3 ms·

Same applies to a 600$ service every 3 years or 30K miles. Just to change oil, filters, flush refill all fluids and verify everything is alright. Easily doabl

Same applies to a 600$ service every 3 years or 30K miles. Just to change oil, filters, flush refill all fluids and verify everything is alright. Easily doable under 75$ within an hour or two. My Sedan has been running fine with no dealer service or oil change for the past 12 years, over 120K miles.

camhenlin 10y ago
Neglecting on maintenance isn't great advice if people are looking for ways to get more out of their vehicles. Nearly every car around will need a lot more than fluids and filters every 120k miles.
- Maakuth 10y ago
  In many if not most vehicles, not replacing belts after their specified age is risking serious damage to the engine. Still I agree that the official branded service is often a ripoff.
  - diebir 10y ago
    Not "belts" but timing belt. Check if your car has interference or non-interference engine. The replacement interval is often at 120K miles, after which it becomes a gamble, but may last 200K.
- anticodon 10y ago
  I do service on my bike and car myself. It's not as difficult as most people think. Not only it's cheaper but also more reliable. I've seen too many times how workers at the dealer forget to tighten some nut, or forget to put some cover back after maintenance, or change the brake pads but don't change or grease other brake parts, etc. They are not interested in doing quality work.
  - Inconel 10y ago
    I had two experiences that convinced me to start changing my own fluids and doing basic maintenance. One time I took my Honda to a dealer for an oil change and they over tightened the oil pan plug to the point that the threads stripped off. Of course I only discovered this after a period of some time so I had no recourse. I had to pay for a new oil pan and installation. After that I vowed not to take my car to the dealer so I took it to a well reviewed independent shop. On the way home after a fluid change and radiator flush my engine temp shot up and I discovered they hadn't installed a radiator cap. Since then I've found a really good local mechanic, but being that he's in demand, his prices are high and getting an appointment on my day off can be a problem. I still take my car to him at least once a year for service and to have him look things over but other than that I do my own basic service. I usually schedule a day with a few friends and we work on our cars together. It makes things more social and less of a chore.
- diebir 10y ago
  The less maintenance a modern car gets, the better. That is, aside from the oil changes and things like brakes that wear out can be easily done DIY. In fact, once you start to service your car, that's where the problems start. We are not paying enough for mechanics to pay attention or care. The cars are not always designed for serviceability, some things can simply never be put back together the way they were done in the factory. There are no shops, official or not, that will use the recommended by vendor procedures or swap out all the required parts when doing some work. Modern Japanese cars seem to last quite fine with zero service (again beside oil changes, brakes, fluids and such) for 200K+ miles/15+ years, after which they are worth so little and work costs so much that donating to NPR is the only practical option.
  - BuckRogers 10y ago
    You are definitely on the money. I hate taking my cars in for any work, there's always a screw missing or something broken that wasn't before. IF you work on it yourself later, you'll notice, which I do. No matter where you go. I prefer to just do it myself but buying the new tools involved and (to a lesser extent) the time involved is prohibitive. I do change things that aren't difficult such as replacing a turn signal switch in the steering column. But I think the premium for a Toyota or Honda is definitely worth it- paying to reduce probability of having someone wrench on your vehicle, leaving it with a new problem for each one it resolved. Then just hope no one runs into you resulting in the same issue- wishful thinking in an era where everyone is looking down at a phone (which should result in reckless driving charges and jail time). I suppose it's like expecting even halfway decent QA on software that you purchase. At every place I've worked there is not even a dedicated SQL DBA let alone a legitimate QA effort or team.
    - sokoloff 10y ago
      Small thread diversion: I do all my own maintenance (excluding tire replacement). This is one of the things I loved about maintaining my diesel Mercedes. It was clear that thought and great care was put into fastener choice. (Most) Anything that needed to be removed for service was a permanent fastener. No push-through "Christmas tree" fasteners on parts that needed removing for service; it was a threaded insert and a screw. Where the parts needed a plastic fitting, it was a permanent/reusable expanding plastic fastener, not a push-in fitting. Contrast that with the Honda that needed less service, but so many jobs involved doing the job and then also replacing the broken one-time or few-time use plastic fasteners (after trying to find and buy it). Similar with my older Jeeps and VWs. MB seemed to design their car to be serviced for 500K km. Others seem to design it to be cheap and fast to assemble and pass the "initial quality survey" and maybe the length of the warranty period without too many defects.

camhenlin 10y ago

Neglecting on maintenance isn't great advice if people are looking for ways to get more out of their vehicles. Nearly every car around will need a lot more than fluids and filters every 120k miles.

