Car maintenance is generally a pretty straightforward thing. And oil changes are perhaps the most predictable upkeep expenses of an internal combustion vehicle. Pulling the oil dipstick out of the engine and seeing a light brown trail stopping at the “full” line is always welcome. Doing the same thing and getting a reading of half empty less than one thousand miles into a new oil change is not. Having to deal with the fallout of a recall and a New York State inspection that didn’t go as planned only added to the aggravation I experienced earlier this month.
I first realized there might be a problem with the Focus when I checked the fluids after I returned from an out of state trip between Christmas and New Years. Simply put, the oil looked a bit dark and the dipstick was apparently showing that the engine only had half the amount of oil it should. It had only been 1,000 miles since new oil had been put in the car, so naturally I thought something wasn’t right with the car. But there were no spots on the garage floor or on the engine itself. What gives?
I decided to call the dealer that performed the oil change to schedule an appointment so they could determine if there was a problem with the Focus. On the drive over to drop the car off, I realized that giving them the go ahead to look over an engine with less than 30,000 miles on it might result in an inconclusive and expensive visit that would leave me none the wiser. Then it dawned on me that a second oil change would be the best idea, because it doesn’t cost much and does nothing to harm the car while also providing a clean slate to continue monitoring the car for future oil consumption issues.
I also had the dealer perform the recall for the canister purge valve issue. Personally, I experienced none of the symptoms outlined in the notice, so when they said there were no issues, and that the car only needed a software update, I was satisfied.
Between my visit to the dealer, and my trip to the local Valvoline to get my car inspected, I decided to check the oil level to make sure everything was copacetic. At first, it was not, as the level read half full. But when I put the dipstick back in I felt it click into place. Another check and…presto! I was getting false readings because I never put the dipstick back in fully during my previous attempts to get a reading on the oil level. In my defense, my older cars never required this; the dipstick just slid right into the hole. Oh well. I learned a lesson for the inexpensive price of $38 dollars. Could have been worse.
But the drama didn’t end there. February 1st, 2019 was an extraordinarily cold day in New York. I didn’t have a lot going on that Friday and knew I needed an inspection. I correctly surmised that the cold would dissuade people from going to the local Valvoline, which resulted in my car getting inspected in under fifteen minutes. With nothing else to do I watched as one technician hooked the car up to a computer and do other checks. He motioned to his colleagues that they should come over and they walked around the car while looking a bit puzzled, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
Turns out they were probably wondering why a car with less than 30,000 miles wasn’t ready for the emissions portion of the inspection. I was also baffled as to how that could happen until the technician asked if I had been to the dealer recently. Duh! I reluctantly paid $21 for the failed test and headed straight up to the dealer to let them know I wasn’t happy with the way things turned out. Fortunately they were understanding and admitted they made a mistake, which resulted in the dealership not only inspecting my car the following week, but covering the cost of the re-inspection, which would have been $10. Humans will make mistakes and adulthood has taught me that there is nothing to be upset about if an issue has been corrected. I left satisfied.
I’m now going to pivot a bit to discuss modern vehicle infotainment. In articles about newer cars I’ve noticed a number of commenters explain their reluctance to purchase a late model vehicle due to the idea that any audio or entertainment interface in said car would inevitably become outdated over time. My response to that is…so what? In the six years I’ve owned my Focus I’ve been through three phones and all of them worked with Ford’s SYNC system just fine. I suspect my eventual Galaxy S7 replacement will also have no problem with the car either.
The same can be said for my 4th generation iPod Touch. I’ve only encountered two problems with the Apple and both of those issues had nothing to do with the car. First was a wire that decided to suddenly stop working and the second was an odd software hiccup that forced me to restart the iPod. That’s it.
Is the car’s user interface outdated? Sure. You’ll get no arguments from me on that point. But it all works just as well as it did on day one. And the Bluetooth is just as fine as ever, along with the voice recognition for my phone and the iPod. There is no general slow down with the system as it has aged.
