Hello all,
Are there any precautions or differences in maintenance for a car that does 90% city driving? I have a 95 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder automatic (147k miles). Sometimes I use my car to do deliveries, which is mostly stop and go driving. I know these cars are pretty bulletproof already, but it got me thinking, is maintaining a car that does mostly city driving different from more mixed conditions? Could my car last 500,000 miles with mostly city driving? Thanks!
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Wait, wut?
I saw Camry and 147,000 miles. But until I went back and read @nlord I totally missed the 1995 part.
So you are officially talking about a classic car. Sure, it's a Camry. But logistically it is a classic, and you will have to take that into account. Putting another 350,000 is not going to be just "good maintenance". In YouTube terms, by the time you are done you will be well past "Scotty Kilmer" and solidly into "Vice Grip Garage" or "Car Wizard" territory.
Which means you are going to need a different approach. Most people with that kind of vehicle drive it until one more thing breaks, then junk it. If you want to keep it long term, I think you will need to do more:
1. You need to be prepared yourself to do mid- to high-level DIY stuff. Not just brake pads, but brake calipers. Not just radiator flush, but radiator replacement. You can't feasibly pay someone to do everything it needs, even if you find someone who wants to. You will need a shop manual and all the necessary tools. You also need to have contingency plans for emergencies (like what if you shear off an old rusty bolt).
2. you need to maintain a high awareness of parts. For a lot of things on a car that old, you can't just bop down to the local AutoZone. Some things are going to need special order and others will need to be salvage.
3. For the things that are beyond DIY (valve jobs, piston rings, differential rebuild) you will need to find a mechanic who has the wherewithal to do it. Look for an Asian car shop with some old mechanics.
Kudos to you for wanting to keep the old thing running. But be aware of the magnitude of what you're proposing. make sure it's what you really want to do.
Good luck!
Yeah it won't get that many miles out of it. If it was a 97 and up, the parts are much more plentiful at least, but not 350k more. It could last a bit, but I would have my eye out for something newer.
Are there any precautions or differences in maintenance for a car that does 90% city driving?
City driving is the worst kind of driving. According Scotty, you can expect things to wear out 10x faster than driving on the highway. If your owner's manual has a "severe conditions" maintenance interval, then use that.
Could my car last 500,000 miles with mostly city driving?
Who knows. It depends on how it's been looked after since new. Just baby it, maintain it often, and it will last as long as it can. Grab yourself a repair manual and read it thoroughly. That's what I did when I was a kid.
500K is a tall order. Most extreme mile vehicles (hotshot trucks, for example) get mostly highway/freeway miles. But there have been a number of taxicabs and the like that have gone 500K.
Like @mmj says, see if there is a "severe service" maintenance schedule in the owners manual. If not, I would be pretty aggressive with changing all the fluids; maybe change everything at 2/3 the usual interval.
Also be aware that some fluids, like transmission fluid, often have just an "Inspect" interval rather than a "Change" interval. In severe stop-and-go driving, those fluids should probably be changed.
Air filter is probably plus/minus; probably go by the standard interval.
Plugs are maybe the tricky one. Scotty or one of the other experienced mechanics around here might have an opinion about changing them sooner. Probably not mandatory to shorten the interval, but you might pull them out half way through their service life and take a look how they're holding up.
Don't forget the transmission, it is doing way more shifting in stop and go traffic. My Uncle would tear up brand new vehicles very quickly doing mail delivery, constant stop and go. Once he switched to Toyota that changed though, those lasted a lot longer. Still need to maintain the dickens out of it, after all, it is pretty old.
Do oil changes often
As often oil changes as you can, 3000-4000 miles should be ok. Problem with constant city driving is oil gets hotter then normal, and gets contaminated from unburned particles faster. If your car does not burn any oil you can try full synthetic with very high temp resistance.
.... so you could extend oil chnages to around 6k miles. But to be 100% sure you would need to take sample for oil check somewhere and that full syn. oil will be propably pricier.
Are there any precautions or differences in maintenance for a car that does 90% city driving?
Most car manuals have a section for "severe operating conditions", these describe the maintenance needed if your car is used in city, on rough road, etc.
Basically it's way more oil changes, and much more frequent transmission fluid changes.
Could my car last 500,000 miles with mostly city driving?
Depends on how many engines and transmissions you're willing to replace along the way.
