[rohan_iitr]

Thanks for the wonderful tips to keep the car in top shape.

But I have a problem with the general tone of this article. This article, either intentionally or unintentionally, seems to suggest that a clean looking car is a well maintainted car. And I don't agree with this school of thought.

A dusty looking car can be mechanically sound, whereas a clean looking car could be a mechinally dud.

I could give 2 real life examples to prove this point.

1. I maintain my car in good mechanical condition by getting it serviced within the prescribed service intervals, at authorised service centres. I follow all fluid change guidelines given in the car's manual. I maintain proper air pressure in my tyres and drive my car in a defensive and responsible manner. But I don't care about the outer physical appearance of my car (though I keep it clean on the inside). I have a few minor sctraches on the exterior of the car, which never bother me. I almost never wash/wax the car personally, hence may be regarded as a person who doesn't care about the car.

2. My friend, who has OCD for cleanliless, always keeps his car shining on the outside by hiring a daily wash guy and additionally getting the car cleaned at service centre, more often than required. He is considered as a person who cares about his car, which is far from truth because he doesn't care two hoots about the mechanical condition of his car. He always misses the car's service intervals by several months. He has never read the car's manual. He drives rash, jumps over speedbreakers in 3rd/4th gear, lugs the engine, uses half clutch frequently and always drivers around with almost no fuel in the fuel tank.

Now whose car would you like to purchase as a pre-owned car ? I'm sure most people would like to purchase a car that looks good on the outside, not the one which has proper service history.

Rohan

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

...But I have a problem with the general tone of this article. This article, either intentionally or unintentionally, seems to suggest that a clean looking car is a well maintainted car. And I don't agree with this school of thought.

Have you heard of this maxim?

Face is the index of mind

Extending the same logic to cars, the exterior condition of the car is often the reflection of the general condition of the car.

A well maintained car on the outside would essentially mean a well maintained car on the inside too!

And ofcourse, as with every rule, there could be an exception to this rule too. You have quoted a brilliant example to prove the same!

[no_boundaries]

Excellent article and in line with the passion of true car lovers who see their cars as part of their life rather than a commuting apparatus.

My Swifty(Vxi) has done 80,000 kms and she sure floats like a butterfly and if required can sting like a bee.

I've never missed a service schedule of the car and every 20,000 Kms I get the engine decarbonized. After moving to Hyderabad, every 10,000 Kms I drive to Bangalore to get her serviced at RNS with my usual mechanics. My folks find it ridiculous but I find it necessary. That's the least I can do for her. I do drive fast but I don't drive rash hence she likes it and always rewards me by never letting me down on any of our trips together and also delivers an excellent City mileage of 13(+) KM/L and a highway mileage of 17(+) KM/L.

Truly, Love cars. Live cars.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by GTO

Parag's neat looking WagonR with nearly 200,000 kms on the clock

Thanks GTO for sharing the pic of my WagonR on a thread that talks about something that I always love. Maintaining any car in the best of its health irrespective of the ODO reading.

I have been maintaining my car all by self unless in involves a few tasks that needs it to be put on a lift and attended with sophisticated tools that I may not have. There has been no insurance claims for this ride even when its on its 7th year and munching towards the 2 Lakh kms mark. But the bumpers do have small visible marks that I need to get rid of while the body in the best of its shape.

I normally wash with plain water once a week and with car wash shampoos every alternate week.

Just hearing the ODO number, On many occasions I have been told to sell this off as it will start affecting my wallet but it is hard to make them understand that difference between niggles and replacement of regular wear and tear parts. The engine is still stock with no signs of ageing.

I believe that any car is as good to last till the owner takes care of it.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by no_boundaries

Excellent article and in line with the passion of true car lovers who see their cars as part of their life rather than a commuting apparatus.

My Swifty(Vxi) has done 80,000 kms and she sure floats like a butterfly and if required can sting like a bee.

