We bought our first new car of the millennium back in March, and it came with free oil changes for life. Since it hit 5000 miles this week, my wife stopped by the dealership for an oil change / tire rotation. They are telling her that the car (2011 Corolla) only needs an oil change every 10,000 miles because they are using synthetic oil.
I religiously change the oil in my cars every 5000 miles, and the idea of going 10,000 miles makes me nervous. Should it make me nervous?
posted by COD
on May 23, 2012 -
27 answers
My focus is mainly on the chrome badges that labeled models of the 1940s–’70s, as celebrated at
Chromeography.
Who was generally responsible for designing the emblem? Were they from inside the car company? Did they have lettering experience or were they more often car designers who were handed the job because there was no one better available? Has the situation changed much since then?
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posted by Typographica
on May 23, 2012 -
1 answer
I am a novice photographer who would like to improve my skills at photographing vintage cars primarily outdoors in natural light. I am looking to replace my old Nikon D50 and 18-55mm lens with a Nikon D3300. What would be the must-have lenses, filters and accessories for my task? Also best camera settings? Also interested in tricks for getting compelling images. Close up? High angle? Low angle? Just experiment?
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posted by punkfloyd
on Jan 24, 2012 -
17 answers
First my check engine light went on. After checking the oil I saw it was getting low, refilled it. I took it to jiffy lube cause it was time for all that. Then, a few days later, the light came on again. I'm going to take it to a repair shop, but I want to know what to expect.
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posted by The Devil Tesla
on Feb 19, 2011 -
16 answers
I love cars, particularly European classics, but modern and US cars too (though not the Japanese tuning scene). I'm in Los Angeles until January 22nd; is there an event or place that is a 'must see' while I'm here?
posted by wildatheart
on Jan 4, 2011 -
9 answers
Switching from comp sci to automotive. Is it worth it? Also, work ethics and discipline dilemmas are abound.
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posted by RaDeuX
on Oct 18, 2010 -
6 answers
How should I clean my EGR port? The check engine code says "inadequate flow through the EGR valve."
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posted by noonknight
on Sep 9, 2010 -
3 answers
I have a 1999 Toyota Avalon. I noticed the small plastic grille below my left headlight missing and there's a dangling plug inside. I can't figure out what used to be in there. The car still runs fine. Inside the passenger-side grille is a grey plastic box, probably connected to a similar plug.
posted by boognish
on Jun 27, 2010 -
4 answers
A few days ago, I traded in two cars at a Toyota dealership. I signed contracts detailing trade-in, down payments, and monthly payments.
Today, the dealership called and said that Toyota Financial wants a bigger down payment, and to remedy the situation, they will issue me a credit card for XX dollars, but my monthly payments will be reduced by XX dollars, so in the end I will be paying the same amount.
Is this a scam? Or is the dealer just trying to maximize their profit? Is this a common practice? Can the dealer nullify the contracts and force me to return these cars?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
posted by redbed
on Feb 4, 2010 -
27 answers
shopping for used BMW's for my girlfriend and found one we are interested in. need tips for the haggling process.
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posted by austere
on Jan 23, 2010 -
17 answers
I'm generally freaking out about buying a car (used, my first) and have a short laundry list of very general questions.
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posted by Shepherd
on Jul 28, 2009 -
19 answers
Currently in my 2005 Chevy Malibu the driver seat frame is cracked. Underneath the seat I can see a metal bar going across (not IN the seat but under) and it has a huge crack/hole and the other piece is hanging off. This causes my seat to tilt back some and rock. I know eventually when that breaks completely my seat will forever tilt back. Is there a way I can fix this by DIY?
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posted by dolemite01
on May 6, 2009 -
7 answers
If one car engine makes 3 revolutions on the starter engine before it runs, and (the same spec) other car engine takes 10, does the starting time cause one engine to sustain more wear than the other?
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posted by wildatheart
on Feb 26, 2009 -
7 answers
Is there any difference in performance between pre-gapped sparkplugs (such as
these) and ones that you have to gap yourself?
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posted by Aanidaani
on Jan 14, 2008 -
7 answers
My hatchback car (Honda Fit) doesn't have a separately-locking trunk or glovebox. Can I add a lock-box or secret compartment somewhere inside the car for stashing a few items, for those times I must turn over my keys (parking garage, valet)? Ideally I'd only be securing/concealing 3 deck-of-cards-sized items: iPod, GPS, EZPass. There are no official Honda accessories that do this, nor can I find any Fit-fanatic mods that have addressed it.
posted by xo
on Aug 1, 2007 -
4 answers
I spilled a bunch of gas in my car. The smell--apparently--does not dissipate even with the windows rolled down. Any ideas?
posted by mwachs
on Jan 29, 2007 -
7 answers
Why does my '98 Saturn SC1 have odd idling problems after more than an hour of highway driving (i.e. it sometimes revs high, sometimes it drops to nothing and stalls)?
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posted by Java_Man
on Dec 13, 2006 -
8 answers
What kind of car is the safest to drive? There are lots of studies on which cars are best in a crash, but I suspect that some cars crash less often than others, so I am interested in statistics that take the rate of accidents as well as crashworthiness into account.
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posted by procrastination
on Dec 27, 2005 -
24 answers
After my friend put 5030 oil into his 1990 Toyota Camry Wagon, it began belching white smoke and the engine's overheating. What's going on, what can be done and how serious is this? He fears he destroyed his car through bad oil choices.
posted by johngoren
on Jul 23, 2005 -
14 answers
The new Ford Mustang, just like the last one, "features" a solid rear axle. Ford (and her enthusiasts) claim that such a design is for "performance reasons." Is this plausible?
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posted by Kwantsar
on May 16, 2005 -
12 answers
Automotive question:
The battery doesn't charge and we subsequently have to manually recharge it at the garage, hopefully before it conks out on us on the road. Driving at night poses problems, since the lights obviously draw off of the battery - it's a heavy drain, trust me. Here's the question: we know it's not the battery (two brand new batteries, same problem), the alternator is showing good numbers (apparently meaning that it's charging, I'm told), all belts are running properly and are tight, the mechanics found no loose connections;
what could be the problem?
posted by ashbury
on Feb 25, 2004 -
14 answers
