Ive certainly learned a lot since coming here and beginning the journey of learning about how motor oil affects vehicles.
It would be an interesting debate as to whether or not or not a premium oil helps a vehicle over a premium filter.
A good question for the stick in the muds would be the ethical reasoning behind motor oil changes.
Many times I hear people say that they dont care what motor oil they are going to use because they plan on trading in their car after the warranty expires or before the car hits the 100K level.
Somehow, it bothers me to not take care of things. We live in a disposable world and a disposable society. If something breaks then we buy a new one or try and pawn the old one off on an unsuspecting buyer.
My sister thinks that cars are meant to be traded in at 3 years or 50K miles and wasting money on oil changes or topoffs is a bad idea. She can save that money towards the purchase of a new car. Her cars are lucky to get 3 oil changes between purchase and 50K miles and those usually happen when Dad comes by for a visit. The problems are compounded because she drives like a wounded banshee. 100K miles for her is a target I doubt she will ever achieve on a vehicle.
I doubt that it costs more than $500 extra to go with a quality synthetics and filters over dino / fram oil changes over the course of a 100K interval. Many here find they can save money by doing the oil changes themselves and spending the extra money on parts by saving on labor rather than going to jiffy lube.
A good question is whether a vehicle thats been properly maintained will hold an extra $500 - $1000 of value when sold at the 100K mile level. Her 50K and out plan works but I feel sorry for the purchasers of her used cars.
Sometimes sadly cars get totalled by insurance adjusters and those guys go right by the blue book value and they wont give you a penny extra if youve been running Royal Purple in your car exclusively. Synthetic oil changes dont matter to insurance adjusters. Most consumers or purchasers of used cars dont care about oil and will look askance if you show them records of used oil analysis. They often seem to prefer $1000 in pocket rather than paying extra for a truck with pristine maintenance records. It angers me that my cars value is reduced by others that just dont care about their own cars. Sometimes you dont have a choice in when, where or how you sell your car. Accidents happen. Life throws unexpected events your way. And you adapt.
Ive reached the point where I cringe at buying new vehicles. The price seems to go up every year and the trend doesnt want to stop. I cringe more at the thought of buying a used car. There are too many people like my sister that trade off cars rather than let it become a problem. Id rather put money in a stealerships pocket than to buy a car with a history that I dont know. There is a reason that the used car industry is regarded as being shady.
What is to do? For me the answer is to buy a car and try and get 15-20 years out of it. My current vehicle is 11 years old (soon to be 12) and its time to make it a second vehicle and purchase a new #1. I know my #2 will have 50K - 100K miles left in its lifespan and I dont plan on owning the car that long but finding someone to give me even $1500 for the thing is difficult. At least I might get 3 years and 30K out of it before I part with it for $500. For me the cutoff point becomes the day the value of the car is lower than the price to insure it (liability only). When that happens the car goes away even if the wheels havent fallen off of it.
I dont know how much new cars will be in another 12 years when I look to replace the vehicle I soon intend to buy but Im guessing they wont be cheap.
People who dont maintain cars and lower the mileage expectations because of poor service and rough driving conditions certainly help to drag down life expectancy of cars and the blue book used car values of them. If my sisters cars only last 100K miles before they hit the junkyard then she destroys the value of a BITOG members car that makes it to 200K so the actuarial life span of an "average" car holds steady at 150K. For every BITOG member there are 10 drivers like my sister.
I dont fault those uninformed about the merits of oil / filters and other maintanence as it takes time and money to educate yourself as to the merits of service.
I am bothered by the lack of morality and respect by those that just dont care and are eager and willing to pass along problems that they contributed to by not caring for their cars.
If someone says that their car has 100K plus miles and they are going to drive the thing until the wheels fall off and they dont want to put extra money into higher priced oils then Im ok with it. Its their car and they have to make the decisions they feel works for them.
If someone buys a new car and says they plan on infrequent oil changes and then with the cheapest oil they can buy then its a problem. They are planning on pawning off their problems to others and it hurts the resale value and bluebook value of cars because the adjusters and actuaries who establish value consider the "average" expected lifespan of a car when establishing value and thats the value that holds in the used car market.
In other words, if I buy a new car and drive it for 3-4 years and keep it perfectly maintained and a drunk drives into me and totals my car. Then the value of my car is reduced by a large amount by those that didnt maintain their cars and didnt care.
Maybe cars are cheap and disposable like razor blades to some. I think in 10 years it will be a privelage to own a new car. I can remember the days when everyone in my neighborhood bought a new car about once every 2-3 years. Now we see a new car on my street about once per 5 years. We see maybe a couple of purchased used cars every 2-3 years but there are a lot of 10 year old vehicles in driveways. I live in a typical middle class neighborhood with 2 neighbors behind and next to me owning pools.
I dont have the answer to all the questions of morality. I imagine that as car prices rise that more people will drive used cars. I imagine that people who dont take care of their cars will drive down the prices of used cars at the detriment of those of us who care about cars. I imagine that as modern cars improve that more cars will die from wrecks than "wearing out".
In my own world of being a stick in the mud. I want to keep a car in perfect condition. I owe it to others who need high resale values for their cars. I owe it to the next guy that buys or drives my car after I move on to my next car. If I sell a car after 5 / 10 / 15 years then I want the guy who purchases the car to get a good deal. I want him to remember me fondly as a guy he can trust and a good guy. I dont want to sell a lemon and lick my greedy chops and think that I got away with ripping off somebody uninformed.
We are talking oil and not holding up liquor stores but I just feel that if one is blessed to have something nice such as a car or truck they love that they have a moral responsibility to take care of it rather than needing to determine when the best time is to find a fool willing to buy it from them.
Even so, I had one friend whose engine died at 46K miles and who got caught with his pants down having had his engine die during the time after his warranty expired and before he planned to trade it in. Im glad that Ive never had this problem. Ive only had one car die from engine failure and it went 100K past its expected engine life.
I hope others feel the same and car care improves. It benefits us all even if we never sell or total a car and drive them until the wheels fall off.
Happy Motoring All,
Bugshu