I've never missed a service schedule of the car and every 20,000 Kms I get the engine decarbonized. After moving to Hyderabad, every 10,000 Kms I drive to Bangalore to get her serviced at RNS with my usual mechanics. My folks find it ridiculous but I find it necessary. That's the least I can do for her. I do drive fast but I don't drive rash hence she likes it and always rewards me by never letting me down on any of our trips together and also delivers an excellent City mileage of 13(+) KM/L and a highway mileage of 17(+) KM/L.

Truly, Love cars. Live cars.

Please elaborate on this a bit?
What procedure is followed for this?

[no_boundaries]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Please elaborate on this a bit?
What procedure is followed for this?

Hi,

My mistake, small Correction, its not a engine decarbonizer. For petrol, its a Fuel System cleaner.
A aerosol can, probably the size of a paint can, from 3M is connected to the fuel inlet of the engine. The car is cranked up for the chemicals to react with the carbon deposits in the process of cleaning it out. I find a visible difference in the acceleration and idling of the car after this is done. The car settles to a neat engine note. I normally prefer to do it with an engine oil change, however after I've switched to Synthetic (50,000 kms ago) I've not had a chance to do it as the intervals for oil change has changed to every 15,000 Kms. It costs 1200/- per can.

This is the information on how this is done -

http://solutions.3mindia.co.in/wps/p...Decarbonising/

You can also find some view points in our forum as well -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...on-engine.html

[GTO]

Originally Posted by bj96

I think it is a legal requirement too because the color of car is also endorsed in the RC booklet at the time of registration. Changing it later (amounts to the modification of the car?) have to inform the RTO and update RC book.

Not much of a big deal. It's a simple procedure to update the colour in the RC book. What I'd be really worried about is losing the factory fit. That's why, choose a colour that you can live with for a long time.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

But I have a problem with the general tone of this article. This article, either intentionally or unintentionally, seems to suggest that a clean looking car is a well maintainted car.

Couple of points:

- Only 8 of the ~50 advice tips talk about looks

- The post on aesthetics has intentionally been placed at the bottom. What's most important is how your car drives.

However, there is no denying that the probability of a "good looking 10 year old car" will drive much better than a "10 year old dented, rusted and dirty car". There will always be exceptions to the rule, but we're talking probability here.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by no_boundaries

Hi,

My mistake, small Correction, its not a engine decarbonizer. For petrol, its a Fuel System cleaner.
A aerosol can, probably the size of a paint can, from 3M is connected to the fuel inlet of the engine. The car is cranked up for the chemicals to react with the carbon deposits in the process of cleaning it out. I find a visible difference in the acceleration and idling of the car after this is done. The car settles to a neat engine note. I normally prefer to do it with an engine oil change, however after I've switched to Synthetic (50,000 kms ago) I've not had a chance to do it as the intervals for oil change has changed to every 15,000 Kms. It costs 1200/- per can.

This is the information on how this is done -

http://solutions.3mindia.co.in/wps/p...Decarbonising/

You can also find some view points in our forum as well -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...on-engine.html

That makes more sense
Btw call me paranoid or whatever,my car goes through two Synthetic oil changes in 15K interval

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

2. My friend, who has OCD for cleanliless, always keeps his car shining on the outside by hiring a daily wash guy and additionally getting the car cleaned at service centre, more often than required. He is considered as a person who cares about his car, which is far from truth because he doesn't care two hoots about the mechanical condition of his car. He always misses the car's service intervals by several months. He has never read the car's manual. He drives rash, jumps over speedbreakers in 3rd/4th gear, lugs the engine, uses half clutch frequently and always drivers around with almost no fuel in the fuel tank.

Rohan, no offense mate, but I am yet to come across a Car aficionado who treats his/her Car this partially.

The way you have mentioned he drives & misses his service schedules, I am surprised, his Car doesn't break-down (you haven't mentioned one, hence...). And you forgot to mention he doesn't check the air pressure as well. Hope he doesn't drive on punctured tires.

While we all get the point you wanted to put across :-) And in most cases, a clean Car outside is clean inside as well and mostly is reliable with a caring owner. Though there are exceptions everywhere.

