The Importance of Maintenance

I can't emphasize enough the importance of maintaince. A car is the second most expensive purchase you make during your life. In fact, many cars now cost as much as some homes did in the not so distant past. So why not take care of your car, right? Probably the most important thing to do is changing your fluids. Engine oil being the most frequent. I still recommend every 3 months or three thousand miles. I know dealers and some car advisors say longer intervals up to ten thousand miles are fine but I fail to see any reason for this other than you may need to buy another car sooner (not cost effective). 

Just when looking at an engine that has regular changes one can see that the seals are better, crank case ventilation system does not plug up as fast, lifters don't stick, etc. What this means to you is you will not have to do expensive repairs early on in your cars life. Seals will last two to three times longer. It will also curb potential expensive engine repairs due to plugged up oil passage ways and general sludged-up internal moving engine parts. What about Synthetic oil, you ask? Its better protection while its in there but it doesn't really increase the oil change interval. In fact synthetic oil cleans better and therefore gets dirty much faster. An oil change is about the cheapest thing you can do for your car. (unless you own a later model Astin Martin) So, why skimp on that? It will save you lots of money in repairs. Other fluids-- Transmission, brake, antifreeze and various rear end and transfer case oils--should be changed every 2 years. I recommend flushing the transmission fluid every 20,000 miles on Volvoes. It beats replacing the transmission to the tune of $5,000.00 at 65,000 to 85,000 miles.

Bottom line: change your fluids!  It will save you money.