Considering Others

Why is it that when we are behind the wheel of a car we automatically think that nothing we do affects others? In reality driving down a crowded street is no different than walking down a crowded street.

We see many other people as we make our way along with the crowd. When we are walking everything seems to go smoothly. We nod a polite hello to strangers, we give each other space, and we generally interact in a polite manner. This simple interaction almost never leads to blatant offenses between two individuals, because we all know how to behave in these situations.  

Put us in a car and we become crazy jerks. We drive around like everyone else is some kind of moron and we are the only ones that have any business being on the road. We become quick to judge, quick to offend, and quick to let our sense of decency and courtesy go out the window. Every offense that we commit against another motorist we quickly brush off as ultimately being someone else’s fault. We try to teach others lessons from behind the wheel that we think they need, when in reality such things are dangerous.

The world would be a better place if we could consider others when using our automobiles. Just because you can’t look the other person in the eye doesn't mean that you shouldn't show them respect and decency. Any action you take while driving your car is ultimately your responsibility.

When you pull into a parking spot, keep the car between the lines. When you don’t, it becomes difficult for others to park in the space next to you. What makes you think that you deserve two parking spots? Maybe you have never even thought about it one way or another. If your vehicle is too big to efficiently pull into a particular parking spot then find another.

If you have to run into a store or quickly make a similar stop, you are still obligated to park in the parking lot. Nobody is allowed to leave their vehicle parked in front of the entrance where people are trying to enter and exit, and cars are trying to maneuver around each other. You are not the exception, even if it’s only for a minute. When you push your shopping cart around the grocery store, would you leave it at the end of an aisle so that it blocks other shoppers?

When driving on the interstate, the slower traffic must keep to the right. If you are driving slower than even one other car on the freeway, and that car wants to pass, you are obligated to move over. The passing car must not pass on the right. This is not a time for you to teach this other driver what the speed limit is and dawdle along slowly in the passing lane. Notice that name, it’s called the “passing lane” because it is for passing. If you were a pedestrian on the sidewalk would you not yield briefly to another who was trying to get around you?

The diesel pickup spewing black smoke from its tailpipe as it accelerates from a stop light is offensive to most other drivers. These toxins waft through the air all around the intersection for others to breathe. This smoke is the result of something that is broken. Either the fuel management on the truck is broken, or the driver themselves is broken.

Nobody is impressed with a diesel blowing smoke between stoplights, except those that do it. Get your truck fixed or run a different program in your engine computer. Most of the time these smoke blowing drivers are running a computer program that makes this occur.

If you want to blow black smoke from your exhaust, sign up for a sled pulling competition. Then you can see some real torque in action and learn how weak your truck really is. Your perceived right to blow smoke doesn't supersede anyone else’s literal right to not breathe your garbage. You wouldn't walk up to someone on the street and blow cigarette smoke right in their face would you?

Justice is real. Of course it's a BMW.

 While this seems like just a negative rant, it isn't  Most of the offences mentioned here are small and they don’t occur because people are genuinely rude, but rather because we as a society don’t consider others as much as we should. If we stop and think about how our actions behind the wheel have an effect on fellow motorists, even those whom we cannot look in the eye, we would all behave more courteously. This of course, would mean that we would all be happier drivers ourselves. 

Like Perpetual Energy, Not Really

A device that creates electricity and then uses that electricity to create more electricity sounds like a great thing and indeed it would be. The alternator on your can almost do this but not really. Perpetual energy is scientifically impossible, at least with what we currently understand about the laws of thermodynamics.

The alternator is a type of generator so it essentially creates electricity, and to do this it uses electricity, quite often originating in the alternator. The force, or the energy that really makes all of this possible is the rotating force of the engine. The alternator is driven by a belt that is turned using a pulley attached to the crankshaft of the engine. This is the real driving force that makes electrical generation possible within the alternator. The rest is simply a matter of electromagnetic induction.

