We work on our 4runners too much?

[atalarico]

So, my partner said something that started a funny conversation the other day that I think a lot of you all will find amusing. When I was telling her my plans for the day that involved wrenching a bit she said something along the lines of how she doesn't know anyone else that works on their car so much.

This came as a surprise to me for a few reasons. I grew up in metro Detroit and I grew up hanging out with my Dad in our garage while he constantly worked on our cars and friends cars. I have fond memories of him suping up a Toyota Supra in the late 80's (and then destroying it when he ran into a snowbank...but it was for the best because that car would have killed him), helping my older brother work on his endless stereo upgrades, and then finally working on my own Cutlass, Cavalier, and then a Golf. This seemed to be the case with most of my friends too. I just thought that was the way it is.

Well, I moved out to Denver a few years back and aside from people I recently met from this forum, and maybe a few people from work (like my other Michigander roommate with a great classic Jeep), no one we know actually maintains their car on their own. I'm talking even changing their own oil. There's even a friend of ours who can repair just about anything (his nick-name is "RepairIc" as in Repair Eric) who doesn't even know how to change the oil on his little Ford Ranger.

Anyone else have this experience? HungryEddy and I were talking last time I was over his place and he mentioned that since our cars run so well mechanically we just do other things to them. I guess that's true. I used to spend a lot of time trying just to keep my domestic cars running mechanically.

Well, I'm back off to the garage to lube the driveshaft for the first time on this beast. :cheers:

 

[Gerdo]

True, especially on older rigs.
The way I look at it is, if I don't have repairs from wheeling then there is probably something that needs some attention due to age/mileage. Preventative maintenance Is the key to most "unexpected" failures.

 

[atalarico]

That's true! I'll bet if I had a new-ish car I'd probably work on it less because things just work for 100k miles usually. However, brakes, plugs, oil, filters, and such are still things that need to be addressed on a regular basis.

The people I know that don't work on cars really don't have newer cars though.

 

[4-Ripcord]

I get this a lot from my "domestic fanboys" friends.

They are always like "I thought toyotas were supposed to be reliable and all you do is work on it.."

I simply say that there is a difference between Repairs and regular maintenance. Of which the latter can prevent for former. Versus on domestics, where repairs are something that cannot be avoided.

 

[atalarico]

I get this a lot from my "domestic fanboys" friends.

They are always like "I thought toyotas were supposed to be reliable and all you do is work on it.."

I simply say that there is a difference between Repairs and regular maintenance. Of which the latter can prevent for former. Versus on domestics, where repairs are something that cannot be avoided.

Agreed. Being from the metro-Detroit area, you can imagine the **** I get from family and friends. All I have to say is usually along the lines of the fact that I've owned two domestic cars that were both POS's that required a lot of *repairs*. My imports have always just ran, period. I will say that the big three have been making some strides in their most recent cars, but I'm broke and can't afford a new car.

Also, my Runner has over 180k miles on it and I can see her going for another 100 the way things run.

 

[2007toyota4runners]

This realtes so much to us 4runner owner we just keep checking up on things and doing regular maintenance to keep our rigs as long as possible i do a checkup on mine every day(legit, im 16 i have a lot of time) and my family thinks im crazy for doing that and how i notice every little sound and feel coming from it and they just think im even more crazy for that