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Back to Articles Featuring Amsoil
For the Long Haul
Spending a few dollars more now on the toughest, most durable products
available for your car will save you money down the road.
By Richard Truett
Printed in the Orlando Sentinel
Tranposrtation Section - Novemeber 25, 1999
Imagine this scenario: It's 10:30 on a Thursday night, you're almost at the end of another long, stressful day, and you've just finished grocery shopping. You load the bags into your car, settle into the driver's seat, turn the ignition key and nothing happens.
The battery is dead.
There's no one around to help you jump start your car, and you don't have booster cables anyway.
You trudge back inside the store and ask the manager to use the phone. While your Haagen-Dazs Vanilla with Swiss Almonds is getting soft, and you learn that the nearest taxi cab is 45 minutes away. A tow truck is an hour and a half down the road. And it's too expensive.
Well, that happened to me recently, and I can tell you that on top of being tired, I got pretty grumpy. The battery - one of those sealed-for-life units - showed no signs of petering out. One minute it was fine - the next it was dead.
Thankfully, the manager let me put my groceries in the cooler while I walked three miles home and got another car to jump start my own. Then I drove my car home and rode a bicycle back to get the car with the good battery.
A little extreme, yes. But I couldn't leave the car overnight in the unguarded grocery store parking lot. A half-hour trip to the store turned into a three-hour ordeal. It was 1 a.m. before I closed my eyes that night.
The next day, I bought the best battery I could find, one that cost $109 and probably won't fail in the next five years.
And then I started wondering what else I might do to prevent my own car, a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme convertible with 67,000 miles, from having any more breakdowns.
Of course, I know that even with the most conscientious maintenance, you can never be assured of a trouble-free car. Automobiles are machines, and machines stop working every now and then.
But there are plenty of parts available from automakers and other companies that are better than the original equipment your car came with, parts that are designed to go the distance - 100,000 miles or more.
And here's the real kicker. Though these parts cost a few dollars more, they just may end up saving you money. Consider this: The average cost to have a tow truck transport your car to a mechanic is about $75. If you have to replace a $10 fan belt, the total cost of the repair is $85, plus labor. Yet if you buy the best fan belt money can buy for $20 and it never breaks, and avoid the tow truck and the inconvenience - and you've come out ahead.
Anyway, I went in search of the toughest, most durable products available, for your car. These items are not for everyone. If you lease or buy a new vehicle every three years, the factory parts that came with your car are just fine. But if you pile on the miles or plan to keep your car for many years, you might want to consider installing these parts and setting up your car for the long haul. You can add the parts at tuneup or scheduled maintenance time.
(Edited)
...Larry Perry, owner of The Magic Mechanic garage in Winter Park.
Perry is the answer man in the Magic Mechanic call-in radio show that airs at 6 a.m. Saturdays on 580 AM (WDBO)....
(Edited)
Motor oil and filter
Next up is the motor oil and filter. There are plenty of excellent motor oils, but one, Amsoil 100 percent synthetic motor oil, just may be the best on the market.
It lasts longer, provides better lubrication and allows your engine to run cooler and with less friction, said Perry, who swears by the stuff. Perry said he's never seen an engine that has been run with Amsoil fail because of sludge buildup or lubrication problems.
You'll spend about $50 for an oil change using Amsoil, but you'll save money. here's how: If you use conventional motor oil, you should change it along with the filter every 3,000 miles for a cost of about $24 per change.
Remember that automakers consider Florida a "severe driving environment" because of high heat and heavy traffic, so oil must be changed here every 3000 miles or so. However, Amsoil need not be changed until you drive 12,000 miles, even in high heat and heavy traffic, says Perry. Do the math: Four oil changes at $24 cost $96, compared to one $50 oil change with Amsoil.
Amsoil also makes synthetic automatic transmission fluid, which Perry says will extend the life of the transmission because it reduces heat buildup and provides better lubrication. You'll spend about $125 to flush out the old transmission fluid, change the filter and fill up with Amsoil.
Amsoil's engine oil and transmission fluid have been rigorously tested against other brands. They far exceed all automakers' requirements, according to Amsoil. The test results can be seen at www.amsoil.com.
Earlier this year, the Sentinel asked readers to tell us how they kept their cars running for hundreds of thousands of miles. Many long-distance drivers wrote back and said they us Amsoil. That got me interested in it, so I tried it. I use Amsoil in my car, motorcycle and lawn mower. All three run smoother and cooler.
(Edited)
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