In my opinion the problem with most people is that when they hear that a car is reliable they think its invincible and maintanence doesnt exist i live in bulgaria and i had a friend of mines dad who workes as a benz mechanic buy a used vw golf and when he went to change the oil he said it was litterally in chunks and probably never changed
Same goes for Citroën and Peugeot, my dad had both Berlingo and Partner, only one that broke down was the Berlingo because he ended up hitting a bus and even then it was still running. Why? Because HE DID MAINTENANCE
The opposite thinking is also common. The car broke because it was unreliable, not because the owner clearly didn’t know how to do simple maintenance. Do all the important maintenance like oil changes first before complaining about the common problems of specific cars.
Another bad habit is using automatic car washes. They’re convenient but don’t always get your car completely clean or if they’re not touch-less causes swirls.
California hates this one Simple trick. All seriousness i agree, nothing beats a properly done hand wash, and doing it often makes it easier. as a bonus it’s super easy to hand wash my miata because it’s so small so why not.
This is lack of choice and not a bad habit. Touchless car wash - yes, the car will not be complexly perfect clean, but it not needed, if you're going through the car wash once a week. "Soft touch" - they do leave a swirls, but it doesn't really damage a car and most people do not care.
Unfortunately I live in a condo so I can't wash my car by hand. Aside from not having a garage, it's against the condo rules to even use a mobile car wash service.
I'll admit, as someone who works in a repair shop and does maintenance at work all the time, i've gotten quite negligent with my own maintenance, need to actually get out and do my own oil changes, thanks for the motivation/reminder bladed :)
same... I need to replace my valve seals and replace my timing chain but i kept pushing it away for months lol We work enough on cars at work so it doesnt make us want to do the job on our own cars sometimes ahah
Same here, oil changes haven't been all that diligent lately --WFH didn't help either-- but recently i noticed that the brake situation is also dire; there's still plenty of pad but the rotors could use a replacement, and being all almost 10 year old parts i will freshen up everything and take the car to replace the brake fluid as well.
This is not odd in fact. As a computer technician, my own pc and laptop are the most neglected devices i had to deal with. Once i cleaned my laptop, and, even if its last complete maintenance was less than 6 months prior, it completely threw a dust cloud.
Another bad habit I've noticed drivers have is losing their Lock Key for Lock lugs. As a mechanic, nothing is more frustrating then telling someone I can't even simply rotate their tires because they lost their Lock lug key because they never knew they had it to begin with...
Especially if you have a VW/Audi and you are going somewhere other than the dealer. They have many different key shapes, you can’t expect a tire shop to have yours.
That must be so hard to balance. On the one hand, I would want to stick it to them and say "not my problem, give me key, or tire no get fixed" on the other hand, many customers will just drive away on a tire with the radial exposed with 3 kids in the back seat, completely oblivious to the imminent danger they're all in. So do I encourage their utter lack of responsiblity and painfully get their stinking locking lug off, or do I let them put themselves and others in danger just to prove a point? I would probably solve this issue by fabing a custom air hammer tip that fits the end of a 1/2" drive impact socket and start turning those keyed lugnuts into regular lugnuts... by force. Truth be told, I have 3 keys for my set of wheels :D
I have a question, are tires in the US different from the tires in Europe? In Europe (i live in germany) the tire profile points in one direction and if you would rotate your tires at least two would point in the wrong direction.
@@christopherlowery855how do you get more than 1 key? I have locks and 1 key but I want another one to have a spare for emergency’s and such. The problem is I didn’t order the locks myself, they came with the wheels on fitment industries so idk what the size is
@@collinguhs9859some tires are directional, some aren't. My winters, for example, are. My summers are not. Depends on the tread (I remember being told that modern tires don't care which direction they spin in but it used to be that it was dangerous to run them backwards because of the way they were made. Idk) because they are meant to provide grip in one direction. I imagine there are non directional tires in Europe but I have no idea. You can still rotate them front/back I think
One more "bad" habit: Not doing a bi-weekly (preferably weekly) walkaround. - Are my lights all functional? (it's very common to see people drive with a broken head or tail light or broken indicators). - Are my tyre pressures correct? - Are my wheels devoid of major dents and properly attached? None of this requires you to pop the hood and only 1 of them requires you to actually stick your hands near a bit of dirt. Costs like 5 minutes but they can prevent so much issues and save money in the long term.
one more point i would like to add: check your tire pressure, this has been said a million times; your tires are the only point of contact between you and the road, so you better make sure they're in damn good condition or else you won't be in a good condition
Literally just yesterday I had an argument with someone who thought a tire that was so worn down the cords where showing was safe to drive on "because it holds air"
@@DereckLunarthat's why you never trust the mechanics to fill up for you. Most of them have no clue what recommended pressure is for every car. They fill uneven and just call it done.
@@nyankanakitty Where I'm from most put it to a slight overpressure (2.5bars) that has barely any bad influence on driving. While I always put the manufacturer's recommended one (mostly 2.2bars front, 2.1bars rear for your generic everyday hatchback car).
I'm older. We didn't have any sort of tire pressure indicators on our cars. You checked it with a pressure gauge. Now the new vehicles do it automatically. Makes it so much easier.
Another reason why I prefer older cars. I love turn keys because they satisfy me, not the thieves. Also almost always easier to work on and do maintenance
A Screw Driver can still steal a turnkey car. A Transponder Key is the most resistant. It needs a physical key AND a specific manufacturer digital signal it sends to the car to start. Notice how i said resistant though. If a thief is determined enough, any car can be stolen. However, it's our job to make ours look less "appealing" than the other car next to it :)
i know for a fact that my 2000 honda would be stolen in like 10 seconds cause i can see the wear on the key, i just hope it wont break the key mechanism from over-use.only really 1 key was ever used on that car, it legit looks more like a slide than the sharp ticks its supposed to have
I like the simplicity of a traditional turn key, it lets you use the starter motor however you like and you don't have to worry about batteries or broken buttons. My car's key doesn't even have a clicker for locking the doors, it looks like a house key and I wouldn't want it any other way. For security, you can install a hidden kill switch to sever the electric link between the ignition and the rest of the car.
In terms of older cars, I own a 1992 isuzu rodeo. Engine swapped with a 95 camaro v6, and it's incredibly easy to work on. Alternator died, got it swapped out in 45m. Changed spark plugs in 30m. I need to change oil soon, but that's not gonna be a hard job. Other than that, it's a super easy thing to work on, and runs incredibly well.
Brake Fluid: I do not recommend judging the brake fluids quality only by its colour. Speaking from experience it can look brand new and still have a lot of water in it, which in my opinion is the most important factor. We once had a customer come in and state that he almost completely loses brakes when braking very hard. The fluid looked just fine, but we tested it and it had 6% water in it, which is way too much. I recommend having ur brake fluid changed or at least checked every two years. It's not expensive and it will probably save u and others a lot of trouble in the future. Never ignore the condition of ur brakes, they are ur number one safety feature. Otherwise great video, I love to watch them :)
I've done a lot of brake jobs over the years. Every one of my cars has been 10yrs old or older. The only time I've seen water contamination cause poor braking is after a lot of hard braking. Usually on a race track, or hard braking in hilly regions. Otherwise, this won't happen in regular traffic. Are you sure there just wasn't air in the lines? I've ridden on like 4yr old fluid before, if not older. Only seen an issue during component failure, or air in the lines caused by an empty reservior. Maybe your customer just topped off the fluid after air was already intorduced? Water doesn't compress, so I don't see how its even possible for 6% water contamination to cause any brake issues unless the water got so hot it turned into vapor. From my experience, the only thing brake fluid flushes saves you is potential component fatigue. However, I'll do my first caliper, or master cylinder replacement after 20yrs, or 200k mi. I did have one steering brake line develop a bubble, causing a replacement need, but the car had 230k mi on it and the symptom was a pedal that slowly sunk to the floor when holding pressure. Nothing catastrophic. Overall, the only time I see a need to fret about water contamination in brake lines is on the race track. By the time an owner starts to see the impact of neglected brake fluid flushes, they'll have a slew of other old car problems on their hands. The types who actually care about this scheduled maintenance are the same ones who keep a full receipt book and log of all maintenance done to the vehicle. I'm a 3rd and 5th owner guy. Anyone who buys the car from me is turning it into a racecar for lemons, buying it for parts, or flat towing it to mexico. Until then, I'll just keep maintaining my vehicles. A dead main fan relay, or low oil level is far more concerning to me than any brake fluid hydroscopic obsorbsion. Cheers.
Oh yeah its definitely important that there is very small amount of water in the brake fluid. 6% is something that stops the lines in car manufacturer plant. At least back when I was doing summer job over in their lab 2 years ago and I tested the brake fluid to have around 8% of water, lines were stopped at once. Every car who got brake fluid from that tank had to be refilled. Real limit is around 0,5% if I recall right.
I discovered your channel recently, and watched a lot of videos the last couple days. I enjoy your stuff and sense of humor. As someone born and living in Europe, it amazes me how some things you mention on your videos overall are "a thing" in the US. However, I want to thank you for emphasizing pedestrian safety on a lot of your videos. Myself, I love my car. I could easily use my car to go just around the next corner of the block I'm living. However, what a lot of people "forget" is that at the moment you step out the door of your car, you're a pedestrian too. So, people, respect pedestrians, cyclists, bicyclists, domestic animals.. anything that SHARES the roads with you. I know that things in the US are a little different, but the roads don't belong exclusively to cars! Shocking, I know!
One of the bad car habits that has cost me a lot of money is people being impatient on the road, Currently i have lost 3 cars to stop sign runners in my small town because people want to save that extra 10-15 seconds coming to a complete stop. There excuses has been "I didn't see you" , "no one is ever at that stop sign" and one was just a stolen car that ran. Like please take the time to stop, even rolling stops are dangerous.
Bro the sad thing is? It's not even 10-15 seconds. It's about 3-4 seconds. I'd know, I timed myself when learning to Stop my Motorcycle without putting my feet down (in an empty parking lot ofc, yes it had stop signs, but literally no one was there, totally flat, I'd see if some1 came). The difference between me rollning the stop vs. me stopping completely was as short as 3-4 seconds. A lot of beginner motorcyclists never remove the habit of rolling cuz they're so scared of stalling, but NGL that one practice session I did years ago, has literally saved my life multiple times without me knowing. It ain't ever worth running/rolling a stoplight, especially if the other asshole there does too. Then you get a collision.
Coming to a complete stop decreases fuel economy, so in my hybrid, I slow down to just before the disc brakes kick in and roll at that speed (which is plenty slow to actually stop if needed). I also don't like how it jerks when the brakes are wet when it switches from regen to disc brakes. Also, you have to creep for visibility anyway, so why even bother fully stopping when you can't even see the objects the stop sign is trying to get you to look for? Also, I'm pretty sure a hybrid can be driven instantly from turning on, since the engine isn't even running when you turn it on anyway.
@@blisphul8084 I think 3 mL of fuel is worth the potentially life saving moment of coming to a full stop. Its not so much about a full stop being necessary to assess the situation, its about forming good habits rather than bad ones. The more flexible the rule, the more likely you will just ignore it entirely. If you make a habit out of rolling through stop signs you will generally be less careful
@@callanc3925 how do you actually get in the right spot for a full stop anyway? Like, visibility is limited many times, so you have to creep forward anyway. May as well make one smooth creeping motion rather than stopping, then going, then potentially stopping again. It allows you to keep your foot on the brake the whole time, making it safer imo, as long as you keep it under 5mph, which if you collide at that speed, it's just a paint scratch.
