What are your secrets to vehicle longevity?
- Thread starter 19jacobob93
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Spray hinges in your car with something like WD40, and they will last longer. At first, the car will stink of chemicals, but after driving with the windows down for 20 minutes, most of the odor is gone.
Know if your car has grease fittings or not. You will need to grease all of them to get good life from the components. Some cars will have grease fittings that are difficult to find. Toyota trucks, for example, often have a telescoping driveshaft, and a grease fitting that is hard to see. Uinversal joints on such cars usually have grease fittings, too.
A brake fluid flush using premium DOT4 ensures you get the most life from the entire braking system. You need to bleed fluid from all calipers because the dirtiest fluid settles down there. If you never let the master cylinder run low, you probably don't need to activate the ABS to bleed fluid.
Follow all procedures for testing the ball joints. Sometimes they will not develop visable play when you push and pull on the tire, but when the suspension is properly unloaded, you can check for vertical play by prying near the ball joint. If you see any vertical play, replace the ball joint or entire control arm.
Check the suspension bushings while you are testing the ball joints. pry against the suspension bushings, and if you see more than 1/4 of an inch in play, replace the bushings or entire control arm.
Replace your radiator cap every 3 years. Usually the spring weakens, casing coolant loss and boil over without being obvious.
Know if your car has grease fittings or not. You will need to grease all of them to get good life from the components. Some cars will have grease fittings that are difficult to find. Toyota trucks, for example, often have a telescoping driveshaft, and a grease fitting that is hard to see. Uinversal joints on such cars usually have grease fittings, too.
A brake fluid flush using premium DOT4 ensures you get the most life from the entire braking system. You need to bleed fluid from all calipers because the dirtiest fluid settles down there. If you never let the master cylinder run low, you probably don't need to activate the ABS to bleed fluid.
Follow all procedures for testing the ball joints. Sometimes they will not develop visable play when you push and pull on the tire, but when the suspension is properly unloaded, you can check for vertical play by prying near the ball joint. If you see any vertical play, replace the ball joint or entire control arm.
Check the suspension bushings while you are testing the ball joints. pry against the suspension bushings, and if you see more than 1/4 of an inch in play, replace the bushings or entire control arm.
Replace your radiator cap every 3 years. Usually the spring weakens, casing coolant loss and boil over without being obvious.
Wow thanks for all the replies everyone, some very good points made.
I'm slowly doing everything on my car maintenance wise, week by week as I'm on a pretty limited budget at the moment!
First I've purchased the rear shock absorbers and front struts/shocks because they were half price at $160 for all 4 Gabriels. (Not sure what Gabriel's are like but sure will be better than nothing, especially at that price)
Then I will purchase the engine mounts. And save to pay a mechanic to fit the lot at the same time, and maybe get a fluid change on the diff and trans at the same time.
I'll do what someone said about the soap bottle pump and changing the power steering fluid just to get some fresh in there.
Rear brake pads need doing as they are the factory originals from 14 years ago and are starting to squeek.
Needs a new exhaust and cat which I will do last
Other than that everything is fine and the engine and drivetrain are in very good condition
Give the bay a bit of a clean earlier but there is a bit of fish oil still there!
I'm slowly doing everything on my car maintenance wise, week by week as I'm on a pretty limited budget at the moment!
First I've purchased the rear shock absorbers and front struts/shocks because they were half price at $160 for all 4 Gabriels. (Not sure what Gabriel's are like but sure will be better than nothing, especially at that price)
Then I will purchase the engine mounts. And save to pay a mechanic to fit the lot at the same time, and maybe get a fluid change on the diff and trans at the same time.
I'll do what someone said about the soap bottle pump and changing the power steering fluid just to get some fresh in there.
Rear brake pads need doing as they are the factory originals from 14 years ago and are starting to squeek.
Needs a new exhaust and cat which I will do last
Other than that everything is fine and the engine and drivetrain are in very good condition
Give the bay a bit of a clean earlier but there is a bit of fish oil still there!
Also some people stated it's good to buy a car with a reputation for being reliable, and that's the reason I bough one of these.
A buddy of mine had one with 410,000kms on the clock and in the 150,000kms+ he had owned it for, it had never had a service or fluid change of any kind, and I'd be surprised if the hood had ever even been opened. All of this despite being used as a work car for a tradesman with a boot full of tools and constantly lugging a loaded trailer and a boat on the weekends.
He retired it last year because he hit a wall and smashed the left side headlight and wing mirror deeming it unroadworthy. The cost to fix was more than the cars worth so it's just sitting here to rot.
The engine and entire drivetrain still ran fine but I thought I'd check the oil and have a nosey around the whole thing to see how it stood up to such severe abuse.
