100K miles car maintenance?

[Kinman]

I've never been one to put alot of miles on vehicles, I put 50K on a '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee and never had any mechanical issues, only electrical problems. I bought a new 2005 Toyota Highlander and have managed to rack up 48K on it and it developed a tiny weepy leak from the water pump, when I took it in for its 10 year check-up they pointed out the miniscule leak and mentioned that 10 years was about time to replace the timing belt which would be done automatically with replacement of the water pump.
Silicon based brake fluids are not hydroscopic.
Am I the only person that finds it amazing that the modern vehicles are capable of reaching such high mileage with little problems? I know that fuel injection was highly beneficial along with high voltage electronic ignition. Most cars from the 60's and 70's were pretty well shot by the time they reached 100K, today kids aren't in the least suspect of a car with over 100K on the odometer, especially if its a Toyota or Honda. My uncle's family used to pass down beloved Toyotas from Mom and Dad to the kids then onto their nieces and nephews.

 

[sandmansans]

My 2012 Toyta Rav4 just turned 100K miles and I took it to the dealer for an oil change and inspection. They said everything looked on the car but it needed a few things:
Transmission fluid changed
Fuel system cleaned
Oil system flushed
Coolant sytem flushed
Brake system flushed

To flush or clean these five things they wanted a thousand bucks. I'm all about good maintenance but are any of these things fairly easy to do myself. Can I change the tranny fluid myself and put some Lucas in the gas tank to clean the injectors? How about the coolant, can I drain the radiator and add new water and anti-freeze?

Along with what everyone mentioned here a big one is suspension components. Go through check bushings, mounts, shocks/struts, tie rods etc. This all depends on where you live/drive the car and what you do with it (e.g. tow with it. )
I've seen first hand cars with half the miles but spent in NYC and 5 boroughs that have suspension components like a car with 200,000k miles. Shocks are a big one. Sometimes they fail and it's obvious, other times it fails slowly. Slow rebound rate, less travel etc.

 

[sandmansans]

Good advice.

My truck has what is referred to as an "interference" engine. Meaning that the valves extend far enough down into the cylinder that the pistons would collide with a valve if the timing belt busted. Saving on service costs by not replacing the timing belt at manufacturer recommend intervals can be quite expensive. So can most neglected service items.

Most newer engines are interference engines.
Lol just changed the tb on my beater car, 95 tercel. You can spin the crank backwards in that puppy all day with no problem...non-interference.

 

[Gamecock]

Am I the only person that finds it amazing that the modern vehicles are capable of reaching such high mileage with little problems?

Agreed. My 2012 Mustang seems bulletproof.

One big thing is oil change monitoring. I'm getting nearly 10,000 between oil changes.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Over 200k miles on my Tundra. Runs like new. To replace my truck would probably cost me $700-800/mo for 5 years.
Major service costs every few years the equivalent of one or two new truck payments seem like a bargain to me.

You and I are on the same page with yuor thought process (scary isn't it? ) My suburban is 384003 miles andg oing on 17 years old. I have not done anything with the tranny and am scared to do anything like a flush. It runs just fine as it is. Ditto with the engine and coolant. Got a small oil leak but I ain't gonna replace any gaskets, just add a quart or so when it gets low. And my oil change interval now is around 7,500 miles. She's still running fine, the ac is still cold and the radio works. What more does a man need???? Example-the Check engine light came on about 3 years ago. The mechanic ran the code and said my catalytic converter was stopping up and should be replaced. I asked him if this was critical to the truck running and he said no but that in about 6 mnths or so I would experience a drastic decrease in mileage and engine performance which would indicate that it was totally stopped up and I would WANT to change it to make the truck road worthy. Like I said that was three or so years ago and I'm still waiting for the performance drop off and decrease in mileage

 

[wbraswell]

You won't hurt anything by flushing your brake fluid. You just bleed them until the clear fluid comes through. Put a clear plastic tube over the fitting to route the old fluid into a receptacle. Keep your fuel filter changed, modern fuel injections have very high pressure, so I would recommend that you use a mechanic who knows his business. They can stop up anytime, and leave you stranded. I would take the vehicle to a trusted transmission place for fluid change. I believe in maintenance, I go to the doctor(s) regularly, too.

 

[DWFAN]

I didn't really read everything here but I've worked in dealerships in parts for at least 40 years. Save your money, most of it is a scam. Read your owners manual. It has two grades of service, Regular duty and heavy duty. Around town driving actually creates more ware and tare than highway driving.

Fuel injector cleaning. Forget it. If you feel the urge throw a can of injector cleaner in it once a year.

Tranny flush. Worst possible thing to do to a transmission. Drain and change the filter only. Every 50 or 60K is good.

Brake fluid flush. This is actually a good idea if your system isn't synthetic. Brake fluid attracts moisture and can sludge up causing caliper and wheel cylinder hang up. Do it about the same time you do your transmission.

Rear differential. Manufacturers specs.

Power steering. A flush would be a good thing here. 80 or 90K. PS fluid is not self cleaning like trans fluid is so this will keep it from getting gummy and keep the seals soft.

Antifreeze. It gets acidic so change per manufacturer specs.

And please don't forget the often forgotten blinker fluid. Lots of cars don't seem to have any.

Rotate your tires every 30k

Last but not least your wiper blades. Change them every year weather you think you need them or not.

When you do the oil change check all your lights.

Happy motoring.

DW

 

[Jack Flash]

30,000 miles seems like a long time between tire rotations. This may be one to check in your owner's manual AND the tire manufacturer's recommendations.

