8th Apr 2006, 14:17

I bought a Chevrolet Vega GT station wagon brand new in 1974. I changed the oil and filter and greased it every 2,000 miles. I got 144,000 miles out of the original aluminum block. I overhauled the engine myself and put steel sleeves in it. At that time I also rebuilt the 4 speed transmission and put in a new clutch. I still have the car, with over 210,000 miles on it, as well as another 1974 Vega station wagon that I bought used. The key to getting long life out of any engine is changing the oil and filter every 2,000 to 3,000 miles. If you ran the Vega with low coolant you could cook the engine in a hurry. I believe it was 1975 that they added a “low coolant” light on the dashboard. It was a good little car, but most of the people who bought it were young people who didn’t know how to maintain a car properly. As a result, the cars were abused, had problems, and GM got the blame. I never had any major problems with my 1974 Chevrolet Vega GT station wagon, although that is certainly not what you hear from a lot of owners. deasley@divide.net.

9th Apr 2006, 10:57

There is a mini controversy going on regarding when you should change your oil if you own a modern car. My Subaru says every 7,500 miles, my 2000 BMW was about every 11,000 miles, and I know some Renaults are up to 20,000 miles plus.

So, do you follow the manufacturer's recommendation or do the 3,000 mile thing? Auto experts I have read say to ignore the manufacturer's claims and still do the 3K, but the manufacturers swear up and down their recommendations are to ensure the long life of the car.

I guess only time will tell.

9th Apr 2006, 13:30

My opinion is that you certainly aren't doing any harm by changing it more frequently, and it can only help. An oil change is such a small operating cost that it's inconsequential to do it double the recommended 7,500 miles. I would still do 3,000. I use Mobil 1 in an older vehicle, and I still change it every 3,000 miles because of the stop and go driving, despite the other claims that synthetic oil can go much longer. Why be cheap trying to save 35 bucks every 5 months?

20th Apr 2009, 21:20

I own a 76 Cosworth Vega and I can confirm that it is the best car ever. It's still got the original 2.0 fuel injected i4, which is rated at 110 hp, but all stock. Once you swap fuel jets and the pump, these things make close to 185, like they did before emissions cut their power down.

I love mine, it's standard Cosworth, black with gold, five speed, 373 posi, and one heck of a suspension package. Being 33 years old it's still faster than a lot of cars on the road, and gets me around 36 city mpg when I'm not beating it around.

Any bad reputation these cars had was from people not taking care of them. Those 2.3s would burn oil right out of the dealer lot, and were known for having sticky lifters. If you would keep its fluid filled and add some kind of oil detergent to it every few oil changes, they will run forever. My uncle still has one with close to 300000 on it; granted it was sleeved back in 80 something. But these car are sharp looking little cars that didn't deserve their reputation.