@@blisphul8084 You stop behind the line always... as the law requires you to do... "It allows you to keep your foot on the brake the whole time" but coming to a complete stop requires you to take your foot off the brake? Its not about stopping in the right spot, its about stopping at all so you dont get into the habit of rolling through dangerous intersections. I dont get how thats so hard for you to understand or why you keep trying to justify it so poorly. If you collide with someone at a stop sign it doesnt matter what speed youre going, they will likely be going the speed limit, which is why you have a stop sign. You can very easily total your car by "colliding with someone at that speed"
If your mechanic recommends changing your timing belt, LISTEN. Valves and pistons do not do well when they try to occupy the same place at the same time. Service ALL fluids at their regular intervals, they aren’t meant to last the life of the car, they go bad.
Key to that is understanding whether you have an interference engine or not. Non-interference engines will just halt when the belt fails. Interference engines will inhale themselves before chewing themselves apart.
Had a non-interference engine (Toyota 1MZ-FE) where the belt stretched and skipped some teeth. Car still drove reliably just without as much power as it should have had. Got it replaced soon after and the engine ran quite a bit smoother.. obviously.
solution to problem #1: buy a car so old it doesn't have a modern key. bonus points if the car is worn enough to the point of being undesirable Edit: it's a fucking joke, goddamn
You'd be surprised at how many late 90s Hondas are getting stolen even today. No keyless entry and not even particularly desirable, and it still happens.
@Sykozona depends on how old they are. General rule of thumb is if they have security systems, so most cars starting in the mid 90s, you can't hotwire.
I literally always make sure my tires are in good shape. Mainly because I like to take turns at speeds so its important for me to make sure my tires have plenty of tread and are inflated to correct Cold Tire Pressure everytime I get new tires, I have a mechanic check my car out, and when it gets very cold. Everytime a mehcanic fill my tire up, they always overfill it and make the drive hard over bumps.
I wish I would've known sooner. When I got my first car I was very excited. I took it to a tire shop so they could check the tires pressure before I went to my home which is one hour away....the guy checking it thought he was tripping because the tires pressure were 95 88 and I don't remember the rest...the guy was hella surprised I was driving around in that condition.
number 3 hits home for me, inherited the family car and decided to have a look at the basics... Oil was thick black sludge which when I asked hadn't been changed for 6+ years of daily driving and coolant was basically empty so ended up adding almost 2L worth of fluis there. tires had dry rot and bald edges on the front. car is now healthier then it's been for years and chugging along nicely as my daily work horse
When you find a crankcase full of sludge, you should probably change your oil every 500 miles about 3 times before resuming normal oil change intervals. That sludge is really not good for your engine.
7:50 no matter how much i tell my grandpa and try to convince him he absolutely does not believe brake fluid needs to be changed. its almost mind blowing. this is coming from the same person who just tells you to turn the radio up louder if your car is making a noise😂😂because of that i was stranded on the highway for 3 hours after my water pump blew. im glad i have my own car now and learned to do my own maintenance
i immediately recognized the speed bump thing. im still basically a learner driver, and when we were on our way to check out a used BMW i found. on our way there, were driving my dad's Hundai SUV, barely a year old, but i was already used to taking the speed bumps pretty carefully at that point, since they would often be really harsh even below the speed limit and i used that car a lot for practice driving with him but when we got to the car we were gonna buy, one thing i immediately noticed on the test drive was how easily it just sailed over those previously brutal speed bumps, and this was just an E90 with a stock suspension that was replaced a year ago! like, even at the speed limit, driving over them was SO SMOOTH compared to my dad's car! also another kinda hilarious thing i noticed as well, this E90 actually has BETTER trunk space than our SUV! we could easily fit my and my brother's computers and a few bags in the trunk with no issue, while with the SUV, we had to squeeze a bunch of stuff together, and put the rest in the back seats. goes to show that SUVs are kinda just bricks on wheels, they barely have any suspension that matches their advertised effect, and a lot of them have LESS cargo space than normal sedans, its pretty dumb lol but yeah that was a fun little story accidentally turned wall of text :P also wanted to say that after finding your channel about a year ago, you're probably the biggest influence i've had towards actually wanting to get my own licence and car, i was always pretty uninterested in getting one, but your videos really helped me learn a lot about cars and find more inspiration in car communities in general, so thank you for making all these goofy ass car videos :>
I have a question, are you still in driving school if so, can you chose any car to drive as a student driver or the instructor going to specifically chose only a car for you to drive as a student driver
Everything goes in comparison. There are multiple sizes of SUV's (duster > santa fe > prado), and generally a middle-sized ones got greater trunk space of any sedan or most of hatchbacks. Greater height gives much more suspension clearance, whenever you feel it or not. They are generally heavier - thus, hardened suspension - but it's kind of a must, if your general consumers do go to clover leaf intersections with 20cm ground clearance 2-ton beast at 60-80 km/h. SUV's are kind of.. Comfy, but not specifically in a comfort sense. Idk how to call it
@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044 I'm not OP ofc. But I took driving school a little over a year ago now (in Idaho) and I chose to just to with the highschool drivers Ed. But all of the drivers Ed places around here are the same. They all have a car or 2 already made for just the class modified with the front right passenger (the instructor) having brakes. They also all have a giant yellow top that says drivers Ed so yeah. You can't bring a car. At least here.
@@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044if you take the test at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, different name in other states), you test with your own vehicle. They don't provide one. It used to to be that your parents could opt for the homeschool drivers ed. I don't know if that still exists today, but that's how I was taught. We did the studdying at home, then took the written test to get a permit. After so many hours, you go back to the DMV to test for a license. Parallel parking is what scares most. Its easy once you know how. Best of luck on your driving education. I hope this answers your question.
@@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044 i usually drive the ones at the actual driving school when im there, since they have the passanger side pedals, but we're also allowed to practice with parents in our own cars and such if they have had a licence for at least 5-ish years
My dad has had his car for 20 years, last year it was stolen and he managed to get it back but they stole all the tools and equipment and they took the sun visors along with cutting the wireless key cord. He lost 1500 dollars worth of tools and equipment
on the bit about doing maintenance. i have a 97 impreza, and she's still on stock engine, suspension, and transmission. aside from replacing a few broken/worn out parts, just keeping up with maintenance has kept her going for 160,000 miles, and probably much more in the future. like bladed said, keeping up with maintenance is VERY important for your car.
@@BladedAngelYeap been there done that with my Honda motorcycle. I was recommended changing all fluids and transmission when I bought it secondhand, didn’t listen. Less than 1k miles later I got a banging noise in my engine. I effed my first vehicle with lack of maintenance. There goes 1,5k of my money
As a mechanic. You better drive after starting up than letting it run before going but you're right for the not rev it like a dummy right at start up. Just drive easy for the first couple miles and it will be fine. Doing it that way is not mistreating the engine cause there's still always oil residue everywhere in the engine enough to lubricate until the pressure sends some more and most importantly you'll bring the transmission oil at pressure and temperature at the same time. Mordern engines are designed well enough for that unlike old engines that needed to be let run a bit before going.
In hybrid cars, it's very common for the engine's first start of a drive to be during acceleration. just don't be super hard until the temperature needle moves and you'll be fine.
What about letting a car engine cool off after driving fast and hard in the freeway for a long drive? Like, what if you drive for multiple plus hours, driving 10-15 MPH over the freeway speed limits, with lots of full throttle bursts? How long should you let the engine cool off before turning off the car? I know you shouldn't immediately park and turn it off, right?
@@CharlesLawsonSermons If its a turbocharged car leave it 60 seconds before turning it off, Toyota actually recomends this in my owners manual too! If its NA I don't think its too important.
@@gravemind6536 The most important for turbo engines is to turn it off unclutched cause it will immediatly stop the inetia of the engine and so stop the oil pump immediatly and so the turbo will do its last rounds without oil pressure.
watching this channel for about a moth now, I don't own a car, neither do I have a license, if anything I need 2 years till i get my learners permit, but all the reasons you give are just really spot on. You have a great sense of humor and make even just a simple video on us neglecting cars fun to watch. All the things I learn here are things I don't have to learn the hard way, and I thank you for that.
MF's taking off 0.5milliseconds after their engine starts is incredibly infuriating to me. I've had people ask why I'm waiting for my car to warm up before gunning it, I tried explaining it to most of them but today I just say "It's an old car" lmao, makes it way easier.
@@datl3afn1nja9it might be more relevant for colder places? But engine temperatures are also a lot higher than ambient, so i dunno. Consult your manual.
If it gets below 0°F out, I'll wait a couple minutes because it takes that long for the revs to come down. But in warmer weather, no more than a minute ought to be fine
In my country, insurance companies require you to have your car serviced by a certified mechanic, which means I may not change my own oil in their eyes. Not always laziness. Have not missed an oil change but I would sure love to be able to do it myself :)
😂 that's ridiculous, it's literally so easy... I feel like the insurance companies just want to make sure you ARE maintaining your vehicle, rather than insuring one that is not maintained at all. At a mechanic, you have proof.
@@DeadNoob451I mean, the way insurance makes money, is on assumption that they receive more money than they pay out should an accident occur. Maintaining the car drastically reduces accident probability, so of course they are going to make sure your car is maintained, whether you like it or not.
something i've always thought is funny, is how most people who drive cars, know NOTHING about cars. if you play sports, you learn a lot about sports. same with playing video games. or getting into a hobby like woodworking. but somehow people who have been driving cars for 30 years dont know how to do an oil change.
Because it's not a hobby, it's an everyday tool... that's the whole reason why. Same things happen with computers, phones and such. If you're an enthusiast of course you're going to care. But most people aren't car enthusiasts, they're USERS.
For the last one I'd like to point out that you need to warm up your engine because of the rings. If they are worn on cold can consume oil. If it's warm it expends to a reasonable amount that oil burning is not that bad ( I bought a 20yr old Alfa Romeo. Everything is fenomenal with the car but the engine is on 215k km and it burns oil on cold. Every time I start the car I let it warm up to 90°c)
@@AK.__ If you have a RAM 1500, remember to swap out your cup holder fluid with a non Anheuser-Busch product before you drive. You don't want to add being woke to your DUI charges.
@@PURENT I think, you're confusing with some old cars. Bosch I put only as a windshield fluid. The cupholder doesn't have a fluid, it is literally holder with heating / cooling option and it illuminated, so it simply for a cup or small thermos. So I have Hemi 5.7L, maybe TRX has some cup holder fluid, not sure.
They've made electronic brake fluid testers that take all the guesswork out of the game. The test strips were sketchy at best in delivering the state of the fluid, especially as they aged. The device essentially checks to see how much water has been absorbed over time by your brake fluid. Fluid discoloration is also a pretty fair telltale sign it's starting to deteriorate. Water intrusion is what generally causes brake fluid degradation. As the fluid gets more water in it, it becomes less effective as all it is is a giant closed hydraulic system. The viscosity of the fluid changes with more water, and the boiling point gets reduced. Which makes your car more prone to "brake fade." So yes, while there isn't technically a service interval for brake fluid, 60 - 75k or 5 years is a safe bet that it's starting to get whooped. Personally, if my car isn't equipped with EPS (and my current isn't), I tend to time the P/S fluid alongside the brake fluid. That way, both are fresh and on similar wear-out timing. All of these are typical foolish car owner habits, and I'd be a damn hypocrite as a technician if I didn't stay on top of my own maintenance, lol.
