Keep Your Car Running Forever

What They Don't Put on the Window Sticker

How old is your car? Count it.

The average car on the road is 12.8 years old. The average sedan is 14.5 years. The warranty ran out 10 years ago.

So for 10 years, no one looks after that car but you. Not the dealer. Not the maker.

AAA found in 2017 that 1 in 3 drivers could not cover an unexpected repair. The average bill is $500 to $600. A transmission is 10 times that.

That is not bad luck. That is math.

Here is the first secret. It is in writing.

BMW says its automatic is filled for life. ZF builds that gearbox. ZF says: change the fluid every 8 years or 50,000 miles.

The car maker says lifetime. The gearbox maker says 50,000. The warranty ends before the failures start.

It is not just 1 brand. Hyundai and Kia have recalled more than 1.5 million engines over the same bearing failure, in campaign after campaign since 2015.

GM recalled 597,571 trucks and SUVs in 2025 over rod bearing damage in the 6.2 V8. For an engine that passes inspection, the published remedy is thicker oil and a new page in the owner’s manual.

50 years ago, the mechanic at the corner shop told you these things for free. That counter is a screen now. The dipstick is gone.

The rules did not stop being true. They stopped being told. 1 generation. That is all it takes to forget.

So we wrote them down. What the old-timers knew. What the car makers print in their own bulletins and never in the handbook. What the service desk hopes you never ask.

There is no shop behind this. No dealer. No parts desk. No commission on a repair. Every claim has its source printed beside it, so you never have to take our word for it.

Introducing: How to Keep Your Car Alive Forever (Digital PDF)

147 secrets. Each one on 1 or 2 pages. Plain words. Real numbers.

Beside each one, the source. A recall number. A factory bulletin. A spec sheet. Or the plain reason it works.

So you can check it. You never have to take our word for it.

Here is 1 page from the book, as it prints. Nothing to buy, nothing to unbolt. 1 can and 10 minutes on a Saturday.

What WD-40 Actually Fixes On a Car

1. A door lock that has stopped turning. A short burst up the keyway with the straw, then work the key in and out a few times.
2. The door hinge that squeaks. Hit each of the 2 hinge pins where it meets the strap. Swing the door 5 or 6 times.
3. A hood latch that has seized half shut. Soak the moving jaw and the spring, then work the release 10 times.
4. Bugs and tar, before they etch the paint. Spray, wait a minute, wipe with a soft cloth, then wash the panel with soap and water. Put the wax back on that spot.
5. The ghost of a bumper sticker. Wet the glue, give it a minute, roll it off with your thumb.
6. The license plate screw that will not turn. Soak both screws, go and have a coffee, then try again.
7. Scuff marks on the door sill. Spray a cloth, wipe the mark away, then wash the area.
8. The tool kit rusting in the trunk. Wipe the jack and the lug wrench over once a year, so the jack still turns the night you need it.

And the 5 places it must never go: the brakes, the serpentine belt, rubber bushings and mounts, headlight lenses, and any bearing that needs real grease. 2 of those are safety items. The page explains each one.

Where this comes from: WD-40 Company, published uses list and FAQ, wd40.com. WD-40 Multi-Use Product Safety Data Sheet. The full pages carry 19 uses, with the source beside each.

That is 1 page of 277. The 147 secrets each run the same way: what they tell you, what is actually going on, what it costs, what to do about it, and where it comes from.

That last line is the one no other car book gives you.

It covers the transmission. The engine. Oil and fluids. Cold weather. Towing. Buying used. The service desk.

You do not need to own a wrench. Most of it is a 2-second habit or a $30 choice.

147 Secrets. Here Are 10 of Them.

147 secrets. 7 sections. 3 cards to print for the glovebox. Including:

• Secret 41: The 21 things never to do in an automatic, ranked by the bill.p. 71
• Secret 8: Count to 2 between Reverse and Drive. It is worth more than any additive.p. 25
• Secret 38: The first cold mile is worth 5 of the others. What the oil is doing before it is warm.p. 68
• Secret 70: Heat. Every 20 degrees over the limit halves fluid life. The $32 reader that shows you.p. 111
• Secret 65: Start-stop. 50 restarts before lunch. The $100 device that remembers the off button.p. 103
• Secret 66: Why older engines washed their own valves. Yours does not. What to do about the carbon.p. 105
• Secret 119: Going downhill, how to let the engine hold the car back. Truckers have done it for 80 years.p. 211
• Secret 117: Real gears, or a belt running on 2 cones. How to tell before you buy.p. 197
• Secret 95: The 4 questions to ask at the service desk.p. 158
• Secret 91: Extended warranties. The 1 clause and the 2 words that decide the whole contract.p. 152

And that is 10 of 147. Each one with its source. Plus 50 cleaning and care tricks, the WD-40 page, the 12 rip-offs, the reliability rankings and the 3 glovebox cards.