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What? I had a 2002 RAV4 I just sold, I never spent anything significant on maintenance. Besides tires and a single battery replacement, I spent nearly zero. I

by eddieh 9y ago

What? I had a 2002 RAV4 I just sold, I never spent anything significant on maintenance. Besides tires and a single battery replacement, I spent nearly zero. I neglected most oil changes—probably got a total of 4 since 2002. Never got a tuneup, never changed the breaks...hell I think I washed it two times total. The mechanic that inspected it before the sale said it was in great condition and would run forever. You are severely underestimating the cost of replacing the batteries for an electric car. Batteries are still the most expensive part of electronic cars—and are a consumable.

pnw_hazor 9y ago
Our 1998 Camry is going strong. ~24mpg And, last year we bought a new ICE Civic for $22k it averages 33mpg according to its computer. I have friend who bought a Leaf in Seattle. She was always jonesing for a charge because her apartment didn't have access to power in the parking lot. Nor did her workplace. Not sure what she was thinking.
- eddieh 9y ago
  Haha...hopefully she lives in Seattle proper and gets electricity from Seattle City Light which is almost all hydro. If she lives in the grater metropolitan area and is on Puget Sound Energy, her Leaf is mostly coal powered.
jsz0 9y ago
Out of curiosity did you do regular oil changes for the first 40-60k miles? In my experience once the engine is broken in there's little harm in changing oil only as needed. I've gone 60k between oil changes before. As long as the oil in the engine isn't filthy I just top it to meet levels. Never had any problems.
- eddieh 9y ago
  I didn't, I did feel guilty about it, well until the mechanic said it was in great condition. I mean maybe when I first bought it I did a few I don't remember...but I seriously can't recall specifics about more that four times—two of which were when my mom was visiting an saw I was like 20k past the window decal from the last oil change.

by eddieh 9y ago

pnw_hazor 9y ago

Our 1998 Camry is going strong. ~24mpg And, last year we bought a new ICE Civic for $22k it averages 33mpg according to its computer. I have friend who bought a Leaf in Seattle. She was always jonesing for a charge because her apartment didn't have access to power in the parking lot. Nor did her workplace. Not sure what she was thinking.

eddieh 9y ago
Haha...hopefully she lives in Seattle proper and gets electricity from Seattle City Light which is almost all hydro. If she lives in the grater metropolitan area and is on Puget Sound Energy, her Leaf is mostly coal powered.

jsz0 9y ago

Out of curiosity did you do regular oil changes for the first 40-60k miles? In my experience once the engine is broken in there's little harm in changing oil only as needed. I've gone 60k between oil changes before. As long as the oil in the engine isn't filthy I just top it to meet levels. Never had any problems.

eddieh 9y ago
I didn't, I did feel guilty about it, well until the mechanic said it was in great condition. I mean maybe when I first bought it I did a few I don't remember...but I seriously can't recall specifics about more that four times—two of which were when my mom was visiting an saw I was like 20k past the window decal from the last oil change.