Maakuth 10y ago
In many if not most vehicles, not replacing belts after their specified age is risking serious damage to the engine. Still I agree that the official branded service is often a ripoff.
- diebir 10y ago
  Not "belts" but timing belt. Check if your car has interference or non-interference engine. The replacement interval is often at 120K miles, after which it becomes a gamble, but may last 200K.
anticodon 10y ago
I do service on my bike and car myself. It's not as difficult as most people think. Not only it's cheaper but also more reliable. I've seen too many times how workers at the dealer forget to tighten some nut, or forget to put some cover back after maintenance, or change the brake pads but don't change or grease other brake parts, etc. They are not interested in doing quality work.
- Inconel 10y ago
  I had two experiences that convinced me to start changing my own fluids and doing basic maintenance. One time I took my Honda to a dealer for an oil change and they over tightened the oil pan plug to the point that the threads stripped off. Of course I only discovered this after a period of some time so I had no recourse. I had to pay for a new oil pan and installation. After that I vowed not to take my car to the dealer so I took it to a well reviewed independent shop. On the way home after a fluid change and radiator flush my engine temp shot up and I discovered they hadn't installed a radiator cap. Since then I've found a really good local mechanic, but being that he's in demand, his prices are high and getting an appointment on my day off can be a problem. I still take my car to him at least once a year for service and to have him look things over but other than that I do my own basic service. I usually schedule a day with a few friends and we work on our cars together. It makes things more social and less of a chore.
diebir 10y ago
The less maintenance a modern car gets, the better. That is, aside from the oil changes and things like brakes that wear out can be easily done DIY. In fact, once you start to service your car, that's where the problems start. We are not paying enough for mechanics to pay attention or care. The cars are not always designed for serviceability, some things can simply never be put back together the way they were done in the factory. There are no shops, official or not, that will use the recommended by vendor procedures or swap out all the required parts when doing some work. Modern Japanese cars seem to last quite fine with zero service (again beside oil changes, brakes, fluids and such) for 200K+ miles/15+ years, after which they are worth so little and work costs so much that donating to NPR is the only practical option.
- BuckRogers 10y ago
  You are definitely on the money. I hate taking my cars in for any work, there's always a screw missing or something broken that wasn't before. IF you work on it yourself later, you'll notice, which I do. No matter where you go. I prefer to just do it myself but buying the new tools involved and (to a lesser extent) the time involved is prohibitive. I do change things that aren't difficult such as replacing a turn signal switch in the steering column. But I think the premium for a Toyota or Honda is definitely worth it- paying to reduce probability of having someone wrench on your vehicle, leaving it with a new problem for each one it resolved. Then just hope no one runs into you resulting in the same issue- wishful thinking in an era where everyone is looking down at a phone (which should result in reckless driving charges and jail time). I suppose it's like expecting even halfway decent QA on software that you purchase. At every place I've worked there is not even a dedicated SQL DBA let alone a legitimate QA effort or team.
  - sokoloff 10y ago
    Small thread diversion: I do all my own maintenance (excluding tire replacement). This is one of the things I loved about maintaining my diesel Mercedes. It was clear that thought and great care was put into fastener choice. (Most) Anything that needed to be removed for service was a permanent fastener. No push-through "Christmas tree" fasteners on parts that needed removing for service; it was a threaded insert and a screw. Where the parts needed a plastic fitting, it was a permanent/reusable expanding plastic fastener, not a push-in fitting. Contrast that with the Honda that needed less service, but so many jobs involved doing the job and then also replacing the broken one-time or few-time use plastic fasteners (after trying to find and buy it). Similar with my older Jeeps and VWs. MB seemed to design their car to be serviced for 500K km. Others seem to design it to be cheap and fast to assemble and pass the "initial quality survey" and maybe the length of the warranty period without too many defects.