I'm glad you said it because this is the single most reason why people think Nissan altimas don't last at all. They never changed the oil. Never change the motor mounts never even have their transmission looked at and then they say oh the car died at 200,000 mi. Yeah because you never changed the oil. It makes all the sense in the world and it also makes sense why no Altima in my family has ever broken down like that.
yeah we have a 13 year old car with 370 000km on and just due to proper maintenance we can still drive it with zero issues at all, just replacing parts here and there when needed
#4 i still dont get how people defend not letting their car warm up. Sure, cars dont need super long to warm up anymore, but the TRANSMISSION also needs a little time to warm up. People love defending impatience i find
They have a car because they want to get somewhere else, i can kinda see why. But also cars are expensive as dicks so they better treat the expensive steel box with *some* respect.
Especially newer cars with CVT transmissions that wear down so fast anyway. Those things tear themselves apart when the trans fluid isn't at temp (too cold or too hot) and when they already have such a short lifespan (*cough* Nissan *cough*) you really wanna give them a few minutes to warm up and not push them too hard so they dont overheat. $6,000 for a new trans after only 60k miles is just stupid
Ugh!!! Yes!! Waiting to drive is a huge deal for me. I have a 2016 Taurus SHO with 51K mikes on it and it runs amazing…probably because I change the oil regularly and wait about 30 to 60seconds to drive it. My mom…who has a 2022 BMW X5 M Sport…refuses to let the car idle for a few before she drives and that’s so frustrating
Owning a WRX for 2 years and putting 104k miles on it taught me a lot about good maintenance habits. Traded the car away with no major issues having happened. Witnessed other owners with 1/4 the miles with total engine failure.
Cars lasting 10 years with proper maintenance? Bro, I drive a 2009 Mercury Mariner with over 160,000 miles, and the original 3.0 Liter Duratec V6 and 6-speed auto. She still runs like new, shifts like new, and doesn't have a single light on on the dash, and she's built like a tank. She's worth basically nothing, but she's my car, and I'm gonna drive her until I can't anymore.
@@naumen6508 Mine's lasted 14 years, I was trying to say that he was underestimating how long cars could last, and that if you keep up with maintenance they can actually last even longer than 10 years.
@@sambrown6426 Oh most definitely, I was just being a smartass. Please keep driving this mariner until it snaps in half, we need more people like you. I'm tired of people who use cars as consumables.
I agree with all but the first. I mean, if you live in a good area, or just out in the middle of nowhere, I can’t imagine someone trying to steal your car. Especially country folk. But yeah, I do agree for like college kids and city folk who should be getting something that hides their key signals. I’m definitely telling my brother, he has a nice car, it’d suck if he lost it to that.
Another super worth it anti theft device is a steering wheel lock. Costs like $20 and makes it abundantly clear to anyone walking by that stealing your car is way more of a hassle than most of the other cars nearby.
I've known people who wont do any maintenance at all, even when smoke is spewing out of their car. Then when it breaks, they whine about how "I never have any luck with cars".
Dear fellow cold environment people, Please, for the love of God, do not throw hot water on your windshield because you're too lazy to scrape the ice off.
@@servissop151 Or, now hear me out, start your car 5-10 minutes early, blast your defrost and the use an ice scraper to push the snow/ice off. The defrost does the hard work for you.
My dad gave me his car, I decided to take it for an oil change because I knew how he was when it came to keeping up with things like the oil, the mechanic told me the last time the oil was changed was 25k miles and it had 1 out of the 5 quarts of oil it needed. Needless to say I now take much better care of the car and take it in whenever needed or do it myself
Maybe it’s because I bought the exact car I wanted brand new but I take good care if it because I spent my hard earned money on it and want to keep it past 10 years. (Have had it since 2016 and currently it has been 7 good years).
These days a lot of stolen cars just get loaded into shipping containers bound for Africa. They often stack them on top of each using all sorts of cords to maximize how many they can fit in a single container. Chop shops are way too risky cause you're always in possession of stolen property.
Hey, thanks for this. I had my car booked in for a 100,000 mile service on Wednesday. I had a massive paranoia check to make sure they were including the engine coolant and brake fluid...they weren't. So now it's booked in with the main dealer with everything included. Even saved money.
Great video. Proper sequence of start / shut down also plays a role. A/C off, radio or player off, turn off head lights, put on park, then hand or leg brake, and only after above - engine shut down. Proper turning the car ON requires 2 steps : turn ON the ACC and check that needed light / indicators are on, and then turn ON the engine (after it , yes - wait 30-60 sec).
The only detail that matters is the sequence of handbrake and putting an AT in park and you got that backwards. Put on the handbrake before you put in into park to save wearing out the parking pawl, not after. It doesn't matter on a flat road. If you are on a hill you don't want your parking pawl to be taking the weight of the car, you want it on brakes.
@@mikeincanada_ You absolutely right. I missed that part. While leg is still pressing Brake pedal and AT is on Neutral , press Parking Brake (hand or leg) and then put AT to Park. Although this is important, whole car starting / shutting down "ritual" matters. Similar to athlete's body starting of completing distance run.
I got a '97 Honda. 252k on the clock. Still runs like butter because the previous owners kept up with maintenance. Oil changes are something most people do actually do, but changing the trans fluid is an item a lot of people look past. Transmission fluid has a long life. Change it on time, and your car will be running smoothly for a long time. Same with brake fluid and (if you drive stick) clutch fluid. You really should do brake fluid on time because brake fluid attracts and stores water
I few months ago i convinced my mother to wait for the car to warm up a bit, she usually waits a few seconds backs out not using any throttle then when shes at the exit of the drive way she waits and does a checklist of making sure shes got everything, 50 seconds has passed by then, the reason I told her to wait a little longer is because where we live its a steep hill up and is a bit hard on the engine Thanks for listening to my rant lol
Ya know just to add to all this. I was a lube tech at a ford dealer. I noticed that cars nowadays have oil monitoring, but it’s set to 10,000 miles per oil change. This caused all cars from old people or people who don’t know anything about cars, to have really burnt oil and bad fumes from the exhaust. So change your oil every 5,000 or if you really care about your car change it every 3,000 like me
Honestly I didn’t even consciously wait for the RPM to come down. I just start the engine, do my rounds of seatbelt, AC, Bluetooth and by the time I’m ready to drive the car is ready.
No car I've ever driven would stop the engine when it senses that the key is no longer present. It will show a warning and it may beep but the engine will stay running until you turn it off for safety. Faraday boxes work as well as those key pouches mentioned.
You should do a general car maintenance video on all (or some if it’s a lot) of the parts that need to be replaced before 200k miles. Spark plugs, air filters, batteries, etc.
As much as some people need it, that's really not something he should HAVE to make a video on. If a car owner has enough sense to read their owner's manual or ask the dealer, then they can expect appropriate intervals for their model.
You can just read the maintenance schedule for your specific vehicle and have a lot of important information. I downloaded a PDF of my exact car's manual, so I can just search for specific words.
watching this literally the day before i may go out and buy my first car. really helps knowing what to look for in terms of maintenance. thank you for your awesome content!
I had a 95 Accord Wagon, that was stolen. We brought groceries in, set them down, and then walked back out and it was gone. I know they’re only a deterrent however I DID have a steering wheel club lock and I did lock my car Without a kill switch, there wasn’t much I could do, and someone got my 90’s Honda. Everyone told me it was in several pieces already and not to look for it The police didn’t find it for about a week and told me to stop calling and that they would tell me when they found it They found it the next day and did not tell me until I called several days later. It was not in pieces. They had broken the steering wheel club, I found it in the back And it worked the same as before it was stolen
i bought my french gearbox cabrio with 170k Kilomiters and everyone told me "meh shit car that will break down within a year give it back you idiot" Man. This Car now is running for 5 years without a single problem If you take good care of your car, it will take good care of you, i dont know shit about cars, just the basics, keep fluids at a good level, and do a oil change every year. Hell its even a french automatic and it didnt run into any problems yet..... In my opinion people with automatic cars just cant drive, thats literally it, of course when you do a kickdown at any green light your gears will light on fire over time
Kia and Hyundai owners take notes on the 3rd point. Y’all go 12k+ miles on a single oil change. “My engine is knocking, I don’t know why” “My engine is overheating, I don’t know why” Meanwhile they don’t have coolant, the car barely has a quart of oil, the air box is full of rat shit and leaves, the air filter is now black, and when you start the car it says service -4K miles while the car has a 6k interval or like the telluride 8k interval.
3:15 be careful tho... I've heard some thieves literally selling fakes of this pouches, when someone buys, they'll somehow record their address and mark them as possible targets since they now know that house might have a car worth stealing... If possible, buy it from malls or only at trusted online retailers.
I have to disagree with the first one, if they find the car keys quickly there is a lot lower chance of them searching bedrooms. I’d rather have my car be stolen than risk a confrontation in a bedroom and getting injured or worse
I'm somewhat guilty of the speed bump entry. I drive a subaru baja. It's got nice cushy suspension that eats up bumps and small potholes. I hit the speed bumps at 15-20 mph and kinda float right over them, but time to time i get overconfident. This video made me more aware of it. Thanks man!
My car was always well maintained and is now 31 years old, turning 32 soon. Of course some parts needed to be replaced or are getting near their replace point, but hey... I now got an oldtime in good condition!
Suggestions for car drivers about bad habits from truck drivers' point of view: 1)Thinking where to go or what exit to take in the middle of the left travel lanes and changing mind in the last seconds causing global warming increased by 0.001% by excessive use of the heat caused by traffic braking and harder wear of the roads. 2) Passing 1 truck just to enter the upcoming exit and get the truck to slow down... That literally would be the same outcome if the 4-wheeler did it behind the truck... but 1st it's dangerous... 3) Crowding the trucks and holding in the blind spots... particularly on the right front. 4) In traffic taking those 100 ft in front of the truck just because it's open... truck drivers use that or similar distance in traffic to adjust traffic speed and ease the flow by braking and accelerating smoothly so that flow is faster and because trucks are easier to get accelerating when they preserve speed. 5) At the intersection where there are lights some trucks stop leaving 30-40 ft in the front of the truck... people take it... trucks using it to get some speed before traffic starts rolling to make it smoother acceleration with the traffic... 6) Ignoring the trucker's turning signal... If we use it we mean it for real... we get paid for using turning signals... it's our only way to communicate with you people ... don't pass on shoulders or any solid lines when there are turning signals on... it could happen that trucker's blinker fluid could happen inside your car 7) Closing the intersection/road when you need to get to the crowded entrance but nobody lets you in from the opposite flow... It's just making traffic stop g for no reason and someone behind could get into accident... 8) Driving in the middle lanes even if it's slower than people passing on the right... thus making people pass this car on both sides and right side getting even slower that causing middle lanes to get congested behind, that causing left lane to become the one the most congested behind it, that causes 2 left lanes congested and right lanes empty... that causes speed running cars on the right making to the end on the congestion, that causes traffic behind think 2 left lanes have accident... so they go lane changing right... so on ... and so one... If you see it from the truck cabin it's obvious how heavy traffic generated... One slow idiot in the middle of the highway is enough to make 3 miles of congestion behind
The last one makes me crazy. "Keep right except to pass" doesn't just apply to the leftmost lane, but to the middle lane also. If you're going slower than the general flow of traffic and people are regularly passing you on the right, why don't you get over?! It doesn't make sense to me.
Note that with Brake Fluid, if it's low then your brakes (assuming disk) are wearing down and just topping up the fluid isn't a solution. Brakes are a closed loop, there is no way for the fluid to be consumed.
