Your stories of owner neglect.

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What are your experiences with acquaintances that neglect their vehicles? Most of us here take meticulous care of our cars. I think because we understand the financial consequences of neglecting a car, we keep up on the latest and greatest fluids, parts, etc. but others in our society are either: cheap, lazy, or just uninformed.

Mine is my uncle. He never changed the timing belt on his 90’s Honda Civic. The thing broke and destroyed the engine. It was $4000 engine replacement, which he did. Another is my coworker. He is so negligent, I consider him a safety hazard to others on the road. His car was so rusty, his cv axle snapped in half while driving. And he had to limp home all because he was too cheap to buy another car. People like that frustrate me. It is one thing to be ignorant, but so cheap that you can endanger others is just plain stupid. Problem is here in Michigan, no yearly inspection is required to register a car, so people can get away with rampant negligence.
 
Neighbor named Chuck had a ~ 1985 Ford wagon. He bought new and never changed oil. He only added. The engine went to ~45,000 miles before dieing. Ford builds strong engines. Ed
 
I actually saw more neglect back in the late 70's and early 80's blue smoke out of tail pipes was a every day site, rust buckets ect...I'm dating myself, but some of the cars were pretty awfull on the roads back then... Don't know if it's the cops giving tickets, the stringent stickers, but most cars I see on the road aren't that bad now...I'ts the drivers who suck...
 
I am fairly new to going high mileage on cars. I usually got rid of them before 100,000 miles or so.

My 2003 Grand Marquis I acquired with 121,000 on it. I changed the trans fluid at 130,000 and realized it was the first fluid change.
 
My brother had a friend I knew growing up. His father liked Buick's and would buy them new. As the story goes he'd only change the oil filter once a year, he never changed the oil, he'd add it as needed, and top up with the filter change. My brother would speak with his friend's dad and heard the story with his own ears. My brother and his friend were into building and swinging engines into cars from a big tree in front of his friend's house. The father of his friend would talk to them while they were doing their thing, tell them they were crazy and share how he maintained cars etc.
 
My father. He changes oil regularly but that’s it. Not even a car wash. His truck might get washed every few years if I do it.
 
I know a fellow that bought a new Jeep and paid 48000 for it. Never been washed. Also knew an older fellow back in the early 70's that drove an older VW bug that never changed the oil. Just topped off when needed and had about 130,000 miles on it at the time.
 
My dad and I did a lot of engine jobs where the vehicles saw 30,000km (18K Miles) on conventional oil from the 1980's 1990's.
 
Originally Posted By: rollinpete
I actually saw more neglect back in the late 70's and early 80's blue smoke out of tail pipes was a every day site, rust buckets ect...I'm dating myself, but some of the cars were pretty awfull on the roads back then... Don't know if it's the cops giving tickets, the stringent stickers, but most cars I see on the road aren't that bad now...I'ts the drivers who suck...


^ This for sure.

Times were different then. I'm thinking it had to do with the fact auto loans were only for 36mo or so at best and interest rates were high. Folks didn't have the "luxury" of sign and drive leases for relatively low monthly payments, so they drove oil burning rust bucket beaters. That and cars were typically in pretty bad shape in 4yrs/50K miles in rust belt climates.
 
Bought a 1972 F-100 in 1975 to drive from Alabama to Alaska for my new duty station at a radar site. At the time the Alcan highway was over 1200 miles of dirt and gravel. That was during the pipeline construction era and the Alcan was used by numerous semis hauling supplies north to the pipeline. They were always is a big hurry to get there and passed me at 70+ MPH spraying the truck with gravel all day long during the 6 day trip. By the time I got to Alaska the truck was a wreck. Windshield was shattered and body had numerous dings and dents. The truck was so dirty you could not tell what color it was. Drove it for my year in Alaska as is with oil changes only. Never washed or repaired any of the damage. Sold it for twice what I paid for it before leaving Alaska in 1976 and the buyer was happy as could be to get it for that price. That place was truly the wild frontier. That was the only vehicle in my life out of 87 so far that I ever neglected
 
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I'm trying to think of some, but having a hard time. There's this but Photobucket ruined things.
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My neighbors 00 Tundra V6 where I had to fix this:
GjXvMQG.jpg


But new components and the truck still runs like a champ!
 
Friend of the family bought a new Suburban around 1990. Husband thought the wife got it serviced, wife thought the husband was taking care of it. Engine failed at 28k with the factory fill in it.
 
Originally Posted By: Kibitoshin
My neighbors 00 Tundra V6 where I had to fix this:
GjXvMQG.jpg


But new components and the truck still runs like a champ!



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Originally Posted By: Eddie
Neighbor named Chuck had a ~ 1985 Ford wagon. He bought new and never changed oil. He only added. The engine went to ~45,000 miles before dieing. Ford builds strong engines. Ed


LOL, My mother in law bought a brand new 1998 Plymouth Neon & never changed the oil.....Made it to a little over 40,000 miles before the camshaft seized & broke the timing belt.

I ended up swapping the engine for a new long block, I had to reuse the oil pan & valve cover.....The old engine left a horrible smell in my shop that took weeks to dissipate!
 
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