Everybody's free to change his oil
Feb 02 '00 (Updated Feb 03 '00)
Ladies and gentlemen who read epinions:
Change your oil.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, changing your oil would be it. The long-term benefits of changing your oil have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your vehicle. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your vehicle until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and that classic and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked in it. It is not the klunker you imagine.
Don't worry about parking lot dings. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to bleed your brakes without a friend to help. The real troubles in your car's life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that strand you at 2am on a dirt road in the Nevada desert.
Don't buy high octane fuel for a low compression engine.
Steer.
Don't be reckless with other people's clutches. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Wax.
Don't waste your time on road rage. Sometimes the road is clear, and sometimes it's not. Take comfort in the fact that nobody is trying to personally screw you and that everyone, *everyone* is just as miserable as you to be crawling along at 4 miles an hour on an 80 mile an hour freeway.
Keep all maintenance records. Throw away gas receipts.
Floor your engine.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what kind of car you will buy "when you can afford it". The most interesting rich people I know are driving the same thing now that they were driving when they were broke.
Change your shocks when they need it. Be kind to your bushings. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll buy a Duesenberg, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll restore a Land Rover, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll crash your Duesenberg in a classic car race, maybe you'll drive to your 75th wedding anniversary in the same car in which you left your wedding. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. The longevity of any vehicle is determined half by chance.
Enjoy your vehicle. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it. It's the greatest thing you will ever own.
Drive fast in a convertible on US1, even if you have to drive 2500 miles to get there. Read your owner's manual, even if you think you know everything there is to know about cars. Do not buy a truck believing it can do the stuff it does in the TV ad. On average, 8 trucks are totaled for each ad produced. Get to know your mechanic. He'll be less likely to screw you over. Be nice to the people at the DMV. In spite of the fact that they're dumber than dirt, driving is a privilege in this country and the power to revoke it is in their hands.
Understand that cars come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to keep them on the road because the older you get, the more you'll need the cars that remind you what it was once like to be young.
Drive in New York City once, but leave before your horn wears out. Drive in San Francisco once, but don't bother trying to park.
Road trip.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Gas will get more expensive. Emissions laws will get worse. Your car too, will someday wear completely out. And when it does, you will recall fondly how when it was young, gas was cheap, emissions laws weren't overly restrictive, and cars didn't wear out as quickly as they do now.
Respect classic cars.
Don't expect anyone else to maintain your car. Maybe you've got a fantastic mechanic. Maybe your spouse "knows cars". But you never know when either one might run out.
Buy good tires. The $25 ones may seem like a good idea in the store, but remember that this is your only link to the road. No matter how meticulously you maintain your vehicle, it will not survive a 50MPH slide into a telephone pole - and likely, neither will you.
Don't dial your phone while driving.
Don't mess too much with your car or by the time it's 20 it will look 50.
Don't drive slow in the passing lane, but don't honk at older cars who are using it to pass but going slower than you. Passing is everyone's right, and someday your car too will be a little tired.
But trust me on the oil changes.
--
Adapted by Ben Mitchell from "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen", by Baz Luhrmann
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Epinions.com ID:
benha
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Member: Ben Mitchell
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 52 members
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