There was no sign of oil on the dipstick, only black residue on the very end, inside the rocker cover fill hole was just blackness and sludge everywhere.
The cooling system had straight tap water in it that had also been in there for 150,000kms or more.
Yet somehow the car ran perfectly and never missed a beat!
On my search for one there are plenty of ex taxis with 1,000,000+kms on the clock on their original, unrebuilt engines. Reading on a forum the highest known before a rebuild is 1.2 million.
I'll post some pictures of the poor old thing when I next go see him just so you can see how much abuse it took and still lives!
A buddy of mine had one with 410,000kms on the clock and in the 150,000kms+ he had owned it for, it had never had a service or fluid change of any kind, and I'd be surprised if the hood had ever even been opened. All of this despite being used as a work car for a tradesman with a boot full of tools and constantly lugging a loaded trailer and a boat on the weekends.
He retired it last year because he hit a wall and smashed the left side headlight and wing mirror deeming it unroadworthy. The cost to fix was more than the cars worth so it's just sitting here to rot.
The engine and entire drivetrain still ran fine but I thought I'd check the oil and have a nosey around the whole thing to see how it stood up to such severe abuse.
There was no sign of oil on the dipstick, only black residue on the very end, inside the rocker cover fill hole was just blackness and sludge everywhere.
The cooling system had straight tap water in it that had also been in there for 150,000kms or more.
Yet somehow the car ran perfectly and never missed a beat!
On my search for one there are plenty of ex taxis with 1,000,000+kms on the clock on their original, unrebuilt engines. Reading on a forum the highest known before a rebuild is 1.2 million.
I'll post some pictures of the poor old thing when I next go see him just so you can see how much abuse it took and still lives!
Not really a secret:
Research which car is durable and high quality, buy it and take care of it. You cannot fix your way around a poor design.
Research which car is durable and high quality, buy it and take care of it. You cannot fix your way around a poor design.
Thanks for the big reply Kira! Yeah I used the 5 year/250,000km coolant but I will change that in 2-3 years time for peace of mind!
As for the engine mounts, I've been wanting to change them for about a year but they are an expensive job
Funny you should mention being a swine driving round with a malfunctioning window haha mine started acting up good old falcon style about a year ago and now they need a bit of help pulling them up as they jar in the runners.
As for the good old flogging as was speaking about, I don't abuse it at all and only when going up very steep hills (went up mt tamborine yesterday), over taking, and smoking the old rice bucket at the lights does it see high revs. Other than that it hardly ever goes above 2,000rpm and definitely not on a cold engine!
Thanks about the wheels! Not sure actually, they're just the standard ones that came on the AU but since this is a series 2 where they moved the rims from 15" to 16", I'm guessing they're the 21 hole
As for the engine mounts, I've been wanting to change them for about a year but they are an expensive job
Funny you should mention being a swine driving round with a malfunctioning window haha mine started acting up good old falcon style about a year ago and now they need a bit of help pulling them up as they jar in the runners.
As for the good old flogging as was speaking about, I don't abuse it at all and only when going up very steep hills (went up mt tamborine yesterday), over taking, and smoking the old rice bucket at the lights does it see high revs. Other than that it hardly ever goes above 2,000rpm and definitely not on a cold engine!
Thanks about the wheels! Not sure actually, they're just the standard ones that came on the AU but since this is a series 2 where they moved the rims from 15" to 16", I'm guessing they're the 21 hole
My secret to vehicle longevity is keeping it in the garage and not using it. That is not meant as a joke! I live on rural gravel roads and have to drive off road in cropland and pasture land and live in the upper midwest. Just taking the vehicle out is going to decrease it's life. I am lucky if I can keep the vehicle clean for 24 hrs, anytime of the year. That is cause to celebrate when I can! And that is why I cherish the occasional road trip somewhere. I can actually have a clean vehicle for more than a few hours. It is darn near impossible to keep a vehicle clean having to operate it on gravel roads.
Jacob, I didn't read through this whole thread. Books have been written on this topic and we're off to a good start here. I think the biggie's are basic in nature. Maintain it according to the mfr. spec's., Buy quality repair/maintenance parts. Keep it washed and waxed, and drive it in a reasonable manner.
I don't have a secret, but my DD 2003 Pontiac will roll 500,000KM this Summer. I've kept it from overheating. It had Fram OCOD and walmart bulk for the first 175K miles or so. I've treated it to M1, Edge, and even some great filters, but it didn't care. Trans gets fluid swap every 50K miles or so. Still shifts great and car gets 30MPG highway.
Most maint has been as needed, but I confess the original plugs went 150K miles, 2d set went 154K miles, and third set was installed last weekend. Runs great.
Air blows cold, brakes are smooth, all switches work.
Having said that, I'll ditch it at the first sign of major trauma to engine or trans.