On the maintenence side, ever since my first free car at 17, though I don't put on a lot of mileage, still gets all fluids checked often, and a change about every 6 months since the low mileage thing. Done that with the three vehicles I've had. First was a 2010 Rio I got for free. Still babied that thing and it served me well. Only big thing it ever needed was a starter at 160,000 km. As you said, very easy to keep a car going with basic maintenence, even some more "unreliable" brands, you'd still get to at least a decent lifespan more often than not.
Maybe some of y'all can relate but I've changed my oil in a snowy blizzard because it roughly time to change it. Obviously warmed it up first but also building a snow fort around the car to keep the wind out.
About the maintenance, I find it hilarious to see modern-ish cars to the side of the highway, occasionally with the road assistance vehicle already there, while I drive past them at the speed limit in my 35 years old but well maintained car. Not a fancy car, mind you, just my father's everyday little car that now I drive. 😂😂
In the UK, as there is a rule about idling, you must keep the engine off as much as possible, if practical (unless there is a stop-start system that is active). This means that you must drive as soon as it is started up. You can only have it on for reasonable fault investigation or for reasonable situations (you need to build up pressure on the braking system, for instance), for the minimum possible.
One thing I'd like to mention about starting your car. I have a habit of letting the fuel pump prime too, though completely unnecessary. However if you're going to rev your engine out. It is best to wait until it is fully up to temp, the closer the better.
I've started to realize how I don't particularly like car maintenance, so I've started using an ebike to get around. Those are way easier and cheaper to maintain so I take miles off of my car with a bike
Another bad habit is parking super close to larger vehicles, or tight spots, usually close. Especially if another car has a baby in the back. It is all too easy for careless people to swing their door wide and give you a door ding. Also tailgating is both unsafe, and can just expose your hood to more rock chips. Patina and normal wear is fine, but negligence is just silly. Last, watch out for lawnmowers and weed whackers when driving and parking… super risky as they too can send up debris on your paint.
Numbers 3 is especially sad because it's making things a lose/lose situation. Cars are extremely expensive and people can hardly afford them as it is. And If they actually can afford it the problem now is everything else is expensive and they're forced to neglect maintenance, making their already overpriced vehicle fall apart quicker.
Ring doorbell is very common. I think the biggest mistake people make is distraction. It takes discipline to remain 100% focused on what’s going on around you. Checking your mirrors. People get distracted easily
For the first one: I was able to disable the keyless entry via a normal menu option. It makes it act like a pre-keyless car; use the physical key embedded in the fob or just press the dedicated unlock button. Thieves can copy the passive signal as much as they want, my car will ignore it until i press the true Unlock button. Plus, anything that would cause the Panic Alarms to activate automatically disables the ignition until the remote sends the Disable Alarm signal.
Some thoughts on number four. Your engine is most vulnerable to wear and tear when it's not up to temperature yet. It will warm up FASTER if you give it something to do. Let it idle 30 seconds or so, then drive gently and don't floor it or rev it up real high for the first few minutes. In extreme cold 10F (-12.2C), give it at least a full minute to get the oil moving and lubricate itself. Oil tends to get thick in extreme cold. Still drive gentle after the 1-2 minute mark, as it's the heat of going work (AKA driving) that's warming it up the rest of the way.😊
I fly over railroad tracks and it is the smoothest way to do it. The shocks don’t even absorb anything because the weight of the vehicle never bounces on the suspension if you go fast enough.
1) I live in a country where car theft is a major issue, and I have hated keyless entry since they started putting it into cars. The loophole is way too obvious and exploitable, and I hate that more and more cars are coming out with it as standard. Yes, central locking can also be exploited, but with keyless entry becoming more prominent, there seems to have been a reduction in attacks against central locking. 2 & 3) I always tell people to never skip car maintenance. My car is currently 11 years old, nearly 12 years old, and the only issue it has given me is a packed-up injector. My car currently has over 150K on the clock. 4) My advice to people is to do the little things they usually do before starting the car after starting it. For example, start the car, then select your destination on the GPS, get your sunglasses, and/or select the music or whatever you want to listen to. By that time, the car has warmed up enough, and you can drive. These are all simple and small things that so many people don't do, and they can reduce a car's lifespan by years.
I like spotting people driving around with warped/worn tint that yknow is like looking through dried up KY. Its like i bet they live with a fire alarm chirping too.
Point 1: slow down for speedbumps. Do people who don't slow down for speedbumps not know what they're for? They're usually in residential areas, or parking lots. They're literally installed because of the very people who don't slow down for them. I have like 4in of ground clearance, so I slow down for a lot of things. In my truck, I'm more cavalier, but I at least hit the brakes. Point 2: oil and fluid changes. I personally fall in the middle between completely negligent and someone who does every scheduled service on time. For sure oil is a top priority with fluid maintenance. It takes me ~30min to do in my driveway and I've been using mobil1 full syn for over 20yrs now. My change intervals will be anywhere between 5k and 10kmi. I'll change it anywhere between being a dark brown to pitch black. What has kept me out of the dead engine zone is that I check my oil every time I fuel up my car. If the engine is leaking oil, or buring it, you'll see it. I've had 3 civics. 2 over 200k mi and 1 over 100kmi (till someone ran into me). I ran them hard and fast. One engine blew from hydrolocking it :(. None have died because of oil starvation, or lubricity breakdown. I also always keep a few quarts of oil on hand for toping off the oil levels. Its been a life saver over the years. I've never sludged an engine. As for brake fluid, I typically flush it during a component replacement such as a master cylinder, or caliper. It's always been clear, but since brake fluid is hydroscopic, I have found iron debris in the fluid of some of my older cars. Like I said, with a component replacement, all of that goes away with a good brake bleed. On a manual trans, change the fluid when you change the clutch. Easy. The wife's car is due for an auto trans fluid change. Bought the fluid, just need to do it. For antifreeze and PWS fluid, just use the correct type for the vehicle in question. Using regular power steering fluid in a honda PWS reservior will kill the pump faster than any fluid flush negligance. I do not know the concequences of putting the wrong antifreeze in a vehicle. If I had to guess, water pump and temp sensor failure. (I miss the days when it was all the same) I would stay away from those stop leak products. They might save you a 15mi tow, but that's about it. The leak just needs to be fixed. Point3: wait a few seconds after starting the car before driving. Arguably, you just need to wait for oil pressure to rise to operating level. It's usually very fast. But agreed, doing burnouts out of your driveway isn't very healthy for the engine. Get the engine to operating temp before the redline starts being pegged. Driving with a turbo, I'll keep the shifts around 4k until the engine temp is up. Usually about a mile of driving or so. Unless its winter. Suggestions: 1. Let the fuel pump prime the fuel lines before actually starting the car. 2. If driving a vehicle with a turbo that is oil-cooled for a long drive, let the engine sit idling for about 30sec before shutting the engine off. This gets the hot oil circulated out of the turbo. (Adding since turbos are everywhere these days. I was once told that turbo timers were obsolete when using full syn oil.) 3. Only use full synthetic oil in a car with a turbo that is oil-cooled. (I haven't seen a turbo that isn't at least oil-cooled. Some run coolant and oil.) 4. If the vehicle is equipped with auto-positioning seats/mirror/steering wheel. Turn the ignition on, then wait for the mirror/seat/steering wheel to stop moving before cranking the engine. This keeps the starter from sharing amp draw from all those powered accessories. If practical, keep the AC fan off as well. That's all for now, glad it wasn't a short. :P
One thing you gotta do after repairs is change your driving habits. My father has burnt through two clutches because while he's in stopped traffic, he holds down the clutch and the brake instead of just sitting in neutral. Don't ask me how he's capabale of holding the clutch for long enough to burn it twice now despite being 60+, but he manages.
In my opinion the problem with most people is that when they hear that a car is reliable they think its invincible and maintanence doesnt exist i live in bulgaria and i had a friend of mines dad who workes as a benz mechanic buy a used vw golf and when he went to change the oil he said it was litterally in chunks and probably never changed
This^
"Its reliable, guess it'll never break" - modern car buyers
Yes
Same goes for Citroën and Peugeot, my dad had both Berlingo and Partner, only one that broke down was the Berlingo because he ended up hitting a bus and even then it was still running. Why? Because HE DID MAINTENANCE
The opposite thinking is also common. The car broke because it was unreliable, not because the owner clearly didn’t know how to do simple maintenance. Do all the important maintenance like oil changes first before complaining about the common problems of specific cars.
@@BladedAngelhey bladed wb phone start cars, not to sound too dumb here lol.
Another bad habit is using automatic car washes. They’re convenient but don’t always get your car completely clean or if they’re not touch-less causes swirls.
Thank you for providing us with a 5th Bad Car Ownership Habit.
California hates this one Simple trick. All seriousness i agree, nothing beats a properly done hand wash, and doing it often makes it easier. as a bonus it’s super easy to hand wash my miata because it’s so small so why not.
I would say to use these ones and then manually clean your car when you get home afterwards
This is lack of choice and not a bad habit. Touchless car wash - yes, the car will not be complexly perfect clean, but it not needed, if you're going through the car wash once a week. "Soft touch" - they do leave a swirls, but it doesn't really damage a car and most people do not care.
Unfortunately I live in a condo so I can't wash my car by hand. Aside from not having a garage, it's against the condo rules to even use a mobile car wash service.
I think you missed the most important fluid to be changing. Blinker fluid. Has to be changed every 100 blinks.
I coulda sworn it was every 1000 blinks
335i owner be like.. is that even a thing ?
What's that? Asking bc im 14 never had a car
There is no such thing "100 blinks". The fluid must be changed as per owner's manual.
@@Nottheoutline420 not a real thing, don't worry, it's just a joke between car guys and something used to prank non-car people
I'll admit, as someone who works in a repair shop and does maintenance at work all the time, i've gotten quite negligent with my own maintenance, need to actually get out and do my own oil changes, thanks for the motivation/reminder bladed :)
same... I need to replace my valve seals and replace my timing chain but i kept pushing it away for months lol
We work enough on cars at work so it doesnt make us want to do the job on our own cars sometimes ahah
Hahn. Only us mechanics know never to buy a car off another mechanic
Same here, oil changes haven't been all that diligent lately --WFH didn't help either-- but recently i noticed that the brake situation is also dire; there's still plenty of pad but the rotors could use a replacement, and being all almost 10 year old parts i will freshen up everything and take the car to replace the brake fluid as well.
@@alienfromarea5115 lmao so true
This is not odd in fact.
As a computer technician, my own pc and laptop are the most neglected devices i had to deal with.
Once i cleaned my laptop, and, even if its last complete maintenance was less than 6 months prior, it completely threw a dust cloud.
"Fluids are cheap, engines are expensive" -ESPECIALLY on modern GDI motors.
Another bad habit I've noticed drivers have is losing their Lock Key for Lock lugs. As a mechanic, nothing is more frustrating then telling someone I can't even simply rotate their tires because they lost their Lock lug key because they never knew they had it to begin with...
Especially if you have a VW/Audi and you are going somewhere other than the dealer. They have many different key shapes, you can’t expect a tire shop to have yours.
That must be so hard to balance. On the one hand, I would want to stick it to them and say "not my problem, give me key, or tire no get fixed" on the other hand, many customers will just drive away on a tire with the radial exposed with 3 kids in the back seat, completely oblivious to the imminent danger they're all in. So do I encourage their utter lack of responsiblity and painfully get their stinking locking lug off, or do I let them put themselves and others in danger just to prove a point?
