Hi all:
Great board. I've learned so much.
Question... I'm looking for a used SUV, preferably a Toyota. Ideally I had hoped to find a private seller/one owner car but the probability of this is dwindling. Therefore, I've focused on what I think is the next best thing - pursuing a sale at a reputable dealership (not car lot). Now, to the question. It seems almost every carfax I look at shows the same pattern of service history. The car is first serviced at the selling dealership for the first year or two and then almost invariably folks start taking their vehicles to places like Grease Monkey and the like. I know a lot of folks have to go these places and can't do oil changes themselves, but does the board feel that the oil and filter quality used by these places could do damage to an engine? I know I would not personally use one of these place for these reasons plus I simply don't trust them to fill to the correct level, not overtighten things, etc. I even "pre-saturate" my oil filters when I do my oil changes. At this point, the bottom line for me is that at least regular maintenance is way better than sporadic or no maintenance. Thanks for any input.
Great board. I've learned so much.
Question... I'm looking for a used SUV, preferably a Toyota. Ideally I had hoped to find a private seller/one owner car but the probability of this is dwindling. Therefore, I've focused on what I think is the next best thing - pursuing a sale at a reputable dealership (not car lot). Now, to the question. It seems almost every carfax I look at shows the same pattern of service history. The car is first serviced at the selling dealership for the first year or two and then almost invariably folks start taking their vehicles to places like Grease Monkey and the like. I know a lot of folks have to go these places and can't do oil changes themselves, but does the board feel that the oil and filter quality used by these places could do damage to an engine? I know I would not personally use one of these place for these reasons plus I simply don't trust them to fill to the correct level, not overtighten things, etc. I even "pre-saturate" my oil filters when I do my oil changes. At this point, the bottom line for me is that at least regular maintenance is way better than sporadic or no maintenance. Thanks for any input.