Electromagnetic induction occurs when a magnetic flux or field passes over a conductor. The point at which the magnetic field collapses around the conductor is the point where voltage is induced into the conductor. This voltage is the pressure that pushes electrons through the conductor, and electron flow is electricity. The alternator actually produces alternating current which is why it’s called an alternator. Before this current actually leaves the alternator it is converted into direct current so the power can be stored in the battery.

In order for this to happen, the alternator has two main parts, the rotor, and the stator. These parts do what their names imply. The rotor rotates or spins and the stator stays in place surrounding the rotor. The rotor contains a large electromagnet that creates the magnetic field necessary for induction. The stator is the conductor that the magnetic field moves through. As the rotor spins, the magnetic field passes through the stator over and over again, thousands of time per minute. The voltage that is induced is then sent to charge the battery and to run all electrical accessories. This electricity even powers the electromagnet in the stator. This may seem like perpetual energy but it’s not even close because the energy to turn the rotor has to come from the engine. The energy to turn the engine of course comes from the gasoline.

Alternator failure is a fairly common problem that most cars will experience at one point or another. When this happens while the vehicle is being driven alternator voltage output goes to zero, or to something very low. Anything electrical on the vehicle will begin to draw power from the battery. This will slowly draw the battery dead until there is not enough voltage to run the fuel pump and fire the spark plugs. The engine then dies. When you try to restart it, the motor won’t even crank because the battery is dead. A jump start can get you going again but only for a few minutes until the car stalls again.

So what can you do the make your alternator last longer? Not much really, it is largely a maintenance free device. Just make sure that the belt is tight and doesn’t squeal. Also, if you run your battery dead because you leave your headlights on or something like that, or if you have a battery that is going bad, this puts considerable strain on the alternator. If you battery goes dead, it is best to recharge the battery with a battery charger rather than just letting the alternator do it. Recharging a dead battery with the alternator once or twice over the life of the car isn’t a big deal, but don’t make it a habit. Be sure to have your battery checked regularly to make sure that it doesn’t slowly go bad and drag the alternator down with it.

Keep these ideas in mind and your own personal power generator will last a long time without much fuss. Perpetual energy it isn’t, but it is essential to the proper operation of your vehicle, not to mention your rear seat DVD player.

Roll In Style Not In Danger

Rolling down the street in your SUV with 22 inch rims can be something that makes you feel like you are king of the road. Oversized rims are all the rage on all sorts of vehicles and nothing adds bling to your ride like wheels that are huge and loaded with chrome.

While you might think it makes your ride look good, and I’m not saying it doesn’t, there are a few problems that you have when you put big custom rims at each corner of your ride. The biggest problem with this type of customization has to do with what we call unsprung weight.

Anything on the vehicle or in the vehicle that exerts the force of its weight on the springs of the suspension system is sprung weight. This would be most of the vehicle, such as the body, frame, engine and transmission, or anything that is placed inside the vehicle like passengers and cargo. This is sprung weight because it is all supported by the springs, and suspension system action can control the force of this weight.

Anything that exerts the force of its weight on the tires only, and not on the springs, is unsprung weight. This is because the weight is below the springs. Things like rims and tires, steering knuckles, brake assemblies, and drive axles fall into this category. These are all items that spring action and suspension articulation cannot control.

Generally speaking the more unsprung weight a vehicle carries, the harsher the ride is. Pickup trucks and many SUV’s that are built for heavy-duty applications tend to have more unsprung weight and therefore have a ride that is not so smooth. Higher unsprung weight can also lead to handling characteristics that are undesirable. All that weight causes the wheels to bounce around more and lead to more situations where they are not firmly planted. Wheels that are not firmly planted cause poor ride quality and poor directional stability.

Oversized rims are very heavy and add a tremendous amount of unsprung weight to the vehicle. Even if the rims are made of aluminum they can still add hundreds of extra pounds, especially if you add bigger tires with the bigger rims. Many times the tires are not much bigger in diameter than the stock tires, but the section height, or the height of the sidewall, is narrower to accommodate the larger rims. This low profile tire adds to the modern, sporty look of the large rims but it further decreases ride quality.

