Oil Change and Tire Rotation

 Today I'll have the oil changed in the car, and the tires rotated. It's an occasional task, and it makes me think of today's costs. 

When I first started owning vehicles, the largest tires were 15 inch tires, and many of the vehicles I owned had 13, or 14, inch tires. They seemed to work well. That, and disc brakes were not common, nor anti-lock brakes. I don't know what the stopping distances were in comparison to vehicles today, but like anything, adjustments were made for what was available. I knew the limitations of the vehicle, and compensated for the limitation. Whether that's really that important today doesn't seem to be something so demanded, but I do know the larger tires are more expensive, and the electronics involved in brakes has increased the cost of vehicles. 

Oils have come a long way since I started driving. With the additives, and synthetics, oils don't break down like they once did. Where an oil change was demanded at 3000 miles in the past, the oils today can still have full lubricating qualities up to 15,000 miles. While I was working, we had a synthetic oil on one of our vehicles tested over time. The synthetic in the diesel truck we tested didn't show any degradation in performance until around 17,000 miles. 

Times change, and many of the changes are good. Where a vehicle in the past was basically shot at 100,000 miles, with good care and maintenance, some are still dependable at 300,000 miles. I know car companies would rather people buy more often, but with vehicles costing a substantial amount of a new homes, people just don't have the money and want to wait as long as possible before buying new.