Comments on: Should preventive car maintenance be based on mileage or number of months between visits?

By: NOVA_72

NOVA_72 — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:01:46 +0000

beleive it or not oil will break down even with little use. you dont want to cook a bearing just because it wasnt time to go for a oil change. $30.00 isnt alot go at whatever comes first.

By: Wes

Wes — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:06:21 +0000

Everything wears differently. Brake pads obviously are only going to wear when you use them. Belts, hoses, and tires are going to wear with time and use ie: dry rot. Fuel Filters, Air Filters will totally depend on the cleanliness of gas & air that goes through them. Spark plugs should wear with mileage, Whereas the rubber coated wires will wear with engine heat and time. It all depends on the use of the automobile.

3 months, 3000 miles sounds like an oil change. Check your oil yourself about twice a month, when it starts looking dirty change it. It doesn’t hurt your car to be a little late getting your oil changed from time to time. Personally I’d wait for 3000, but check it every few weeks to be safe.

It sounds like you don’t know that much about car mainttenance. Your mechanic is probably not going to suggest those 60k mile maintenance repairs so you should study your service manual to know what needs changing when. Most places when they “service” your car it means to change the oil check the air filter, and wiper blades. A lot of them claim to grease the suspension and steering systems under your car during your “service” but I don’t know any of them that actually do this.

By: lexusry

lexusry — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:00:40 +0000

everything age. so go with the months instead of mileage.. also, it depend where you drive such as dusty or muddy road. newer vehicles such as Bmw,Porsche,mercedes has a built in computer that sense the driver condition,outside temperature,condition of weather,idle speed,how often you brake,etc.

By: ucantcme

ucantcme — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:16:18 +0000

This is a difficult question, 3 months or 3000 miles means just what it states but a lot has to do with your driving habits, outside temperature and highway or city driving. If after 3 months you only have driven 1500 miles I would check the oils level and check just how dirty it is because you can drive in stop and start condition with the outside temperature very high and the oil will break down.

By: Pyro

Pyro — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:59:58 +0000

Typically your mechanic will tell you to do it based on whichever comes first. This is probably the easiest way to do it, while not admittedly the most cost-efficient.
It mostly depends on how you drive your car. An engine wears more in the first five minutes after it is started cold than it does in a 10,000 mile trip while warmed up.
That said, if you mostly have highway miles on your car, I wuold try for every 3,000-3,500 miles regardless of time. If you drive short, cold start trips in the city frequently, you wuold be better off to stick to the 3-month policy.

By: rebecca q

rebecca q — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:16:10 +0000

I work in the car industry and we recommend that our cars are serviced every 12 months or 12000 miles, which ever comes sooner. Different makes have different guide lines but this is generally accepted as the norm. Modern diesel engines may have longer mileage gaps betwen servicing but the time span is still 12 months.
Hope this helps
Rebecca

By: Van_Crackin

Van_Crackin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:21:53 +0000

Use the mileage. Remember that they do want your money and the three months is the fallback for that.

By: sarge927

sarge927 — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:54:27 +0000

Depends. Do you do a lot of short trips and stop-and-go driving, or is most of your driving done on the freeway where your car gets a good chance to warm up? If you use your car mostly for short jaunts around town, it’s a good idea to have the maintenance done every three months, even if you don’t hit 3,000 miles. If you do mostly freeway driving and your car runs for 20 minutes or more at a time (average), you can actually get away with changing your oil every 6,000 miles as long as you drive your car on a regular basis.

By: Arthur O

Arthur O — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:29:30 +0000

I’d say use the mileage. The resulting interval is not that long. Now if you were only driving 3000 miles a year, I’d say use the time interval as your guide. So you’re driving about 3000 miles every six months and that should be just fine to service your car using that interval.

By: teddybears

teddybears — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:30:32 +0000

depends on how much you drive….months if you drive very little…..mileage if you drive a lot