Another common mistake when having custom rims installed relates to the overall fit of the rim and tire assembly. Obviously the tire and rim assembly must fit within the wheel arch and not be so big that it rubs on any of the body or suspension parts. In order to get some wheels to fit properly, or to provide the look that the owner of the vehicle wants, wheel spacers are added to the hub of the wheel and then the tire and rim assemblies are bolted to the spacers.

Wheel spacers can cause big problems and are actually illegal in some states because they can make the vehicle handle dangerously, and they are easy to install improperly which may cause the wheels to fall off while driving. Like the over-sized rims, they can cause excessive wear and tear on the steering and suspension components as well because suspension geometry is changed.

None of this means that you can’t customize your wheels but it just means that you need to be careful. Just because a wheel assembly bolts on doesn’t mean that it will work just fine. With so many different types of custom rims available for nearly every vehicle on the road there is no reason not to find something that will fit just right, and give you the look that you want.

Automotive Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I have been reflecting upon the things for which I am thankful. Since my mind always runs through ideas related to the automotive world, I have come up with a list of things to be thankful for in the related to cars and trucks. Some of these things are silliness but most of them are genuinely good.

1.       Fuel injection: My thankfulness for fuel injection goes hand in hand with my thankfulness for the fact we don’t have to rely on carburetors anymore. When it’s really cold in the morning fuel injection helps your car run smoothly. Not having issues with silly things like a choke, and fast idle cam adjustment and that kind of nonsense is a good thing. When it’s really hot outside fuel injection helps your car run smoothly. Since fuel injection runs at a much higher fuel pressure, things like vapor lock never occur to leave you stranded out in the hot desert. When it’s wet and rainy outside fuel injection helps your car run smoothly. Air density and humidity are automatically compensated for in ways that carburetors could never handle. All of these things are completely taken for granted by just about everyone who drives. I’m sure old people, anyone who has been driving for the last 30 years or so, remembers the problems associated with carburetors all too well.

Injecting a bit of reliability

2.       Japanese Quality: What I am thankful for here are the Japanese cars that began to sell very well back in the mid 80’s. These cars were small and awkward, but were so reliable they won more and more market share every year. By the time the Japanese manufacturers started to design cars that were not just reliable but were also the size and shape that Americans wanted, they were selling more of these “normal” cars than the domestics. This higher standard that was introduced by the Japanese lead to the domestics slowly raising the quality of their product. When quality goes up across the entire market the consumer ultimately wins.

1985 Honda Civic with reliability that was so far ahead
of so many other things.

3.       European Quality: My thankfulness for European quality relates to ride and handling. Anyone who has driven a BMW or an Audi knows exactly what I am talking about. These cars are well built from the standpoint of being so nice to drive it is just plain fun. I am not sure if I can think of a car that has better handling characteristics and ride quality all wrapped in the same sheet metal than something like a BMW M5. The downside of the Europeans is that they don’t last as long as the Japanese cars, but then if you can afford a Mercedes E class, you can always sell it before it starts to fall apart and then you can go buy a new one.

2013 Ford Fusion

4.       Domestic Quality: Cars are so much better all around than they used to be, that even the domestics are building cars that last a long time. This is what happens in a free market. If you think I am way off base here in my assessment of the domestics, then name some models from the big three that were genuinely reliable and nice to drive from the 80’s or 90’s. They are very few and far between. Ford stands out in my mind as the domestic manufacturer that is really getting things done right. They are doing well building cars that people want to drive and that will last. Chrysler is doing okay too but they haven’t stood on their own two feet since the mid nineties. They are currently owned by Fiat, and before that Mercedes, so they will go as Fiat goes. GM is still owned by the government and the UAW so there is not much positive there, especially considering that GM continues to lose market share, as well as see their stock price fall.

5.       Power Sliding Doors: I have expressed my appreciation for this feature in the past but I cannot express enough how great this future is when you are a family man toting young kids around with you everywhere. This is feature only available on minivans and it is one of the things that make minivans so much better than SUVs for hauling your rug rats around.

