My ’08 Journey coupe will be six years old at the end of this month, but it only has 25,500 miles on it. If I went solely by the maintenance guide for 72 months the following items, never yet replaced in my car, should have been replaced by now:

• Automatic transmission fluid
• Differential oil
• Engine coolant/flush system
• Engine drive belts
• Radiator cap

And curiously, the guide says nothing about brake fluid, even though I’ve heard from other sources it should be flushed and replaced after two years.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

 

Huh?

You're seriously just screwing with him, right?

 

The G37 non-lsd diff is pneumatically lubricated BB. :P

 

Well, you guys have me confused. The maintenance guide recommends the replacement of differential oil at 60K miles or 48 months. In other recommendations is does specify or exclude certain models, e.g., transfer case oil for 4WD/AWD cars, or no tire rotation for sport models, but not in this case.

 

If it were me, at 6 years I would do all of the items you mentioned including the brake fluid flush. If you take care of those times even though you don't have a lot of miles, you'll have complete peace of mind for another 6 years or so. I don't know if you plan to keep the car beyond 12 years.

 

I tend to agree with you. Certainly the brake fluid and coolant changes will be done shortly as they are more years dependent rather than mileage dependent. But I’ll do the others in short order too.

How long will I have the car? My original intent was to keep it for ten years. But considering how may years of driving I may have left at my age, I may reconsider.

 

Lol. Have your kids had "the talk" with you regarding your driver's license? My dad is close to your age and each time I see him I believe that time is getting closer and closer. Knowing him it won't be pleasant as I imagine it wouldn't be for me if I were in his situation. His visual acuity, depth perception, situational awareness, and reflexes ain't what they used to be. But he's the last one to realize it. As things stand my mom probably still has some years left where I feel safe with her behind the wheel.

 

The topic of how long I’ll be driving hasn’t come up yet, other than my son wanting my G whenever that happens. But both my kids are in their late twenties now, and should be taking care of their own driving needs.

But it reminds me of my own father who gave up driving at age 85. He kept bumping into things and on occasion got lost. So one day, a very sad day for me, he called and asked me sell his car as he didn’t feel safe driving anymore. If I follow suit, I may have almost ten years of driving left.

 

i am thinking not to take it back to dealer but to a local technician. good idea or bad?

 

I’ve always taken my car to the dealer where I bought it and they’ve always given me good service, so I think I’ll stick with them.

 

how much do they charge for 60k maintenance?

 

Trannie and Diff fluid should be changed every 30k if you are like me, but both dealers here in San Diego said that 60k is fine because the fluid they use in each these days is synthetic. I flush my radiator once a year and change the brake fluid every two years, regardless of miles (any reputable shop can do these two, but the dealers here do not charge much). As for the belts, you can pretty much inspect them and see if they are cracking/rotting. I would not replace it unless needed. Have the radiator cap checked when you flush the coolant (mine is original/10 years old).

 

Well, I don’t really know, never having gone that far. But they did charge me $119 for 7500 mile service, and $39 for a simple oil/filter change a few times. Of course, that includes free coffee, donuts and a car wash.

 

Never do a 30k, 60k, etc maintenance as a package.

Instead, look at what really needs to be done and itemize it out. You save a fortune doing this...those packages include BS like lubing your door hinges and checking alot of other things they will check for you for free if you ask (i.e. they want to find things wrong, fixing is their business).

Also, also look online for other dealers in your metro area that run service coupons. Any dealer will honor other dealer coupons if you ask.

 

Pennzoil's fall promo - 50¢/off a gal (upto 20 gals of fuel) with the purchase of 5qts or more of pennzoil platinum or ultimate. Similar to a $10 rebate except it's for the purchase of shell fuel.

http://www.pennzoil.com/promotions/

Bought 2 1.25gal jugs at wally world today (5w30), used $5off coupon on each one (from the last rebate they had). Sitting on 5 gals of oil. Good enough for both cars for the next year or until the next promo.