Before JD Power survey results became important a 30K service included
all the fluids, all the filters, and ignition parts replacement. Once
the Japanese cars deleted all service except oil changes for the first
100K or 4 years their maintenance costs on the JD Power survey were
miniscule compared to there European counterparts that had always
stressed preventative maintenance that included much more prefailure
replacement of fluids and parts. The upshot was that suddenly the
weighted value for 100K and 3 year ownership pushed the CSI (Customer
Satisfaction Index) for European cars to the bottom of the list. In
order to bring the maintenance dollars spent to a more competitive
level, coolant changes, trans oil changes, and diff oil changes
disappeared from the scheduled maintenance list; this cut the parts cost
by a little (10%) and the labor cost by a fair amount (20-25%)most
places. The oil change interval had been based on a 12000 mile per year
usage until 1976 or so then raised to a 15000 mile per year, then 20000
miles per year, now 22500 miles per year and the service interval was
based on performing maintence every three months or once every season.

Bob

rdietzatrdgautodotcom

 

Obviously you've never driven in rush hour traffic in the NE US or
California. In DC rush hour starts around 5:30 AM and continues to about
9:30 PM ;)

Bob

Depends how it's driven. I've seen plenty of well worn syncros in the
lower gears, some people are a lot harder on the transmissions than others.