6.       Natural Gas Vehicles: Here I go again pumping up the technology that I enjoy so much. My thankfulness for CNG all boils down to the low cost of the fuel. CNG is currently $1.60 per gallon where I live while gasoline is $3.60. I also love that natural gas comes from my backyard. My friends and neighbors literally work in the natural gas fields that surround my hometown. I am thankful that I don’t have to give my money to countries that hate me in order to drive.

7.       Platinum Tipped Spark Plugs: This is really thankfulness for spark plugs that last longer than 10,000 miles. The platinum and iridium tipped spark plugs of today can easily go 100,000 miles before requiring replacement. This means that cars and trucks are much more reliable today and require less maintenance.

The new Ford 6.7 Powerstroke

8.       Diesel Engines: I would be more thankful of course if we had as many diesel engine options here in the U.S. as they have in almost every other country around the world. These engines are so powerful and fuel efficient at the same time that using them more often would really make a tremendous amount of sense. The problem remains that most manufacturers are not quite willing to take a chance on selling these diesel engines in our market. They are getting pretty close however, and I think we will see more of them soon.

9.       Forced Induction Systems: Turbo chargers and superchargers are becoming more popular every year. This is good news for all. Not only are turbos good for making fast cars faster, but they are excellent for making normal cars more powerful with allowing them to consume less fuel. One of the strategies that many car companies are using now is replacing V6 engines with turbocharged I4 engines, and replacing V8 engines with turbocharged V6 engines. In each of these instances the cars on question have the same amount of power when it’s needed but use a lot less fuel when it’s not needed.

10.   Freeways: These are great for traveling across stateliness in order to spend thanksgiving with family. Nothing is better than hitting the highway in a nice running car and cruising to someplace that you want to go. The old adage that it’s not the destination but the journey that’s important rings true for those that love a good road trip.

 Have a good Thanksgiving. If you have a computer to read this from along with internet access, and electricity to run it all then you probably have something to be thankful for as well.

Getting on the CNG Bandwagon

Much has been said lately about compressed natural gas as a means of fueling light-duty cars and trucks. Most people compare the cost of CNG to the cost of gasoline and they want to get onboard the CNG bandwagon. Paying $1.00 to $2.00 per gallon certainly has universal appeal. So what is the best way to get into this world of low cost transportation fuel?

The thing that makes CNG such a great alternative is that it can be adapted to any gasoline engine on the road. The only problem here is that the hardware and software needed to make this happen must be certified by the EPA for each individual application. This means that if you have a 2002 Nissan Maxima you likely won’t be able to convert it to run on natural gas at this time because there is no certified kit for this application.

With a bit of research, i.e. a Google search for CNG conversion kits, you will find all sorts of companies that claim that they can make any car run on natural gas. This is true; they make parts that can be fitted to any vehicle to allow it to run on natural gas. The problem with this is not only are these kits not EPA certified, but they are often such poor quality that they are more trouble than they are worth. The software calibration is too generic and the car never runs quite right. Major power loss will be experienced; increased emissions, and chronically illuminated check engine lights will be common.

Honda Civic NG (GX). Plenty of used civics on the market if you
know where to look.

The other issue here that is perhaps more important than power loss or check engine lights is the fact that CNG fuel systems are designed to handle gaseous hydrocarbons compressed to around 3600 psi. This is a major safety issue. If the components are of high quality and are installed by a certified technician who knows what they are doing then there is no hazard. With this high pressure though, the potential for danger is high if systems are installed by someone who doesn’t know the safety standards that apply to the configuration and installation of high pressure fuel systems.

Many of these problems related to non EPA certified kits and improper installation could be remedied easily if the Feds would streamline the certification process and make it cheaper for CNG system manufacturers to certify their products. Oversight here is important but it should be a little more intelligent. Also, with more educational opportunities for automotive technicians to pick up the necessary skills to work on these systems we could move towards more CNG systems in the many cars and trucks on our streets and highways.

