Does everyone but me do the 30k, 60k, etc car maint?

[badatmath]

I had to get brakes today and they reminded me I'm close to another fluid maintenance . . . which I never do . . . but as I do plan to keep this car awhile yet . . . . I might this time. IDK.

Nothing has gone wrong by not doing them but I haven't kept a car past 100K either. (I don't drive a ton so 100K for me is a fairly old car).

But if you do skip any of the maintenance how do you decide which ones?

Just curious really - expecting you all to say of course you do them!

 

[MichaelB]

Just to clarify, in the thread title you cite to “the 30k, 60k, etc car maint”. Are you referring to specific maintenance recommendations indicated in the owners manual, or are you think about maintenance bundles offered by dealers and car repair businesses?

 

[bloom2708]

A lot of people don't change the oil or get a car wash, so yes, people often skip the recommended maintenance intervals.

If you are planning on keeping long term, then do what the mfg suggests. My father in law has a 2023 Honda Ridgeline. It said ti change the trans fluid at 15k. He was very upset about that. I read the information that said the vehicle ships with a "break in" type fluid that should be replaced at 15k, then every 30k. He did the $150 service but at 81, he probably has never done that before as he sells his cars at 35-40k miles every time.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I’ve taken my 2021 Toyota Highlander in every 5,000 miles so far. They rotate the tires and do a quick multi-point inspection. Every 10,000, they change the oil. Of course, these are all free up to 45,000 from Toyota or the dealer. My next one will be my last freebie, I will likely continue just the oil changes every 10,000 on my dime.

 

[iloveyoga]

I take care of my own car and I have always done the recommended maintenance.

 

[Sunset]

I change my oil every 5K of miles, even though Toyota says you can go every 10K.
It cannot hurt the engine, and maybe does help it.

I do my own air filter, and cabin filter, those are easier and simpler than an oil change, so why pay $50 to a dealer to have it done.

When under warranty, I did all the maintenance in the book, for the first 3 years it was free, and kept warranty good.

 

[Sunset]

Certain things dealers will recommend be done are considered by some folks to damage a car.
Others do nothing good for the car.

They are not listed in the manufacturer maintenance schedule.

 

[pb4uski]

I do oil/filter changes when needed (oil life is 30% or lower or ~5k miles) and tire rotations at the same time. Replace tires when worn, repair things that break.

I also replace engine and cabin air filters once annually, usually in the spring and I order the filters from Amazon and do it myself.

I don't replace things unless they are worn or need to be replaced.

As the old man told me many times "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

[Al18]

New cars are expensive - I always do the recommended maintenance in the manual. Oil, oil filter, air filter, cabin filter are cheap insurance.

 

[Ian S]

I’ve taken my 2021 Toyota Highlander in every 5,000 miles so far. They rotate the tires and do a quick multi-point inspection. Every 10,000, they change the oil. Of course, these are all free up to 45,000 from Toyota or the dealer. My next one will be my last freebie, I will likely continue just the oil changes every 10,000 on my dime.

If you want your vehicle to last for 100k miles or more, using that 10,000 mile oil change schedule is risky IMHO. Toyota knows the engine will last through the 60 months 60,000 mile warranty using 10,000 mile oil changes so they offer you free oil changes for that schedule because every 5,000 miles would double the cost to them for that freebie. Here's a Toyota technician who agrees with me

Also be sure to watch the time period. If you don't drive a lot of miles, you may hit that time limit before you hit the mileage limit. Toyota says you can go a year between oil changes as long as the mileage is 10,000 or less. It'll probably last 60 months doing that but I'd be very uncomfortable doing that with any car I expected to last long beyond the warranty period.

 

[Winemaker]

I had a 1984 Chevy Blazer w/6cylinder engine and manual shift transmission that I bought used in 1989 with 40,000 miles on it. I changed the oil every 6,000 miles. When I junked it in 2003, it had 454,000 miles, and the speedometer cable was broken for the last year. I never changed the transmission oil, clutch, or rear end oil, but did suck out some brake fluid out of master cylinder a few times and replaced it with fresh fluid. I did flush the radiator twice while I owned it. It was still able to run when I junked it but I could no longer keep up with the rust.

 

[Midpack]

I do what the owners manual says and no more, some I do myself like cabin and engine air filters, wipers, etc. I always ignore what dealers service departments recommend, I haven’t seen one yet that didn’t include all sorts of unnecessary service - despite what they say…

 

[LateToFIRE]

I buy lightly used European luxury vehicles w/cash, so yeh, I follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule to the letter and only have them dealer serviced until I get to the 150K mileage marker, then I switch to local guy (at that point the car is near worthless in the used car market). I will generally keep until ~200K miles, though revisiting holding that long with today's ultra high-tech vehicles. With the type of car I prefer, regular dealer service is the best way to insure reliability - these are not cars you can simply neglect without suffering the consequences.

