Proof that most people ignore basic car maintenance
 

There is an article today in the Los Angeles Times in the Car Care section.

The AAA Club ran a recent car inspection service and found what most professionals have long asserted: that most drivers ignore the most routine auto maintenance.

Of the 550 cars inspected:

1. 75% had some sort of vital fluid problem - from dirty or dangerously low engine oil to rancid transmission fluid and / or brake fluid.

2. at least 1/3 had worn-out drive belts on alternators, a/c pumps, and engine cooling fans.

Other common problems included inoperative headlights, brake lights, tail lights, dirty air filters, under inflated tires, etc.

The conclusion reached was that owners are just too lazy and / or cheap to do routine inspections and to carry out required maintenance chores.

Of course, I have known this all along. I have always been fanatical about maintaining my cars, and virtually everone around me doesn't. About half of the people I know only change their car's oil and nothing else. A smaller percentage ever get around to changing their radiator coolant, and an even smaller percentage ever replace their transmission fluid. I don't know anyone besides me who regularly changes their brake fluid.

Heck, you'd think that frequent participants of this site would at least cary out the most basic maintenance, but I just read recently an active member here (to remain nameless) who was bragging about the reliability of his car because the transmission fluid hadn't been changed in 120,000 miles and operated fine!

Oh sweet Jesus, where is the humanity...?:eek: :confused: :(

Paul,

'I feel your pain'....

Thanks, that helps a bunch, gulp, but I'm so obsessive compulsive about maintaining my vehicles that it pains me when people don't follow the required maintenance schedule of their car, and them blame the car when it breaks down!

Oh, Lord have mercy on my troubled soul...:eek: :confused: :p

That was me mentioning the no transmission fluid change, I plan on replacing the engine, suspension e.t.c of the car although some sick part of me just likes to beat up the car.

I treat my other cars different, I do a lot of preventive maintenance on them but I like to treat the 190 like a stepchild, I even take it to a mechanic who I wouldn't let around my other cars, well at least the E420 anyway, I let him do the brakes on the corvette.

Yes, I know I'm asking for it and I will eventually pay for my sins.

:)

No offense taken, I know I'm wrong.

Now I feel guilty, will try to do transmission fluid this weekend.

A part of me is also interested in just how much the car can take.

Year's ago, South Carolina did away with annual vehicle inspections. At least with inspections some items could be caught.
It's amazing to see the condition of some of the cars and trucks on the road here!
Only place I have ever lived where I usually see two or three vehicles a day without a license plate.

vanakin, my 190 D was casually asking where you live....;)

I don't think it's laziness more than just a lot of really busy people!

Between work, home maintenance, car maintenance, yard maintenance, personal health maintenance, child quality time maintenance, financial maintenance, spousal maintenance ;), spiritual maintenance, etc., etc., you really need a couple of clones (see "Multiplicity" w/Michael Keaton) in order to keep up with everything fastiduously.

As forum members, we are obviously prudent in vehicle maintenance...but how about everything else in our lives?

How often do you go to church, exercise regularly, (see tag on left) Maintain a healthy lifestyle (your body has to outlive your car ya know), keep your budget balanced and maintain some sort of long-term savings plan, spend time with family?

No offense, but some of you single guys (as I remember once) had a lot of spare time to keep their vehicles in prime condition at all times.

I have a laundry list of to-dos that I can barely keep up with (including MB maintenance), so with a finite amount of time each day, I have to shift my priorities to what's most important. Everything else will have to fester for later.

That is why my once-show VW erodes in the driveway, the keyboards and fitness equipment collect dust, and the yard gets a bit uneven.

So if I decide to attend my daughter's soccer game or help her with a class project, spend time with my wife in a morning walk in the park, or join the family in worship at church, the brake pad indicator light in the W124 will have to glow for yet another week.

Our lives on this earth are short. My daughter will grow up and not want to spend much time with me, I might get too old to do things I take for granted today. So if I ruin some rotors, so what? FastLane has got them cheap!;)

You've got your priorities straight G-Benz!

Yeah, I could spend this weekend detailing the cars and changing all the parts I'm not 100% happy with. Nope, I'm taking my son camping instead.

However, I have been known to work on the cars from the time the kids go to bed (around 10 pm) until 2:00 am or later doing things like tranny fluid, coolant, brake pads, rotating tires, oil change, serpentine belts, diff mounts, valve stem seals, coil connectors, plugs (non-resistor, non-platinum of course!), etc. Yep, even the brake fluid.

The cars have got to be reliable and safe, and I hate having other people working on my cars.

The folks who aren't doing these things and are not having them done are taking a major financial and physical risk. Irresponsible to their passengers and the general public.

Agreed! And if I don't find the time to fix a problem that could compromise the safety of the vehicle, then I have the other MBs to drive until I can get around to it... ;)

That must have made a HORRENDOUS noise! Was she DEAF? hahaha... :eek:

Mike