Dane Donovan fields car questions on a rainy Saturday, focusing on two big themes: buying smart and maintaining to avoid expensive failures. He urges listeners to call their insurance before purchasing Hyundai/Kia due to high theft rates, and to check oil regularly because many modern engines burn oil without warning. He argues for changing oil every 5,000 miles (not relying on the dash sticker) and shares real repair stories, including costly BMW timing-chain damage from low oil. Callers also get advice on oil choice, starter hot-soak no-crank issues, and a Highlander vibration likely tied to tires.
Dane Donovan shares valuable insights on car maintenance and ownership. He discusses the importance of regular oil changes, citing a personal experience where switching to synthetic oil affected his fuel economy. Dane also addresses a caller's question about whether to use synthetic or conventional oil in their Subaru engine, recommending sticking to what the manufacturer designed the car to use. Additionally, he offers advice on choosing a new car, highlighting the benefits of Honda and Toyota models.
"...You need to do your homework. You need to call your entwer if you're buying a Hyundai or a Kia. Now listen,"
Hyundai is a car brand. The point here is: if you’re thinking about buying one, don’t skip research—check the exact model and the best way to buy it.
Hyundai is a major automaker known for offering value-focused vehicles and, in many models, strong warranty coverage. When the host says to “call” for homework if buying a Hyundai, they’re pointing listeners toward researching the specific model and deal details.
"there's there high theft. And he was telling me that, oh, you know, my daughter has a Kia..."
High theft means more people are stealing those cars than usual. Insurance companies notice that and often charge more to cover them.
“High theft” refers to a vehicle brand/model being stolen more frequently than average. That directly affects insurance pricing and coverage availability because insurers price risk based on theft statistics.
"If you're purchasing a new vehicle, new or used vehicle, I would recommend calling your insurance company and say, hey, what is what is it gonna be in order to cover the the insurance on this vehicle..."
The speaker recommends contacting your insurer before purchasing a vehicle to get an accurate quote for that exact car. This helps avoid surprises after the sale, especially when theft risk changes premiums.
"In fact, make sure you do your due diligence. Call your insurance company and make sure that or find out what it's going to cost to insurance."
Due diligence means doing the necessary research before buying—here, specifically checking insurance cost and coverage. It’s a practical step to understand total ownership cost beyond the purchase price.
"insurance here relatively is inexpensive compared to like Florida... she's like it was quadruple in Florida the cost full coverage..."
Insurance can cost more in some places than others. The host is saying Florida was much more expensive than where they moved to, likely due to local risk factors.
Insurance pricing can differ dramatically by state or region due to local theft rates, driving conditions, and claim frequency. The speaker contrasts their area with Florida to illustrate how premiums can change after relocation.
"...because again I had a BMW towed into me this week. [375.7s] And because of lack of oil."
They’re using a BMW example to show why oil matters. If you let the oil get too low, it can damage the engine and lead to a very expensive repair.
The host uses a BMW repair story to illustrate what happens when an engine runs low on oil. He says a BMW X3 was towed in due to lack of oil, which then caused timing-chain damage.
"And because of lack of oil. This vehicle that's the BMW is an BMW X three and it because of lack of oil, it again ruins the timing chains..."
Lack of oil means the engine isn’t getting enough lubrication. That can cause parts to wear quickly or fail, leading to major repairs.
“Lack of oil” refers to oil starvation—when the engine doesn’t have enough lubrication. The host ties it directly to timing-chain damage on the BMW X3 example.
"...there needs to be a sense of awareness that you need to make sure that the oil is being checked regularly because it cost you, the consumer so much."
The takeaway is simple: check your oil often. Catching low oil early can prevent big, expensive engine problems.
The host’s main advice is proactive oil monitoring to prevent oil starvation. He emphasizes that regular checks help avoid catastrophic engine damage and reduce the chance of expensive repairs.
"[511.5s] You should change your oil.
