Bobby Holt has nursed his beat-up red Nissan truck through more than 323,000 miles, enough to drive around the world 14 times. Just exactly how is that done? He drives full-time for AutoTek, running parts for the auto repair shop on Arapahoe Road in Denver, Colorado. But even the most conscientious car owner would be ecstatic reaching half that mileage.
It's the kind of question that gets AutoTek's Bob Leonard, a manager, nearly shouting in your ear. “Have we done anything special to that truck? No! But we do routine maintenance, and we do it religiously,” Leonard said.
The only thing different about the Nissan is that when it needs an oil change, Holt doesn't have to call in for an appointment. Everything else, since the truck was new in 1989, has been by-the-book service. Neither the engine nor the transmission has been rebuilt or suffered a major repair, even though AutoTek also owns an engine-rebuilding business. The clutch has now been changed twice.
“Bobby's real easy on a clutch,” said another AutoTek manager, Kent Davis, who plasters big numbers on a billboard at Arapahoe and Syracuse Street whenever the Nissan hits the goose eggs yet again. “And those are city miles. It's a lot easier to go easy on a clutch driving out on the highway.”
The secrets are boring, but listen to them anyway and then finish your broccoli while you're at it. Change the oil every 3,000 miles. Yes, the car manuals say you can now go 7,500 miles, but the fine print below that says: Except under conditions of high heat or heavy dust or mountain driving. “So basically everything in Denver is in the fine print,” Leonard said.
Auto Tek also mixes in an oil additive and a fuel-injector cleaner, liquids they call cheap for the benefit. Air filters are the bane of many oblivious car owners, who seldom worry about them until the desk clerk at a lube and filter joint shows them a filthy sample.
“ Air filters ? They say every 30,000, but it's like your vacuum cleaner at home. It depends on what you're sucking up,” Leonard said. "If it's badly discolored and a mound of dust comes out when you tap it on the floor, change it.”
Change the spark plugs every 30,000 , Davis says. Rotate the tires , eat your brussel sprouts, and then rotate the tires again, he says. The Nissan gets rotated every 5,000, because the people at AutoTek hate things that wobble. They'll polish an engine block down to a four-tenths of a gram imbalance because they loathe things that wobble.
Coolant flush ? Really important, Davis says. The coolant will cool forever, but the additives that prevent the chemicals from corroding surrounding metal do wear out. “It's the kind of thing where if you get it done, you'll drive out of the shop and nothing feels different,” Leonard said. “But you'll notice it if you don't do it.”
Replace the timing belt between 60,000 and 90,000 miles. Timing belts are like an old water heater: They work fine up until the last second, and the next second your basement is a wet bar. “If it snaps, the piston will run into the valves and do serious damage,” Davis said. Leonard added helpfully, “Mitsubishi has one that will just grenade the whole engine.”
The auto test director for Consumer's Union in New York said the AutoTek advice is sound; though its test have never proven the benefit of oil or fuel additives. Draining and replacing the transmission and brake fluids periodically is also a big help to a car, said Consumer's Union David Champion.
There are a few models of Japanese pickup trucks from the late 1980s that have proven longevity, but anybody who gets past 300,000 miles deserves some attention, Champion said.
The AutoTek mechanics are paid well to coddle the Nissan and customers cars: “Our lowest-paid guy gets $48,000. Our top guy in the shop will get $100,000 this year; most everybody makes between $50,000 and $75,000, and we're having trouble hiring people at that,” Leonard said.
That may sound like doctors' wages, but Leonard laughs at that one. “Doctors have two models to memorize and always have. We've got 50,000, and there are always more.”
The message to the customer, though, is simple. Stop tailgating the red Nissan and pull over to read the unopened manual in your glove compartment. “You don't even have to understand it,” Leonard said. “Just follow the schedule .”
Note: NDT shares this article with you for the ideas and advice included. We strongly recommend that you follow the last paragraph. While maintenance is not inexpensive, it is much less expensive than replacing your $5,000.00 engine!
Copyright Denver Post, June 24, 1999, used with permission.
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