All Japanese Cars

We just lectured a car owner yesterday who paid $1,500 in repairs for a severely-neglected 5-year old Nissan Altima. It had less than 50,000 miles on it, so under normal conditions, this is a very young car.

But the oil was not changed for two years. The engine ran hotter. Systems failed and the coolant slowly disappeared. Eventually, the car would shut down, stranding the driver.

When they brought the car in, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was a bad scene. There were two quarts of oil left. We flushed the injectors, transmission, cooling system and power-steering. We replaced the radiator. The repairs were very labor-intensive, driving up the cost of the bill.

We hope to see the owners soon when it's time for their regular oil change.