Daily Driver Neglect

[joesregalproject]

I like to think of myself as a good car owner, I take care of my vehicles, and they take care of me. Today while changing the oil on one of my lesser used vehicles (which I'm trying to change, want to make it my daily), a 2004 Toyota Camry 4 cyl, I realized I've never changed some basic stuff. Now this car was bought by my dad originally, and has been pretty well kept. It's a great little car and has never left anyone stranded or needed any major repairs. I've owned it the last 2.5 years and I've really tried to keep up with the maintenance on it. I put new brake pads and discs on all four corners, new used tires on it, new plugs, new air filter, new valve cover and oil pan gaskets, a new O2 sensor, cleaned the throttle body and changed trans fluid all with in the last few months. However today I realized the car still has the original coolant and thermostat in it with 173,000 miles! It never overheated, so I never thought about replacing them, even though they should have been done at least 3 times by now. I felt bad for my reliable little car upon realizing this, so I think my next move is to go to NAPA and buy some Zerex Asian car formula coolant and drain and fill as much as I can. I'll get an OEM thermostat from the dealer, I've had issues with aftermarket ones. Has anyone else gotten so consumed by their project cars they forgot to take care of their daily driver?

 

[drogg1]

I daily a '98 BMW M3 and so I'm not allowed to neglect things like the cooling system as they are prone to failure. I wish I would have realized sooner after having to change the head gasket because the plastic radiator water neck broke and it instantly overheated and warped the head. A new cooling system costs a lot less than a head gasket job.

 

[joesregalproject]

I can't afford to maintain a BMW, lol. I almost bought a used 328i in nice shape but once I realized how expensive it would be to maintain I changed my mind. This Toyota with its little 4 cylinder seems to be pretty bulletproof. After all, my sisters learned to drive on it and they aren't particularly careful or easy on cars. At 173,000 miles it hasn't needed a repair on anything that wasn't a wear part. And the nicest thing IMO is if the motor blows up tomorrow, I can go to a junkyard, buy a low mileage engine for $600 and swap them in an afternoon. Its very easy to work on and these all aluminum 4 cyl's are light and easy to move around. Even still, I feel bad for not changing the coolant as of yet.

 

[axisg]

Bah, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Those 4 cyl 'yota motors are pretty tough. Really good friend of mine swears by them. Courier driver and he buys a brand new corolla every 5-6 years. They get an oil change when it needs something like brakes or tires ( maybe 6 over the course of ownership ), same with car washes. Refuses to spend any $$ on them. Timing belt at 200k and once they hit 400 thousand kms he trades it in for a new one. To date he has only blown 1 up

 

[MrSony]

I am lucky enough that I can walk to my job from my house so both my dailies are currently projects. '85 Regal needs a heart transplant this summer and my '70 Tbird needs tires and a quality alignment and a blown brake line fixed. The one piece metal one that goes across the rear end.

 

[joesregalproject]

I actually got a sample from this oil change and sent it to Blackstone Labs for a UOA. I'll be interested to see what they have to say about it. I've got no plans on getting rid of the car anytime soon, it's been a good car to us and I just can't justify selling it. Great mpgs, low maintenance, very durable, and unmatched reliability.

 

[84_SS]

Currently have a bad lifter in my truck which I don't like to drive in the winter, but the windshield wipers stopped working in my winter beater grand marquis that I bought for $300. So I have 2 daily drivers feeling the neglect lately 🙁

 

[L92 OLDS]

I daily a '98 BMW M3 and so I'm not allowed to neglect things like the cooling system as they are prone to failure.

Lol. I will never own a German made car unless it has an LS swapped into it. Silly German engineers prioritize complexity over reliability.

 

[Bonnewagon]

It's the other way around for me. I get so consumed by keeping my DD's tip top, my projects languish. But I would rather do that then deal with my wife/daughter/grandkid calling that they broke down in some horrible location and then jump through my *ss to rescue them.

 

[drogg1]

Lol. I will never own a German made car unless it has an LS swapped into it. Silly German engineers prioritize complexity over reliability.

I would never recommend them to anyone who doesn't like to wrench. Otherwise, the online community is huge for 3-series BMW with step-by-step picture tutorials on how to do almost any R&R. It was even fairly simple to re-time the variable valve timing. Only certain parts cost more than domestic replacements and so its not too bad on that end. I think my headgasket change cost around $1200 dollars but that's including a combustion gas test by a local shop($90), head machining, valve job, and valvetrain assembly by a machine shop($250), and the associated random tools I had to buy/felt like buying as well as the miscellaneous parts I decided to replace while in there.

Its pretty tough to beat the performance/$ you get with a well maintained 15+ year old BMW. I paid $4,750 for mine with 150k.