There are times when I wish I had a more modern 8 inch touchscreen that could handle Android Auto. Having Waze on a nice big screen would be very advantageous. But I got by just fine using my phone as a GPS when I drove down to Maryland last summer and the same setup worked just as effectively when I visited a friend in Salem, MA during the holidays. Any technological device you own will become outdated eventually. And every car gets supplanted by a newer one every couple of years. If the setup in my 2013 Focus didn’t work with newer devices or experienced some type of performance degradation over time I’d be peeved at the state of modern vehicle infotainment. That has not happened yet and I don’t think it ever will.
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Maintenance issues like those can be very frustrating; glad you got things settled to your satisfaction. I was wondering about that recall, though. The excess vacuum can deform the fuel tank? That’s some serious vacuum, since I understand those tanks are pretty sturdy. Good that you haven’t experienced any problems.
Just wait until your dipstick sleeve breaks … it will happen if you have a 1.8T Volkswagen, not sure about the Focus, and you buy a Dorman aftermarket replacement which seems a different height resulting in a different insertion depth. And false readings resulting in over filling.
As for infotainment, no real problems with our 2015 Golf or 2016 Toyota, except the VW is the last year (I think) of the proprietary VW-Audi interface connector. No USB, only Bluetooth … which works well. If you want to charge your phone, you need a 12V charger. At least the Toyota has a USB interface (data + charge) though at 500 mA charge it’s slow compared to most modern cigarette lighter chargers which are 2.1 A.
Not just the 1.8T…I’ve owned 3 VWs in a row, and only the ’78 Scriocco lacked the dipstick plastic sleeve. My ’86 GTi (1.8 litre 8v) and current ’00 Golf (2.0 litre 8v) also have the sleeve. I live in the sunbelt where plastic and rubber parts tend to degrade quickly (due to heat, or maybe ozone), so the dealer actually keeps these on hand (even though he doesn’t stock brake pads, something else you would think be frequently
As for gas tank deformation, not mentioned in this letter, but my sister has had to replace a leaking gas tank in her ’98 Nissan 240sx (she lives in the same town I do..so sunbelt likewise). I think plastic tanks are pretty common now and though they probably have some advantages (weight) over metal tanks they also have their foibles, like leaking or deforming…which is pretty bad in a vacuum sensitive emissions application.
Can’t speak to infotainment…..still have the stock ’00 stereo which was probably being made while the bluetooth spec was being finalized…don’t use my $35 LG phone (as a phone) much while actually driving, though I do like to use the navigation like everyone else, and the voice commands seem to work fine as long as the phone is nearby, despite having nothing in the car to pair with.
So far I’m satisfied with my 2013 Focus, didn’t know you had one too Edward.
I’ve gotten the recall notice from Ford but it said they’d call me when they got the part. I haven’t experienced any symptoms either.
I do my own oil changes, my trust in the kid at the Quikee Lube is pretty low when it comes to things like removing and replacing the shield under the engine.
Come to think of it, my trust in the local dealership isn’t much better. I had it in once for a suspension rattle, they told me everything was fine and fixed a rattly speaker in the door. The rattle continued, and in the spring when I went to change to summer tires I found that the anti-rattle wire on the front caliper had fallen off.
Yeah, my last visit to a quick lube place was with my Club Wagon. After I gave them specific instructions to grease the ball joints the guy told me there were no fittings on the uppers. I drove home, crawled under the car, and yup, there they were just like I knew they were. I drove back and was probably not as polite as I should have been when I asked how, if I could find them laying on my back in my driveway, he could miss them while standing upright in that nice comfy pit.
“Oh yeah, I guess they are there.”
We’ve been generally happy with the Sync3 system on our 2017 C-Max except for the FordPass interface for Apple. We suppsedly have remote start via FordPass but Ford hasn’t kept up with Apple so the systems won’t sync up. I think that’s the real challenge with infotainment sytems. Car companies are not software companies. Sure, they do software, but they are too quick to drop support or just fall behind what Apple, Google and others are doing.
What is this infotainment technology you speak of? 🙂
I am way behind the curve here (the story of my life?) and am just thrilled to have an external Aux jack in my 2007 Honda Fit. My Sedona is a 12 and has bluetooth which has synced up to every phone I have had without issues. And it also has an Aux jack which works great with my old iPod.
I also love living in a place that does not do emissions inspections.
Same here. I was just happy to get an aux jack on my 2009 Corolla.