[513.0s] Now again, let me step back, and you know, of course some people might say, they go, well, of course, Dan, you're gonna say change your oil regular"
An oil change is when you replace the dirty engine oil with fresh oil. It helps protect the engine and keeps it running smoothly, and it’s usually cheaper than waiting until something breaks.
An oil change is the scheduled replacement of engine oil (and typically the oil filter) to keep the engine lubricated and clean. Many cars use an oil-life reminder based on mileage and driving conditions, but the key point here is that skipping changes can lead to expensive repairs.
"[554.8s] we look up at that little sticker and he's an old change, like, oh yeah, well, my car says it's I'm only I got twenty percent. Uh. You know the
[563.7s] person I you know, the dealership about it from says I need to change it at ten. And I'm telling
[569.2s] you it's the simplest, most important thing that you can do for your vehicle."
That “twenty percent” is likely the car’s oil-life warning. The host is saying people see a number like that and think they can wait, but waiting too long can cause problems.
“Twenty percent” appears to refer to an oil-life percentage shown on the vehicle’s maintenance display. The speaker criticizes waiting until the percentage is low, implying that the reminder can be misinterpreted or ignored too long.
"[628.4s] I'm not doing that. Now.
[630.4s] He understood that, and he knew what I did, but he's like, oh, you know Ford has changed ten thousand.
[635.0s] You're good. No, I'm not going to do that."
They bring up Ford as an example of advice about how often to service. The point is that you shouldn’t rely only on what you heard—use your car’s own maintenance reminder.
Ford is mentioned in the context of oil-change interval guidance (“Ford has changed ten thousand”). The speaker uses it to argue that even manufacturer guidance can be misunderstood, and that the car’s own maintenance indicator should be the reference point.
"...come in with less than a half quarter of oil with no low oil light."
Oil level is the amount of oil in the engine at a given time, typically checked with a dipstick or electronic sensor. The speaker highlights that cars can arrive with very low oil even without a warning light, making regular checks important.
"... hear me out on this. I have a two thousand Honda Civic. And the reason why I don't so I've always advoca..."
The Honda Civic is a small car meant for everyday commuting and errands. People talk about it a lot because it’s usually efficient and not too complicated to own. The podcast mention is about someone’s experience with a particular Civic year.
The Honda Civic is a compact car known for practical everyday driving and strong fuel economy across many model years. It often comes up in conversations because it’s a common, long-running choice that’s easy to live with and relatively straightforward to maintain. In the podcast context, it’s being discussed as a personal ownership experience from a specific Civic year.
MPG tells you how many miles you can drive per gallon of gas. They’re saying their MPG dropped after switching oil.
MPG (miles per gallon) is a measure of fuel efficiency. When MPG changes after an oil switch, it can indicate differences in friction, engine efficiency, or how the engine is operating under load.
"I mean not have my Subaru engine breakdown on me. I have a gyroplane that I put it in. I can't pull over to the side of the road if I have an engine breakdown."
An engine breakdown is when the engine stops working or can’t run correctly. It usually means you may need help or a tow, depending on what failed.
An engine breakdown is when the engine can’t operate properly—often due to mechanical failure, overheating, or lack of lubrication. The speaker contrasts this with their ability to safely pull over, highlighting real-world risk management.
"What would be the best ten W thirty that you would suggest? I mean there's so many Yeah."
10W-30 is the oil’s “thickness” rating. It tells you how the oil behaves in cold starts and when the engine is hot, so choosing the right one helps the engine stay properly lubricated.
“10W-30” is an engine oil viscosity grade, where “10W” describes cold-weather flow and “30” describes viscosity at operating temperature. Viscosity selection matters because it affects lubrication, oil pressure, and fuel economy, and it should match the manufacturer’s recommendations.
"[1348.5s] Hung up on the brands per se, because you know a lot of people people say this to me all the time. [1359.5s] you know, it's like, well, oil's oil. It's like, no, no, [1361.8s] it's not."
