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The automotive lesson today is:
I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like one of the more fun things that I do between December and March is kicking off these…….um……what do you call them……. dirty…. snow….things. Anybody else absolutely love doing this? What about running them over after? Doesn’t it make you feel like a champion? It does for me. Admit it. You feel the same way.
 Oil Antifreeze Milkshake
Every few months, some article pops up on the internet talking about how people don’t need to change their oil at 3000 miles “anymore”. This article on Yahoo News is a great example of this, and it bothers me. To save you some time, I’ll give you the cliff notes of the linked article. They basically tell people that 73% of California drivers are changing their oil too often, and wasting their money (I’m still cringing). Then the article goes on to say to look at your owners manual, and do oil changes at whatever mileage interval it says. Seems like a good idea right? Well, sure in a fantasy world, yes. In the real world, no. Also, how does the author of this article knows that people are changing their oil too often if he doesn’t know the oil change intervals of all of their vehicles. Seems odd to me, but I’ll move forward anyway. About 9 years ago…. when I was a technician at a dealer, it was a frequent occurrence for customers to come in for an oil change with less than half of their recommended oil left in their car. The majority of cars that I did oil changes to held 8 quarts of oil, and 3 quarts frequently came out at the manual-recommended oil change interval. The manufacturer of this particular car claimed that it was “normal” for these types of engines to burn 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles. Nice! So even if you did a 5000 mile oil change, you’d likely only have 3 quarts left. » Continue reading more of this post… Over the course of 2010, we had some pretty funny, interesting, educational, and inspirational blogs on here. Today, I’m posting up my favorite 17 blogs. Yeap. Seventeen. Anyway…. Which were your fav’s? Slow Motion: AWD Launching Edition  Rad Previa Van: Let  Monday = AWD Mitsubishi Turbo Dune Buggy  My Favorite Twin Turbo 4.6L Mustang  Oh Turbo Meyers Manx, You So Crazy…..  The Engine That You Have Never Seen  Miss Belvedere, What Happened?  WUT: I Think Your Camber May Be Slightly Off  Hydraulic Clutches Are Just Better, So I Swapped It.  Animals & Cars: A Friendly Photo Collage  Why Is The 9/10ths Necessary When Buying Gas?  Seriously. Just Throw Your Clothes Away.  Car Wrecks From the 1920′s and 1930′s  Top 3 Most Awesome Ways to Destroy Your Engine  If Coolness were Land Mass, This Engine would be the Louisiana Purchase.  The Sweetest Car Collection….. in the Woods.  This is a Cow Riding On A Firebird.
When buying a used vehicle, there are many things that you can do to prevent yourself from purchasing a lemon. If you do the research, know all the tricks, and play the game properly, you will almost always come out on top. I have bought and sold 20+ of my own personal cars and helped friends and family buy and sell many others. I think I have it nailed down pretty well. Today we are talking about buying cars, but these tips can be flipped around to help sell your vehicle if necessary. 1 – Know the vehicle:More important than other any clever tip or trick that I can share, is to know the vehicle that you want to buy. Look around for a while and decide what that special year, make, and model is. Once you decide what you want, go out and test drive several of them to make sure you definitely enjoy driving it. There are plenty of people out there that have bought “the car of their dreams,” before realizing that it is not at all what they wanted. At this point they are stuck with their unwanted “dream car” because they can’t get back what they paid for it, and don’t want to lose money on it. 2 – Research:Do some research online to find out all the common problems of that year, make, and model, along with its suggested maintenance intervals. All vehicles have their own common problems; no make or model is perfect. If you are looking at a vehicle that just happens to be a few miles shy of a major maintenance interval (timing belt, transmission service, brakes), be sure to » Continue reading more of this post… As a full time gearhead, I often find myself talking to my non-gearhead friends about their cars and the importance of maintenance. I always stress the importance of regular oil changes because it’s like super cheap insurance in my mind. Clean oil and a fresh oil filter = happily rotating parts inside your engine. Once Sludge enter the place, your engine-party is over. Everybody knows that Sludge smells terrible and whenever you have Sludge, his best buddy Friction isn’t far behind. Great, who brought these guys? The Smoooooth Operaaator song (by Sade… you remember that one right?) comes to a screeching halt because nobody wants Friction at their happy-engine party. Sludge is always so tough to get rid of though once he’s there. He’s always blocking door ways, getting in the way of activities, and stinking the place up big time. The entire symphony of parts on the once flowing dance floor begin intently looking at each other watching for the first one to head out. Obviously no one wants to be “that guy” at the party. » Continue reading more of this post… |
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