And now the cable I bought to connect my phone to said aux jack is going to be obsolete whenever I decide to replace my iPhone 6, at least if I stick with Apple which is the path of least resistance; I don’t remember if other phone models still offer a headphone jack. (Yes, I know Apple does provide a headphone adapter.)
+1 on not having the emissions inspections. The only time I had to deal with that was 40 years ago when I was living in California, when I was in the Air Force. At that time/place it was pretty easy to “pencil whip” the results, which is how my Nova SS350 made it through. I’m sure that is much more difficult now with computers, etc.
I am so far behind the technology curve that I can barely see the curve. I have never tried to sync my phone to my Mustang; I am more than happy to listen to sat radio or the CD player if I want musical entertainment. My wife did link her phone to the infotainment system in her 2017 RAV4; it works fine as far as using the phone but it still startles her when her ringtone starts playing through the car speakers. I consider the car as a no phone area so not being able to answer a call through the radio is just fine with me. Now, you kids get off my lawn.
Pennsylvania is a bit different – emissions inspections by county. The county i live in now is emissions exempt (one sticker) vs the two sticker counties. I believe it goes by county population. Which also makes no sense, since the residences of these counties have to travel farther for work, and will make more pollution.
It’s also fortunate – my wife’s Pontiac Torrent has had a slow emissions leak for years. The code always points to the gas cap being loose – we’ve had it to the dealership many times, in which they once again change the gas cap and send it on it’s way, never fixing the problem. It becomes a problem in the winter in that the remote start won’t work on her car if the check engine light is on. Since they don’t check the emissions here, I got a $20 odbii scanner to clear the codes.
Most places that have emissions testing is due to the EPA and the area failing to meet air quality standards.
How the area performs over time triggers increasing pressure on the state. For example when the EPA required WA to implement testing which failed to bring the monitor stations into compliance they make the state implement more things to fight the problem.
So in our area when the state faced sanctions they implemented oxygenated fuel in the test area. However the test station out side of the area failed to improve. So they expanded the test area. Now however with many years of compliance I’m happy that come Jan 1st 2020 emissions testing will come to an end. So only1 more test for me as adopting CA emission standards allowed the state to exclude 2009 and newer vehicles.
I have no huge beefs with Sync on my Escape. Intermittently, after taking a phone call, it hijacks the whole sound system and has to be rebooted (restarted) to reset things again.
The other beef I have is that I can’t get touch up paint from Ford to match the damn colour. How can you screw up pearl white? What they give me is about the shade of weak latte.
When I’ve asked for a pearl white touch-up paint for my Lincoln, they’ve insisted on providing them with VIN. I don’t know why, as in 2011 there was only one shade of that paint.
The plastic parts (antennae on the roof, fuel door, bumpers) on my car are a different shade than the metal parts, though. But I think it’s because of how UV affects those parts.
That’s par for the course with pearl white, it’s the single hardest color to touch up and blend.
@bimmer More likely is that the plastic parts either have a different primer color for plastic, slightly changing the hue of the color coat, or more likely are shot separately from the body on the assembly line and just the slightest variance exists in the mix on the different guns. UV doesn’t make a difference on the paint based on the underlying material, I see these mismatches on brand new freshly delivered cars
The software update done by the dealer probably resulted in your car not being ready for its smog inspection. After that was done…and on most cars, after disconnecting the battery…the car must complete a drive cycle of varying speeds, accelerations, trip durations and such before the emissions system is ready for testing. Ford says it could take several dozen start/drive/off cycles, the more everyday-routine your operations are, the longer it takes. Those who have even a cheap OBD-II scanner can detect this on your own before taking the car in. They all will display whether the car’s readiness for a smog check is OK. Prior to that, things may not be calibrated correctly; the vehicle self-adjusts its operating parameters; it “learns as it goes.”
No front plate?
The reason your car wasn’t ready for the emissions test was due to the software update. All the readiness tests were reset and the vehicle needed to go through a complete drive cycle to have all the monitors run. Just curious, does the dealer offer inspections? If so isn’t the price set by the state?
Yes, the dealer does inspections, and the price in my area is $21.
