I drive so little any more, I do it as much by time as miles- about
every 8-10 months works out to every 4-5 k miles. Of course, the current
two cars are the first ones where I am not adding a quart every month or
so (knock on wood)- if you have a car that leaks or burns and keep
adding fresh oil, you can stretch it a bit. 3k miles is 'because that is
the way we have always done it' and a profit center, IMHO. Even Click
and Clack say 3k is too often, with modern oil and engine systems, and
unleaded gas. I do make sure to drive long enough and fast enough to get
the engines fully heated up, at least once a week.
The amount of money government spends "creating jobs" is just throwing
money at the problem. The most effective way our government could
create jobs would be to only spend government money on American made
products and legal American workers.
While I mostly agree with you in principle, I'm afraid that ship has
long since sailed. A whole lot of what the government buys is no longer
made in this country, period. The factories aren't even THERE anymore.
Congress did pass the so-called 'Buy America' act several years back
which tried to require what you advocate, but I'm not sure they even try
to enforce it any more. Try to buy a computer (for example) that isn't
mainly China or Pacific-rim sourced. And the gummint buys a Whole Lotta
computers.
Besides which, the concept is flawed. Buyers should be able to get the best
value for their needs, irrespective of its origin. In the case of, say,
China, we (individuals or governments) buy computers from them because that
product is the best value for the price. They, in turn, buy stuff from us
(wheat, airplanes, Hello Kitty products) because they, in turn, get the best
value.
Artificial restraints of trade ("Buy American", tariffs, taxes, "prevailing
wage" rules, etc.) and various forms of protectionism are an overall drag on
the economy.
In his book, "An Inquiry Into the Wealth of Nations," Adam Smith illustrated
a cheese-wine dilemma. France made excellent wine and mediocre cheese. Just
the reverse was true for Italy. France instituted a severe tariff on
imported cheese to protect its domestic cheese-makers. Italy did the same
with wine. The consumers in France ended up with ghastly cheese while the
imbibers in Italy had to drink terrible wine.
The only people who benefited were the makers of indifferent cheese in
France and the incompetent vintners in Italy.
Tariffs and protectionism work well when a country has industrial
policy. We have none.
No energy policy, no industrial policy.
Just dopes fighting in Congress and a President with no real policy
vision I can see.
That's why unemployment is so high, and will worsen.
This economy? Looks like it "drags" just fine all by itself, with
essentially laissez faire trade policy and no industrial policy.
Hey, that reminds me,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkExpbnjsX8
No sense in trying to solve a problem by using as a "solution" what
got them into trouble in the first place.
As I see it, the virtual de-industrialization of America is the
problem.
Since I spent my first 10 years after the Navy working in factories
producing goods sold here and for export, some might think me
prejudiced. But I don't think so.
http://www.businessinsider.com/deindustrialization-factory-closing-2010-9
Adam Smith is dead, and so is the pastoral world of yore.
I can make my own cheese and wine.
For most manufactured goods I have to buy foreign.
That's why "they" have jobs and we don't.
It won't last though. People without jobs can buy nothing.
Unless the Fed can somehow keep printing money to pass out.
It's all a dream within a dream.
It was good while it lasted.
--Vic
Oh, we do have "policies."
For example, Canada just completed a "Free Trade" agreement with Columbia.
Columbia will now buy Canadian wheat at 15% less than American. The current
administration's "policy" is to NOT submit the Columbian Free Trade Treaty
to the Senate.
I'm not sure what you mean by "industrial policy." If you mean a
government-directed plan to favor some industries and control the direction
of development, Japan tried that and it failed miserably. Authoritarian
governments have also tried setting quotas and goals (i.e. Soviet Five-Year
Plans and the like) which have also failed miserably. Not to be discouraged,
OUR government is meddling in the same thing with ethanol subsidies and
grants for "clean energy" development.
Just to be fair here, it should be noted that most jobs "created" are in the
government sector to ease the three day workload of existing government
workers.
Steve
Manual will probably say change in so many miles/months. As a retiree
who drives less than half the suggested miles in the time alloted, I
usually change mine every 3,000 miles or 6 months.
I recently had a situation where I asked for reimbursement of a known
problem after the warranty period and all service records outside the
dealer were requested. I don't save receipts but I do keep a service
log book and my claim was allowed.
wrote Re OT Who changes their motor oil at 3000 miles?:
I've been changing oil + filter every 5000 miles for the past 40 years
on all cars in the family. Never had a problem. I've always used
store-brand oil.
I usually wait for my SUV (Saturn a.k.a. GM) to tell me its time (about
15,000 km) but the dealer puts a 5000 km sticker in the window (WTF)?
I was given 3 years bumper to bumper when I bought it, so the oil
changes have been free. I plan on waiting until around 7000 km (about
1000 km before my B2B expires) to have it change before relieving on the
oil life sensor again.
Our '02 Chrysler 300M tells me when an oil change is due, but the
interval can be set by the user for either 3000 miles or 7,500 miles. We
always have it set for 3000.
Perce
Ok, now I have a different result. The last time I got my oil
changed at Walmart they put a 3750 mile sticker on. That is
the factory recommended interval for regular driving. If the
driving is mostly highway it can go to 7500 miles. The car
is a 2007 Nissan.
Bill
This instills a visible reminder of guilt and impending doom for the anal.
And those who can't change their own oil.
You notice they put it on the windshield right where someone can see it
every time they drive, and not the door. Probably illegal in California.
Steve
For the past 4 years or so, my driving has been mostly moving the car
for street cleaning, and to the market up the street every week or so.
I sometimes won't go through more than a couple of complete warm up
cycle between changes...
As a result, I'm now changing oil by calendar month... do it every 90
days, ...even set up a Google calendar reminder.
Got 22 years out of my old 87 Accord... changed it's oil (Valvoline
10-40) every 3000... whenever I had the valve cover off for adjustments,
it looked like the day it was built. It was the rest of the car that
became an issue...
Erik
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