car question

xok85xo · #1 10-29-2002, 08:30 PM

okay..kind of a dumb question, but how absolutely necessary is it to have your car serviced/oil changed every 3000 miles? i do mostly highway driving and am planning on driving 500 miles to see my boy this weekend..but car is already past the 3000 mile point for service..would my car break down or something if i put it off a little longer or should i definately make sure i get this done before i go?

if it makes a difference i drive a 99 civic

agger_rob · #2 10-29-2002, 08:47 PM

Your car should be alright at 3500 miles, just get the oil changed when you get back. But if you ever end up have engine problems and your service record shows that your car wasn't upkept on a regular basis, your insurance company might give you a hard time. Just make sure your blinker fluid is taken care of.

chopper816 · #3 10-29-2002, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xok85xo

if it makes a difference i drive a 99 civic

it doesnt make a difference, one of the guys found that out the hard way, hes on his 2nd engine in his honda b/c he didnt change his oil on a regular basis

xok85xo · #4 10-29-2002, 09:43 PM

okay just to clarify..my car is well maintained, ijust bought it in august and i had it serviced/the oil changed a month ago(yes, i put 3000 miles on it in 5 weeks) i just wanted to know if my car is gonna break down in between here & there or if its okay to go that extra 500 miles and just bring it in next week

Imthechamp · #5 10-29-2002, 11:31 PM

My suggestion would be to take your crappy civic in and get a trade for something decent.

sororitygirl2 · #6 10-30-2002, 12:00 AM

Not that I recommend it, but I've gone about 8,000 miles without having my oil changed before and never had any car problems at all... you should be fine, as long as there is oil in your car -- you don't have to change it, just pour a quart or two in with the dirty oil that's already there.

Optimist Prime · #7 10-30-2002, 12:26 AM

Change it. And when your gas injector fluid things get dirty either clean them, or get the cleaner your self, and put it before you fill up. The tricky part is that the gas tank should be empty, so i guess just fill up and a can and drive around on E for a while

FHwku · #8 10-30-2002, 01:06 AM

take care of your car. it'll be like 20 minutes and $20. you can have lunch, buy a scarf, or watch cartoons while it's getting done.

G8Ralphaxi · #9 10-30-2002, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sororitygirl2
Not that I recommend it, but I've gone about 8,000 miles without having my oil changed before and never had any car problems at all... you should be fine, as long as there is oil in your car -- you don't have to change it, just pour a quart or two in with the dirty oil that's already there.

oh please don't make a habit of this! my father would be having a panic attack if he caught me doing something like this.

the standard by the way is every 3000 miles OR 3 months. and the oil does get DIRTY. that is what can cause problems.

yes, maybe everything is running ok now. but if anything at all goes wrong you are looking at hundreds, probably thousands of dollars worth of repairs.

even if you do go every 3 months...that's about ($20) x (4 times a year) = $80 total yearly cost. WAY better than buying a new engine.

now, if most of your miles are "highway" miles, then you can stretch it (usually maybe twice as long - see your owner's manual). this means you are going steady highway speeds - NOT driving fast around town. when you drive your car for continous stretches, it's generally more efficient (that's why your gas mileage is better). also, stop and go driving is just harder for the car to adjust, more stressful on the engine, etc.

chances are, if you're a college student like me, most trips are just quick little drives to the grocery store, to campus, to go out, etc. a couple miles here and there. definitely need to be careful about regular oil changes!

xok85xo · #10 10-30-2002, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imthechamp
My suggestion would be to take your crappy civic in and get a trade for something decent.

wow. why didn't i think of that?? bless you citizen for daring to think outside the box, i commend you. <insert sarcasm here>

anyway..when i got gas this morning i had the guy check my oil(yay for mandatory full service in NJ) and he said it was fine, wasn't low or anything

and like i said..99% of the driving i do is highway(constant 55mph+) very rarely do i even make short trips to the store and back and whatnot

aephi alum · #11 10-30-2002, 10:03 AM

As others have said, it depends on the type of driving you're doing. You can push your car past 3000 miles if you're not putting a lot of stress on the engine - and by the same token, if you -are- putting your car under a lot of stress, you may want to change your oil even more frequently.

I confess - I've pushed my car past 3000 miles on a few occasions, by adding some more oil on my own to hold things over until I can get the car into the shop. (At this point, my car is so old that, if things got so bad that I'd need to replace my engine, I'd replace it and get a whole new car to go around it

)

bucutie02 · #12 10-30-2002, 10:11 AM

I am sure it will be fine to not get the oil changed now and just do it when you get back, but why take the risk?? If you really dont have time to get it done, dont worry about it- however, like someone else said, its cheap and doesnt take long at all. The place I take my car to takes them 10 minutes!

That reminds me, i need to get my oil changed too!

Kevin · #13 10-30-2002, 10:45 AM

Check the owner's manual. If I remember correctly Civics' manuals say that they need to be serviced every 5000 miles. Of course the back of the oil can says 3000 -- that company sells oil.

It varies from car to car though. My 4-Runner is 4000 miles.

DeltAlum · #14 10-30-2002, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ktsnake
Check the owner's manual. If I remember correctly Civics' manuals say that they need to be serviced every 5000 miles. Of course the back of the oil can says 3000 -- that company sells oil.

It varies from car to car though. My 4-Runner is 4000 miles.

My grandfather's car was supposed to have it's oil changed every 1,500 miles. It was a 1951 chevy.

As the time progressed, the times between oil changes increased. I recall one car I owned that suggested changing oil every 8,000.

Then, for a while, everyone was pushing synthetic oil which only needed to be changed every 100,000 miles or something.

THEN, JiffyLube, Lubestop, Grease Monkey, etc. came along, and suddenly it's important to get your oil changed every 3,000.

What does that tell you. Are the oil companies making their products worse than they used to be? I don't think so.

I drive a twelve year old car with over 150,000 miles. I often drive as much as 6,000 miles between oil changes, simply because I don't get around to changing it. I'm generally always a couple hundred miles over 3,000. I'm not saying you should do that, but it has never been a problem for me. When I check it, the oil always looks clean (light brown and clear). Dirty oil is black.

If you car is truly in good shape, it won't hurt to go an extra 500 miles. Highway driving is much easier on oil than stop and go city driving.

Don't worry. Enjoy your road trip.

Optimist Prime · #15 10-30-2002, 11:18 AM

Okay i have a question. My S10 does not require any gasoline to run. It can be fueled by ethanol, which burns clean. Where can I buy ethanol to fill up my tank with. Is it expensive?