The host pushes back on the idea that “oil’s oil,” arguing that oil brands and formulations differ. Quality oil can provide better additive performance and consistency, which can affect long-term engine cleanliness and wear.
"[1411.8s] It's spark plugs and oil and very little, very little, seldom with a problem. I thank you for your time, Dean,"
Spark plugs are part of the ignition system that ignite the air-fuel mixture. Regular maintenance of spark plugs supports reliable starting, smooth running, and efficient combustion.
"Hi Dale Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center, the honest choice for car repair in Cincinnati since nineteen fifty eight. Find the one nearest you at donovantire dot com."
That’s the name of the auto shop they’re talking about. They’re saying it’s been around a long time and has repeat customers.
This is the name of the shop the hosts are promoting, presented as a long-running local repair business. The episode frames it as a multi-generation operation with established customer relationships.
"...most likely it's the sunroof trains either they're detached or they're clogged, especially if you park underneath the tree where there's leaves to breed or whatnot."
Sunroofs have small drain paths that carry water away. If those drains clog up, water can back up and leak into the car.
Sunroof drains route water away from the cabin. If they become clogged (for example, with leaves) or disconnected, water can overflow into the vehicle instead of exiting outside.
"...All of a sudden, everything started leaking on it, all the gaskets and everything, and they said, oh, no, it couldn't happen. But at the"
Gaskets are the seal between engine parts. If they wear out, fluids can leak out and you’ll need repairs.
Gaskets are sealing components that prevent oil, coolant, or other fluids from escaping where engine parts meet. If gaskets fail or harden, leaks can develop and may require replacement.
"You know, it's twenty five years old, and I still put conventional oil in it. I don't and I don't have any problems with it."
Conventional oil is the regular type of engine oil. If it’s the right weight/viscosity for your car, it usually works well—especially if the car was designed to use it.
“Conventional oil” is the standard, petroleum-based motor oil most older service schedules were built around. Compared with synthetic blends or full synthetic, it can have different additive packages and temperature performance, but many engines run fine on it when viscosity matches the owner’s manual.
"...it's a it's about a twelve hundred dollars cost, right. Not not hateful, not like hey don't buy their car because of it, but that's we We we see a lot of those."
They’re saying this repair can cost around $1,200. The takeaway is that it’s expensive enough to matter when you’re thinking about reliability and ownership costs.
The speaker cites an approximate repair cost for the leaking housing/cooler area. While the exact amount depends on labor and parts pricing, it highlights that this is a non-trivial repair rather than a minor service item.
"What about Have you looked at the Toyot Sienna. No, I wasn't familiar with it."
The Toyota Sienna is another popular minivan option. It came up as something to look at if you’re shopping for a van like the Odyssey.
The Toyota Sienna is a direct competitor to the Honda Odyssey in the minivan segment. The speaker admits they weren’t familiar with it, which frames it as an alternative worth considering when shopping for a family van.
"he almost has two hundred thousand miles on that thing... Never had any problems with the Sienna."
High-mileage reliability means the car still runs well after a lot of miles. The speaker is saying their family’s van has gone a huge distance with few problems, which makes it a safer bet.
High-mileage reliability refers to how well a vehicle holds up after large mileage accumulation (often 100k+ miles) with minimal repairs. The speaker uses the Sienna’s near-200,000-mile experience as evidence that some brands tend to “make parts last longer” and reduce long-term headaches.
"Sure, so real quick, So I want to when you run into the store and come back out, turn the key, do you have power? Radio lights? Dash light up? Is that all happen?"
“Power” here means whether the car’s electronics turn on when you try to start it. If the lights and radio work, the battery likely has enough voltage, and the issue may be something else.
In a no-start scenario, “power” usually means whether the car’s electrical system has sufficient voltage to run the dash, radio, and other modules. If power is present but the engine won’t crank, the fault may be in the starter circuit or ignition/fuel delivery rather than the battery/charging.
