Rising Vehicle Costs

Today’s vehicles are much more expensive than they were even 3 years ago. The average new car payment grew by 29% from 2019 to 2022, the 3-year-old used car payment rose by a whopping 52%. That is CRAZY but that is just the way it is. With vehicles costing so much to purchase it makes sense to take great care of them so you get the most life possible from them. What can you do to get the most life from your expensive purchase?

Focus on maintenance. Vehicles today have a lot more longevity than they did when I was a young man. In my early days of owning a shop, most engines were worn out by 100,000 miles. Today’s car/truck can easily last double or more. I traded my last truck when it had 305,000 miles on it and it had never had the engine or transmission oil pans off. How did I get it to last so long you ask? I did the maintenance religiously. Every 30-40k miles I changed all the fluids. I am a big fan of BG Lubricants and used them for the whole life of my truck. If you start using them before 50,000 miles, you also get a great warranty on your engine, transmission, etc!

Be proactive in some of your repairs. What gets people broken down on the highway are usually overheating or tire issues. I always change my radiator and water pump every 100,000 miles so I don’t have this issue.  Radiators are made out of plastic nowadays and the heating and cooling of plastic over long periods make it crystallized and brittle and very prone to cracking.  I also keep my tires in good shape so I don’t experience blowouts on the road.  Nothing will make you lose confidence in your vehicle faster than having to be stuck somewhere with it broken down. It is expensive and very inconvenient!

If you maintain your vehicle well, there is no reason that you can not get 200-300k miles out of it. We actually have a shop Subaru that we take customers home in that has over 400k on it!  Sometimes there are certain vehicles that we would not recommend keeping that long. We would be glad to check yours at Stillwater Automotive and give you an evaluation of what we think. That way you can make good choices that will give you the longest possible life on your car or truck.  Merry Christmas!   Lonnie

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