I would probably solve this issue by fabing a custom air hammer tip that fits the end of a 1/2" drive impact socket and start turning those keyed lugnuts into regular lugnuts... by force.
Truth be told, I have 3 keys for my set of wheels :D
I have a question, are tires in the US different from the tires in Europe? In Europe (i live in germany) the tire profile points in one direction and if you would rotate your tires at least two would point in the wrong direction.
@@christopherlowery855how do you get more than 1 key? I have locks and 1 key but I want another one to have a spare for emergency’s and such. The problem is I didn’t order the locks myself, they came with the wheels on fitment industries so idk what the size is
@@collinguhs9859some tires are directional, some aren't. My winters, for example, are. My summers are not. Depends on the tread (I remember being told that modern tires don't care which direction they spin in but it used to be that it was dangerous to run them backwards because of the way they were made. Idk) because they are meant to provide grip in one direction. I imagine there are non directional tires in Europe but I have no idea. You can still rotate them front/back I think
One more "bad" habit: Not doing a bi-weekly (preferably weekly) walkaround.
- Are my lights all functional? (it's very common to see people drive with a broken head or tail light or broken indicators).
- Are my tyre pressures correct?
- Are my wheels devoid of major dents and properly attached?
None of this requires you to pop the hood and only 1 of them requires you to actually stick your hands near a bit of dirt.
Costs like 5 minutes but they can prevent so much issues and save money in the long term.
lights are especially important if you plan on avoiding any unwanted attention from cops.
@@callanc3925Yep, first and only time I got pulled over was because my headlight went out while driving.
one more point i would like to add: check your tire pressure, this has been said a million times; your tires are the only point of contact between you and the road, so you better make sure they're in damn good condition or else you won't be in a good condition
Literally just yesterday I had an argument with someone who thought a tire that was so worn down the cords where showing was safe to drive on "because it holds air"
And at the recommended pressure, I've seen some putting more than even the tire manufacturer has marked on the tire.
@@DereckLunarthat's why you never trust the mechanics to fill up for you. Most of them have no clue what recommended pressure is for every car. They fill uneven and just call it done.
@@nyankanakitty Where I'm from most put it to a slight overpressure (2.5bars) that has barely any bad influence on driving. While I always put the manufacturer's recommended one (mostly 2.2bars front, 2.1bars rear for your generic everyday hatchback car).
I'm older. We didn't have any sort of tire pressure indicators on our cars. You checked it with a pressure gauge. Now the new vehicles do it automatically. Makes it so much easier.
Another reason why I prefer older cars. I love turn keys because they satisfy me, not the thieves. Also almost always easier to work on and do maintenance
I drive a 2015 focus. The last "simple" car Ford ever made.
A Screw Driver can still steal a turnkey car. A Transponder Key is the most resistant. It needs a physical key AND a specific manufacturer digital signal it sends to the car to start.
Notice how i said resistant though. If a thief is determined enough, any car can be stolen. However, it's our job to make ours look less "appealing" than the other car next to it :)
i know for a fact that my 2000 honda would be stolen in like 10 seconds cause i can see the wear on the key, i just hope it wont break the key mechanism from over-use.only really 1 key was ever used on that car, it legit looks more like a slide than the sharp ticks its supposed to have
I like the simplicity of a traditional turn key, it lets you use the starter motor however you like and you don't have to worry about batteries or broken buttons. My car's key doesn't even have a clicker for locking the doors, it looks like a house key and I wouldn't want it any other way. For security, you can install a hidden kill switch to sever the electric link between the ignition and the rest of the car.
In terms of older cars, I own a 1992 isuzu rodeo. Engine swapped with a 95 camaro v6, and it's incredibly easy to work on.
Alternator died, got it swapped out in 45m.
Changed spark plugs in 30m.
I need to change oil soon, but that's not gonna be a hard job.
Other than that, it's a super easy thing to work on, and runs incredibly well.
Brake Fluid:
I do not recommend judging the brake fluids quality only by its colour. Speaking from experience it can look brand new and still have a lot of water in it, which in my opinion is the most important factor. We once had a customer come in and state that he almost completely loses brakes when braking very hard. The fluid looked just fine, but we tested it and it had 6% water in it, which is way too much. I recommend having ur brake fluid changed or at least checked every two years. It's not expensive and it will probably save u and others a lot of trouble in the future.
Never ignore the condition of ur brakes, they are ur number one safety feature.
Otherwise great video, I love to watch them :)
A lot of people forget to use them 😭😭
I've done a lot of brake jobs over the years. Every one of my cars has been 10yrs old or older. The only time I've seen water contamination cause poor braking is after a lot of hard braking. Usually on a race track, or hard braking in hilly regions. Otherwise, this won't happen in regular traffic. Are you sure there just wasn't air in the lines? I've ridden on like 4yr old fluid before, if not older. Only seen an issue during component failure, or air in the lines caused by an empty reservior. Maybe your customer just topped off the fluid after air was already intorduced?
Water doesn't compress, so I don't see how its even possible for 6% water contamination to cause any brake issues unless the water got so hot it turned into vapor. From my experience, the only thing brake fluid flushes saves you is potential component fatigue. However, I'll do my first caliper, or master cylinder replacement after 20yrs, or 200k mi. I did have one steering brake line develop a bubble, causing a replacement need, but the car had 230k mi on it and the symptom was a pedal that slowly sunk to the floor when holding pressure. Nothing catastrophic.
Overall, the only time I see a need to fret about water contamination in brake lines is on the race track. By the time an owner starts to see the impact of neglected brake fluid flushes, they'll have a slew of other old car problems on their hands. The types who actually care about this scheduled maintenance are the same ones who keep a full receipt book and log of all maintenance done to the vehicle. I'm a 3rd and 5th owner guy. Anyone who buys the car from me is turning it into a racecar for lemons, buying it for parts, or flat towing it to mexico. Until then, I'll just keep maintaining my vehicles. A dead main fan relay, or low oil level is far more concerning to me than any brake fluid hydroscopic obsorbsion.
Cheers.
@@christopherlowery855agreed.
Oh yeah its definitely important that there is very small amount of water in the brake fluid. 6% is something that stops the lines in car manufacturer plant. At least back when I was doing summer job over in their lab 2 years ago and I tested the brake fluid to have around 8% of water, lines were stopped at once. Every car who got brake fluid from that tank had to be refilled. Real limit is around 0,5% if I recall right.
Even the brake fluid bottles say "recommended replacement: 24 months"
I discovered your channel recently, and watched a lot of videos the last couple days. I enjoy your stuff and sense of humor.
As someone born and living in Europe, it amazes me how some things you mention on your videos overall are "a thing" in the US.
However, I want to thank you for emphasizing pedestrian safety on a lot of your videos.
Myself, I love my car. I could easily use my car to go just around the next corner of the block I'm living. However, what a lot of people "forget" is that at the moment you step out the door of your car, you're a pedestrian too. So, people, respect pedestrians, cyclists, bicyclists, domestic animals.. anything that SHARES the roads with you. I know that things in the US are a little different, but the roads don't belong exclusively to cars! Shocking, I know!
in Colombia the cars own the road. Go ahead & be a pedestrian there
One of the bad car habits that has cost me a lot of money is people being impatient on the road, Currently i have lost 3 cars to stop sign runners in my small town because people want to save that extra 10-15 seconds coming to a complete stop. There excuses has been "I didn't see you" , "no one is ever at that stop sign" and one was just a stolen car that ran. Like please take the time to stop, even rolling stops are dangerous.
Bro the sad thing is? It's not even 10-15 seconds. It's about 3-4 seconds. I'd know, I timed myself when learning to Stop my Motorcycle without putting my feet down (in an empty parking lot ofc, yes it had stop signs, but literally no one was there, totally flat, I'd see if some1 came). The difference between me rollning the stop vs. me stopping completely was as short as 3-4 seconds. A lot of beginner motorcyclists never remove the habit of rolling cuz they're so scared of stalling, but NGL that one practice session I did years ago, has literally saved my life multiple times without me knowing. It ain't ever worth running/rolling a stoplight, especially if the other asshole there does too. Then you get a collision.
Coming to a complete stop decreases fuel economy, so in my hybrid, I slow down to just before the disc brakes kick in and roll at that speed (which is plenty slow to actually stop if needed). I also don't like how it jerks when the brakes are wet when it switches from regen to disc brakes. Also, you have to creep for visibility anyway, so why even bother fully stopping when you can't even see the objects the stop sign is trying to get you to look for? Also, I'm pretty sure a hybrid can be driven instantly from turning on, since the engine isn't even running when you turn it on anyway.
@@blisphul8084 I think 3 mL of fuel is worth the potentially life saving moment of coming to a full stop. Its not so much about a full stop being necessary to assess the situation, its about forming good habits rather than bad ones. The more flexible the rule, the more likely you will just ignore it entirely. If you make a habit out of rolling through stop signs you will generally be less careful
@@callanc3925 how do you actually get in the right spot for a full stop anyway? Like, visibility is limited many times, so you have to creep forward anyway. May as well make one smooth creeping motion rather than stopping, then going, then potentially stopping again. It allows you to keep your foot on the brake the whole time, making it safer imo, as long as you keep it under 5mph, which if you collide at that speed, it's just a paint scratch.
@@blisphul8084 You stop behind the line always... as the law requires you to do...
"It allows you to keep your foot on the brake the whole time" but coming to a complete stop requires you to take your foot off the brake?
Its not about stopping in the right spot, its about stopping at all so you dont get into the habit of rolling through dangerous intersections. I dont get how thats so hard for you to understand or why you keep trying to justify it so poorly.
If you collide with someone at a stop sign it doesnt matter what speed youre going, they will likely be going the speed limit, which is why you have a stop sign. You can very easily total your car by "colliding with someone at that speed"
If your mechanic recommends changing your timing belt, LISTEN. Valves and pistons do not do well when they try to occupy the same place at the same time. Service ALL fluids at their regular intervals, they aren’t meant to last the life of the car, they go bad.
Key to that is understanding whether you have an interference engine or not. Non-interference engines will just halt when the belt fails. Interference engines will inhale themselves before chewing themselves apart.
I have a non interference, im almost curious what happens if it snaps
@sigmamale4147 the engine will halt, and won't start again til it's been retimed and the belt has been replaced.
Still not a good idea either way.
Had a non-interference engine (Toyota 1MZ-FE) where the belt stretched and skipped some teeth. Car still drove reliably just without as much power as it should have had. Got it replaced soon after and the engine ran quite a bit smoother.. obviously.
bro casually hit the whole SUV bullshit market with one line and I'm here for it lmao
Same here
solution to problem #1: buy a car so old it doesn't have a modern key. bonus points if the car is worn enough to the point of being undesirable
Edit: it's a fucking joke, goddamn
That’s why I love my ‘04 manual corolla.
You'd be surprised at how many late 90s Hondas are getting stolen even today. No keyless entry and not even particularly desirable, and it still happens.
except you can hotwire older cars, they're easier to steal
My thoughts exactly. bought a 2005 buick century for this very reason and it hasn't been stolen yet.
@Sykozona depends on how old they are. General rule of thumb is if they have security systems, so most cars starting in the mid 90s, you can't hotwire.
Tire checking and maintaining is important here. Hopefully no one is driving on bald or extremely worn out tires (or a modern spare)
This is one of two rubber things u shouldn't cheap out....
Also go check your brakes, if they don't have sensor in it.
