More maintenance information

[suitcasejefferson]

The oil change thread is nice, but what is needed is more information on other maintenance, like changing the coolant, transmission fluid, serpentine belt, air filter, brake pads and shoes, etc.

There appears to be no third party service manual for this car yet, the only one available is the super expensive GM manual. I just ordered one. I am a mechanic, and can do any maintenance and repairs on this car that does not require removing the engine/transmission. I don't have a hydraulic lift available.

So far I have found the recommended service intervals to be woefully inadequate. You can likely double the life of the car by using proper service intervals, like 3,000 miles for the oil, 2 years/24,000 miles for the transmission fluid, and 2 years for the coolant, especially if you are using Dexcool. I have seen engines run 10 years with plain ethylene glycol with no problems, but Dexcool can completely destroy an engine in 5 years. It turns into a gooey waxy mess that plugs up everything. I plan to flush mine out really good, and switch to Ford Motorcraft Gold coolant. It is the best coolant on the market, and what we use in all our fleet vehicles, GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

 

[eggsalad]

So far I have found the recommended service intervals to be woefully inadequate.

Are you basing this on empirical evidence, or just your "gut feeling"?

You can likely double the life of the car by using proper service intervals

Following the recommended intervals would likely give you a service life of 120,000-150,000 miles. Who in their right mind wants to drive a Sonic long enough to put 300,000 miles on it??

 

[suitcasejefferson]

It is based on my 36 years as a fleet services mechanic. And I want ANY car I spend my hard earned money on to last as long as possible. I did not buy my Sonic new, I bought it used with 51,000 miles on it for $6000. If you don't want to put 300,000 miles on your Sonic, then why did you spend $20K for one. There are many vehicles available for that price, and some for way less, that you can get way more miles out.

I see a lot of people spending many thousands of $$$ on their Sonic to make it the way they want it. Does that make sense for a car that is not going to last very long? By doing proper maintenance, at least you can get as many miles out of it as possible.

Not Sonic related, but I do not buy new cars. I made that mistake once, and lost a fortune. After you pay the sales tax (10% in my state) destination charge, title and registration on a new car, take the 30% depreciation hit as soon as you drive it off the lot, have to pay full coverage insurance (about 4 times the cost of liability in my state) you could have bought 3-4 very nice late model low mileage cars from private sellers (no tax on private sales in my state) that will together give you several times the mileage as a new Sonic. And if you financed the Sonic, it gets even worse. Or, you can buy a nearly new Camaro, Mustang, Malibu, Fusion, etc. what ever pushes your buttons, for the cost of a brand new Sonic. Back in 2010, I bought a nice used Malibu with 94,000 miles on it for $3000, and drove it to 228,000 miles (with proper maintenance), then sold it for $1000, still running fine, with a few minor problems. Very cheap miles, and I wasn't driving junk either, it was a very nice car. I just took advantage of the enormous depreciation late model cars seem to have.

I do not dislike the Sonic. It is a very fun car. In fact I already have several modifications planned. But first I need to get it up to date and keep it up to date on maintenance, and repair a couple of minor issues.

 

[eggsalad]

Okay, I get it. I get too bored of cars to drive a single model for the 375 years it would take me to drive 300,000 miles. Also, I'll probably be dead by then.

I didn't buy my Sonic new either. I paid $10k for a 3-year-old car with 28,000 miles.

I don't obsess over getting a car at the lowest possible cost, either. Life's too short for that.

 

[suitcasejefferson]

I usually put 30,000-40,000 miles a year on a car. It adds up fast.

 

[Llia]

Yeah 35K per year seams right.
That is about 8.5 years

I'd love it to last 10 years though.

My original NES still runs since December of 1985. 30 + years doesn't get old. Cartridges are like car mods. You take a simple base system and add different possibilities. But in order to keep the games playing you need to maintain the system that supports it.

 

[TurtleOverlord]

I don't know if you're a member on cruzetalk too,
but they have some good diy write ups that we may not

also csmans.com if it wasn't mentioned anywhere

 

[eggsalad]

I usually put 30,000-40,000 miles a year on a car. It adds up fast.

Wow. That's about 700-800 hours per year in a Sonic. That's almost like a part-time job!