Bimmer:
When I went to the dealer to get a key for my Acura they wanted the VIN # as I suppose proof of ownership (even though I had the car at the dealership). After looking up the VIN to get the correct key, as a double check they asked me if the car was grey. ( So obviously the VIN tells them the correct shade of color. ) To my eyes the car looked like a washed out brown. And to make matters more confusing, the new key did not fit the car, at some point it had been re-keyed.
Well, getting a key made is a bit different than buying touch-up paint, don’t you think so?
No they wanted the VIN to look up the key code the car left the factory with. When I had a key cut to code they wanted proof of ownership, it a copy of the registration matching my ID.
I wouldn’t call the emissions test fail the dealer’s fault. When they replaced the part they reset the system. The EVAP, like most of the tests only occurs under specific conditions. On the EVAP system one of those conditions is the ambient temp after a min 8 hr cold soak, too cold (or too hot) and it won’t run the test. It also won’t run the test if the tank is too full or too low. The O2 sensor test won’t run until the engine has reached operating temp and is in a steady state cruise condition for a certain period of time.
It wasn’t their fault that the car failed the test. It was their fault that they didn’t tell me it could fail the test if not driven enough miles before the inspection.
Did the dealer know you were imminently taking the car in for an emissions inspection after the visit?
I’d say they invoked the customer is always right policy. I understand it’s an annoying chain of events, but if you said to the service manager you were taking the car in for emissions soon afterwards they likely would have advised you to put off the software update until the next visit.
Ah, Valvoline oil change places.
Took my 85 Mazda in once.
They charged me extra because they only had the 10W-40 the Mazda required in bottles, rather than in their bulk tank. (their adverts stated a price, without any restriction on the weight of oil)
While I waited, one of the guys grabbed one of the bottles of fuel injector cleaner from his kiosk, sauntered up to me and started giving me the spiel about how I needed to buy the stuff “to keep the injectors clean”. I said “umm. that car has a carburetor”.
Entertainment system interface issues? Darn right! Neither the Taurus-X or the VW has a cassette deck, like the Escort did. Had to toss my mix tapes and burn mix CDs for the Taurus-X. The VW doesn’t have a CD changer, like the Taurus-X, so had to burn more mix CDs, as MP3s, to get more play time per CD. Even as MP3s, one disk doesn’t have enough play time to last from Motown to South Bend, so I have to change CDs. Now VW has banished the CD player to the glove box. How the heck am I supposed to change discs while driving?
If they make it too difficult, I’ll skip the whole thing and hum, like I did in my Mazda. Would have liked to see the look on the face of the guy that broke into the Mazda when he saw there was no stereo in it.
T-rex has synch. Use your smartphone. For those ’08-’09s, its primitive compared to what’s available now, but still a good system.
Hi Steve,
I would rather change the oil myself than get subjected to the whole “upsell” thing. Every time I’d go in I would say exactly what I wanted. It didn’t matter. They’d come in with the samples of fluids on a paper towel and push this thing or that thing. I am sympathetic because often their pay depends on this stuff, but because they ignore my requests I just do it myself. I did it during a high wind last weekend like a doofus, and had a helluva time not making a mess, (no garage) ruined a shirt, and it was still preferable to the depressing sales routine. How hard is it to just change the oil and take payment?
Maybe it’s because I’m in the Entertainment Industry, but the LAST thing I want when I’m in my car is to be Entertained. The car is my silent cocoon. I did recently install a Genuine Toyota Accessory Bluetooth kit (aka BluLogic) that I got on eBay for $35, but it only does telephone services.
I check the oil level in my car every time I turn it on no need to open the bonnet and get dirty hands the oil level comes up on the odometer display, the car doesnt use any between changes yet and it will roll over 300,000 kms fairly soon, Ive changed the oil twice in the last 12 months every 15000 kms at half the hand book schedule, it only takes a few minutes with the car at service height no need for a jack,
I don’t want infotainment or touchscreens in my auto. I want turnable knobs on my radio that I can touch and adjust without taking my eyes off the road. The last thing I need is a touchscreen where I have even more opportunities to fat-finger a menu choice due to a rough road.
Besides, those things are all proprietary and will cost mucho bucks to fix or replace before becoming unobtanium.
A phone, an aux jack connection and navigation via Google Maps works fine.