@@mateuszzimon8216 is the other rubber thing a "jacket for richard"
@@scottish_lunatic exactly what I mean
I literally always make sure my tires are in good shape. Mainly because I like to take turns at speeds so its important for me to make sure my tires have plenty of tread and are inflated to correct Cold Tire Pressure everytime I get new tires, I have a mechanic check my car out, and when it gets very cold. Everytime a mehcanic fill my tire up, they always overfill it and make the drive hard over bumps.
I wish I would've known sooner. When I got my first car I was very excited. I took it to a tire shop so they could check the tires pressure before I went to my home which is one hour away....the guy checking it thought he was tripping because the tires pressure were 95 88 and I don't remember the rest...the guy was hella surprised I was driving around in that condition.
number 3 hits home for me, inherited the family car and decided to have a look at the basics... Oil was thick black sludge which when I asked hadn't been changed for 6+ years of daily driving and coolant was basically empty so ended up adding almost 2L worth of fluis there. tires had dry rot and bald edges on the front. car is now healthier then it's been for years and chugging along nicely as my daily work horse
That thing is a champ!
When you find a crankcase full of sludge, you should probably change your oil every 500 miles about 3 times before resuming normal oil change intervals. That sludge is really not good for your engine.
7:50 no matter how much i tell my grandpa and try to convince him he absolutely does not believe brake fluid needs to be changed. its almost mind blowing. this is coming from the same person who just tells you to turn the radio up louder if your car is making a noise😂😂because of that i was stranded on the highway for 3 hours after my water pump blew. im glad i have my own car now and learned to do my own maintenance
On period family aways be convinced they right
You can check brake fluid with a generic multimeter if you really want to maximize life span. Changing on intervals may waste a lot of fluid.
i immediately recognized the speed bump thing. im still basically a learner driver, and when we were on our way to check out a used BMW i found. on our way there, were driving my dad's Hundai SUV, barely a year old, but i was already used to taking the speed bumps pretty carefully at that point, since they would often be really harsh even below the speed limit and i used that car a lot for practice driving with him
but when we got to the car we were gonna buy, one thing i immediately noticed on the test drive was how easily it just sailed over those previously brutal speed bumps, and this was just an E90 with a stock suspension that was replaced a year ago! like, even at the speed limit, driving over them was SO SMOOTH compared to my dad's car!
also another kinda hilarious thing i noticed as well, this E90 actually has BETTER trunk space than our SUV! we could easily fit my and my brother's computers and a few bags in the trunk with no issue, while with the SUV, we had to squeeze a bunch of stuff together, and put the rest in the back seats.
goes to show that SUVs are kinda just bricks on wheels, they barely have any suspension that matches their advertised effect, and a lot of them have LESS cargo space than normal sedans, its pretty dumb lol
but yeah that was a fun little story accidentally turned wall of text :P
also wanted to say that after finding your channel about a year ago, you're probably the biggest influence i've had towards actually wanting to get my own licence and car, i was always pretty uninterested in getting one, but your videos really helped me learn a lot about cars and find more inspiration in car communities in general, so thank you for making all these goofy ass car videos :>
I have a question, are you still in driving school if so, can you chose any car to drive as a student driver or the instructor going to specifically chose only a car for you to drive as a student driver
Everything goes in comparison. There are multiple sizes of SUV's (duster > santa fe > prado), and generally a middle-sized ones got greater trunk space of any sedan or most of hatchbacks. Greater height gives much more suspension clearance, whenever you feel it or not. They are generally heavier - thus, hardened suspension - but it's kind of a must, if your general consumers do go to clover leaf intersections with 20cm ground clearance 2-ton beast at 60-80 km/h.
SUV's are kind of.. Comfy, but not specifically in a comfort sense. Idk how to call it
@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044 I'm not OP ofc. But I took driving school a little over a year ago now (in Idaho) and I chose to just to with the highschool drivers Ed. But all of the drivers Ed places around here are the same. They all have a car or 2 already made for just the class modified with the front right passenger (the instructor) having brakes. They also all have a giant yellow top that says drivers Ed so yeah. You can't bring a car. At least here.
@@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044if you take the test at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, different name in other states), you test with your own vehicle. They don't provide one. It used to to be that your parents could opt for the homeschool drivers ed. I don't know if that still exists today, but that's how I was taught. We did the studdying at home, then took the written test to get a permit. After so many hours, you go back to the DMV to test for a license. Parallel parking is what scares most. Its easy once you know how.
Best of luck on your driving education. I hope this answers your question.
@@axnnaandmikeyplayz5044 i usually drive the ones at the actual driving school when im there, since they have the passanger side pedals, but we're also allowed to practice with parents in our own cars and such if they have had a licence for at least 5-ish years
My dad has had his car for 20 years, last year it was stolen and he managed to get it back but they stole all the tools and equipment and they took the sun visors along with cutting the wireless key cord. He lost 1500 dollars worth of tools and equipment
I’m sorry that happened, and I hope everything is better 🙏🏾❤️
on the bit about doing maintenance. i have a 97 impreza, and she's still on stock engine, suspension, and transmission. aside from replacing a few broken/worn out parts, just keeping up with maintenance has kept her going for 160,000 miles, and probably much more in the future. like bladed said, keeping up with maintenance is VERY important for your car.
The worst part about the dude with the neglected Honda is that I guarantee he tells people they gave him a lemon 😹
nah, he probably doesn't even know that term, He ended up blaming Honda instead of himself.
@@BladedAngel damn well I guess you tried to warn him, he didn't listen, you can't really do anything more 😹
@@queefyg490i know this is random, but what is your favorite car brand?
@@BladedAngelYeap been there done that with my Honda motorcycle. I was recommended changing all fluids and transmission when I bought it secondhand, didn’t listen. Less than 1k miles later I got a banging noise in my engine. I effed my first vehicle with lack of maintenance. There goes 1,5k of my money
As a mechanic. You better drive after starting up than letting it run before going but you're right for the not rev it like a dummy right at start up. Just drive easy for the first couple miles and it will be fine.
Doing it that way is not mistreating the engine cause there's still always oil residue everywhere in the engine enough to lubricate until the pressure sends some more and most importantly you'll bring the transmission oil at pressure and temperature at the same time.
Mordern engines are designed well enough for that unlike old engines that needed to be let run a bit before going.
In hybrid cars, it's very common for the engine's first start of a drive to be during acceleration. just don't be super hard until the temperature needle moves and you'll be fine.
What about letting a car engine cool off after driving fast and hard in the freeway for a long drive?
Like, what if you drive for multiple plus hours, driving 10-15 MPH over the freeway speed limits, with lots of full throttle bursts?
How long should you let the engine cool off before turning off the car? I know you shouldn't immediately park and turn it off, right?
@@CharlesLawsonSermons Since you run you run your engine close to idle during maneuvers to park, around 5 to 10 sec is fine before turning it off.
@@CharlesLawsonSermons If its a turbocharged car leave it 60 seconds before turning it off, Toyota actually recomends this in my owners manual too! If its NA I don't think its too important.
@@gravemind6536 The most important for turbo engines is to turn it off unclutched cause it will immediatly stop the inetia of the engine and so stop the oil pump immediatly and so the turbo will do its last rounds without oil pressure.
watching this channel for about a moth now, I don't own a car, neither do I have a license, if anything I need 2 years till i get my learners permit, but all the reasons you give are just really spot on. You have a great sense of humor and make even just a simple video on us neglecting cars fun to watch. All the things I learn here are things I don't have to learn the hard way, and I thank you for that.
I appreciate it :D
MF's taking off 0.5milliseconds after their engine starts is incredibly infuriating to me. I've had people ask why I'm waiting for my car to warm up before gunning it, I tried explaining it to most of them but today I just say "It's an old car" lmao, makes it way easier.
I’ve had my car for 12 years with no issues. Is this a wives tale?
My previous car drove solid for 7 years before my wife decided to trade up.
@@datl3afn1nja9it might be more relevant for colder places? But engine temperatures are also a lot higher than ambient, so i dunno. Consult your manual.
If it gets below 0°F out, I'll wait a couple minutes because it takes that long for the revs to come down. But in warmer weather, no more than a minute ought to be fine
i use the excuse of "i'm waiting for google maps to load" or take a long swig of water to pretend im wasting time
Modern cars now are fine to drive straight away from cold as long as your not revving the crap out of it.
In my country, insurance companies require you to have your car serviced by a certified mechanic, which means I may not change my own oil in their eyes. Not always laziness. Have not missed an oil change but I would sure love to be able to do it myself :)
😂 that's ridiculous, it's literally so easy...
I feel like the insurance companies just want to make sure you ARE maintaining your vehicle, rather than insuring one that is not maintained at all. At a mechanic, you have proof.
Wow that's dystopian.
@@DeadNoob451I mean, the way insurance makes money, is on assumption that they receive more money than they pay out should an accident occur. Maintaining the car drastically reduces accident probability, so of course they are going to make sure your car is maintained, whether you like it or not.
something i've always thought is funny, is how most people who drive cars, know NOTHING about cars. if you play sports, you learn a lot about sports. same with playing video games. or getting into a hobby like woodworking. but somehow people who have been driving cars for 30 years dont know how to do an oil change.
Because it's not a hobby, it's an everyday tool... that's the whole reason why. Same things happen with computers, phones and such. If you're an enthusiast of course you're going to care. But most people aren't car enthusiasts, they're USERS.
@@naumen6508 yes but at least you should know how to do basic preventative maintenance on your car
@@MinecraftFyler well if people were that well put together, "have you restarted your computer" wouldn't be the solution to 90% of tech support hahaha
10:40 so when I do it it’s a crime, but when a car rubs itself awake in public it’s okay
Also a bad habit is not cleaning the interior of you car or leaving trash inside
For the last one I'd like to point out that you need to warm up your engine because of the rings. If they are worn on cold can consume oil. If it's warm it expends to a reasonable amount that oil burning is not that bad ( I bought a 20yr old Alfa Romeo. Everything is fenomenal with the car but the engine is on 215k km and it burns oil on cold. Every time I start the car I let it warm up to 90°c)
I had a 2001 Chevy Tahoe that did something similar in the cold except the pistons would rattle until it warmed up to a reasonable temp.
Yeah i realized that after noticing oil was consuming quickly. My thermostat was stuck open and the engine couldnt warm up properly
Store keys in a tin can.
Don't forget to change the blinker fluid. Especially on your teslas and giant american trucks.
Not sure about Tesla, but RAM 1500 requires it only once a year. Not big deal
@@AK.__ If you have a RAM 1500, remember to swap out your cup holder fluid with a non Anheuser-Busch product before you drive. You don't want to add being woke to your DUI charges.
@@PURENT I think, you're confusing with some old cars. Bosch I put only as a windshield fluid. The cupholder doesn't have a fluid, it is literally holder with heating / cooling option and it illuminated, so it simply for a cup or small thermos. So I have Hemi 5.7L, maybe TRX has some cup holder fluid, not sure.
They've made electronic brake fluid testers that take all the guesswork out of the game. The test strips were sketchy at best in delivering the state of the fluid, especially as they aged. The device essentially checks to see how much water has been absorbed over time by your brake fluid. Fluid discoloration is also a pretty fair telltale sign it's starting to deteriorate.
Water intrusion is what generally causes brake fluid degradation. As the fluid gets more water in it, it becomes less effective as all it is is a giant closed hydraulic system. The viscosity of the fluid changes with more water, and the boiling point gets reduced. Which makes your car more prone to "brake fade."
