty much up to speed now.
 
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Nothing.

I moved away from icy winters almost 10 years ago.
My vehicles now live in a cozy, warm garage 90% of the time only coming out to get groceries a couple times per week. No more scraping windows or plugging in block heaters. No more worries of gravel trucks putting stone chips in my paint/windshield. No more "pre-heating" my car before I set out (total waste of gas and time, esp. if it's for short trips). At this rate my current cars will probably outlast me! LOL

One habit that's stuck with me is checking tire pressure. It's not only saved me money in fuel, but also wear of my tires.
I often see ppl. with low air in their tires and think to myself "how can't they tell they have low tire pressure?". Not only is the car sluggish, but the handling would be sacrificed too.
I simply shake my head and carry on with my business.
 
Originally Posted by Emanuel
We had a 297k miles Corolla, we never changed the manual transmission fluid, and maybe if we did we would have prevented it´s failure, at 210k miles it used to pop out of 4th gear.


Nice report, thank you. What year was it?
 
I let UOA's determine the safe OCI and not OLM's or Owners manuals.
I do 1/2 the time allowed on Long Life coolants by just fill/spill in the radiator. This way the system always has freshish coolant.
I do transmission spill/fills at 30K miles (50K KM) the first 2 times and then let it ride out to 60K miles (100K KM) there after between changes because I'm using a quality product then.
 
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Some things I am pretty good like changing oil. I use good quality synthetic oil although I often change it more on convenience than mileage. I knowingly run long intervals but believe in using what I feel are best oil filter and oil without spending megabucks.
However I do neglect the antifreeze a bit more than I know I should and it hasn't been a problem. I also am slow to change belts. My 2001 sable is on original serpentine belt and it has a small water pump belt driven off camshaft. I bought them with intent to replace but didn't get around to it. Put them in car just in case and the small water pump belt broke 30 minutes into a vacation trip to Florida so now I had to fix it under very inconvenient time and location in the cold rain. Still have same serpentine belt but need to change it soon too.
 
Originally Posted by SatinSilver
Originally Posted by Emanuel
We had a 297k miles Corolla, we never changed the manual transmission fluid, and maybe if we did we would have prevented it´s failure, at 210k miles it used to pop out of 4th gear.


Nice report, thank you. What year was it?


It was a 8th gen Corolla (2001)
 
Originally Posted by The Critic
Once out of warranty, I would base my maintenance schedule on the vehicle's current resale value. With labor rates being over $150/hr in my area (and many others), it is simply not economically feasible to "maintain" a high mileage vehicle, especially economy ones.

When in-warranty, I would of course follow the OEM maintenance schedule. Once out of warranty, I would only keep the car in good condition for as long as the vehicle has a reasonable resale value. For instance, it does not make sense to spend thousands to repair normal-wear items (struts, oil leaks, engine mounts, spark plugs, etc) unless they are safety-related if your 120K mile-old car is only worth $5K. I think vehicles have always had a designed service life, but nowadays, it is more evident than ever. I would also plan on sell/trading by 150K.


I think replacement cost is a more relevant measure. For me, that is the cost of a new car since I would never buy a high mileage used car. I keep my cars 15+ years so resale value is zilch.
 
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Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
I would've given money to my mother to have her gift me a QuickJack as a Christmas present.

"Look honey, what a nice gift from mom!!!" rofl.


My wife's getting me a quickjack for Xmas with our money this year. I'm giggling.

As for maintenance, you guys are scaring me with the antifreeze. My prii are complicated to burp, don't have dash temp gauges, and even have a 2nd system for the inverter. So I've been putting that off.

I should be using the e-brake at least 2x a month. Having a lot of issues with the mechanisms rusting and freezing, which makes me want to not use it, which makes it more likely to happen.
 
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