How much preventative maintenance do you do?

[A930Rocket]

Not really, but I did just replace the plugs, upper/lower control arms, sway bar bushings/links, pads/rotors and a 3” leveling kit on my F150. New wheels and tires too.

I’m still wondering if I should have replaced the struts and wheel bearing hubs while I was there...

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm thinking mostly about cars, but really this applies to lots of things, your home, motorcycles, lawn equipment, aircraft, pool equipment, maybe even computer equipment, etc....

How much preventative maintenance do you do?

How would that change if you do the maintenance yourself or if you have to pay a mechanic or someone else to do the maintenance for you?

I've always done as much of my own work as possible whether that's on vehicles or our old home or whatever. It's often hard to find a mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc.... that you can trust to do the work correctly and not rip you off either with a crazy bill or unnecessary work in the process so that's one of the main reasons to do the work yourself besides the sense of accomplishment and money savings.

We sold our home and moved into an apt in town. We bought my boxster and it is our only car. Part of that was the missus stipulating that the car be kept in tip top shape, the theory being 1 With the reduced expenses, we can afford to pay someone else to do the work and 2 since it is our only car, we want and need it to be in great shape.

We bought the car 5 years ago with 21k miles, and it was CPO. In that time, I've put a little less than 5k miles a year on the car (no more long commute since we live in town). The car got front brakes about 1.5 years ago, it's had new tires and oil changes, but that's it.

I will be picking it up from one of the top rated Porsche specific Indie shops today. I have been putting off taking it in for regular maintenance and it's 40k mile checkup for a few months, but last Sat, the high pressure relief valve on the AC let go (major "smoke" through the AC vents, looked for a min like something was burning behind the dash, pretty big pucker moment, fortunately the smell was wrong for an electrical fire). That was the catalyst to drop the car off. The AC fix was <$250. I asked them to also change the oil and check things out. I'd gotten an occasional squeal when turning the steering wheel slowly at low speeds, and started to notice squeaks when hitting bumps at low speed or going over speed bumps. I'd noticed that one of the CV boots looked like it might have a small crack because I could see a line of grease that'd been flung out.

The CV boot ended up being R&R of that axle ($1000). The reason for the full replacement vs just a boot replacement was that by the time they had pulled everything apart and put it back together for one of the boots, the labor would have eaten up a big part of the cost of a new axle and one of the boots would still be old, so while a little more expensive, it's better just to replace the whole thing. OK, I buy that, assuming it's not just a slap dash job of slapping the new boot on and they do a full clean and inspect and repack job on the old joint.

40k mile maintenance includes plugs, not because they are necessarily bad, but also just to make sure they come out every once in a while and don't end up stuck which makes sense to me for an 11 year old car. Then, while doing the plugs, they recommend replacing the coils ($80 ea) because the ozone and heat makes the plastic and rubber bits brittle, so a replacement while not necessary is recommended. I can see that too, especially assuming these are coil on plug.

Then the squeaks in the suspension ended up being the strut top mounts and the strut top bearings. The struts themselves are fine, but to get rid of the noise (which is a very early sign that things are starting to get old) those things need to be replaced. The parts themselves aren't expensive, but the labor to get to them and put everything back together for all four corners is I think about 10 hours if you include the required alignment.

The missus and I were expecting the AC to be pricey (because AC work usually is) and it was just about the cheapest thing we had done. The missus nearly choked on the grand total, and I must admit, it was pretty hard for me to swallow as well. Fortunately, I'm pretty confident that this place is honest and does good work.

They get unanimously good recommendations by the PCA. When I dropped the car off they had everything from an old 356 speedster to a new GT3 and a bunch of 70s and 80s bellows bumper cars and a few front engined water pumpers including a '95 928 GTS with a manual trans. There was also a pretty smokin' hot ferrari in the shop. One of the guys has built a hotrod original mini. The owner has a 993 as a daily driver.

I have in the past on a couple of miatas done the timing belt and a few "while you're in there" things like the water pump, maybe thermostat, some gaskets and hoses. I've never done anything like "replace the coils while you're replacing the plugs".

I do get replacing the axle, and have done that in the past, but that was when I could get the entire axle for $100 or $200 and the boot and associated labor was going to be a pain in the rear. The axle wasn't $1000.

The bill hurts, but it will be nice to know that a lot of that isn't likely to go bad any time soon. Hopefully, the water pump doesn't decide to go in a month or two.

It was the shop in the Heights? Or the shop down by me in Bellaire? Or the shop way out west down the freeway? I expect the first...

Did you at least get a free beer out of it? I trust him for work, he treated me very well when I dropped off a bunch of gears and asked him to press the dogteeth off for me, but I expect beer from his fridge for the price of work. The shop down by me in Bellaire is WAYYYYYY worse...

