People who have the gift..

[NavyVet88]

Oh they are out there alright....and by gift I mean people that we all know who could care less about vehicle maintenance and still drive 300k+ trouble free miles. Call it a gift or just constant dumb luck.

Case in point: my dad has been the hardest working man I have ever known in my life. As a single parent he was never able to afford a brand new vehicle while raising my sister and I (not a vehicle even remotely new for that matter). Every vehicle my dad had when raising us looked like a movie prop from mad max and had at least 180k miles on the clock when he bought them and that's if the clock was still ticking when he bought it. He never...to this day...has had a major malfunction on anything. His current vehicle has only had a water pump replaced and a yoke on his front axle and close to 311k miles on his 99 Ram 1500. His oil does not get changed on time ever either lol

My best friend: every vehicle he has ever had in his possession has been treated like absolute garbage and he has driven them for well over 200k miles not including whatever miles were on it when he got it. He does not do any kind of maintenance. None. His money goes to marijuana and video games and nothing else. His 95 Chevy s10 would make a good story on unsolved mysteries because of how much it has endured yet still runs.Yet vehicle immortality is on his side.

It can be called jealousy, but it's genuine interest I promise lol how do people have this kind of luck?

 

[dave1251]

The people with this gift is nothing short of improbable.

 

[NavyVet88]

Originally Posted by dave1251
The people with this gift is nothing short of improbable.


Apparently

 

[Skippy722]

One of my coworkers refuses to change the oil in his Escort, claims it's a scam and "it's still slippery, why change it?"

It did get an impromptu oil change because the filter rusted, blew out from the pressure, and dumped it all over his driveway. Now he just changes the filter...

 

[rubberchicken]

Or how about people that are the opposite ? Cars constantly break down. My son had a friend like this, and one day he constantly whined about how repair charges were eating him up. I rode with him one time to drop his car off for some repair and bring him back, and monitored how he drove it. Yup- rode the clutch, use the clutch to hold position at a light on a hill, cornered very hard, and tons of other expensive driving habits. We then had a long discussion about the difference between driving like a race car driver vs. driving like every movement cost you money.

 

[NavyVet88]

Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Or how about people that are the opposite ? Cars constantly break down. My son had a friend like this, and one day he constantly whined about how repair charges were eating him up. I rode with him one time to drop his car off for some repair and bring him back, and monitored how he drove it. Yup- rode the clutch, use the clutch to hold position at a light on a hill, cornered very hard, and tons of other expensive driving habits. We then had a long discussion about the difference between driving like a race car driver vs. driving like every movement cost you money.


This is true! There are people who do it to themselves whether they are aware or not.

My wife can be an example...honey I love you very much: 94 Camaro that had 176k on it when we met in 2009. The four years she had it, she never had the oil changed in it nor did she even know it was something that needed to be monitored. If it didn't give her a reason...she didn't look. Drove it daily until she sold it a month after we got married and had no problems the whole time prior.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by NavyVet88

Every vehicle my dad had when raising us looked like a movie prop from mad max

Originally Posted by NavyVet88

He does not do any kind of maintenance. None. His money goes to marijuana and video games and nothing else.

 

[Kira]

That NavyVet88's experiences are in Alabama likely has something to do with it.

Relocate those two vehicle owners to a northern location and the outcomes would change.

Failures upon startup truly cull the heard.

I'm with rubberchicken: I drive as if mellowness slows the dollar meter--which is, alas, ALWAYS running.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Or how about people that are the opposite ? Cars constantly break down. My son had a friend like this, and one day he constantly whined about how repair charges were eating him up. I rode with him one time to drop his car off for some repair and bring him back, and monitored how he drove it. Yup- rode the clutch, use the clutch to hold position at a light on a hill, cornered very hard, and tons of other expensive driving habits. We then had a long discussion about the difference between driving like a race car driver vs. driving like every movement cost you money.



There is no gift here- you pay as you go - or you pay more later after.

One can neglect vehicles a long time before total component failure - but thats what you have - a worn-out POS ready for the scrap heap vs something that has some resale and life left in it.

Between this and what Kira said - experience teaches you that driving style has a large effect on a vehicle component wear.

Our grandads knew this and mine taught me the same in that - the money counter was always clicking - just a matter of how fast or slow usually directly connected to my right foot.

Guys or gals that beat on cars and don't maintain them cannot hide this from me (or a real inspection)

I can see your driving habits when I put your car on the rack, and I can see your lack of oil changes under your valve covers and in a leak down.


Unless their strategy depends on finding a sucker down the road - these guys aren't really getting away with anything



UD

 

[NavyVet88]

Originally Posted by UncleDave
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Or how about people that are the opposite ? Cars constantly break down. My son had a friend like this, and one day he constantly whined about how repair charges were eating him up. I rode with him one time to drop his car off for some repair and bring him back, and monitored how he drove it. Yup- rode the clutch, use the clutch to hold position at a light on a hill, cornered very hard, and tons of other expensive driving habits. We then had a long discussion about the difference between driving like a race car driver vs. driving like every movement cost you money.



