Getting an oil change is a pain, whether you do it yourself or have it done professionally. You have to take time out of your day, pay for it and, if you’re at a lube shop, often endure a stream of questions and accusations that make you feel like a worse car owner than Tommy Callahan.
But it’s just this type of annoying, small maintenance procedure that can prevent some seriously pricey repairs in the future.
According to a recent study by CarMD.com, which polled professional mechanics, putting off oil changes is one of the top ten worst things that you can do to your car. Along with neglecting other small repairs, such as replacing the air filter, small issues can snowball into much bigger problems — like engine failure — and huge repair bills in the future.
And you should stop doing one thing you’re probably doing this winter that you think helps your vehicle: Warming it up. Cars no longer need to be warmed up in the winter, and doing so wastes gas and makes the car more enticing to car thieves. (Because very few people sit inside their car while it’s warming up.) Sure, your engine reaches maximum efficiency when it’s warm, but modern engines warm up fast enough while driving, so you don’t need to waste time and fuel letting the car sit idle.
Here are the top ten things that can seriously cost you down the road, in no particular order:
– Putting off scheduled maintenance
– Ignoring the check engine light
– Neglecting to change your oil on time or at all
– Failing to check tire pressure
– Ignoring transmission, brake, coolant and other fluid services
– Continuing to drive your vehicle when it overheats
– Not changing the fuel and air filters
– Having an unqualified person or service center service your vehicle
– Using aftermarket parts instead of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) quality parts
– Trying to service your own vehicle if you don’t know what you are doing
The air filter one is actually a big one. These are cheap to replace, but, if they get too dirty, they can wreck oxygen sensors (which could end up costing $250) and could potentially damage your catalytic converter (which hits your pocketbook at around $1,000).
Not adhering to routine maintenance can also void your car’s warranty. That’s something you don’t want to do in case of any problems with the vehicle — which will occur if you’re ignoring routine maintenance in the first place.
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The good news: Approximately three-quarters of consumers say they are completely or very satisfied with their auto repair shops.
The bad news: 27 percent of respondents to a Consumer Reports survey were dissatisfied with their experiences.
Of those consumers, 38 percent cited high prices as the reason, followed by more than 25 percent who said problems weren’t fixed properly and 18 percent who said repairs did not hold up.
The magazine’s Annual Auto Survey was based on more than 67,000 service-visit reports to independent mechanics and 101,000 to dealerships over the past 12 months.
One other statistic that stands out from the data: 30 percent of female respondents stopped using a repair shop because they felt the staff attempted to take advantage of them because of their gender.
While most people have positive experiences at repair shops and are honest and professional, here’s a list of common scams and bad practices AOL Autos Editors have compiled to ensure you have a better automotive repair experience.
Some shops will tell you that you need your fuel injectors”cleaned” every 15,000 or 20,000 miles. Only if you are using coal oil to power your car.
Today’s gasoline has detergent in it to keep fuel injectors clean. Shops will sometimes present you with dirty fuel injectors as a prop.
Proper replacement cycle for a set of fuel injectors is once a year or 35,000 miles. And even that is overkill.
You take the car in because the check-engine light is on, or maybe to fix a rough idle. You get the call, or someone comes out with a clipboard and opinion and says you need three other things done for hundreds of dollars more.
If you trust the mechanic and have history, then he or she may well be doing right. But if it is a new shop, have the work done you came in for and get a second opinion and estimate for the other things. Be firm. Many shops will make you feel like you are being bad to your car if you don’t get the extra work done. Unless it’s an immediate safety issue, get the second opinion if you aren’t sure.
Few of us will really do this, and that is what the unscrupulous shop is counting on. You pay for new parts, but are sold used parts. Inspect the parts that are being installed for wear.
They should be spanking new, and appropriate brand-name parts approved by the manufacturer. Look for brands like AC Delco, Bosch, Fram, Champion. If the parts are unbranded or strange, ask the shop to show you they are approved parts.
It may seem unlikely, but think of how simple it is especially if an unscrupulous mechanic thinks that the owner of the vehicle in his shop has utterly no idea what tires are on the car. Some will actual take your tires off and replace them with older tires.
Put chalk marks on the inside of your tires. Some shops will swap out your tires for older tires. If your chalk-marks are not there when you collect the car, you, and your tires, have been hustled.
Don’t be sold a new air filter at every oil change. The filter is good for a whole year or about 15,000 miles. Here again, many shops will present you with a filter they say is yours next to a new filter and try and guilt you into a new filter you most likely don’t need.
Don’t flush your hard earned money down the sewer. The engine flush costs between $100 and $200. An engine flush uses a machine and chemicals to rid your engine’s innards of sludge, but it’s not a normal maintenance checkpoint unless you’ve neglected your engine. Change your oil according to manufacturer’s recommendations and you won’t need an engine flush.
A simple examination into your oil-filler lid will reveal deposits and gunk. Sometimes, if you’ve got an engine with high mileage and deposits, a flush will break loose sludge that can get into the engine. But it’s really not necessary today if you’ve otherwise taken good care of your car.
Get your transmission fluid changed every 35,000 miles. Your car may come with something called”lifetime” fluid, but we recommend even changing that at about 80,000 miles.
Don’t get sold on”lifetime” anything whether it be fluids, filters or brake-pads. These are sales gimmicks and have nothing to do with taking good care of your vehicles.
Don’t get sold on changing your oil every $3,000 miles. Often when a chain lube shop changes your oil, they put a sticker on your windshield that says”Change Your Oil at ‘Fill-in-mileage-here.'”