Honestly the most important thing to worry about when it comes to making sure that any vehicle running on CNG is running properly is what is coming out of the tailpipe. Is it possible to make non certified kits work properly? Yes it is. Can this kind of work be done by any shadetree mechanic or a mechanically inclined car owner? No it can’t. With this I would say that what we really need are laws that allow certification of individual vehicles and installations, rather than a blanket certification for exact makes, models, and model years. This could be very easily accomplished, especially in areas that already have emissions testing in place.

The state of Utah is a great example of a state that has taken action on this. They have laws in place that say that as long as the vehicle passes the emissions testing in the most populous counties then they are officially not going to worry about whether or not the kit is EPA certified. The installation must also conform to National Fire Protection Association standard 52, covering gaseous fuel system installation. Even if the kit is EPA certified, the installation must meet this standard in order to pass the Utah state safety inspection. Now how long will it be before the EPA confronts the State of Utah regarding this law is unknown, but it does show that some governments are trying to do what they can.

An older Chevrolet Cavalier CNG

So if you want a vehicle that runs on CNG what can you do? If you drive a late model, full-size truck chances are you can get a certified kit and installation pretty easily. You can even buy a CNG powered pickup truck through your local dealership in some instances. The vehicles that you can buy brand new with the CNG systems installed are usually referred to as having a factory conversion. The auto manufacturers themselves work with third party companies to equip their vehicles with some very nice systems that integrate flawlessly and can be serviced by dealership technicians.

The other option that is much less expensive is to find a nice used vehicle from about 10 years ago when there were many options on the market. The domestic manufacturers got out of the game of doing factory CNG conversions because they got a little preoccupied with keeping their factory doors open and not going out of business. Because the auto industry has stabilized a bit in the last year or two they are getting back into the CNG game. From 10 years ago you can find all sorts of trucks and vans and large SUV’s that are still on the road and with very low mileage. The low mileage results from the fact that many of them were part of some government fleet and did not get driven much.

2013 Ram 2500 CNG. This is very nice factory equipped CNG truck.

If you don’t want a truck you can find a nice used Chevy Cavalier, Ford Contour, or Honda Civic that runs on natural gas. The Honda Civic is the only CNG powered vehicle that has been in continuous production since 1996. This is a great car but it is a dedicated system so you can only run it on CNG and it cannot be switched over to gasoline on the fly like the bifuel vehicles can.

Good options do exist; check the classifieds in large markets like Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, or Los Angeles. I mention these cities because they are kind of the epicenters for CNG powered vehicles. Oklahoma and Utah have a tremendous amount of natural gas, and the pipelines that run out of Utah head straight to Los Angeles. The public gas utilities in these places have also done a lot to build infrastructure such as fueling stations. Most of the residents of Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front of Northern Utah live within a few minutes of more than one CNG station so they there are a lot of CNG cars and trucks around. The Utah laws regarding CNG conversions mentioned earlier also make this area friendly to CNG vehicles. This is a good example of how government restrictions and the loosening thereof can help the private sector to build flourishing market better than anything else.

Filling up at home would be cheap and convenient.

You can purchase home fueling units that install easily as long as you have a gas line to your garage. These compressors can fill your tank slowly over a few hours. You can hook your vehicle up at night and by the time you head out for your commute in the morning it will be full. These machines are rather expensive but the cost of the fuel when filling up at home is outrageously cheap, often less than .50 per gallon.

When buying a used CNG vehicle, make sure that the CNG system is legal and that it works properly. Run away from anything that has a chronic check engine light, or anything that cannot be verified as EPA certified, or a factory installation. Also be aware that most CNG tanks expire after 15 years and must be removed from service. Some classified ads will say that the tanks can be recertified. This is not true if the expiration date for the tank as listed on the manufacturers label has passed. Each tank must also be inspected every 3 years for safety reasons. These inspections will be listed on a label on the tank not from the manufacturer  These inspections are cheap and easy to get from a certified CNG fuel system inspector. 

