Most Neglected Maintenance Item ?

[ckelly78z]

My (new to me) 2013 Mustang needs a new cabin air filter. I can notice outside smells more than I should be able to.

[porsche tech]

I always felt like the pollen filter was relatively easy to change on most vehicles, even if you had to lower the glove box. I feel like the most overlooked item would be air in the spare tire, especially when they are difficult to get to like Boxster, wife's Odyssey, etc.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Most Neglected Maintenance Item ?

That would be the failure to change Brake Fluid every few years.....I don't know anyone besides myself that does that.......

Agreed... Most older cars have brake fluid that hasn't been changed in many years!
I use a suction system to do mine. About every two years or sooner on all of my cars.
Once you're setup for it, it's quick and easy.

I always wonder about collectors like Jay Lenno. How often do they change the brake fluid in those old cars?

---

I recently changed the cabin air filter in my daughters Holden (GM) Cruze.
Really easy to do once you drop the glove box.

She was complaining that her car smelt like "old man feet" when she turned the fan on. LOL

[911 Rod]

Wipers.
You forget until you can't see. Then forget again ....

[javadog]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Most Neglected Maintenance Item ?

That would be the failure to change Brake Fluid every few years.....I don't know anyone besides myself that does that.......

+1.

I wouldn’t be surprised if half the vehicles on the road have never had it changed.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Not everyone has tools. Also, he may not aware that he can change it himself. Most people are not lucky enough to have gearhead friends and mentors.

30 year old comes to my shop yesterday after buying his Mom's van. "I think the wiper fuse is blown". Raining cats and dogs. I grab the wiper and flop it across the windshield. Regulator is broken. I'm not fixing it right then.

I can't find my Rain-ex. Wax windshield with some Mothers wax variant to allow driving in rain.

I apply wax and he asks if the haze will be a problem. I ask have you ever waxed a car? He says no.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Had to change the cabin filter on our '02 Accord, way back when we had some really bad fires going on here and the air was full of ash. Had to disassemble half the dash just to get the glove box out to reach the filter. I was working in a 100k clean room most of the day so I noticed it when the car smelled like a smoker owned it. I know why the dealer charges what they do, at least for that yr/model.

That is the straight up truth! I also have 2002, you are literally 4-6 steps away from removing the entire evaporator housing. I only know this because I changed a bad expansion valve on a neighbors 2002 Accord. Mine can wait!

[911_Dude]

There's an old guy at work that likes to drive Mercedes. I was talking about changing the brake fluid in my Cayman a few times a year because of tracking it and he was incredulous. He said "I top my brake fluid off every few years, whats wrong with your car?". I said what color is your fluid? "Brown, whats wrong with that?". Another guy at work had brake failure because of a rusted brake line.

Case closed.

[RWebb]

algal colony extracted from a VW Vanagon - after a "Vanagon Specialist Shop" was told to do a full brake job - they didn't

[RSBob]

People seldom check the condition of their lights, especially brake lights, on older cars without diagnostics. Saw an older Acura yesterday with only one brake light out of three working.

Brake fluid and coolant are biggies.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Most Neglected Maintenance Item ?

That would be the failure to change Brake Fluid every few years.....I don't know anyone besides myself that does that.......

👋 That’d be me with my 01 F150. Drove it 225k miles without flushing the brakes. Oil changes were like clockwork though.

[JavaBrewer]

Cabin filter? I yank those and run no filter. Good for another 3 HP I was told.

Honestly, I have never ever changed or paid for a cabin filter. I drive with the windows down 99.9% of the time. I change the motor oil, filter, and check fluids every 3-5K miles. Other items only on manufacturer service intervals, and brake pads/disks when sparks start flying

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

That would be the failure to change Brake Fluid every few years.....I don't know anyone besides myself that does that.......

I flush my brake fluid every couple of years. Other often-neglected maintenance items include engine coolant, differential oil in rear-drive vehicles, power steering fluid, and transmission fluid/filter in automatics, or gear oil in manuals.

Battery water needs to be checked once in a while too, unless the battery is a maintenance-free type.

[hcoles]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Cleaning the cooling elements and back of the refrigerator.

Cleaning the intake screens on the wife’s blow dryer.

No one specified this had to be car related.

re. refrigerator... that's a good one. I bought one of those special brushes that helps pull the dust out from under the refrigerator (that's where the coils are on my unit). I use this along with a vacuum cleaner and get things pretty clean.

[GH85Carrera]

I have no cabin filter on my mid 1980s car to change. I change the brake fluid every single spring on the 911. Every other year on the El Camino.

With a space save tire in the 911, the spare is supposed to have no air. I carry one of the air pumps that plug into the cigarette lighter in both cars.

I bet one of the neglected maintenance items on most cars is the transmission fluid on automatics.