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> ... not when the engine dies which is probably the last thing to go. The engine can be the last thing to go, if you are good about checking and changing your

> ... not when the engine dies which is probably the last thing to go. The engine can be the last thing to go, if you are good about checking and changing your oil. If you let the oil run low, or let it sludge up, or don't promptly detect a cooling system leak [1], that will damage the bearings, and then it is only a matter of time before it dies. [1] Some engines can have the head gasket start to leak, which lets coolant into the combustion chamber (which is bad). Worse are the engine designs that integrate the water pump into the engine block. If the water pump leaks (which they often do, it drips coolant directly into the oil, which is super bad. An external water pump, in contrast, will just leak on the outside of the engine onto the ground. In either case, the coolant will run low, and eventually the engine will overheat. However, in the external pump case, you can just fix the leaky pump, and assuming you didn't try to run it overheated, you're fine. But with an internal water pump, by the time the coolant has run low, you've severely degraded the oil too, and likely damaged the bearings. In addition, replacing the internal pump usually means dropping the entire engine out of the vehicle, which is far more costly. Thus endeth my rant on water pumps.

skeletal88 5y ago
My car has 160k km since 2005. The problems are everywhere else except the engine First - it is rusting a lot. Then the car door doesn't close properly when it is colder than -15 or -20. Then the car has decided that the esp is faulty 2 times on longer rides in cold weather and that the max speed should be 20kmh (luckily a restart of the car fixed that)
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  This is it - a car's structure just rots away at a certain point if it's being used. It's not a mechanical thing you can refurbish or replace - the car as a whole just starts breaking apart.
RugnirViking 5y ago
Something that is extremely anecdotal experience for me, especially given I have never owned a car, is that things like "check your oil" are weirdly a feature mainly of american media. To the extent that its sort of led me to believe its something that isn't really necessary, like taking vitamins when your doctor hasn't told you you have a deficiency. I'm only really realising this assumption of mine now, so is this even remotely true? I don't think ive ever heard about people talking about changing their oil here in europe in actual day-to-day life, but I have heard much more about antifreeze or windscreen wiper fluid or even water/coolant.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  I looked up the oil change schedule for my car once. Same car and specs available in both the US and the UK (minor compliance issues like colour of indicators beside.) In the UK the manufacturer recommends changing every 20,000 miles or two years, in the US every 5,000 miles or six months. Same car! I have never changed my oil in my car, despite having it over a year, and won't look to do it for another year yet. I think that would give most Americans a heart attack. They've got an entire industry over there changing oil 4x more frequently than actually required. Absolutely bizarre.
  - bryanlarsen 5y ago
    I presume that the UK schedule specifies synthetic oil, that does let the oil last a little bit longer. But not that massive difference. One of the reasons people give for buying German luxury cars is because they only need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - zepearl 5y ago
      > One of the reasons people give for buying German luxury cars is because they only need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars. No clue about American & Japanese cars, but for VW (and Opel) it's definitely just once per year (in Switzerland).
    - logifail 5y ago
      > need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars We bought a VW Polo, kept it for ten years, then changed it for a VW Sharan, and recently added a VW Up. Total miles driven must be around 200k. Based on a sekrit strategy - called reading then following the service manual - can confirm that (at least our) Volkswagens do not need their oil changing "3-4x a year"!
JackFr 5y ago
When I was seventeen my dad said I could have the old family station wagon to drive if I would replace the water pump on it. He got me a water pump from a junk yard and the appropriate Chiltons manual for a 1973 Chevy Impala and it took me about four days (real mechanic time would probably be 4 hours) and then my dad sold me the car for $1. Some things about it stand out in memory. Engines were so big and un-compacted back then it was relatively easy to fit your hands and tools where ever they needed to go and pieces of the engine basically looked like what you’d expect them to be. The other thing I found out later was that my father was desperate to sell me the car, because it allowed him to get me off his insurance. I was a 17 year old boy, with one fender bender already under my belt and my parents had just bought a new Mercedes sedan. For insurance purposes, as a licensed driver living with them, without my own car the insurance company considered me a driver of the new car and the insurance was outrageous. After my dad sold me the car, I was off their main policy and on a separate one. Very tricky dad.
ghaff 5y ago
With the exception of a crappy Dodge which lost a timing chain which took out a bunch of the powertrain (under warranty--but it was never the same again), it's mostly fair to say that every car I've owned was retired due to rust.
dotancohen 5y ago
> Some engines can have the head gasket start to leak It's OK, I drive a Subaru too.
- ansible 5y ago
  I don't drive a Subaru, but it can be a problem on other makes as well.