So yes, while there isn't technically a service interval for brake fluid, 60 - 75k or 5 years is a safe bet that it's starting to get whooped. Personally, if my car isn't equipped with EPS (and my current isn't), I tend to time the P/S fluid alongside the brake fluid. That way, both are fresh and on similar wear-out timing. All of these are typical foolish car owner habits, and I'd be a damn hypocrite as a technician if I didn't stay on top of my own maintenance, lol.
I'm glad you said it because this is the single most reason why people think Nissan altimas don't last at all. They never changed the oil. Never change the motor mounts never even have their transmission looked at and then they say oh the car died at 200,000 mi. Yeah because you never changed the oil. It makes all the sense in the world and it also makes sense why no Altima in my family has ever broken down like that.
yeah we have a 13 year old car with 370 000km on and just due to proper maintenance we can still drive it with zero issues at all, just replacing parts here and there when needed
Thank you for the first one bladed, I always put my keys on my walls before watching this video. 👌
#4 i still dont get how people defend not letting their car warm up. Sure, cars dont need super long to warm up anymore, but the TRANSMISSION also needs a little time to warm up. People love defending impatience i find
They have a car because they want to get somewhere else, i can kinda see why. But also cars are expensive as dicks so they better treat the expensive steel box with *some* respect.
Especially newer cars with CVT transmissions that wear down so fast anyway. Those things tear themselves apart when the trans fluid isn't at temp (too cold or too hot) and when they already have such a short lifespan (*cough* Nissan *cough*) you really wanna give them a few minutes to warm up and not push them too hard so they dont overheat. $6,000 for a new trans after only 60k miles is just stupid
oh so its not the engine anymore, its the transmission now? Whats next, warming up the brakes? warming up the tires? no no warming up the exhaust!
@@gamertron0882 what kind of trash cars need a new trans after 60k miles? how tf r u driving that thing. nissan? holy mother of ugly cars
@@Rabiiid well… at least for brakes and tires… I have news for you
Ugh!!! Yes!! Waiting to drive is a huge deal for me. I have a 2016 Taurus SHO with 51K mikes on it and it runs amazing…probably because I change the oil regularly and wait about 30 to 60seconds to drive it.
My mom…who has a 2022 BMW X5 M Sport…refuses to let the car idle for a few before she drives and that’s so frustrating
WE MUST APPRECIATE BLADED MORE
FOR GETTING RIGHT IN THE POINTS AND GIVING A FUCK ABT THE INTRO.
APPRECIATED, KEEP IT UP
Owning a WRX for 2 years and putting 104k miles on it taught me a lot about good maintenance habits. Traded the car away with no major issues having happened. Witnessed other owners with 1/4 the miles with total engine failure.
Cars lasting 10 years with proper maintenance? Bro, I drive a 2009 Mercury Mariner with over 160,000 miles, and the original 3.0 Liter Duratec V6 and 6-speed auto. She still runs like new, shifts like new, and doesn't have a single light on on the dash, and she's built like a tank. She's worth basically nothing, but she's my car, and I'm gonna drive her until I can't anymore.
Soooo cars last 10 years with proper maintenance then.
@@naumen6508 Mine's lasted 14 years, I was trying to say that he was underestimating how long cars could last, and that if you keep up with maintenance they can actually last even longer than 10 years.
@@sambrown6426 Oh most definitely, I was just being a smartass. Please keep driving this mariner until it snaps in half, we need more people like you. I'm tired of people who use cars as consumables.
@@naumen6508 That is exactly my plan, and I completely agree with you that people are using cars as consumables.
I agree with all but the first. I mean, if you live in a good area, or just out in the middle of nowhere, I can’t imagine someone trying to steal your car. Especially country folk. But yeah, I do agree for like college kids and city folk who should be getting something that hides their key signals. I’m definitely telling my brother, he has a nice car, it’d suck if he lost it to that.
Another super worth it anti theft device is a steering wheel lock. Costs like $20 and makes it abundantly clear to anyone walking by that stealing your car is way more of a hassle than most of the other cars nearby.
I've known people who wont do any maintenance at all, even when smoke is spewing out of their car. Then when it breaks, they whine about how "I never have any luck with cars".
Dear fellow cold environment people,
Please, for the love of God, do not throw hot water on your windshield because you're too lazy to scrape the ice off.
Doesn't cold water do the job without breaking your windshield?
@@servissop151 Or, now hear me out, start your car 5-10 minutes early, blast your defrost and the use an ice scraper to push the snow/ice off. The defrost does the hard work for you.
@@Roxas13XIII i had a car without working defroster and it honestly wasn't too bad to scrape it all off. Took a couple minutes, but not impossible
its a good day when bladed angel uploads
Yep
My dad gave me his car, I decided to take it for an oil change because I knew how he was when it came to keeping up with things like the oil, the mechanic told me the last time the oil was changed was 25k miles and it had 1 out of the 5 quarts of oil it needed. Needless to say I now take much better care of the car and take it in whenever needed or do it myself
you can also wrap the inside of a box with aluminium foil and just put your car keys there instead of buying some product
looks pretty bad when your expensive car's key is wrapped in literal aluminium foil
@@servissop151 nah, i mean like the inside of a box. So you put your keys in the box that is wrapped with aluminium foil on the inside
I honestly have serious doubts on how effective this would be
@@gamertron0882look it up, I would be surprised if it hasn't been tested already
Maybe it’s because I bought the exact car I wanted brand new but I take good care if it because I spent my hard earned money on it and want to keep it past 10 years. (Have had it since 2016 and currently it has been 7 good years).
These days a lot of stolen cars just get loaded into shipping containers bound for Africa. They often stack them on top of each using all sorts of cords to maximize how many they can fit in a single container. Chop shops are way too risky cause you're always in possession of stolen property.
Hey, thanks for this. I had my car booked in for a 100,000 mile service on Wednesday. I had a massive paranoia check to make sure they were including the engine coolant and brake fluid...they weren't. So now it's booked in with the main dealer with everything included. Even saved money.
Great video. Proper sequence of start / shut down also plays a role. A/C off, radio or player off, turn off head lights, put on park, then hand or leg brake, and only after above - engine shut down. Proper turning the car ON requires 2 steps : turn ON the ACC and check that needed light / indicators are on, and then turn ON the engine (after it , yes - wait 30-60 sec).
The only detail that matters is the sequence of handbrake and putting an AT in park and you got that backwards. Put on the handbrake before you put in into park to save wearing out the parking pawl, not after. It doesn't matter on a flat road. If you are on a hill you don't want your parking pawl to be taking the weight of the car, you want it on brakes.
@@mikeincanada_ You absolutely right. I missed that part. While leg is still pressing Brake pedal and AT is on Neutral , press Parking Brake (hand or leg) and then put AT to Park. Although this is important, whole car starting / shutting down "ritual" matters. Similar to athlete's body starting of completing distance run.
I got a '97 Honda. 252k on the clock. Still runs like butter because the previous owners kept up with maintenance. Oil changes are something most people do actually do, but changing the trans fluid is an item a lot of people look past. Transmission fluid has a long life. Change it on time, and your car will be running smoothly for a long time. Same with brake fluid and (if you drive stick) clutch fluid. You really should do brake fluid on time because brake fluid attracts and stores water
How do you know or make sure the previous owner has kept up with all that when buying a car ?
Recently bought a wallet with rfid protection. Best decision I've made so far.
I few months ago i convinced my mother to wait for the car to warm up a bit, she usually waits a few seconds backs out not using any throttle then when shes at the exit of the drive way she waits and does a checklist of making sure shes got everything, 50 seconds has passed by then, the reason I told her to wait a little longer is because where we live its a steep hill up and is a bit hard on the engine
Thanks for listening to my rant lol
Suvs immune to speed bumps? If I went full speed over a speed bump, the rear airbags would send my ass end to the moon😂😂😂
Ya know just to add to all this. I was a lube tech at a ford dealer. I noticed that cars nowadays have oil monitoring, but it’s set to 10,000 miles per oil change. This caused all cars from old people or people who don’t know anything about cars, to have really burnt oil and bad fumes from the exhaust. So change your oil every 5,000 or if you really care about your car change it every 3,000 like me
Awesome, I'm not the only one who lets the RPM's come down after start up before driving off. 👍
Honestly I didn’t even consciously wait for the RPM to come down.
I just start the engine, do my rounds of seatbelt, AC, Bluetooth and by the time I’m ready to drive the car is ready.
No car I've ever driven would stop the engine when it senses that the key is no longer present. It will show a warning and it may beep but the engine will stay running until you turn it off for safety. Faraday boxes work as well as those key pouches mentioned.
You should do a general car maintenance video on all (or some if it’s a lot) of the parts that need to be replaced before 200k miles. Spark plugs, air filters, batteries, etc.
As much as some people need it, that's really not something he should HAVE to make a video on. If a car owner has enough sense to read their owner's manual or ask the dealer, then they can expect appropriate intervals for their model.
You can just read the maintenance schedule for your specific vehicle and have a lot of important information.
I downloaded a PDF of my exact car's manual, so I can just search for specific words.
watching this literally the day before i may go out and buy my first car. really helps knowing what to look for in terms of maintenance. thank you for your awesome content!
1:11 THE ONE PIECE
😂😂😂
3:21
Thank god that...
1: I live in 3rd storey
2: my car doesn't have keyless entry
Keeping older cars seems like a win for the owner...
The worst habit.... obstructive parking or parking in spots reserved for the disabled.
I'd love to see someone with a disabled-license-plate-lifted-pickup-truck moving cars parked in a disabled reserved parking spot.
Parking your car properly in the parking spot is the low hanging fruit of being a decent human being.
I had a 95 Accord Wagon, that was stolen. We brought groceries in, set them down, and then walked back out and it was gone. I know they’re only a deterrent however I DID have a steering wheel club lock and I did lock my car
Without a kill switch, there wasn’t much I could do, and someone got my 90’s Honda.
Everyone told me it was in several pieces already and not to look for it
The police didn’t find it for about a week and told me to stop calling and that they would tell me when they found it
They found it the next day and did not tell me until I called several days later. It was not in pieces. They had broken the steering wheel club, I found it in the back
And it worked the same as before it was stolen
I have coworker that calls it “conditioning” when he drives a vehicle right after startup. And I can’t change his mind anyway possible.
Tell him to do wind sprints without warming up. That should teach him
The only cat immune to speed bumps is a Citröen 2CV.
garage queening and letting your car collect dust, holy mother of god bro drive the damn thing
I park outside and there is a section that never getys sun. It has moss. And I drive it regularly.
i bought my french gearbox cabrio with 170k Kilomiters and everyone told me "meh shit car that will break down within a year give it back you idiot"
Man. This Car now is running for 5 years without a single problem
If you take good care of your car, it will take good care of you, i dont know shit about cars, just the basics, keep fluids at a good level, and do a oil change every year.
Hell its even a french automatic and it didnt run into any problems yet..... In my opinion people with automatic cars just cant drive, thats literally it, of course when you do a kickdown at any green light your gears will light on fire over time
BA; for the same reason your coach doesn't pull you out of bed and tell your to run with no food, shower, or stretching.
Me: Looks at the military
Kia and Hyundai owners take notes on the 3rd point. Y’all go 12k+ miles on a single oil change.
“My engine is knocking, I don’t know why”
“My engine is overheating, I don’t know why”
Meanwhile they don’t have coolant, the car barely has a quart of oil, the air box is full of rat shit and leaves, the air filter is now black, and when you start the car it says service -4K miles while the car has a 6k interval or like the telluride 8k interval.
0:23 Not with rolling key codes lol
3:15 be careful tho... I've heard some thieves literally selling fakes of this pouches, when someone buys, they'll somehow record their address and mark them as possible targets since they now know that house might have a car worth stealing...