So consider your options. If you want to experiment with driving a CNG vehicle then find something old and cheap and see how you like it. If current trends towards more CNG options is truly on the horizon then in a few years you will have even more options. With this, you too can use cheap fuel that comes from our own back yard rather than from some exotic foreign location. Cheap clean fuel is real, and you can use it too.

Evolution of Style

Is this just a station wagon?

In the world of personal style and fashion it seems that many times there are no new ideas. While the classics never change much and never go out of style, anything that seems new and cutting edge likely isn’t, it’s just been tweaked and relabeled. Considering how much the automobile appeals to our sense of personal style one could make the argument that there are no new ideas in this area either.

Cars such as the pickup truck and sedan are always top sellers and always fill a need for practicality and style so they have not changed much over the years. People have always wanted the things that a pickup truck offers, and the sedan we are all used to is likely to never change. Think of any sports car that is on the market, that is one platform with universal appeal that nobody dare tamper with. The best example of style evolution in the automotive world is the station wagon.

Many would say that with the exception of a few European models, the station wagon disappeared long ago when GM quit building the three seat behemoths that used to sell in abundance back in the 80’s. Nearly every manufacturer sold a wagon version of every sedan that was in their lineup. The station wagon met the needs of those that needed a bit of extra capacity for hauling more people and more of their stuff. In Europe they are still very fond of the station wagon, or the “estate” as it is called in the U.K. To the Europeans the wagon represents the only way to maximize overall utility without reducing fuel economy.

1984 Dodge Caravan.

In the mid eighties the Chrysler Corporation invented the minivan and the style evolution really began. The Dodge Caravan and the Plymouth Voyager became so ubiquitous amongst the child rearing, baby boomers that any family that was any family had one. Ford quickly followed with the Aerostar and Chevrolet came out with the Astro. The Japanese and Europeans also followed suit.

The station wagon became a second class citizen as these new minivans began to proliferate. The minivan became trendy and with good reason: they had a new style that was much more appealing than the full-size vans and they held more people and things than the average minivan. Some of the early minivan offerings were truck based so they could haul heavier loads than a station wagon and could even be used for towing. The minivan was all the rage by 1990.

The Chevy Astro was the first attempt at a minivan from
Chevrolet. It was a true minivan because it was very truck-like.

As the years rolled on and everyone with any kids had a minivan of some sort, the trendiness began to wear off as people started looking for the next great styling statement. At this point the sport utility vehicle was becoming much more driver friendly than it had typically been, and all of the auto manufacturers began to offer models with four doors and extra seating.

The Ford Explorer hit the market and started selling like mad. The public figured that if it was tough enough to be used to chase dinosaurs in Jurassic Park then they needed one for themselves. Considering that the SUV was rugged looking, great in the snow, and offered towing capacities that the minivans couldn’t, people began to take notice and the SUV craze became intense by the late 90’s. This meant that the minivan was the new nerd mobile just as the station wagon had become years earlier.

The problem was, and still is, that to most people the SUV just isn’t very nice to drive on a daily basis. Truck frames, heavy-duty drivetrains, and four-wheel-drive systems just don’t lend themselves to comfortable driving and crisp handling. Auto manufacturers, ever adapting form and function to the changing demands of the auto buying public, figured out a way to make the SUV handle more like a minivan, but without giving it the dowdy looks of the minivan. They came up with what we call the cross-over utility vehicle or the CUV.

The cross over is a major compromise, and as such it loses the qualities of the minivan and the qualities of the SUV. Since it is not good for off-road use and not very good for towing, SUV purists have no use for them. The CUV cannot haul as many people or their stuff as comfortably as the minivan so for the purely practical family, the CUV is useless. In spite of these shortcomings the CUV is a big seller and appeals to a very wide range of people. Most people don’t have any interest in off-road adventures and most people are not as practical as someone who insists on a minivan.

The Ford Flex is just a station wagon and if anyone says
different then they probably own one.

