High mileage vehicle maintenance question

[BC38]

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...

 

[BC38]

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.

 

[ladder13]

We trade DD's every 4-5 years, love the smell of new cars.

 

[Bald1]

Don't forget muffler bearings and turn signal fluid. You'll probably need a metric crescent wrench to do it.

 

[JcMack]

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.

 

[Farmer17]

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.

 

[SMSgt]

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.

 

[britbike1]

Hex

I was going to comment but that might hex me.

 

[CalifEd]

Don't forget muffler bearings and turn signal fluid. You'll probably need a metric crescent wrench to do it.

Nuts and bolts that use wrenches are old school, now everything uses Torx Plus bolts.
To really PO the home DIYers, they sometimes use a pin Torx bolt.

 

[venomballistics]

^^^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.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Everything with bearing dipped in oil needs somewhat regular oil change:

Engine 10k
Trans 80- 100k
Transfer 80k
FR Diff 80k
RR Diff 80k

Plugs 100k
Air filter 30k
HVAC filter 30-80k

Check every month:
Eng oil
Rad fluid
Wind wash
Tire pressure
Every button function

Check yearly
Drive shafts for noise or abnormal looseness
Brake wear
Tire wear
Exhaust for leaks
Parking brake function
Trans fluid level
Look under truck to confirm general condition looking for broke ****.
Look in engine room for hose/wire touch

Fix **** when you find it.

Say a prayer every night after 100k….unless it is a Ford, then every 10k…Did I mention I drive an F150?

 

[BC38]

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.

Couldn't agree more.
Drive the wheels off it (option 2) until the nickel and dime repairs start to get to be too frequent to make it worth it - then it's time to trade it off.
NOT on a new one thought.
I usually buy something in the 3-5 year old range with 50k-60k on the clock. That way someone else takes the major depreciation hit and I get it for 1/2 price when it is only 1/4 of the way worn out - basically just well broken in.
The new car smell ain't worth the cost to me. If I decide I want it bad enough I can get it in a spray can for a couple of bucks.

 

[LVSteve]

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've had 17 cars in 45 years so long as I include one I bought for my wife that we still keep as the reserve hack. Owning multiple vehicles at the same time is something I did briefly in the UK, but it was expensive. That's because of the way the insurance system used to operate. No clue how it is these days. In the US there's a lot more of it.

 

[BC38]

I've had 17 cars in 45 years so long as I include one I bought for my wife that we still keep as the reserve hack. Owning multiple vehicles at the same time is something I did briefly in the UK, but it was expensive. That's because of the way the insurance system used to operate. No clue how it is these days. In the US there's a lot more of it.

I guess I'm kinda an odd duck that way.

I usually have anywhere from 6-10 vehicles (all older) at any given time. Most of them are drive-able, but several are "projects". The drive-able ones get insured, the projects don't.

I've always been of the mindset that I'd rather have 4, older, paid off, drive-able vehicles (2 daily drivers and 2 spares) than two new or nearly new vehicles that I'm making payments on.

It's worked well for me. I've never been without dependable transportation even once in the last 40 years. Even when a daily driver broke down I've always had a "spare" to get me by until I repair my daily driver.

Of course, the fact that I've always done my own maintenance and repairs is a big factor in that making that work.

 

[Yendor357]

That Pentistar is a great engine. It's a better design than the Hemi in my opinion.

I am assuming Farmer, that your truck has the 8 speed transmission. Now that's the tough question. It's supposedly a lifetime no maintenance transmission, sealed so no oxygen nor water can enter it. It's very costly to service because there are 2 filters in the pan, and the whole pan needs to be replaced. With the V6 in front of it, I'd be tempted to leave it alone. The guys tearing stuff up, are usually driving the Hemi.

I'm a big Dodge/Ram fan. Treat them with a bit of mechanical sympathy, and you'll be rewarded.

 

[venomballistics]

Couldn't agree more.
Drive the wheels off it (option 2) until the nickel and dime repairs start to get to be too frequent to make it worth it - then it's time to trade it off.
NOT on a new one thought.
I usually buy something in the 3-5 year old range with 50k-60k on the clock. That way someone else takes the major depreciation hit and I get it for 1/2 price when it is only 1/4 of the way worn out - basically just well broken in.
The new car smell ain't worth the cost to me. If I decide I want it bad enough I can get it in a spray can for a couple of bucks.

I ultimately ended up going with new, somewhat begrudgingly.
Bottom line of a story of unfortunate events, my car became my wifes car which was ready for the flatbed before I could get it back.
So I did some Cafe research ... sat in a greasy spoon with a view of a busy intersection.
I took note of make and model of old vehicles. Not the classics mind you. but those junkyard refugees that seem to keep going for no other reason than hell won't have em.
Ask me what to buy today and ill tell you Toyota, Honda, or Subaru. The Soobs best fit my needs and I lucked into an 06 Forester. It was to be a junkyard refugee to ritually abuse until it got me into something decent. Turned out to be decent despite its age.
So when my wifes car tried to make my car her car ... we're NOT doing that again. I found very little in the used market. folks usually keep em into the afterlife. so to the dealership for a new turbocharged outback.
I still have the Forester, which I intend to freshen up. Even going from the plushed out outback to the old battle wagon, the thing that stands out is how much the car does not suck.
It'll make a fine hunting vehicle with a little of the right love

 

[Farmer17]

That Pentistar is a great engine. It's a better design than the Hemi in my opinion.

I am assuming Farmer, that your truck has the 8 speed transmission. Now that's the tough question. It's supposedly a lifetime no maintenance transmission, sealed so no oxygen nor water can enter it. It's very costly to service because there are 2 filters in the pan, and the whole pan needs to be replaced. With the V6 in front of it, I'd be tempted to leave it alone. The guys tearing stuff up, are usually driving the Hemi.

I'm a big Dodge/Ram fan. Treat them with a bit of mechanical sympathy, and you'll be rewarded.

I actually just got back from the Ram dealer and had them do a full inspection on the truck to see what all it needs. They told me the only thing it needed was to flush the brake lines, change the rear differential fluid, and a new cabin air filter. I was really surprised the list was so small after 180K miles. I love the 8 speed transmission, it's shifts are smooth as silk and seems to always know what gear it should be in.

 

[LVSteve]

I guess I'm kinda an odd duck that way.

I usually have anywhere from 6-10 vehicles (all older) at any given time. Most of them are drive-able, but several are "projects". The drive-able ones get insured, the projects don't.

I've always been of the mindset that I'd rather have 4, older, paid off, drive-able vehicles (2 daily drivers and 2 spares) than two new or nearly new vehicles that I'm making payments on.

It's worked well for me. I've never been without dependable transportation even once in the last 40 years. Even when a daily driver broke down I've always had a "spare" to get me by until I repair my daily driver.

Of course, the fact that I've always done my own maintenance and repairs is a big factor in that making that work.

The registration and insurance requirements in NV make what you are doing difficult/expensive to do legally. For sure it's possible to skate by in the more far flung areas, but not so much in Vegas or any of the other population centers.