Extreme not maintained

[tiger862]

My niece just brought her 011 Kia Forte to me for oil change. Vehicle has 172000 miles with no maintenance. Engine is noisy so I checked oil and it was barely on stick so at least 2 qts low, checked vehicle to prepare for winter. Things I found would surprise anyone. Never had coolant change, air filter clogged, brakes low, plugs burnt. Talked to her and she stated oil changes were done when oil got low at jiffy lube or quick5 with 5w20 according to one receipt I found in car. Transmission never serviced and will not be at this mileage. I have to put 300.00 just in maintenance products as she just gave it to her sister who only drives to church and back. Will be going with Maxlife semi synthetic 5w20 and Napa Gold filter. Will not pull covers since no leaks. She was told cam was bad around 150k but no miss or check engine light and I don't plan on replacing top end on an ill maintained engine especially one that will see so low mileage now. She just replaced the Kia with a 2018 Dodge Journey 6 months ago and has 25k on it now. (New)

 

[StevieC]

That would keep me up at night. I'm OCD when it comes to maintenance.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Quite impressive actually.

On the other end of the spectrum we have people who overmaintain their Hyundai/Kia to make it last as long as possible. And then one day they load groceries in the trunk, get in the driver seat, turn the key, and hear the heartbreaking knocking sound coming from the engine bay...

 

[SonofJoe]

There's a school of thought that your niece did exactly the right thing in buying a new car & getting 172,000 miles out of it with the absolute minimum of spend on maintenance.

We laugh out loud at our wives & girlfriends when they fret about something as meaningless as VPL (Visible Panty Line in case you haven't been paying attention!). We are bemused when they declare that they couldn't possibly wear X with Y because it 'doesn't go'. And let's not forget that all females grow up with a pathological fear of ever putting soap on their faces!

Yet aren't us blokes equally neurotic when it comes to the oil's we put in our engines & car maintenance in general? You only need to read the forums to see how some people still froth at the mouth about going over a 3k OCI or the over-reaction to the risks of LSPI (an event so rare you could run a normal TGDI engine for years & never encounter it!).

I'm all for a decent amount of maintenance but some people do rather make a fetish out of it, which is extremely illogical as most 'ordinary' cars are next to worthless after seven years.

 

[DuckRyder]

That is not what VPL means around these parts...

The fact the car went 172,000 miles with only an occasional oil change (and presumably tires and brakes) is pretty impressive.

OT, what does she do that racks up 25,000 in 6 months?

 

[Kira]

No or very low maintenance yielded 172,000+ miles.

Ergo, $ome more maintenan¢e (pretty clever, eh?) could get her past 250,000 if not 300,000 miles.

Throw the cost of a replacement car into the mix and you can see that there are bad schools of thought out there.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted by SonofJoe
There's a school of thought that your niece did exactly the right thing in buying a new car & getting 172,000 miles out of it with the absolute minimum of spend on maintenance.

We laugh out loud at our wives & girlfriends when they fret about something as meaningless as VPL (Visible Panty Line in case you haven't been paying attention!). We are bemused when they declare that they couldn't possibly wear X with Y because it 'doesn't go'. And let's not forget that all females grow up with a pathological fear of ever putting soap on their faces!

Yet aren't us blokes equally neurotic when it comes to the oil's we put in our engines & car maintenance in general? You only need to read the forums to see how some people still froth at the mouth about going over a 3k OCI or the over-reaction to the risks of LSPI (an event so rare you could run a normal TGDI engine for years & never encounter it!).

I'm all for a decent amount of maintenance but some people do rather make a fetish out of it, which is extremely illogical as most 'ordinary' cars are next to worthless after seven years.



Yeah, but while VPL may be important for self-esteem, neglecting your car costs tens of thousands of dollars.

VPL costs nothing.

Cars are the second biggest part of most people's budgets, right below housing costs, so proper maintenance to avoid wasting huge amounts of money seems reasonable...

 

[Nick1994]

That's one tough little car! Sounds like if you do all this service, it'll probably last the rest of its life without having to worry about it. With regular oil changes of course.

 

[CT8]

Panty lines distract from the view.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by Astro14

Yeah, but while VPL may be important for self-esteem, neglecting your car costs tens of thousands of dollars.

VPL costs nothing.

Cars are the second biggest part of most people's budgets, right below housing costs, so proper maintenance to avoid wasting huge amounts of money seems reasonable...



This. Over-maintaining is something many people here are guilty of, but neglecting the basics will come with a hard lesson.

 

[tiger862]

Originally Posted by DuckRyder
That is not what VPL means around these parts...

The fact the car went 172,000 miles with only an occasional oil change (and presumably tires and brakes) is pretty impressive.

OT, what does she do that racks up 25,000 in 6 months?

She does home health

 

[BrocLuno]

Yeah, that's a tough one. My wife did that for a while. Endless hours of getting to the next client in all sorts of road conditions. No time to properly document condition and the phone on blue-tooth all the time.

They have a hard time eating lunch, leave alone sitting in line at jiffy lube ... But, tell her it's an opportunity to catch up on her documentation and she might go for it more often

 

[CELICA_XX]

It's a shame to see people not taking care of their cars, but I hope it will be ok for her.

Even with the neglected maintenance, I bet that car will still outlast the Journey. No doubt

 

[tiger862]

Originally Posted by CELICA_XX
It's a shame to see people not taking care of their cars, but I hope it will be ok for her.

Even with the neglected maintenance, I bet that car will still outlast the Journey. No doubt


I agree. 7 years, high note and high mileage. Don't know how this is going to work out but I have a good idea

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Camel toe gives the finger to panty lines.

 

[andyd]

You're a good uncle. Hard driving niece got a decent life with minimum maintenance out of a low buck car. AND with $300 of parts and Unk's TLC, Sis gets to drive to church. So far so good. I wonder if the Dodge will give as good service? Suggest a Valvoline change shop, instead of JL.

 

[andyd]

You're a good uncle. Hard driving niece got a decent life with minimum maintenance out of a low buck car. AND with $300 of parts and Unk's TLC, Sis gets to drive to church. So far so good. I wonder if the Dodge will give as good service? Suggest a Valvoline change shop, instead of JL.

 

[28oz]

Originally Posted by SonofJoe
.....as most 'ordinary' cars are next to worthless after seven years.



WHHAAAAA???

I rarely buy a vehicle that isn't at least ten years old! LOL.

 

[4WD]

Yeah … beat the crud out of my Canyon for 8 years and it sold for $17k … and those don't even have the resale value of the Taco … (it was a solid little truck, never saw the dealership) …

 

[Donald]

I would change the transmission fluid at any mileage. But I would either add a Magnefine or plan on changing the filter a second time in 10K miles.