Most maint has been as needed, but I confess the original plugs went 150K miles, 2d set went 154K miles, and third set was installed last weekend. Runs great.
Air blows cold, brakes are smooth, all switches work.
Having said that, I'll ditch it at the first sign of major trauma to engine or trans.
Changing fluids before they get nasty is part of the longevity equation, but the really important thing, maybe more so than maintenance, is catching problems early. This is where many people fail, then things start to snowball, then the car becomes a piece of junk that's too much trouble/expense to fix. One problem shows up, maybe even sets a code, but because the car "runs fine," it's ignored. The ignored problem gets worse, possibly creates another problem, and the car just deteriorates to a point where it needs thousands in repairs to be decent again.
Half [censored] repairs are another thing that kills cars early. For example, someone is too lazy/cheap to fix a minor leak properly...water neck, radiator, etc, so they get some stop leak [censored] and end up wrecking the heater core, t-stat, etc.
Catch problems early, and fix them the right way, and most mainstream vehicles will be very reliable. It's really a lot more than just doing maintenance...the most important part of doing maintenance is probably being under the hood and looking things over. Cars are so complex these days that unforeseen things WILL fail and will be unexpected/unpreventable (then become a known issue on a model specific internet forum), but if you fix them early before they do damage, it's often no big deal.
Half [censored] repairs are another thing that kills cars early. For example, someone is too lazy/cheap to fix a minor leak properly...water neck, radiator, etc, so they get some stop leak [censored] and end up wrecking the heater core, t-stat, etc.
Catch problems early, and fix them the right way, and most mainstream vehicles will be very reliable. It's really a lot more than just doing maintenance...the most important part of doing maintenance is probably being under the hood and looking things over. Cars are so complex these days that unforeseen things WILL fail and will be unexpected/unpreventable (then become a known issue on a model specific internet forum), but if you fix them early before they do damage, it's often no big deal.
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Catch problems early, and fix them the right way
I was going to say something like this. Don't let problems pile up on your car.
Catch problems early, and fix them the right way
I was going to say something like this. Don't let problems pile up on your car.
Why not let them pile up? Once it reaches a tipping point you can pitch the car, and get a different one for less. Otherwise you run the risk of getting rid of a car over just one more repair, or getting rid of right after doing some major work because it got into an accident. Send it off when it's in need of ac work, a windshield, brakes and the trans is slipping--all the parts basically worn out at the same time.
I mean, at least once it reaches a certain age, anyhow. Unless if you are attached to the car, or are going for the lowest TCO and are willing to put in the effort to keep doing repairs.
I mean, at least once it reaches a certain age, anyhow. Unless if you are attached to the car, or are going for the lowest TCO and are willing to put in the effort to keep doing repairs.
Well, OP was asking about how to achieve longevity, not how to run it into the ground so there's an excuse to get a new one.
Problems rarely just coincide at just the right time so you know "okay, now is the time."
Really well maintained vehicles rarely have so many issues that they are one repair away from being junked. If you really keep up with it, it just doesn't get to that point.
What usually happens is people just feel less motivated to keep a car up, push things off, and then one day (usually when the car strands them or threatens to do so), decide they must do something about the situation, whether it is repairing the car or getting rid of it. A lot of people will shotgun repairs when the car really acts up, but the damage is already done and they are too late. Those "one too many" repair situations are often this...they start tackling stuff on the list, finally, but then run into something that totals the car out, at least for them.
Also, a lot of people severely exacerbate problems by not dealing with them early. Replace a leaking output shaft seal on a trans at the first sign of leakage, and it's no big deal. Wait until the trans loses so much fluid that it's slipping or shifting bad, and you may have gone too far. If you deal with things as they crop up, the car just doesn't get that junky.
Problems rarely just coincide at just the right time so you know "okay, now is the time."
Really well maintained vehicles rarely have so many issues that they are one repair away from being junked. If you really keep up with it, it just doesn't get to that point.
What usually happens is people just feel less motivated to keep a car up, push things off, and then one day (usually when the car strands them or threatens to do so), decide they must do something about the situation, whether it is repairing the car or getting rid of it. A lot of people will shotgun repairs when the car really acts up, but the damage is already done and they are too late. Those "one too many" repair situations are often this...they start tackling stuff on the list, finally, but then run into something that totals the car out, at least for them.
Also, a lot of people severely exacerbate problems by not dealing with them early. Replace a leaking output shaft seal on a trans at the first sign of leakage, and it's no big deal. Wait until the trans loses so much fluid that it's slipping or shifting bad, and you may have gone too far. If you deal with things as they crop up, the car just doesn't get that junky.
1) Don't forget the change/flush the coolant and atf.
2) Vacuum the inside regularly.
3) Wax the car every 6 months.
