Built like a Mercedes (?)

Who has done that?

I merely make use of the fact that repeat top-posters frequently do so out of arrogance - as if to say "f*ck you, I don't have to obey any social conventions." People with this sort of attitude generally don't have anything valuable to contribute to a discussion. I figure I might as well use it as a leading indicator and PLONK them right away, saving valuable time.

Replace books with newspapers, magazines, web pages, and every other form of printed material known to Man. They all follow the same conventions.

Those who choose to reject them run the risk of being rejected themselves.

Because it shows you're an ignorant fascist.

Graham

This particular model wasn't sold in the USA. In any case, 'pattern parts' are often made locally.

Good. It is true btw. I've been stuggling to recall the parts that *did* need replacing. Almost nothing under the hood bar the usual service parts. I recall it needed some fuel hoses replaced and maybe the water pump ( not sure about that - maybe it was my previous Cavalier ).

Graham

Parts travel both ways. The parts for the US built X5 and Mclass I owned were no different to German built models. Parts for Japanese built vehicles are no more expensive then British built Japanese brands. Transport cost is trivial from the US to Europe and vise-versa. A container will contain many thousands of parts but will cost about $1500 to ship from store to store which is likely to be less than a Dollar an item. In fact the manufacturer will charge a percentage for transport so that a filter will have maybe 10C transport while a $100 part will have maybe $2 added.

So you have doubts. Hmm.

Huw

All your writing does not change the fact that 1/2 ton trucks are not common in Europe and that 1 ton payloads are almost universal. The 1 ton trucks are very much smaller than yours though and are typified by the Toyota Hi-lux.

Huw

in general 10,000 to 12000 mile intervals do not need synthetic oil. It is true that most intervals longer than that do specify various grades of synthetic but every vehicle irrispective of change interval have a specified oil grade which they should use.

Huw

Yes I know.

Huw

Yes cars of that period were less reliable than today and rotted. Exhausts and batteries seldom lasted more than a year and new vehicle warranties were commonly six months only with no warranty for exhausts and stuff. Things move on.

You have more experience than most here then.

Huw

I've heard it suggested that the popular 10-30 and 10-40 multigrades sold in Europe are refined to a higher degree than in the US. Nevertheless I prefer to use synthetics for oil change intervals of ~ 10,000 mi.

Also, there seems to be more short journeys in the US which probably hammers the oil worse.

Graham

No dip s*it, it show's he knows how to use a weapon.

Roy

I misunderstood Huw. I thought the point you were making was that little trucks are not common in europe, but in north america 1/2 tons are very common but typically only carry fishing tackle.

I was explaining that 1/2 ton truck owners here USE their trucks to WORK. (and most of us need an 8' box)

rach

yes good point -- probably another reason why the cheapest oil will do in an old block (80's), as long as you change it every 3-5000 mi when you are travelling dirt roads or breathing in construction dirt -- i think i have an extra 6 gallons of oil and oil fiters

rach

really graham, or i man pooh. it was your idea not mine. hmmm.

I've got 4 over 200k, and one over 400k. American cars (Chrysler products). The one with over 400k did a big chunk of that with plain old dinosaur oil, and it sure wasn't changed every 3k. I didn't run them to

Boy - someone needs to go to Haiti or Burkina Faso. Quite densely populated compared to the USA, Canada, Europe, or even South Africa, and 2 of the 5 poorest countries in the world.

Really, you do seem easily fooled.

Most of the fleet, LOL. While the damage was greater than we expected, it was hardly most of anything and prior to that, we were shipping tons of military supplies to GB prior to Pearl. Why do you think that was?

LOL, Churchill knew about the "surprise" attack on Perl before it happened and so did Roosevelt. Roosevelt knew that this country needed a punch in the face to motivate the people for what would come. Kind of lucky for us that the most important ships in the Pacific were nowhere to be found during this attack, huh, LOL! And of course, we were gearing up military production prior to the war only to help our allies the British, right?!?!