It's not that complicated. Buy a Toyota. And use full syn for oil changes.I've always found it cool to see a 15 or 20 year old truck in excellent condition with original drivetrain because it was taken care of. My goal is to get 300k out of my vehicle minimum. I'm okay with having to do some wear and tear items along the way, but my goal is to get the most out of my vehicle without any major overhauls. I do all the maintenance on it like clock work. Down to greasing ujoints, door jams, you name it. Currently at 50k, so I have a long ways to go. I recently switched to walmarts supertech 5w30 synthetic. I know it's a decent oil, I did some research before buying it and people seem to approve it for being a good oil. It's got all the latest certifications and all should be good to go, right?
Despite going in all "well-informed" and buying the stuff at walmart, the price was so cheap I got this feeling that maybe I should 2nd guess the oil. No disrespect to anyone, but realistically I am just reading all this information on the internet. Who knows what kind of misinformation may get compounded over time, and realistically how many of the so called experts on here have chemical engineering degrees with experience in this specific field? Okay, enough of discrediting you guys. Point is that I'm just trying to go about this with a few grains of salt. What I did is to compare VOAs of premium brands to the supertech. I noticed pennzoil ultra 5w30 and supertech are very similarly packaged. I made sure the VOAs were done sometime in 2018 so the information isn't from some old packaging from say back in 2003. I noticed even though the additive packaging was similar, in terms of what additives they used and what they didnt use, the pennzoil and other premium brands just has a [censored] load more of everything. Is getting more additives worth it or is it just diminishing returns? In other words, is paying more for the extra additive concentration a worth while investment on say 5k OCI, given my goal with the truck? In the long haul do you think the supertech will noticeably dirtier oil rings on the piston? I'm just trying to figure out why brands like mobil 1 and pennzoil feel the need to have higher concentrations of additives. Is the additives whats driving the cost of these premium oils, or is the price just to create the illusion of superiority?
ArcherDriver hasn’t been on in awhile.It's not that complicated. Buy a Toyota. And use full syn for oil changes.
I know your reply was from a few years ago. Is she still on the road? Here’s my beloved 2002. Ran like a top, 190K. Sadly I traded it in for a 15 double cab. Not hating the 15, lol. Hopefully in the next 3.5 years my son who will be 16 will drive it. I babied the 2002. I’m doing the same to the 15, currently 107K.Pay attention to fluids. You'll be ahead of most car owners just doing that. I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma with around 225K miles on it. It still looks/drives like new and I've had to do very few repairs on it--mostly wear and tear items.
i change the oil with a quality synthetic and OEM filter every 7500 miles. I change the transmission fluid with Mobil 1 ATF every 30K miles, although I'm moving to a 50K mile schedule now because the fluid looks perfect coming out at 30K miles. I also drain/fill the coolant every other year. Mine has zerk fittings, so I lube it with Amsoil synthetic grease every time I change the oil. I've changed the diff oil once to Mobil 1 75W90 (at around 130K miles) and plan to do it again soon. I don't off-road or anything like that, so I think 100K miles on diff oil is probably OK...especially seeing as how so many people never change the factory fill.
All in all, I'm hoping this maintenance schedule allows me to keep driving my truck indefinitely. I live in the south so there's no salt/rust to contend with. I plan to get 300K miles AT LEAST. But we'll see--some idiot could run into me and total it tomorrow.
patch on my shoulder, pick up your weapon and follow me!I know some good old boys with that kind of mileage on their Ford pickups. Ask them how often they change their oil and they laugh. They add some fresh oil when it gets below normal on the dipstick. Really. No kidding. That is not just 300K on the vehicle, it is 300K+ on the factory original engine!
No kidding. Just patched a rust hole on my 10 year old 230k car. Toss in typical potholes trashing suspension (often caused by freeze/thaw cycles) and I tend to think 10 years is good enough, everything on the car may be uniformly worn.Have had a couple 200k and a 350kk.i It ain’t about the oil viscosity, or oil filter brand…here in the road salt belt it’s the number of years. After a dozen years or so, other things rust out…
You're certainly welcomeArcherDriver hasn’t been on in awhile.
But thanks for that anyway.
Yes, that's the case for my Tacoma. 305000 on the original engine. But she does get 'er oil changed.I know some good old boys with that kind of mileage on their Ford pickups. Ask them how often they change their oil and they laugh. They add some fresh oil when it gets below normal on the dipstick. Really. No kidding. That is not just 300K on the vehicle, it is 300K+ on the factory original engine!
Side curtain airbags were around before becoming mandatory safety equipment in '98. The problem with aging cars is that that airbags eventually expire. There's usually a sticker on the door jamb that says when the airbags need to be replaced but hardly anyone ever does that. How well does a 20-year-old airbag work?The biggest question is how do you and your spouse feel about driving a twenty year + old car? For instance, a 1999 car won't have side air bags, a safety feature that might have come in handy during those winter collision videos that were recently posted. I actually do have one car that is 19 years old, just say'n.