How to Make Your Older Car Last Longer: Accomplished Auto’s Guide for Concord-Area Drivers
Owning an older vehicle – whether it's nine years old or even fifteen – doesn't mean it's on its last legs. With proper care and maintenance, modern cars can often run well past 200,000 miles (around 320,000 kilometers) without major issues. Many drivers in Concord, NH and the surrounding areas – from Bow and Hopkinton to Pembroke and Boscawen – are keeping their vehicles longer. This guide will explain how regular maintenance and a few smart strategies can help you get another year or more out of your high-mileage ride.
Stick to the Maintenance Schedule (Even After 100k Miles)
Every vehicle comes with a recommended maintenance schedule in the owner's manual. Common services might be listed up to, say, 100,000 miles – but that doesn't mean you should stop after your odometer passes that mark. Continue following the schedule intervals for services as your car ages. For example, if your car needed an oil change or a filter replacement every 5,000 miles when new, keep doing that every 5,000 miles beyond 100k as well. In fact, as a car gets older, adhering to those service intervals becomes even more important.
Why is this so critical for high-mileage cars? Over time, engines lose a bit of efficiency, internal parts get dirty with deposits, and components experience wear and tear. Skipping any scheduled service on an older car can accelerate these issues. Even something as routine as an oil change is vital: missing one oil change could allow sludge (thick, dirty oil buildup) to form in the engine, which can cause premature engine wear or other problems.
Never Skip Essential Services
Keeping up with all the basic maintenance will greatly extend the life of your vehicle. Key services that become even more crucial as a car ages include:
- Frequent Oil and Filter Changes: Oil is your engine’s lifeblood. Changing it (and the oil filter) on schedule keeps the engine internals clean and lubricated. At Accomplished Auto, a full-service oil change also means we top off other fluids and perform a checkup. This way, we can spot small problems early – long before they turn into expensive repairs – and remind you of less frequent items (like timing belt or differential oil changes).
- Transmission Service: Older transmissions benefit from fluid changes or flushes as recommended. Fresh transmission fluid keeps shifting smooth and prevents excessive wear on gears and clutches.
- Coolant (Antifreeze) Flush: Replacing your coolant at the proper intervals protects your engine from overheating and prevents corrosion inside the radiator and engine. This is especially important for aging cooling systems.
- Brake Inspections and Service: Don’t overlook your brakes. Make sure brake fluid is clean and at the right level, and that brake pads, rotors, and other components are in good shape. As vehicles age, brake calipers and lines should also be checked for wear or leaks.
- Power Steering & Other Fluids: Many cars have power steering fluid that needs periodic changing. Likewise, older cars may have other fluids (like differential or transfer case oil in AWD/4WD vehicles) that require attention according to the maintenance schedule.
- Fuel System Cleaning: Carbon deposits can build up in fuel injectors, intake valves, and combustion chambers over time, especially in direct-injection (GDI) engines. Cleaning the fuel system periodically will help maintain engine performance, smooth idle, and fuel efficiency.
Concord business owners who manage fleets of vehicles are often religious about maintenance – and for good reason. Money spent on upkeep actually saves money in the long run. Regular maintenance can:
- Save on Fuel Costs: A well-maintained engine runs more efficiently, using less gas.
- Prevent Costly Repairs: Fixing minor issues (or replacing worn parts) before they fail can save you from major breakdowns and repair bills.
- Extend Vehicle Life: By taking care of your car, you can easily postpone the huge expense of buying a new vehicle.
Follow the "Severe Service" Schedule for Older Vehicles
If you check your owner's manual, you’ll notice most have two maintenance schedules: Normal and Severe Service. Severe service (or severe duty) applies to vehicles that operate under tougher conditions – like frequent short trips, stop-and-go traffic, extreme temperatures, or heavy loads. But here's a secret: by the time a car is old or high-mileage, its engine and systems have been through a lot and can effectively be under "severe" conditions internally.
For this reason, if your vehicle is older or has very high miles, it may be wise to follow the severe service intervals, even if your driving habits are mild. That usually means getting services (oil changes, fluid changes, etc.) done more frequently than the normal schedule suggests. By using the severe service schedule as your guide, you provide extra protection for your aging engine, transmission, and cooling system. When in doubt, talk with a friendly, knowledgeable service advisor (like our team at Accomplished Auto in Concord) about which schedule is best for your car.
Use High-Mileage Fluids and Quality Additives
Automotive fluids have improved a lot, and there are special high-mileage formulations available for older vehicles. Once your car has around 50,000 miles (80,000 km) or more, switching to these high-mileage engine oils, transmission fluids, and coolants can help. They contain additives that:
- Clean and Protect: High-mileage oils and fluids have extra detergents to dissolve sludge and carbon deposits that naturally build up over time.
- Condition Seals: As engines age, rubber seals and gaskets can dry out or shrink, leading to leaks. High-mileage formulations include ingredients that restore flexibility to seals, helping to prevent or slow down leaks.
In addition to using high-mileage fluids, we also use professional-grade cleaning additives for critical systems in older cars. For example, at Accomplished Auto we use BG Products for certain advanced maintenance services:
- Fuel/Air Induction Cleaning: Using BG's fuel system cleaners (particularly helpful for GDI engines), we remove stubborn carbon deposits from fuel injectors and intake valves. This helps your engine breathe better and prevents issues like clogged injectors that might otherwise require expensive replacements.
- EPR (Engine Performance Restoration): This is a BG engine oil additive service performed right before an oil change. It helps dissolve and flush out heavy carbon deposits inside the engine. By cleaning piston rings and oil passages, BG EPR can restore compression, reduce oil burning, and improve overall performance. In short, it gives your engine an "internal cleaning" to help it run like new again.
- GDI Intake Service: Gasoline Direct Injection engines are prone to carbon buildup on intake valves (since fuel injectors spray directly into the combustion chamber). Our BG GDI intake cleaning service targets those deposits. Keeping the intake valves clean is increasingly important in higher-mileage GDI engines to maintain power, smooth running, and fuel economy.
Using these professional-grade products and services as part of your maintenance routine keeps your vehicle operating at peak performance. They can also prevent major problems down the road – for instance, keeping the engine and fuel system clean may help you avoid issues like burned-out catalytic converters or gummed-up VVT (Variable Valve Timing) components that could lead to big repair bills.
Keep Your High-Mileage Car Going Strong
The bottom line is that a little extra attention goes a long way toward making your car last. By staying on top of maintenance and using the right fluids and services, there's no reason your odometer can't keep climbing reliably. Your nine-year-old car with 120,000 miles could very well become a twelve-year-old car with 180,000+ miles still running great – as long as you give it the care it needs.
If you have an older vehicle in Concord, NH or the nearby towns of Bow, Hopkinton, Pembroke, or Boscawen, we're here to help you keep it in top shape. At Accomplished Auto, our experienced technicians know just what aging vehicles need. We’ll remind you of important services (like timing belt replacements or differential fluid changes) that aren't due as often, and ensure all those routine maintenance tasks are done right. We also install quality NAPA replacement parts whenever we need to replace a component, so you can trust that repairs will last.
Give us a call at (603) 226-6630 or visit our shop at 134A Hall St. in Concord to schedule a high-mileage maintenance service. We're happy to answer your questions and work with you to keep your trusty ride running safely and smoothly for many miles to come.