Today the next step in this automotive evolution is upon us and after close examination it is obvious that we have gone full circle. Because CUVs still are not that car like in their comfort and handling, they have changed yet again. Some of them are now lower to the ground than they have ever been, and they are being sold more and more without the option of all-wheel-drive. They still have a high amount of interior space and they still have things like three rows of seating. Some good examples of this next stage of style evolution are vehicles like the Toyota Venza, Ford Flex, or the BMW X3.

Quite often these vehicles are still referred to as CUVs but let’s face it, they’re station wagons. They are based on sedans, they lack off road capability, they have a rear hatch over the cargo area instead of a trunk, and they are not particularly good for towing.

If you tell someone who owns one of these new generation CUVs that it is a station wagon, they will quickly correct you and tell you that the vehicle they have is much nicer or sportier than a station wagon. The answer to this is, of course they are. We haven’t seen any “station wagons” in 20 years. If you were to take a Chevrolet Caprice wagon from the early nineties and give it a more evolved style with modern features, you would have the CUVs of today.

Honda Accord Cross-Tour. Not an SUV, not a cross-over,
not a minivan. It's a station wagon.

Let the Manual Be Your Guide

Believe it or not, the owner’s manual that comes with your vehicle actually contains a great deal of useful information. Many times people skip the instruction book that comes with whatever cool new thing they have bought, but in the case of the owner’s manual for your car, it is well worth your time spending a few moments studying the information found in its pages.

You might not need to read the instructions on how to start your car, or how to buckle your seat belt (those things are actually outlined in great detail), but you should definitely study the chapters pertaining to vehicle maintenance. This is the best way to determine what services are required and when. Every owner’s manual will have a maintenance schedule that will tell when you need to have certain preventative maintenance services performed.

These are things like oil changes and tire rotations. Any service that is recommended based on mileage or time is necessary just to help prevent any future problems or to stave off undue wear and tear. Common services that are always found in the owner’s manual are things like oil changes, and tire rotations, as mentioned above; but also things like air filter replacement, spark plug replacement, coolant service, transmission service, brake inspection, and all sorts of other things.

Many manufacturers will show two different maintenance schedules in the owner’s manual, “normal”, and “severe.” The difference between the two is that severe calls for more service at more frequent intervals. The one that you should follow depends on how and where you drive your vehicle. The following is a description of severe driving conditions according to the owner’s manual in a 2005 Honda Civic.

• Driving less than 5 miles (8 km) per trip or, in freezing temperatures, driving less than 10 miles (16 km) per trip.
• Driving in extremely hot [over 90°F (32°C)] conditions.
• Extensive idling or long periods of stop-and-go driving, such as a taxi or a commercial delivery vehicle.
• Driving with a roof rack, or driving in mountainous conditions.
• Driving on muddy, dusty, or deiced roads.

If you drive in any of these conditions then you drive your vehicle under severe conditions. This of course is silly because anybody who drives any car anywhere is likely to be severe. Maybe a little old lady, who lives in San Diego and only drives her car twice a week for 10 to 15 miles at a time, can be considered normal.

An example of a service schedule from an owner's manual.

The reason for this nonsense is to make the cost of maintenance seem cheaper for the car shopper that is doing their homework. Most people think that they are normal and if they are calculating the total cost of ownership, they will figure maintenance costs according to the normal schedule.

Knowing the maintenance schedule for your vehicle is helpful because if you take your car in for an oil change and they try to tell you that you should have something else serviced, you will have an idea if what they are telling you is true or not. Knowledge is power.

If you are not sure when to replace a filter or if your car even
has a particular filter check the owner's manual first.

Not everything that your car will ever need is outlined in the maintenance schedule. Sometimes your mechanic will recommend something that is not listed, and they may tell you that it is part of routine maintenance. A good example of this is fuel filter replacement. Cars that have one of these almost never have a recommendation for replacement, but it is almost always a good idea to service it regularly.

Arm yourself with information from the owner’s manual and your car will last longer, and you will be more educated when you take it to the shop. This is the best guide that you have and the information will help you take care of this machine that you rely on so much.