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You must be looking at an ancient owner's manual. Get with the program. Nobody does any of that maintenance stuff with that frequency (tuneup for my 6-year-old car is at 100K, for instance), nor would any mechanic worth his/her salt suggest it.
nobody changes their timing belts? coolant flush? tires? alignment? so on and so forth?
you must have a really special kind of car that doesn't require all those things. where can I get one?
I applied the 50k mileage figure to do the tune up for an older vehicle that memph said he had which may have older technology on it. not all cars use platinum spark plugs. including many late model economy vehicles which also require more frequent tune-ups. even platinum plugs on mdern cars often go bad well before 100 thousand miles in my experience. the 100k figure is more of a marketing gimmick than reality, imo.
Of what you listed most aren't done or even necessary, or are done with less frequency than you've listed. Oil changes are one, every 5000 miles is more the norm. Every 3000 is for very special circumstances.
For old high mileage vehicles like memph's you always want to change your oil every 3,000 miles.
On newer cars you can get away with 5k miles if you use synthetic oil. I would never recommend running on conventional oil for 5,000 miles. That stuff breaks down much faster. Especially if you live in very hot places like Vegas or Phoenix. But synthetic oil also costs three times as much as regular oil. So you're not saving any money going with synthetic. But you do save time because you don't have to go through the hassle of changing your oil as often.
Which is another awful consequence of car ownership. You are at the mercy of the dealership. Dealers rip you off any chance they get. They are professional con artists and manipulators, truly the scum of the earth. And the law's always on their side so you're screwed.
Once you sign that contract you're on the hook. May as well be signing your life away. Better pray you don't lose your job or get laid off because then the repo man comes to your house and takes your car back. And you lose everything you put into it. Dealers love it because they got your down payment and the monthly payments you made, and they make money again after taking it back from you and reselling it. The more they turn it over the more they make.
You don't have to be at the mercy of a car dealership. It is the buyers choice to be gullible or not.
For old high mileage vehicles like memph's you always want to change your oil every 3,000 miles.
On newer cars you can get away with 5k miles if you use synthetic oil. I would never recommend running on conventional oil for 5,000 miles. That stuff breaks down much faster. Especially if you live in very hot places like Vegas or Phoenix. But synthetic oil also costs three times as much as regular oil. So you're not saving any money going with synthetic. But you do save time because you don't have to go through the hassle of changing your oil as often.
You really shouldn't be giving out car maintenance advice. You are not well informed and I don't see by most of your posts that you have much life experience owning and maintaining cars.
Your oil change recommendations are closest to what Jiffy Lube says - which is far too aggressive for the vast majority of people and vehicles on the road today. It is in their best interests for their customers to change oil often. It ignores the big improvements in both lubricants and engines that have been made over the last 20-30 years. The owners manual schedule, or the automatic reminders built in to many vehicles today, is the best reference source for each car.
How much a person chooses to spend on a vehicle is completely an issue of personal choice.
$9000 per year is believable for an "average" vehicle financed. But it doesn't have to be that much.
I love my cars. I have two. My family, including my college age kids, has six. I have no payments on any of them. Every single one was bought with cash. The only expense related to the vehicles I really don't like is insurance. But when my kids move on with their careers that expense will go away. None of our vehicles is a monster. Most are sensible reliable vehicles - one is a "pleasure car." I do most service myself. I get satisfaction of being able to maintain them - just like I get satisfaction from other handiwork around the house. The oldest vehicle I own is a 1997, the newest is a 2008. Lowest mileage is about 40K, highest almost 140K. None will be replaced anytime soon. Two were bought new, the rest used.
I think it is much dumber to spend $12/day (or > $4,000/yr) on cigarettes.
How much a person chooses to spend on a vehicle is completely an issue of personal choice.
$9000 per year is believable for an "average" vehicle financed. But it doesn't have to be that much.
I love my cars. I have two. My family, including my college age kids, has six. I have no payments on any of them. Every single one was bought with cash. The only expense related to the vehicles I really don't like is insurance. But when my kids move on with their careers that expense will go away. None of our vehicles is a monster. Most are sensible reliable vehicles - one is a "pleasure car." I do most service myself. I get satisfaction of being able to maintain them - just like I get satisfaction from other handiwork around the house. The oldest vehicle I own is a 1997, the newest is a 2008. Lowest mileage is about 40K, highest almost 140K. None will be replaced anytime soon. Two were bought new, the rest used.
I think it is much dumber to spend $12/day (or > $4,000/yr) on cigarettes.
Exactly, or spend money on alcohol or drugs. My car brings me a lot of hapiness. I would be very miserable using public transportation.
Exactly, or spend money on alcohol or drugs. My car brings me a lot of happiness. I would be very miserable using public transportation.
Most people dislike PT because it has a stigma. Whether or not it deserves that stigma is another thread. But, like so many things in life, people dislike the umbrella idea (in this case, PT), but may like specific items (specific routes, which are faster or more comfortable, for example).
But, most people undervalue what the money spent on transit is worth. Say you fall far below average and spend "only" $5k per year on transportation. Say we're talking about a car. Then, in a decade, you've spent $50k on your car. But, people don't think of it in that way, and may mistakenly say that car is "cheap" or "affordable."
Who made the assertion that those not spending money on cars are spending it on drugs, alcohol or smokes?
I assume it was a comparison made for effect, but wasn't necessarily suggesting the only items for purchase in the universe were cars and a variety of drugs.
Who made the assertion that those not spending money on cars are spending it on drugs, alcohol or smokes?
No one. But people spend money on lots of things. Some here think spending money on cars is WRONG. A few even think cars are evil.
I like cars. So I spend some money on them. They are part of the lifestyle I enjoy. Other people spend significant amounts of money each year on other things. I just highlighted one example.
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