Interesting point. We here all assume everyone can and does check and top up their oil. But, in thinking about it, it isn’t something my mom could have done or perhaps that millions of people can do. In much of my mom’s years, gas stations used to be “full service”, which meant that an attendant filled the gas tank, checked the oil, and, weather permitting, cleaned the windshield. Those days ended in the '70s, and it’s very possible that countless cars out there rarely if ever get their oil levels checked. And I’m sure that 10,000 mile oil change frequency just makes the problem worse. 3,000 was the recommendation many years ago, and perhaps most vehicles could go that far without getting too low, but 10,000 miles?
Perhaps with the new cars it’d be better for the designers to rethink the oil capacities. If the oil companies got wise, perhaps they’d realize that by promoting this they’d sell more oil to the manufacturers, and more again at oil changes. Maybe these changes are already being considered and I just don’t know about it.
This car had 75,000 miles of use with unknown history about the quality of oil and filter used, how it was broken in and driven in general.
If there’s a service record that only tells you how often the oil was changed (if it’s truthful) and that’s only part of the equation.
So it’s pointless to speculate whether the engine was put together properly at the factory.
One thing I look at when buying a used car is how much soot is in and around the tailpipe.
Some in the pipe is OK, a dark patch around the nearby bumper, not so good (except maybe a diesel).
Inside the pipe of my current car was shiny when I bought it at 8k miles, cleanest I’ve ever seen.
Now at 47k miles it uses about a cup of oil in 5,000 miles.
@Triedaq Our 2007 Corolla has had 0W20, 5W20 and 5W30. With none of these have I been able to add any oil in the 5000 miles between oil changes. We now have 45,000 miles on it and do a fair bit of city driving. I attribute this lack of oil usage on proper break-in, sensible driving, and parking inside of an insulated garage.
I’m amazed they did the ring job under warranty…A quart of oil every 1200 miles is well within spec for a used car with 78K miles on it. At this point, at 100K, I think they have done all they are going to do…
One thing that I don't see being mentioned here is with all of the none mechanically inclined people driving these new 'thin oil' vehicles who is doing the topping up every 1000 miles?
The Owner/driver should be. I’ve never read an owners manual that didn’t state the oil level should be checked regularly (often at every fuel fill up) and filled if needed. With instructions on how to do this.
Are dealers actually requesting their customers to come in that frequently?
NO! See above.
Most of the people I know couldn't add a quart of oil to their car if their life depended on it.
@PvtPublic Yes, that’s becoming a problem. I had a relative who relied on the dealer to check the oil in his car when it needed changing! He could not open the hood of his car. And this guy was a colllege graduate in chemistry! His rad boiled over because of low coolant and he had NEVER checked it.
A lady in our neighborhood drives a $40,000 Acura and could not open the hood when I had to charge her dead battery.
The manufacturer and dealer have a joint respomsibility to walk the owner through the routine things that have to be checked. When we bought our Mazda, the local dealer actually assigned a nice lady to explain how everything worked and what was under the hood. This was a very unusual event that should be copied by all. The effect of this is that the buyer will feel confident talking later to the dealer and that will result in continued business for that dealer. My wife has a friend who has her second Mazda from that dealer and goes to him for all her business.
Pvt, my mom in her later years would not be capable of doing this.
My dad, in the last years of his life after his first stroke, could not do this.
My close ladyfriend, like myself no longer young, cannot do this.
If the arthritis in my hands continues to get worse, it may not be too many more years before I can no longer do this.
And there are many people, brilliant in their own fields, who couldn’t check t heir own oil if they spent the entire weekend studying their manual.
I had to design and make a special “wrench” just so a close friend can open her gas cap. Modern gas caps may allow the EPA employees to sleep happy, but they are extremely difficult to open for many elderly people.
And there are no longer any full service stations in my area.
There are millions of people that simply are incapable of topping off their own oil. Your post assumes that checking one’s own oil and topping it off is physically possible for everyone. It is not. And I believe in thinking about it that it’s an unrecognized problem. Until CHristtjn posted it yesterday, I had never considered the problem myself.
Mountainbike, if your close friend ever needs to buy a new car, a Ford might be a good bet as they don’t even have gas caps. I don’t know how well they hold up, but their capless system seems like a very good idea (if obvious.) Unfortunately, Ford’s other annoying problems make them hard to recommend unless configured right, but at least they are dumping Sync, so maybe some of their problems will disappear.
Good thought, Mark. Unfortunately, Ford is not among here preferences. Admittedly, I might be partly responsible for that. She had a Ford many years ago… and it was not a reliable vehicle. I had a Toyota, and it was. Since that time, she’s had two Toyotas and both have been bulletproof.
The tool, once I took some measurements, was actually quite simple to make. It’s simply a large T-handled wrench with a slotted T-end made to fit the diametric “handle” (for lack of a better term) that transcends the cap. It’s made of PVC piping glued with PCV cement. She routinely has elderly people at the pumps walk up and ask her “where did you get that?”. That suggests to me that a very real problem exists that nobody cares about. Except perhaps Ford.
I’m not a big fan of Ford’s current reliability. Which is a shame because some of the vehicles are pretty nice, especially the Fusion and Escape. I also think the C-Max is a handsome and useful family vehicle. The Focus and Fiesta both seem mildly cramped compared to their competitors and the Taurus is ugly. But that just means their rate of duds is about average. The reliability problems I expect to get sorted out in a few years. I suspect they happened because Ford tried to make too many major changes in a short period of time. Which doesn’t excuse their failure to make sure everything worked, but I do agree with their decision to sell the same vehicles worldwide. In the long term that should lead to better cars and greater economies of scale.