If possible, buy it from malls or only at trusted online retailers.
at 10:11 I realized that he was driving on a road I drive every day, now I have to rewatch all of these videos to see if I know where he is driving 😂
PSA for the first habit: faraday box of any kind. If you want to have a general search term for RFID blocking containers.
I have to disagree with the first one, if they find the car keys quickly there is a lot lower chance of them searching bedrooms. I’d rather have my car be stolen than risk a confrontation in a bedroom and getting injured or worse
They're not going _into_ homes to scan for the key-- they're trying to pull the signal through the walls.
There not going in the house they stay on the outside and pull away 30 seconds later
I'm somewhat guilty of the speed bump entry. I drive a subaru baja. It's got nice cushy suspension that eats up bumps and small potholes. I hit the speed bumps at 15-20 mph and kinda float right over them, but time to time i get overconfident. This video made me more aware of it. Thanks man!
My car was always well maintained and is now 31 years old, turning 32 soon. Of course some parts needed to be replaced or are getting near their replace point, but hey... I now got an oldtime in good condition!
Suggestions for car drivers about bad habits from truck drivers' point of view:
1)Thinking where to go or what exit to take in the middle of the left travel lanes and changing mind in the last seconds causing global warming increased by 0.001% by excessive use of the heat caused by traffic braking and harder wear of the roads.
2) Passing 1 truck just to enter the upcoming exit and get the truck to slow down... That literally would be the same outcome if the 4-wheeler did it behind the truck... but 1st it's dangerous...
3) Crowding the trucks and holding in the blind spots... particularly on the right front.
4) In traffic taking those 100 ft in front of the truck just because it's open... truck drivers use that or similar distance in traffic to adjust traffic speed and ease the flow by braking and accelerating smoothly so that flow is faster and because trucks are easier to get accelerating when they preserve speed.
5) At the intersection where there are lights some trucks stop leaving 30-40 ft in the front of the truck... people take it... trucks using it to get some speed before traffic starts rolling to make it smoother acceleration with the traffic...
6) Ignoring the trucker's turning signal... If we use it we mean it for real... we get paid for using turning signals... it's our only way to communicate with you people ... don't pass on shoulders or any solid lines when there are turning signals on... it could happen that trucker's blinker fluid could happen inside your car
7) Closing the intersection/road when you need to get to the crowded entrance but nobody lets you in from the opposite flow... It's just making traffic stop g
for no reason and someone behind could get into accident...
8) Driving in the middle lanes even if it's slower than people passing on the right... thus making people pass this car on both sides and right side getting even slower that causing middle lanes to get congested behind, that causing left lane to become the one the most congested behind it, that causes 2 left lanes congested and right lanes empty... that causes speed running cars on the right making to the end on the congestion, that causes traffic behind think 2 left lanes have accident... so they go lane changing right... so on
... and so one...
If you see it from the truck cabin it's obvious how heavy traffic generated...
One slow idiot in the middle of the highway is enough to make 3 miles of congestion behind
The last one makes me crazy. "Keep right except to pass" doesn't just apply to the leftmost lane, but to the middle lane also. If you're going slower than the general flow of traffic and people are regularly passing you on the right, why don't you get over?! It doesn't make sense to me.
Note that with Brake Fluid, if it's low then your brakes (assuming disk) are wearing down and just topping up the fluid isn't a solution.
Brakes are a closed loop, there is no way for the fluid to be consumed.
Yes there is. A leak.
On the maintenence side, ever since my first free car at 17, though I don't put on a lot of mileage, still gets all fluids checked often, and a change about every 6 months since the low mileage thing. Done that with the three vehicles I've had.
First was a 2010 Rio I got for free. Still babied that thing and it served me well. Only big thing it ever needed was a starter at 160,000 km.
As you said, very easy to keep a car going with basic maintenence, even some more "unreliable" brands, you'd still get to at least a decent lifespan more often than not.
Maybe some of y'all can relate but I've changed my oil in a snowy blizzard because it roughly time to change it. Obviously warmed it up first but also building a snow fort around the car to keep the wind out.
These days they just ship it to Middle East. Chop shop is so 2000s.
About the maintenance, I find it hilarious to see modern-ish cars to the side of the highway, occasionally with the road assistance vehicle already there, while I drive past them at the speed limit in my 35 years old but well maintained car. Not a fancy car, mind you, just my father's everyday little car that now I drive. 😂😂
In the UK, as there is a rule about idling, you must keep the engine off as much as possible, if practical (unless there is a stop-start system that is active). This means that you must drive as soon as it is started up. You can only have it on for reasonable fault investigation or for reasonable situations (you need to build up pressure on the braking system, for instance), for the minimum possible.
Safely setting a route on your sat nav instead of doing that while driving is very reasonable
first one is pure paranoia
edit: don’t live in atlanta😭😭😭
One thing I'd like to mention about starting your car. I have a habit of letting the fuel pump prime too, though completely unnecessary. However if you're going to rev your engine out. It is best to wait until it is fully up to temp, the closer the better.
I've started to realize how I don't particularly like car maintenance, so I've started using an ebike to get around. Those are way easier and cheaper to maintain so I take miles off of my car with a bike
Another bad habit is parking super close to larger vehicles, or tight spots, usually close. Especially if another car has a baby in the back. It is all too easy for careless people to swing their door wide and give you a door ding.
Also tailgating is both unsafe, and can just expose your hood to more rock chips. Patina and normal wear is fine, but negligence is just silly.
Last, watch out for lawnmowers and weed whackers when driving and parking… super risky as they too can send up debris on your paint.
Numbers 3 is especially sad because it's making things a lose/lose situation. Cars are extremely expensive and people can hardly afford them as it is. And If they actually can afford it the problem now is everything else is expensive and they're forced to neglect maintenance, making their already overpriced vehicle fall apart quicker.
Ring doorbell is very common. I think the biggest mistake people make is distraction. It takes discipline to remain 100% focused on what’s going on around you. Checking your mirrors. People get distracted easily
Watching these make me daydream about me driving a beautiful red 1985 civic 😭😭❤️
For the first one: I was able to disable the keyless entry via a normal menu option. It makes it act like a pre-keyless car; use the physical key embedded in the fob or just press the dedicated unlock button. Thieves can copy the passive signal as much as they want, my car will ignore it until i press the true Unlock button. Plus, anything that would cause the Panic Alarms to activate automatically disables the ignition until the remote sends the Disable Alarm signal.
That brake segment felt like poetry. Fantastic
Some thoughts on number four. Your engine is most vulnerable to wear and tear when it's not up to temperature yet. It will warm up FASTER if you give it something to do. Let it idle 30 seconds or so, then drive gently and don't floor it or rev it up real high for the first few minutes. In extreme cold 10F (-12.2C), give it at least a full minute to get the oil moving and lubricate itself. Oil tends to get thick in extreme cold. Still drive gentle after the 1-2 minute mark, as it's the heat of going work (AKA driving) that's warming it up the rest of the way.😊
I fly over railroad tracks and it is the smoothest way to do it. The shocks don’t even absorb anything because the weight of the vehicle never bounces on the suspension if you go fast enough.
1) I live in a country where car theft is a major issue, and I have hated keyless entry since they started putting it into cars. The loophole is way too obvious and exploitable, and I hate that more and more cars are coming out with it as standard. Yes, central locking can also be exploited, but with keyless entry becoming more prominent, there seems to have been a reduction in attacks against central locking.
2 & 3) I always tell people to never skip car maintenance. My car is currently 11 years old, nearly 12 years old, and the only issue it has given me is a packed-up injector. My car currently has over 150K on the clock.
4) My advice to people is to do the little things they usually do before starting the car after starting it. For example, start the car, then select your destination on the GPS, get your sunglasses, and/or select the music or whatever you want to listen to. By that time, the car has warmed up enough, and you can drive.
These are all simple and small things that so many people don't do, and they can reduce a car's lifespan by years.
I like spotting people driving around with warped/worn tint that yknow is like looking through dried up KY. Its like i bet they live with a fire alarm chirping too.
Point 1: slow down for speedbumps. Do people who don't slow down for speedbumps not know what they're for? They're usually in residential areas, or parking lots. They're literally installed because of the very people who don't slow down for them. I have like 4in of ground clearance, so I slow down for a lot of things. In my truck, I'm more cavalier, but I at least hit the brakes.
Point 2: oil and fluid changes. I personally fall in the middle between completely negligent and someone who does every scheduled service on time. For sure oil is a top priority with fluid maintenance. It takes me ~30min to do in my driveway and I've been using mobil1 full syn for over 20yrs now. My change intervals will be anywhere between 5k and 10kmi. I'll change it anywhere between being a dark brown to pitch black. What has kept me out of the dead engine zone is that I check my oil every time I fuel up my car. If the engine is leaking oil, or buring it, you'll see it. I've had 3 civics. 2 over 200k mi and 1 over 100kmi (till someone ran into me). I ran them hard and fast. One engine blew from hydrolocking it :(. None have died because of oil starvation, or lubricity breakdown. I also always keep a few quarts of oil on hand for toping off the oil levels. Its been a life saver over the years. I've never sludged an engine.
As for brake fluid, I typically flush it during a component replacement such as a master cylinder, or caliper. It's always been clear, but since brake fluid is hydroscopic, I have found iron debris in the fluid of some of my older cars. Like I said, with a component replacement, all of that goes away with a good brake bleed.
On a manual trans, change the fluid when you change the clutch. Easy.
The wife's car is due for an auto trans fluid change. Bought the fluid, just need to do it.
For antifreeze and PWS fluid, just use the correct type for the vehicle in question. Using regular power steering fluid in a honda PWS reservior will kill the pump faster than any fluid flush negligance. I do not know the concequences of putting the wrong antifreeze in a vehicle. If I had to guess, water pump and temp sensor failure. (I miss the days when it was all the same) I would stay away from those stop leak products. They might save you a 15mi tow, but that's about it. The leak just needs to be fixed.
Point3: wait a few seconds after starting the car before driving. Arguably, you just need to wait for oil pressure to rise to operating level. It's usually very fast. But agreed, doing burnouts out of your driveway isn't very healthy for the engine. Get the engine to operating temp before the redline starts being pegged. Driving with a turbo, I'll keep the shifts around 4k until the engine temp is up. Usually about a mile of driving or so. Unless its winter.
Suggestions:
1. Let the fuel pump prime the fuel lines before actually starting the car.
2. If driving a vehicle with a turbo that is oil-cooled for a long drive, let the engine sit idling for about 30sec before shutting the engine off. This gets the hot oil circulated out of the turbo. (Adding since turbos are everywhere these days. I was once told that turbo timers were obsolete when using full syn oil.)
3. Only use full synthetic oil in a car with a turbo that is oil-cooled. (I haven't seen a turbo that isn't at least oil-cooled. Some run coolant and oil.)
4. If the vehicle is equipped with auto-positioning seats/mirror/steering wheel. Turn the ignition on, then wait for the mirror/seat/steering wheel to stop moving before cranking the engine. This keeps the starter from sharing amp draw from all those powered accessories. If practical, keep the AC fan off as well.
That's all for now, glad it wasn't a short. :P
As a owner of a narwhal i can confirm that i shared and it really liked it.
One thing you gotta do after repairs is change your driving habits. My father has burnt through two clutches because while he's in stopped traffic, he holds down the clutch and the brake instead of just sitting in neutral. Don't ask me how he's capabale of holding the clutch for long enough to burn it twice now despite being 60+, but he manages.