skeletal88 5y ago

My car has 160k km since 2005. The problems are everywhere else except the engine First - it is rusting a lot. Then the car door doesn't close properly when it is colder than -15 or -20. Then the car has decided that the esp is faulty 2 times on longer rides in cold weather and that the max speed should be 20kmh (luckily a restart of the car fixed that)

chrisseaton 5y ago
This is it - a car's structure just rots away at a certain point if it's being used. It's not a mechanical thing you can refurbish or replace - the car as a whole just starts breaking apart.

RugnirViking 5y ago

Something that is extremely anecdotal experience for me, especially given I have never owned a car, is that things like "check your oil" are weirdly a feature mainly of american media. To the extent that its sort of led me to believe its something that isn't really necessary, like taking vitamins when your doctor hasn't told you you have a deficiency. I'm only really realising this assumption of mine now, so is this even remotely true? I don't think ive ever heard about people talking about changing their oil here in europe in actual day-to-day life, but I have heard much more about antifreeze or windscreen wiper fluid or even water/coolant.

chrisseaton 5y ago
I looked up the oil change schedule for my car once. Same car and specs available in both the US and the UK (minor compliance issues like colour of indicators beside.) In the UK the manufacturer recommends changing every 20,000 miles or two years, in the US every 5,000 miles or six months. Same car! I have never changed my oil in my car, despite having it over a year, and won't look to do it for another year yet. I think that would give most Americans a heart attack. They've got an entire industry over there changing oil 4x more frequently than actually required. Absolutely bizarre.
- bryanlarsen 5y ago
  I presume that the UK schedule specifies synthetic oil, that does let the oil last a little bit longer. But not that massive difference. One of the reasons people give for buying German luxury cars is because they only need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - zepearl 5y ago
    > One of the reasons people give for buying German luxury cars is because they only need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars. No clue about American & Japanese cars, but for VW (and Opel) it's definitely just once per year (in Switzerland).
  - logifail 5y ago
    > need the oil changed once a year vs the 3-4x a year for American or Japanese or Volkswagen cars We bought a VW Polo, kept it for ten years, then changed it for a VW Sharan, and recently added a VW Up. Total miles driven must be around 200k. Based on a sekrit strategy - called reading then following the service manual - can confirm that (at least our) Volkswagens do not need their oil changing "3-4x a year"!

JackFr 5y ago

When I was seventeen my dad said I could have the old family station wagon to drive if I would replace the water pump on it. He got me a water pump from a junk yard and the appropriate Chiltons manual for a 1973 Chevy Impala and it took me about four days (real mechanic time would probably be 4 hours) and then my dad sold me the car for $1. Some things about it stand out in memory. Engines were so big and un-compacted back then it was relatively easy to fit your hands and tools where ever they needed to go and pieces of the engine basically looked like what you’d expect them to be. The other thing I found out later was that my father was desperate to sell me the car, because it allowed him to get me off his insurance. I was a 17 year old boy, with one fender bender already under my belt and my parents had just bought a new Mercedes sedan. For insurance purposes, as a licensed driver living with them, without my own car the insurance company considered me a driver of the new car and the insurance was outrageous. After my dad sold me the car, I was off their main policy and on a separate one. Very tricky dad.

ghaff 5y ago

With the exception of a crappy Dodge which lost a timing chain which took out a bunch of the powertrain (under warranty--but it was never the same again), it's mostly fair to say that every car I've owned was retired due to rust.

dotancohen 5y ago

> Some engines can have the head gasket start to leak It's OK, I drive a Subaru too.

ansible 5y ago
I don't drive a Subaru, but it can be a problem on other makes as well.