[Pazuzu]

Oh, to answer your question...
I almost never do "while you're in there" stuff, unless I'm doing something major like rebuilding a part. When I rebuilt the engine, I did ALL of the while your in there stuff, because I never want to do any of it again,

[Shifter]

My job is managing the software that runs the maintenance at multiple mills. Seeing how a missed pm on greasing a single bearing can shut down a whole mill for several hours has opened my eyes.
I don't over maintain, which can be as bad, but keep up on it and watch for issues, life is smooth. Ignore your maintenance and it will bite you.
I swap my belts on my S2 every three years. Probably less than 2k miles, but a few hundred bucks and an afternoon is much better than several K on rebuilding the head. Well worth the piece of mind.
Jeep gets all zerks lubed after an off road adventure. Gives me a chance to inspect the suspension for any damage.
BMW, well, an oil change every 15k whether it needs it or not. Otherwise it is rock solid.
Other than the occasional flat tire, nothing has left me on the side of the road.

PM can be expensive and unpleasant, but less sucky than breaking down when you don't expect it.
Better to replace a suspect part in the garage rather than a broken part on the side of the road.

That being said, we still have mills go down because they thought they could skip some PMs and save a bit of money.

Just my .02

[aigel]

PM - it does have intervals that are prescribed by the manufacturer. Doing anything too early is a total waste of time and energy in my book. Unless you find online clear evidence that the PM schedule indicated by the manufacturer is not working out. I do PM on schedule though and only stretch it on items that are clearly not a safety or reliability issue, for example a cabin air filter ...

So, I think your plug and coils were unnecessary. Newer boxster is a 60k spark plug change interval. The squeaks I would have lived with a couple years more, its not that they were a safety issue. Then you may need new struts anyway and do it all at once. And I don't quite understand the $1k axle? Does it include labor? Isn't this a boxster? Here at PP a boxster S axle is $130. All shops like to make money and they will talk you into stuff you don't need to maximize your visit's bill. Service reps are trained to sell and people do feel good giving their sports car a spa day.

You'll live. Still beats buying a new car or crawling under it all weekend if you aren't into it!

Cheers,

G

The seventh and last year I owned my business, I spent an inordinate amount of time on maintenance and repairs. The five rigs treated us well with regular oil and filter changes, but ancillary equipment--dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, and air movers, and our big insulation vacs died early miserable deaths if not maintained. We did mostly demo, so the machines operated in hugely dusty environments. Anything with a filter got clogged in short order.

Our 18 hp insulation vac had a 7 ga welded shroud around the insulation impeller wheel, and the crap commonly found in attics--fiberglass, wood, nails and such, blasted right through it over time. Looked like exit wounds from a shotgun shell. I had to weld two steel straps around the perimeter, and they were failing again when I sold. Then I had to do a quickie engine rebuild one day on a job site when it blew a head gasket. Bearings and a new head gasket in an hour, but those hours were expensive with an idle crew sitting there.

[wdfifteen]

I’m good at keeping up with maintenance. On about everything but electronics. Seems every time I do a recommended upgrade it causes problems.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One reason I still enjoy the tinker in the garage is actually more than one reason.

After a lifetime of jacking a car up, now I have a scissor lift. I put the cars in the air just to wax them or do electrical work in the engine compartment on the 911. It is great to not have to bend over and kill my back.

Also, I have the garage heated, and an air conditioner. Teo ceiling fans, and lots of lights, my music playing through a decent set of speakers. There is a fridge in the garage and mostly water, but almost always a celebratory beer after a complex project is done.

Oh and I have a bathroom in the garage, so I can wash my hands easily and regularly and the facilities are right there.

I sufficient tools to tackle the project and I have to work hard to find a reason to go buy another tool.

I can work at my slow pace and there is no deadline, except mine. In other words, I can do it comfortably and at my schedule as a hobby. Lots cheaper than golf, boats, and tons cheaper than airplanes.

That's pretty much my situation. I have a Bend Pak scissor lift that is pretty much the only reason I can still work on cars--which I do a lot. Except for my wife's leased whatevers, I try to do everything myself on the M3 and the 911. The lift makes it possible. Things are about to get even easier, though, as I am in the process of building an 800 sq ft garage--with a proper lift--at my new house. Recently took the car back to see its future home. Removal of a few trees--regrettably--starts next week.

[KFC911]

Mebbe I need a Bend-pak? Seriously....

When it doesn't start or work.....I prevent that!

....or mebbe I'll move to OKC...howdy neighbor !

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

This reminds me I need to flush out my water heater.

FYI, doing it once every 2 years REALLY extends the life of newer water heaters.

I've never done that....ever .

Now I'll probably have to replace at least 4-5....doh!

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One reason I still enjoy the tinker in the garage is actually more than one reason.

Again, I used to love it, kept scrupulous records, etc.: My shop space is great, heated, a/c, etc. I love to spend time there on various projects, just not cars these days.

That may change once I semi-retire but the cost benefit of working on my cars just doesn't pencil out with all the farm commitments, business and travel. The local Toyota dealership is very reasonable and has great high speed internet....I am always the first appointment (0730) and they let me use a salesman's desk while they handle the car...laptop out, let's go.

If I do get back into cars, I will get a lift!

[fastfredracing]

There is an old saying about the shoemakers children... I actually do pretty good, and try to stay on top of things.
With 12 cars/trucks , and maintaining 7 houses , though, sometimes, I just drive the fker till the wheel falls off.
The nice thing about having too many vehicles is , if one goes down, no big deal, just grab another . The bad thing is that it never ends . Like Paul, I seem to over maintenance equipment .
I try to keep wifeys in tip top shape .