I had a 2013 Focus like the one featured here as a rental car once. In general it wasn’t a bad car, but I hated the infotainment system. It took me several minutes just to find the seek/scan functions for the radio (so I could find the local NPR station), as they were buried under several layers of menus. I was angry that they didn’t simply provide a button for these commonly used functions. At that time Ford was heavily promoting the Sync system with its voice commands, so I can only guess that they assumed most people would use voice commands and didn’t see the need to make the need to make the non-voice interface all that user friendly. But I can’t get used to the idea of talking to a machine; I’d rather just press a button. Now get off my lawn.
Having just went from a 2001 Miata to a 2019 Miata I was of the same mindset but one thing that makes all the difference is having a touchscreen that you don’t touch. Operation of my screen is done with a dial on the console which clicks and I have to say even the Mazda interface (as opposed to the Android Auto interface) is intuitive if a bit dated looking.
Honestly while I was most opposed to the idea of the touchscreen interface, one thing that the 2019 does that I didn’t take into account is the three-dial climate controls. I find modern climate controls almost incomprehensible and finding three dials (each with a button if you pressed it) so refreshing in that it works like old-timey HVAC systems if you want but a simple press of the Auto button and turns to the Auto setting on other dials makes it work like a modern set-to-temp style.
I guess that’s a lot of words to just say, “I feared change but in the end I was wrong to do that.”
Emission testing, that thankfully will be gone in April for the light duty vehicles, was one of the reasons I’ve purchased a hybrid.
Entertainment? As if driving isn’t thrill enough?
Earlier this month I drove solo to my parents house and back. 600 miles total. Didn’t turn the radio on a single time; the quiet let me listen to those eight cylinders humming away in sweet harmony and I was able to think without interference. It was blissful. I’d recommend it to anyone.
I’ve never had an emissions check on any vehicle I’ve owned nor have I lived anywhere that requires one.
If the oil was looking dirty at the 1,000 mile mark I’d speculate it didn’t have enough time to drain during the prior oil change.
Your comment takes me back to my college days in my 59 Plymouth Fury. It was a nicely equipped upper-mid trim level car but had no radio. Only an aluminum trim plate that said “Fasten Seat Belts”. It was not a blockout plate, but a smooth trim panel that clearly did not go through the stamping operation to make holes for the radio.
Anyway, I did the same thing, listened to the comforting drone of that 318 V8. I never missed the radio one bit in that car.
I don’t like large LCD displays, they’re a cheap looking black abyss when they’re off and gradually accumulate scuffs and fine scratches every time you wipe off dust. What do they do that a plain row of text can’t? A frilly graphic background and font set to get sick of? A picture of an album cover? I don’t think anyone derisive of infotainment is expecting 5 year obsolescence from these factory systems, but their deep integration into cars to the point where they sometimes also house non-entertainment related controls is valid cause for anxiety and frustration.
My 90s car had an ancient outdated factory cassette stereo, but did I sell the car because I couldn’t connect my phone? Hell no. I spent $150 on an aftermarket single DIN stereo that slots directly in place of the old one and it works every bit as good as a modern factory infotainment system.
I had a 2014 Focus that was fun car to drive, except for the DCT needing repair 3 times, 2 under warranty. Also, the TCM died, but I was able to drive in “limp mode”, fixed under extended warranty. It was going to be a 4th transmission repair last summer.
I did put on 100 k miles in 4 years, though, but it’s not 1980 where cars are worn down at that point.
When I was able, I traded in on a 2015 Camry XSE, and don’t care what “car guys” think.
Great article, and one that resonates probably with all new(er) car buyers. Don’t get me started on modern car infotainment, especially the GUI (Graphical User Interface) found on new(er) cars.
My ’15 F150 Lariat has a (for it’s model year) decent size 8″ touch screen, but if you have an XLT it’s a tiny 4″ (or is it 5″) screen. Sync 3 wasn’t ready for prime time for MY15, so I have Sync 2 which has a crappy GUI…slow response with small, crammed together “buttons” in a truck that has a jiggly ride on rough surfaces, making it almost impossible to accurately hit the button you want. At least it has buttons on the steering wheel for changing radio stations, tracks or device source and volume, which is what I use most of the time. And the Sync voice interface is excellent, far better than Siri, and device pairing works very well too.