[anuragn]

Thanks GTO.
A well written article. I too believe that probability of a good looking car to be well maintained from inside as well is much higher.
As few FMs also mentioned, even my car (6.5 yr old Wagon-R) has been prebooked by my neighbour, even though I am in no mood to sell it for the time being

[noopster]

Lovely article. Devoured it in one sitting and will be sure to come back for seconds .

I ran my 2000 Accent nearly to the ground in the 78,000 km I had her. These were pre- T-BHP days for me and I had plenty of good intentions but did a lot of things wrong. The biggest mistake was not babying it enough over rough roads and as a result my suspension was a mess at the end of it. Still I took good care of the engine, interiors and exteriors as well so people did mention that it was "well-maintained".

Had better luck with the Swift that I bought used in 2009. The original owner had kept it pretty tight at 30,000 km. It's close on 75K now and still looking and running like new. Touch wood!

[ron_9191]

Absolutely brilliant article, GTO. Thanks for taking your time on this. I have a 2006 Baleno Vxi done 31674 km as I write this. The car has been so dear to me until 2 weeks ago I thought I would sell it. But when I went through this article, I just cant think about living without it. No way on earth I think I can ever sell it. It is surely going to live with me just like "Diesel_lover's" Isuzu Gemini. That was really inspiring!!.

[InControl]

Wonderful Thread
Rated 5 star
Even the links are very comprehensive

[rakchow]

Our family has a history of running high mileages on Cars.
Our garage currently houses the following:

2008(November) Mercedes E 280 CDI 55,000 Kms Dad
2012(April) Toyota Fortuner 4x4 Manual 75,000 Kms Mom and Family
2010(August) Chevrolet Beat LT(O) 35,000 Kms Yours truly

Prior to the Fortuner we had 2 consecutive Innovas both which had run 150,000+ in 2 years each. The engine was tight, pick up was awesome and it used to zoom on the highways. Toyotas are the most reliable vehicles on the Planet.Period.

We serviced them at authorised toyota dealers (Nandi toyota) scrupulously as per schedule, checked air pressure every week, washed and vaccum cleaned every 3 days.
Our family driver has 3 cars to clean, so every other day he is found bucket in hand cleaning a car. Every month some or the other vehicle pays a visit to the dealer for scheduled maintenance.

The key to keeping them in mint condition is time. Allocate some time and consider the fact that these vehicles carry you and your family safely on our notorious highways, let them stay in the best condition possible.

PS: The service station adviser always thinks that we are running a car rental service on white board looking at the miles we clock.My Beat is waxed once in 3 months(Which the chauffeur thinks is a waste of money). Hey gimme a break , my little beat has tough competition in the best vehicle at home category

[sandeepmohan]

When I see cars that are unclean, abused by their owners, I feel sad for the car. I can't stand the sight of a abused car nor would I like to meet a car owner who does not care for his/her car.

My first car was a used Ford Ikon that my dad funded for me. It was a big mistake I bought it. It was too old though low mileage but gave me so much trouble that it really was serious wallet drain. Even with this, I used to keep the car in top shape.Not once was there anything unfixed, the interiors were spotless, I vacuumed the car even for one grain of sand on the floor, dusted the carpets after every single trip to the city or highway. I used to pop the hood open and make sure everything was tidy. I used to vacuum the boot too. It had to be spotless. If I knew I had to carry friends or family, I will double check to make sure they feel good when they travel in my car. My 10 year old Ikon looked a little old on the outside due to the charcoal grey stock paint scheme but the interiors were spotless and felt new.It n fact felt better than my present Fiat which kinda feels low rent in some parts but thats got to do with how the car was manufactured. I could easily say that my car is kept even cleaner than my house. I also hate it when it rains as all the wheel wells get mucked up with sand and the car is so hard to clean.

My present car gets the same love and respect. If I followed a truck that went over a pile of sand that created a dust storm in front, the moment I get home, I blow out the engine with my Skill blower.