What problems will low miles cause?

[Nate Jones]

Hey guys!

My grandmother is the happy owner of a 2005 Honda Accord LX (4-cyl, auto). She drives very limited distances, all in the city, and has put less than 10,000 miles on it in the last 10 years (no, that’s not a typo)! I’m wondering what kind of issues I should be looking for as the vehicle ages, specifically relating to time- and heat-sensitive components, like hoses and the like.

We are going to her Honda dealer to have the 8-year check-up performed soon, and I’d like to know what to be prepared for.

Also, the vehicle has a large dent in front from where she bumped into a brick planter. What should be a reasonable price to pay to replace the front bumper?

Thanks,
Nate

Topic

[jdub1022]

i could go on for days about what COULD be wrong. as for the bumper, maybe you can find one in a scrap yard near you. only about 50$. but brand new, 2 or 300$. just a guess

[Aaron]

[quote=”jdub1022″ post=108188]i could go on for days about what COULD be wrong. as for the bumper, maybe you can find one in a scrap yard near you. only about 50$. but brand new, 2 or 300$. just a guess[/quote]
You can use http://car-part.com to find a salvage bumper near you. It will show the price, distance, color and condition. It’ll be less than the dealer for sure.

Low usage can cause issues with the fluids in the vehicle. Also the car should be taken out and driven a few times a month and allowed to get up to closed loop/operating temp. The main things you have to look at is the chemical addatives in coolant/engine oil will wear out due to time and not due to milage. Rubber hoses and belts will go due to time and not milage. So for instance if the timing belt, water pump, and tensioner would normally be replaced at 100k miles you’ll want to replace them well before that (because it could be 80 years before she hits that point 😛 ) You also want to change the oil before 3k miles because the additives will wear out just from sitting.

[Lorrin Barth]

I don’t agree with the statement that oil additives wear out just from sitting. The problem is that the oil is spending all of its time in the pan instead of being dispersed throughout the engine. You want things coated with oil so they don’t corrode.

One of the products of combustion is water and water will accumulate in the oil. The engine will also be running rich at startup or in cold weather and gasoline will accumulate in the oil. Both can be gotten rid of by a nice drive of say thirty miles that brings the engine up to temperature for awhile. I’m guessing that doesn’t happen much. The alternative is to change oil.

Other than that is the mistake already mentioned of thinking this is a new car because of the low miles. You need to do maintenance on it like it was accumulating miles like a normal car does.

[Aaron]

[quote=”barneyb” post=108211]I don’t agree with the statement that oil additives wear out just from sitting. [/quote]
Sitting in an engine they can at least from what I’ve read and what some of the oil mfgs say.
http://www.pennzoil.com/learn-about-motor-oil/what-is-motor-oil/

Friction Modifiers
These do what you think; they reduce friction under high loads and high temperatures, helping to maintain peak efficiency and fuel economy. The effectiveness of these additives diminishes over time as the oil ages

[Lorrin Barth]

One of the questions Eric asked the oil people in his oil video was ‘is years old oil still in the original containers still good’? (I paraphrase). The answer was yes although they said that some of the additive might separate.

I don’t see a difference between oil sitting in a jug and oil sitting in the pan. And, yeah, the effectiveness of additives diminishes over time but that is due to lots of miles being driven which is not the case here.

[dan]

i have a very short distance to drive too work, what i do is go for a cruise every week or so, for about 100 miles, i like to drive so it allows the engine too run some and everything too reach a operational temp and move.

what low miles old car causes i think most of all is issues with a lot of seals and gaskets and stuff, they get old and brittle but the mechanical of the engine may stay relatively fine as long as the driver lets the car drive and warm up now and then and they don’t beat on it while its still cold. short distance driving can cause issues like condensation in the crankcase and issues caused buy running a car rich as the PCM is still set too run the car rich for warm up! driving it enough too let the car run under its operating temperature should help this issue i think…

change your oil every 3,000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first, keep an eye on your fluids and tire pressures, just take it for a good drive every so often too.

[Lorrin Barth]

[quote=”13aceofspades13″ post=108221]i have a very short distance to drive too work, what i do is go for a cruise every week or so, for about 100 miles, i like to drive so it allows the engine too run some and everything too reach a operational temp and move.

what low miles old car causes i think most of all is issues with a lot of seals and gaskets and stuff, they get old and brittle but the mechanical of the engine may stay relatively fine as long as the driver lets the car drive and warm up now and then and they don’t beat on it while its still cold. short distance driving can cause issues like condensation in the crankcase and issues caused buy running a car rich as the PCM is still set too run the car rich for warm up! driving it enough too let the car run under its operating temperature should help this issue i think…

change your oil every 3,000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first, keep an eye on your fluids and tire pressures, just take it for a good drive every so often too.[/quote]

All good advice but this is his grandmother’s car. Getting old people to change their habits is sometimes harder than changing the orbits of the planets. So, instead, I think you need to work around the problem. Offer to eat her cookies and look after her car.

[Nate Jones]

[quote=”barneyb” post=108222] Change your oil every 3,000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first, keep an eye on your fluids and tire pressures, just take it for a good drive every so often too.

All good advice but this is his grandmother’s car. Getting old people to change their habits is sometimes harder than changing the orbits of the planets. So, instead, I think you need to work around the problem. Offer to eat her cookies and look after her car.[/quote]

She has maintained the car well, going for oil changes every 6 months at the dealer.

And I do eat her cookies, especially the molasses ones!

Thanks for all the help!

[Bill]

Funny you should mention additive separation. A few years ago, the shop I worked at had 4.5L jugs of Penzoil for oil changes. I poured the oil into an engine one day and for some reason I looked into the bottle.
To my horror there was black gritty looking crap in the bottom of the yellow jug. To make a long story short, a discussion with Penzoil revealed that the additives in the oil had indeed separated and collected on the bottom of the container and to shake the bottle before pouring it in.

I have checked other brands and have never seen that happen.

Needless to say I would NEVER use Penzoil in my car.

It’s possible that same thing could happen with the oil in the car.

[Author]

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