2) Vacuum the inside regularly.
3) Wax the car every 6 months.
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Well, OP was asking about how to achieve longevity, not how to run it into the ground so there's an excuse to get a new one.
Problems rarely just coincide at just the right time so you know "okay, now is the time."
Really well maintained vehicles rarely have so many issues that they are one repair away from being junked. If you really keep up with it, it just doesn't get to that point.
What usually happens is people just feel less motivated to keep a car up, push things off, and then one day (usually when the car strands them or threatens to do so), decide they must do something about the situation, whether it is repairing the car or getting rid of it. A lot of people will shotgun repairs when the car really acts up, but the damage is already done and they are too late. Those "one too many" repair situations are often this...they start tackling stuff on the list, finally, but then run into something that totals the car out, at least for them.
Also, a lot of people severely exacerbate problems by not dealing with them early. Replace a leaking output shaft seal on a trans at the first sign of leakage, and it's no big deal. Wait until the trans loses so much fluid that it's slipping or shifting bad, and you may have gone too far. If you deal with things as they crop up, the car just doesn't get that junky.
Bear with me for a moment, I'm trying to put it into context: I've known that the rear axle on my car has been bent for a while, toe-in is excessive. Just haven't figured out what I want to do there, other than aggressive tire rotations. Brakes finally looked bad, so I did those ($400!)--only to find a torn CV boot. And the lower control arm bushings are cracked. They were not this past fall. So, I could stand to replace all the rubber bits in the suspension, do a full refresh after nearly 300kmiles, plus perhaps a new rear axle to replace the bent one. Add in that I still have the original radiator, altenator and usual stuff, and that I have rusted out fenders, door and hatch, needs new tires too, and...?
I've done struts twice, wheel bearings once, control arm bushings once, and a few other repairs as they popped up (turbo and clutch). A few windshields too. Honest, I've tried to do repairs when I've noticed things are broken. At least the mechanical ones. Rust, that is finally starting to become a real concern; it's still cosmetic though. At least it hasn't stranded me recently (two tows, once for turbo, once for fuel pump, and there was a stretch this winter during a cold snap where I didn't trust it to start--probably bad fuel, it cleared up eventually).
So it strikes me as a "good time" to quit it, or at the least to do the least amount of work to keep it going. Seems like, after 300k, it's a valid time to do a full refresh: but for the amount I'd spend on that, is it more cost effective to ignore for a year or so, then just replace the vehicle?
Well, OP was asking about how to achieve longevity, not how to run it into the ground so there's an excuse to get a new one.
Problems rarely just coincide at just the right time so you know "okay, now is the time."
Really well maintained vehicles rarely have so many issues that they are one repair away from being junked. If you really keep up with it, it just doesn't get to that point.
What usually happens is people just feel less motivated to keep a car up, push things off, and then one day (usually when the car strands them or threatens to do so), decide they must do something about the situation, whether it is repairing the car or getting rid of it. A lot of people will shotgun repairs when the car really acts up, but the damage is already done and they are too late. Those "one too many" repair situations are often this...they start tackling stuff on the list, finally, but then run into something that totals the car out, at least for them.
Also, a lot of people severely exacerbate problems by not dealing with them early. Replace a leaking output shaft seal on a trans at the first sign of leakage, and it's no big deal. Wait until the trans loses so much fluid that it's slipping or shifting bad, and you may have gone too far. If you deal with things as they crop up, the car just doesn't get that junky.
Bear with me for a moment, I'm trying to put it into context: I've known that the rear axle on my car has been bent for a while, toe-in is excessive. Just haven't figured out what I want to do there, other than aggressive tire rotations. Brakes finally looked bad, so I did those ($400!)--only to find a torn CV boot. And the lower control arm bushings are cracked. They were not this past fall. So, I could stand to replace all the rubber bits in the suspension, do a full refresh after nearly 300kmiles, plus perhaps a new rear axle to replace the bent one. Add in that I still have the original radiator, altenator and usual stuff, and that I have rusted out fenders, door and hatch, needs new tires too, and...?
I've done struts twice, wheel bearings once, control arm bushings once, and a few other repairs as they popped up (turbo and clutch). A few windshields too. Honest, I've tried to do repairs when I've noticed things are broken. At least the mechanical ones. Rust, that is finally starting to become a real concern; it's still cosmetic though. At least it hasn't stranded me recently (two tows, once for turbo, once for fuel pump, and there was a stretch this winter during a cold snap where I didn't trust it to start--probably bad fuel, it cleared up eventually).
So it strikes me as a "good time" to quit it, or at the least to do the least amount of work to keep it going. Seems like, after 300k, it's a valid time to do a full refresh: but for the amount I'd spend on that, is it more cost effective to ignore for a year or so, then just replace the vehicle?
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