There is no gift here- you pay as you go - or you pay more later after.

One can neglect vehicles a long time before total component failure - but thats what you have - a worn-out POS ready for the scrap heap vs something that has some resale and life left in it.

Between this and what Kira said - experience teaches you that driving style has a large effect on a vehicle component wear.

Our grandads knew this and mine taught me the same in that - the money counter was always clicking - just a matter of how fast or slow usually directly connected to my right foot.

Guys or gals that beat on cars and don't maintain them cannot hide this from me (or a real inspection)

I can see your driving habits when I put your car on the rack, and I can see your lack of oil changes under your valve covers and in a leak down.


Unless their strategy depends on finding a sucker down the road - these guys aren't really getting away with anything



UD





Don't get me wrong, I know there may have been repairs that weren't seen by me or disclosed. The first two examples were that of the two people who just never seem to have had any vehicle troubles whether it be normal and tear or just negligent wear and tear.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by NavyVet88


Don't get me wrong, I know there may have been repairs that weren't seen by me or disclosed. The first two examples were that of the two people who just never seem to have had any vehicle troubles whether it be normal and tear or just negligent wear and tear.


I've seen what you describe a lot.

You can wear stuff to nub without it actually breaking.

Suspension components are an example of that - you wouldn't believe the stuff I saw as a service writer.

UD

 

[philipp10]

all I do is change the oil and I never have car problems. It's not luck. It's how you drive plus the models of cars you choose. Some cars are poorly designed and have inherit flaws, some don't. What most don't get here is it's the design that matters way more than the maintenance. Change the fluids all you want but it's not going to solve poor design.

 

[SatinSilver]

My friend had a 99 Chevy Malibu 4 cylinder and he would never change the oil. He said he couldn't remember the last time it was changed. He would check the fluid levels regularly. Mostly coolant, washer fluid and oil top offs. I remember one time it was knocking so bad it sounded like a musical instrument with all the noise it was making. An accident finally took it out.

It did have an engine replacement done but he gave some story about the shop fixing something else and messing up the engine. So the shop paid for the replacement. But I think he just made that up since I was always on him about maintenance. He would regularly spend $15 or so on a car wash and spend the weekends at the bar. He passed away at 36 from a heart attack. Which prompted me to lose a lot of weight since we were about the same size.

 

[LoneRanger]

My son has this gift. At 67,000 miles he drove his 2008 Ford Escape about three miles with no oil in it. Had sheared off the oil filter from a road hazard strike. Got home we refilled with oil, spun on new filter. Engine purred. Even from then on oil change intervals were a coin toss for him, no two ever the same duration, just when he finally decided the OLM had annoyed him for long enough. This past spring​ he sold it to a co-worker for $1000. Bit past 150,000 miles and still going strong...

 

[NavyVet88]

Originally Posted by LoneRanger
My son has this gift. At 67,000 miles he drove his 2008 Ford Escape about three miles with no oil in it. Had sheared off the oil filter from a road hazard strike. Got home we refilled with oil, spun on new filter. Engine purred. Even from then on oil change intervals were a coin toss for him, no two ever the same duration, just when he finally decided the OLM had annoyed him for long enough. This past spring​ he sold it to a co-worker for $1000. Bit past 150,000 miles and still going strong...


That's what I'm talking about right there.

 

[02SE]

I saw neglected vehicles all the time back in my consumer car repair days. Some people just don't care, some are ignorant to the effects of their neglect, some just don't have the money for regular preventive maintenance.

Having a car that keeps running despite the neglect, isn't a gift. It's just dumb luck.

 

[dave1251]

Things like oil changes often we here just change too often. Even if following iOLM's the oil still has a cushion left.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Originally Posted by dave1251
Things like oil changes often we here just change too often. Even if following iOLM's the oil still has a cushion left.

My wife and I share 1 car so it's usually on the go. When things are busy and the OLM calls for a change, I just write the mileage down, reset the OLM and roll on. Cars aren't that fragile that an extra couple of thousand beyond the OLM will hurt anything. The car serves me, not the other way around.

 

[DGXR]

I have yet to meet someone who has neglected and abused a vehicle and had no problems with it. But I've seen people have lots of car trouble because they couldn't stop tinkering with it... you know, "improvements" or "mods." They were trying to fix something that wasn't broke and they deserved all the trouble they got.
I just try to find something in good running condition, keep up on the basic maintenance, and use it for its intended purpose. I don't buy a base model and build it into a fully loaded 4x4 when I could just buy a fully loaded 4x4 in the first place and avoid all the backyard engineering issues.