Preventative Maintenance -

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
I know loads of people that have done 300k miles with little more than scheduled maintenance.

Loads? What kind of cars? My relatively reliable Asian vehicles required what I would call more than "scheduled" maintenance to get where they are today, stuff like tie rod ends, ball joints, control arms, CV shaft, and a new starter for the Sienna. I also needed new rear brake shoe mounting plates, a new parking brake cable, wheel bearings, and new engine mounts to name a few other items. If loads of people are getting 300K miles without those items I wonder what kind of cars they are driving.

For one thing I know it isn't a BMW...

 

[jimbrewer]

Step back and try to be objective. What takes us out of our cars, realistically? It's cosmetic issues. Especially if you count rust. It may not be manly, but you are better off taking care of the finish, and especially the interior than doing mechanical things.

I think replacing the water pump with a timing belt has gotten to be a maintenance thing on some vehicles, but that's mostly a function of the expense of getting to the part in most circumstances than anything else.

I put my car on the float charger every night and that's convinced me I've deferred the cost of a new battery for a couple or 2.5 years. That's worthwhile. A handy, BITOGer, can install one of those unobtrusive plug in things so you don't even have to open the hood.

If I lived in rust country, I'd get my car Krowned once or twice, anyway.

I'd change the radiator hoses with the fluid change at the 10 or 12 year mark.

I've changed the diff oil early and the T fluid early, once. 100k changes for fluids that don't even have a filter makes me nervous.

Paradoxically, a couple of UOAs have convinced me to not be so paranoid about oil changes. 7k intervals or IOLM run down to 15% level is fine.

Yes, it's possible that the new part will be better. It's more likely you'll run into a counterfeit or defective part the more often you preemptively change a functioning part.