My wife’s ’16 Edge Platinum has Sync 3 and it is vastly improved in terms of GUI over Sync 2, but for some reason the device pairing on Sync 3 isn’t quite as seamless as with Sync 2. Go figure.
Now everyone is putting massive tablet-style touch screens in their mid-to-upper end vehicles a la Tesla — see the newest Ram pickups as an example — so all of a sudden your 8″ or 10″ touch screen is puny and out of date. Sloan’s planned obsolescence at work, same as it ever was.
My biggest gripe w/ Ford’s Sync is that, at least with Sync 2, you cannot update it to Sync 3 or whatever is the latest/greatest version of Sync. This is just stupid and a glaring example of how legacy car companies are so far behind the curve with in-car technology. You should be able to update your infotainment system to the latest software version just like you do on a Mac or Windows computer.
Yes you can upgrade to Sync 3. Here is the easy if pricey way https://www.4dtech.com/15-ford-f150-sync-3-upgrade-for-myford-touch/ Or you can purchase the components used. You can’t just update the software as Sync 3 is not powered by Microsoft like Sync 2.
Thanks for the link. That’s what I meant, that you can’t just download (or upload, as the case may be) new software to upgrade from Sync 2 to Sync 3. Instead you have to buy an expensive retrofit kit.
When installing an OS update on a Windows PC or Mac you are doing so on hardware with substantial overhead in order to run applications on top. In the case of a car, you’d be installing an OS update on hardware with the minimum specification required to run the old OS, which you just noted it cannot do very well.
Obviously if one were to install even more resource-intensive software on the hardware in question it would run worse, not better.
In this case it would be like installing an update on your Windows machine and it turns it into a Mac, entirely different systems.
I thought it was illegal to charge you for a failed inspection in New York since my family’s mechanic never charged us when our vehicles failed.
As far as I know its perfectly legal. He probably just wasn’t passing you which is why it was free. I don’t think that is possible anymore because the auto shops now have to send their results to the DMV electronically.
@WildaBeast- if you upgrade from your iPhone 6 instead of leaving it at home in a drawer, keep it charged up and use it as an MP3 player for your car.
For everyone else that owns a home, consider doing your own oil changes. A good hydraulic jack, jack stands, oil drain pan and oil filter wrench will pay for themselves in no time. For the price that most people pay for a conventional oil change, I can do my own at home with synthetic oil and filter.
What do you do with the used oil? At one time you could find companies willing to buy the used oil from you; they would filter out the larger solids and then sell it to people who needed/wanted the cheapest oil they could find. It has been a good number of years since I changed my own oil but as I understand it, now it is almost impossible to find anyone to accept used motor oil except as hazardous waste, with all of the documentation and expense involved. When I take my cars to the garage for their oil changes I like to think that they are responsibly dealing with the issue of used oil disposal.
Waste Management takes my used oil; All I have to do is make sure it’s in a clear container, and I can put it out with my garbage.
If you are in the US, there is a chain of auto parts stores called Auto Zone that is often in even the smallest of towns. They take oil for recycling and being a national chain, I assume they recycle responsibly.
Good to know; apparently the information I was given about companies being willing to deal with used oil was incorrect. I haven’t changed the oil in one of my vehicles for a long time, getting older and less agile means less willing to crawl under the car to deal with it. My wife and I are retired and don’t put as many miles on our cars as we once did. Essentially the oil gets changed once a year and I take them to a local chain that I have dealt with for more than 30 years. I assume (and hope) that they do the correct thing with the used oil.
The AutoZones here take used oil. There’s a tank in the back of the store. The dealership I used to work at in MKE in the late 90s actually burned the used oil to heat the shop in a dedicated furnace that was a new purchase at the time.
The larger cities in Ontario have recycling centres that take household hazardous waste seven days a week. Smaller towns have a couple of recycling days a year where they will collect household hazardous waste at some central location like a municipal parking lot. This will be well advertised in the local papers and radio stations.
Maybe you all can help me out. I too do my own oil changes and we do have used oil recycling. But what do you do with the oil filters and empty oil containers? We do have a hazardous drop off in our township (I’m in West Michigan). But it is only once a year and if you miss that day it is a whole year away again. Thank you for your help.
Bob
@Bob G – All of the recycling centres that I go to will take used oil filters.