High mileage vehicle maintenance question

I can't believe the number of you on here who are rolling the dice on brake fluid over 4 years old. Transmission fluid is also "consumable". Those molecule chains can only take so much.

I've been thinking the same thing. Driving 180,000 miles on original spark plugs, coolant, brake fluid, timing belt, drive belts, hoses, etc. is really tempting fate.

My 2013 Volkswagen Golf R has 209,000 miles on it. I have followed the maintenance schedule, and taken it to a trusted independent shop that specializes in VWs. It has never stranded me, and the only unscheduled repairs it's needed have been a right window motor and both door latches. It still has the original clutch, and it's on its second set of brakes. It might very well outlast me! :)
 
I can't speak to Rams, but I can tell you that missing changing the timing belt by 10 miles more than recommended on a Volvo results in a junk heap in the road.

Do the same thing with a 4Runner and I'm still waiting (100,000mi +) for something bad to happen.
 
Rotor cap? What's that?! They haven't used those for years.

The Farmer doesn't say whether he has the Pentastar or the Hemi. I read on the interwebs where a guy got like 660,000 miles on a Pentastar (V6) and it would have gone a lot longer, but the timing chain jumped a tooth.

The Hemi has 16 spark plugs, 2 per cylinder. I'd put back in exactly what came out. For whatever reason, a lot on guys will put a lower temp thermostat and thicker oil in the 5.7. That's risky business in a Hemi.

I'm still loving my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500.
 
I bought my very first brand new car, a 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis in 2007. I grew up with changing oil every 3 months or 3000 miles, so I kept doing that even though intervals had increased. I had a running gag with the dealership that they must have had a dedicated oil tanker truck just for me because with my commute I was getting an oil and filter change about very 6 weeks. But I must have done something right, because later I put it through the Gettysburg Auto Auction at 238,000 miles, and a dealer from Baltimore came up and bought it.
 
If I were buying, selling, or keeping...

Plugs & wires, fluids & filters.

I do it every time, regardless of track record.

You can't control or prevent things like radiator leaks, oil filter housing leak, switches failing, seat heaters, etc.

Never service the A/C, ever, unless there is a reason to break the life-time seal on the system. Ever! It isn't a maintenance item!

My 2½ cents (that has served me well)
 
Besides the plugs and various fluids others have mentioned, change your shocks/struts, check the brakes and wheel bearings. I drove for 60 years and greased the wheel bearings every 30K miles or 5 years whichever came first and never lost a bearing. My current ride has those lubed for life hubs, and I'm about to change the rear hubs after only 71K miles.

Bleeping cost accountants/marketing dweebs who tout a lack of normal service intervals as an advantage. They smile from ear to ear when your vehicle comes in needing $$$$ parts and $$$$$ labor.

I have a 28 year old truck. I can drop a new engine in, do a new interior and some body work and still drop less than 1/3 the price of a new one.
 
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I'd say keep doing what you're doing but expect to replace things that just wear out. You are way ahead of the game, congrats. And I agree with your assessment of 'recommended' factory maintenance. Most of it is unnecessary.
^^^THIS^^^
IMO there are two different philosophies on this question.
1) Do all the factory recommended services on time to PREVENT issues from ever arising.
OR
2) Do the most basic level of maintenance and fix things as they break.
I've always been of the latter persuasion myself.
I don't tend to try to fix what ain't broke.
I keep an eye on the "wear" items, like brakes, belts, hoses and such, and of course I keep up on things like oil changes and fluid levels.
But other than that I don't spend a bunch on preventive maintenance. I fix problems as they arise.
That's always worked for me, but YMMV...
 
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I've had about 13 cars/trucks in my 60 yrs of driving. Probably 50/50% new or used and 70/30% with standard vs automatic trans. Only comment I can make from personal experience is every time I've changed automatic transmission fluid because I thought it was time, not because there was a problem, the transmission failed within 5000 miles.
Only 13?!?
In my 45 years of driving I've owned around 40 different vehicles.
But in all fairness, I was a bit of a "horse trader" in my younger days.
On the other hand I've only bought two brand new cars in that whole time.
Whether changing ATF is a good or bad idea depends on the specific transmission in question in my experience.
The Ford C4's they put in older 6 and 8 cylinder RWD cars needed to have the fluid and filter changed religiously every couple of years if you wanted them to last.
With the newer automatics, that isn't the case. I just changed the fluid & filter on my wife's Kia a few months ago at around 150k - though the factory service schedule said to do it at 100k. At 172k it is still humming right along - hopefully that doesn't change. ;)
 
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Only 13?!?
In my 45 years of driving I've owned around 40 different vehicles.
But in all fairness, I was a bit of a "horse trader" in my younger days.
On the other hand I've only bought two brand new cars in that whole time.

I should have mentioned in my almost 50 years of working I always had a take home company truck. I last purchased a new personal truck in 2007 and it currently has 30,800 miles on it.
 
Rotor cap? What's that?! They haven't used those for years.

The Farmer doesn't say whether he has the Pentastar or the Hemi. I read on the interwebs where a guy got like 660,000 miles on a Pentastar (V6) and it would have gone a lot longer, but the timing chain jumped a tooth.

The Hemi has 16 spark plugs, 2 per cylinder. I'd put back in exactly what came out. For whatever reason, a lot on guys will put a lower temp thermostat and thicker oil in the 5.7. That's risky business in a Hemi.

I'm still loving my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500.


My Ram has the Pentastar 305 HP V6 engine. It has plenty of acceleration and power to pull my ski boat and when not towing, it gets the same 21 mpg in the city it always has and I drive with a heavy right foot. I don't think changing plugs or wires would improve mileage or performance but I'm sure no expert on cars anymore.
 
My Ram has the Pentastar 305 HP V6 engine. It has plenty of acceleration and power to pull my ski boat and when not towing, it gets the same 21 mpg in the city it always has and I drive with a heavy right foot. I don't think changing plugs or wires would improve mileage or performance but I'm sure no expert on cars anymore.

With the more modern vehicles, it not so much an issue of gas mileage but a bad plug or coil taking out the computers.
 
^^^THIS^^^
IMO there are two different philosophies on this question.
1) Do all the factory recommended services on time to PREVENT issues from ever arising.
OR
2) Do the most basic level of maintenance and fix things as they break.
I've always been of the latter persuasion myself.
I don't tend to try to fix what ain't broke.
I keep an eye on the "wear" items, like brakes, belts, hoses and such, and of course I keep up on things like oil changes and fluid levels.
But other than that I don't spend a bunch on preventive maintenance. I fix problems as they arise.
That's always worked for me, but YMMV...

I'm an option 3 kind of guy.
we work in option 2 until the rate of things breaking starts to accelerate ... at which point we have a come to Jesus moment of love it or leave it. If the juice is worth the squeeze, the garage will be rocking every night till I can trust it from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back.
 
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