 

[Dtail]

I have done all the basic maintenance, but do not follow the specific 30/60k maintenance which will be out of dealer coverage.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

If you want your vehicle to last for 100k miles or more, using that 10,000 mile oil change schedule is risky IMHO. Toyota knows the engine will last through the 60 months 60,000 mile warranty using 10,000 mile oil changes so they offer you free oil changes for that schedule because every 5,000 miles would double the cost to them for that freebie. Here's a Toyota technician who agrees with me…. Also be sure to watch the time period. If you don't drive a lot of miles, you may hit that time limit before you hit the mileage limit. Toyota says you can go a year between oil changes as long as the mileage is 10,000 or less. It'll probably last 60 months doing that but I'd be very uncomfortable doing that with any car I expected to last long beyond the warranty period.

I should have added, I haven’t kept a car beyond 60,000 miles… ever.

 

[jeffmete]

I keep our road trip cars to around 200k miles or 10 years old. the last two Chrysler minivans, I allowed the car to tell me when to change oil, usually around 10K miles. Even at 200,000 miles, they haven’t used a quart during an oil change, my last van was sold to a friend and it’s now pushing 300k. What’s hard on a car is the low mileage, city car. We put 15-20k/year on the minivan. I’ve yet to change brake fluid or transmission fluid. But again, I sell them at ten years or 200k miles.

 

[RunningBum]

I do what the owners manual says and no more, some I do myself like cabin and engine air filters, wipers, etc. I always ignore what dealers service departments recommend, I haven’t seen one yet that didn’t include all sorts of unnecessary service - despite what they say…

Sometimes I suspect that the service department keeps dirty filters in the back to show customers that theirs need to be repaired. The way to avoid this is to write the date you installed your filter on the edge of the filter itself. If the service rep shows you one without your handwritten date, you know they are trying to cheat you.

 

[Jerry1]

I do the recommended maintenance per the manual. But, I do change the oil more frequently. I change the oil and rotate the tires every 5K miles. The things I do - wipers, washer fluid, air filter, and cabin filter, I do a bit more frequently. If I’m out working on the car, I’m going to do all those things at once without really looking at the interval per the manual.

Frankly, I’m not sure why I do this. I really don’t intend to keep a vehicle much past the warranty. My XT5 came with a 4 years 50K warranty. I don’t envision keeping it more than 5 years, but we’ll see. My truck has an extended warranty (6yr/80K). I thought I might keep that a little longer, but coming up on year three and I’m already getting tired of it. Again, we’ll see.

Driving newer cars is one of my joys in life. Mid career I started getting a car stipend and I’ve leased or traded in my car every 2 years since. At almost 3 years, the current truck is the longest vehicle I’ve driven in probably 20 years. I’ve had 3 vehicles in my 6 years of retirement. Still, it’s just always been my nature to maintain things properly.

 

[Aerides]

I do oil changes, but pretty much blow off all that "recommended" milestone stuff. Never have done much of it! Maybe I've been lucky?

 

[TheWizard]

I do the recommended maintenance per the manual. But, I do change the oil more frequently. I change the oil and rotate the tires every 5K miles. The things I do - wipers, washer fluid, air filter, and cabin filter, I do a bit more frequently. If I’m out working on the car, I’m going to do all those things at once without really looking at the interval per the manual.

Frankly, I’m not sure why I do this. I really don’t intend to keep a vehicle much past the warranty. My XT5 came with a 4 years 50K warranty. I don’t envision keeping it more than 5 years, but we’ll see. My truck has an extended warranty (6yr/80K). I thought I might keep that a little longer, but coming up on year three and I’m already getting tired of it. Again, we’ll see.

Driving newer cars is one of my joys in life. Mid career I started getting a car stipend and I’ve leased or traded in my car every 2 years since. At almost 3 years, the current truck is the longest vehicle I’ve driven in probably 20 years. I’ve had 3 vehicles in my 6 years of retirement. Still, it’s just always been my nature to maintain things properly.

A car stipend?
Neato.
I need to get me one of them!

 

[old medic]

I take care of my own car and I have always done the recommended maintenance.

Same here, have had several vehicles with over 300K on them. Current truck has 266K and would hook up to the camper and head to CA tomorrow.

 

[Jerry1]

A car stipend?
Neato.
I need to get me one of them!

Yeah, that went away with retirement.

 

[Masquernom]

I have an Acura MDX. The recommended maintenance is getting pretty expensive. Transmission fluid replace is around $500. Special transmission. Just learned it uses a timing belt instead of a timing chain. That replacement is about due and it's around $1,500. Throw in brake fluid flush and rear differential fluid replacement and it's getting pretty expensive.

 

[LakeRat1]

What about the recommendations of radiator flush, brakes fluid flush, trany flush at the intervals suggested in the manual ? I have the oil/filter changed, tires rotated..... But really question doing the other things ?

 

[Jerry1]

What about the recommendations of radiator flush, brakes fluid flush, trany flush at the intervals suggested in the manual ? I have the oil/filter changed, tires rotated..... But really question doing the other things ?

If I kept a car long enough, I would definitely change the fluids at the intervals recommended or even sooner.