I ended up buying a car from an old lady who barely drove it - maybe once a week. As a result, it’s a 2002 model with only 15k miles on it. Since she never met any milage barriers for the factory maintenance schedule, the only thing she ever changed was the oil, and not any other sort of regular maintenance.
The car runs fine and as far as I can tell is in fine shape, but I don’t know what needs replacement due to age rather than milage. I did have to get new tires, as the factory tire rubber had hardened and started to seperate from the rim a bit. The brakes will need to be serviced, it gets kind of wobbly/lurching at the end of coming to a stop. Is this just the pads, or am I going to have to replace the whole things?
I want to treat the car right and keep it healthy as long as I can but, but my budget isn’t unlimited - so I only want to do things that actually seem like they’d be useful for extending the car’s life.
Do I need to flush the various fluids? Replace any belts or filters or anything? I want to be able to go into a mechanic and evaluate what they tell me is necesary and not get suckered.
If it matters, I bought the car when I was back in cleveland (rather than vegas), where it had lived its life - so it had experienced harsh winters parked outdoors. It’s also possible it went a couple of months at a time without use, especially in the winter.
Personally id change the oil and filters and drive it, the brakes probably are a bit sticky due to not much use…a good drive will probably sort it out.
I don’t see how just the pads could do this. The calipers could be sticking due to rust and corrosion from being used so infrequently. You also may have rust on the rotors.
I would take it for a drive around the neighborhood and just constantly get it going then hit the brakes fairly hard then get it going again and hit the brakes again, over and over and over. This will knock off any surface rust and should help the calipers move more freely if they are binding up a bit.
If you still have a problem after that, then the rotors and maybe the ABS needs looked at by someone who knows what they are doing (in other words, if you aren’t very handy with cars it’s time to take it to the shop then).
It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to replace a lot of the fluids. If it were my car I’d take a look at them to see how dirty they were first, but would probably end up changing them anyway no matter what they looked like. Don’t be surprised if they get all dirty again very quickly. There could be a lot of surface corrosion on the inside of things from the car sitting for so long.
Change the oil and change it again fairly soon. If you haven’t done so already, use up as much of the gasoline in the tank as you can and replace it with nice fresh gas.
Filters are probably fine, but you may find that the fuel filter and oil filter clog up very quickly as stuff that has been sitting for a long time gets knocked loose.
Definitely check the belts and hoses. Like the tires, they can rot.
Between the harsh winter and being used so infrequently, have the exhaust system inspected. What happens in little old lady cars is that they don’t get up to their operating temperature, and water that would otherwise just shoot out the exhaust as water vapor instead ends up sitting in the exhaust system and making it rust out.
A lot of rubber seals can dry out and start leaking too. Have a trusted mechanic give the car a good once-over.
Note - I am not a mechanic, just a back yard tinkerer.
IME when a car lurches when applying the brakes at slow speeds, the rotors are usually the culprit. I would certainly at minimum have the brakes checked.
Calipers and wheel cylinders eventually crud up. One critical area is the caliper piston between the boot and the seal. As the boot ages, it lets in more dirt and moisture. New fluid never reaches that area unless the seals leak. Calipers are easy to rebuild, but most often now are replaced with factory rebuilt ones. If the piston is shot, likely in a car that has set, the parts to rebuild one may equal the rebuilt price.
I would change the coolant and ATF too. Not need to change the brake fluid since you will lose nearly all of it replacing the calipers and wheel cylinders if it has them.
Coolant hoses, drive belts, and timing belt (if it has one) should be inspected, as the rubber can deteriorate with age. Other hoses (fuel, power steering, A/C) are much less likely to need replacement, but of course should be checked.
Hard to say on the brakes other than the symptom described doesn’t sound like pads. Have the system thoroughly inspected.
I agree it should be checked for leakage from seals and exhaust system rust.
I would have the brake fluid flushed, as it absorbs moisture from the air over time. It won’t necessarily all be replaced in servicing the brakes.
I wouldn’t expect there to be a problem with transmission fluid or engine coolant. It wouldn’t hurt to measure the pH of the coolant just to be sure.
Considering the cost of doing so, I’d change the oil/filer and replace belts and hoses (or at least have them inspected). Transmission and brake fluid should be OK, just check levels.
If it was my car or a car to be driven by a family member, I would change all the fluids (oil, coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid), coolant hoses, belts (as mentioned, timing belt, if there is one), filters (engine air filter, fuel filter (unless it is integral with the fuel pump), and cabin air filter (if there is one). I would also lubricate the suspension, if possible (many modern suspensions cannot be lubed, they’re sealed). I’d also look for the date code on the battery and figure on replacing it if it is over 5 years old.
You state you only want to do things that will extend the car’s useful life. I don’t think this should be your measure. I think you should be doing things that will reduce future repair costs. That is the basis of my recommendations. In particular, if you can find a local mechanic that will do the above as a package, you can probably get a lower cost. Getting it done up front will always be a lower cost than having to do repairs to get the car back on the road.
My point is that even paying more now to get all this done is going to be cheaper than even a dead battery on a dark and rainy night when you have to be somewhere in 30 minutes. These are all things that should have been done in a regularly maintained vehicle that is 10 years old; if they haven’t been done, do it now and consider it part of the initial cost of ownership and your continued cost of ownership will not only be lower, but your likelihood of being stranded will be reduced.
It’s funny, some manufacturers list brake fluid service and some don’t. It’s not a difference in fluid or brake systems or a claim it will be good forever, it’s a difference in the factory’s opinion as to whether it should be in the maintenance schedule. In a similar vein, some makers put fuel filter replacement in the schedule and some don’t, and it’s not because anyone’s fuel filters are immune to getting clogged. I suspect these decisions are influenced more by the marketing division than by the engineering division.
Frankly, I don’t know what the coolant’s condition is likely to be in this case, where the mileage is somewhere between one-half and one-tenth its recommended interval but the time is at least twice of its. The real determining factor isn’t these time/mileage approximations, but the degree of acidity. Past a certain pH level is when corrosion becomes a problem and a flush is called for.
On a different subject, I agree that it’s very wise to replace a battery that’s reached or passed the 5-year mark.