 

[wingriderz]

Over 35 years in auto service.Half time as A S E certified. Tech.The other have management. No need to ever flush oil system if oil changed regularly. Good idea to drop trans oil and coolant every 50k. Brake fluid every 50 k. At 100 k put a set of plugs in it. Most stuff pretty easy to do your self. Not a big fan of fuel service not needed. Run a bottle of gas treat every oil change call it a day.Those shops pressure customers on all that stuff. Most of the folks working there no less than you about cars.Stay away from all franchise. muffler brake stores. Those owners hire the low end monkeys and charge. dealer rates or more. Midas. Meineke. Tire Stores. run run.

 

[Gamecock]

30,000 miles seems like a long time between tire rotations. This may be one to check in your owner's manual AND the tire manufacturer's recommendations.

Never rotate tires.

Unless you actually need to. The practice was begun generations ago to spread uneven tire wear. Modern cars take better care of tires, so uneven wear is pretty unusual. If you don't have uneven tire wear, you don't need to rotate and it's a waste of money.

I have one car, a 2001 Bullitt, that I used to rotate the tires on, til I got the suspension fixed.

 

[DWalt]

I don't believe in tire rotation either. I have a 2003 Ford Ranger with about 80K miles on it, believe it or not, all tires are original (they are Continentals), have never been rotated, and all have equal-looking tread wear (although the tread is starting to get thin and I am thinking about buying new shoes for it). Some say tires should be replaced after ten years due to ozone degradation of the rubber. I don't know if I believe that either.

 

[BigBill]

Where does the worn rubber from the tires go? Lol

 

[Jack Flash]

Never rotate tires.

Unless you actually need to. The practice was begun generations ago to spread uneven tire wear. Modern cars take better care of tires, so uneven wear is pretty unusual. If you don't have uneven tire wear, you don't need to rotate and it's a waste of money.

I have one car, a 2001 Bullitt, that I used to rotate the tires on, til I got the suspension fixed.

I have noticed that on my cars / trucks, the front tires seem to wear differently and wear more than the rear tires. This goes back to the days of bias tires on my '66 Chevy.

I admit that on that old Chevy I did not rotate the tires. When the front tires wore out, I would replace them. The rear tires still had plenty of tread. By the time the second set of front tires wore out, the rear tires did too, so time to start over with a new set of four.

Fast forward to today. My current vehicles are all four wheel drive / AWD. The manufacturers stress the importance of rotating tires so that all four have basically the same wear. In the case of my wife's Subaru, the manufacturer practically screams this at you.

So as I said, I follow the owner's manuals and the recommendations of the tire manufacturers. When I am getting 60,000+ miles to a set of tires, I don't think I am getting screwed.

 

[Squarebutt]

Now that the statute of limitations has run out, I can reveal my old procedure for watching the odometer roll over at 100,000 miles. On three different Chevy/GMC pickups we hit 100K at 100 MPH. All were running the old 350, and had a few bolt-on bits from Edelbrock, Hedman, Holley, etc. I would wait until I had a chance to access a deserted interstate. Once it was on my birthday.
Despite such abuse, my vehicles have all gone well past the 100,000 mile mark with just regular maintenance, especially oil changes. A couple of them have achieved 200,000 before the New England road salt ate them.

 

[alde]

My 1992 Toyota FWD Truck has 264,000+ miles on it. I do oil changes every 4-5K miles and changed the coolant a couple of times and do a tune up when I feel like it needs it. I have also changed the timing belt. Aside from tires and brakes that's about it. Oh, I put a can of Seafoam in the tank now and then. I keep the thing outside in the Pacific Northwest and when I run it through the carwash it looks almost new. It's been a great truck.

 

[Gamecock]

I have noticed that on my cars / trucks, the front tires seem to wear differently and wear more than the rear tires. This goes back to the days of bias tires on my '66 Chevy.

I admit that on that old Chevy I did not rotate the tires. When the front tires wore out, I would replace them. The rear tires still had plenty of tread. By the time the second set of front tires wore out, the rear tires did too, so time to start over with a new set of four.

Fast forward to today. My current vehicles are all four wheel drive / AWD. The manufacturers stress the importance of rotating tires so that all four have basically the same wear. In the case of my wife's Subaru, the manufacturer practically screams this at you.

So as I said, I follow the owner's manuals and the recommendations of the tire manufacturers. When I am getting 60,000+ miles to a set of tires, I don't think I am getting screwed.

Different diameters of tires puts a strain on 4 wheel drive systems, so it is far more important than on 2 wheel drive cars. That said, if you don't have uneven tire wear, you don't have uneven tire wear, and rotation does nothing.

 

[chaparrito]

Your Rav4 has a timing chain, not a belt, so you're good there. My 93 Toyota 4x4 base model pickup has 260K miles on its little 22RE 4banger motor. It's never been flushed or opened or otherwise molested. I'd replace, not flush, all fluids and drive that little beast like I stole it.

 

[radar1972]

You took care of the most important part, which is the oil change.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I got the free lube & oil plus tire rotation extended warranty for
100k for just $300 from day one...........................

tires rotation at 5k .... oil at 10k with Mobile synthetic super duper oil. Pen 10/30 is no longer king of the hill.

Figures it was a good deal.......
I'm at 9,663 miles right now and have received two oil changes already !!

 

[Joe Hohmann]

When our 2000 Acura passed 110,000 the only thing the dealer said had to be done was a new timing belt. When it goes on some cars, like this one, the engine gets destroyed.