"So typically, so what you're most likely dealing with is that starter. A lot of times, if the car does not crank, nine out of ten times, it's the start itself."
The starter is the part that gets the engine spinning when you try to start the car. If it’s bad, the engine may not crank or may not start reliably.
The starter is the electric motor that cranks the engine when you turn the key or press the start button. If the starter fails, the engine may not crank at all, or it may crank but fail to start due to related ignition/fuel conditions.
"We got to get it to act up, right. Your technician has got to get it to act up, so they're gonna have to drive it, get it hot, and you know there it could be a relay issue, could be."
Some problems only happen when the car is hot or after you shut it off. A mechanic may need to drive it and recreate the issue before they can diagnose it correctly.
Some faults are intermittent or heat-related, so technicians may need to drive the car, get it hot, and reproduce the symptom before they can confirm the failing component. This is especially common with starter/solenoid issues that show up after shutdown (hot soak).
"Is it vibrating when you're applying the brakes when you have your foot on the gas."
Mechanics often check whether the vibration changes when you press the brakes. If it does, it can mean the problem is related to the brakes or how the front suspension behaves under braking.
Brake application is a common diagnostic test for vibration complaints. If vibration changes or appears only when braking, it often points toward brake rotor issues (like warping) or front-end alignment/suspension effects under braking load.
"[2655.0s] those tires checked and maybe rebalanced. And if you can
[2659.4s] find a mechanic that has what's called a road force balancer, use that."
A road force balancer is a special machine that checks how smooth the tire is when it rolls. It can help the shop find the cause of vibration and set the tire up to ride more smoothly.
A road force balancer is an advanced tire/wheel balancing machine that measures how much force the tire exerts as it rolls. It can help identify tire “high spots” or uneven stiffness and then match/mount the tire to the wheel to reduce vibration and improve ride quality.
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Bussome shutting down there in.
The pos down today.
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Car Show fifty five KRC Talk station. I'm Dane Donovan taking all of your
car questions. The number to call five one three seven.
That number again five one three seven, fifty five hundred again in studio and uh here every Saturday to take your car questions again. Yes I am, I'm here, so
I'd love to hear from you. It's great if you're
in the Cincinnati or Tri state area. It's a great
day to be a duck. And uh, I mean, it's
just been nothing but rain, rain, rain. I feel like
we're in Seattle or something. It's just been nothing them
but rain. So and uh uh you know, but you
know the boys, Uh, all their sporting events got canceled, obviously, all the baseball got canceled because of the rain, and the fields are just a muddy mess. So I had
a little opportunity to kind of get some things done.
There was a golf net that my son's been wanting me to build, uh for months now, and uh was able to get that done. And uh yeah, so it
was it was you know, sometimes I just love those saturdays where you can kind of take a breath, right uh after this week.
This week was busy. It was a busy week, and it's.
Just nice to sometimes go all right, And of course, uh, you know our boys, you know, we live such a fast paced life. The boys are like waking up, like
what are we doing today? It's like, well, not not
really much, and uh but we you know, my wife and I we were able to get things done and made breakfast and just things that we don't normally get to do because it's always so busy, you know, and most of you can contest that you understand.
So, but again, I'm here to take your car questions.
I'm gona call five one, three, seven, four nine fifty five hundred. I was talking to a co worker of
mine and friend coworker slash friend, and we were talking about buying a new vehicle and he was kind of giving me some opinions on what I like, what he wants to buy, and I just told him we were talking, I'm like, you know what, I'm going to talk about that tomorrow on the radio show because it's something that you need to think about. But that is the fact
that if you're purchasing a new vehicle. You really need
to do your homework. You need to call your entwer
if you're buying a Hyundai or a Kia. Now listen,
I like the brand. I don't have anything bad to
say about him, but as you may know, there's there high theft. And he was telling me that, oh, you know,
my daughter has a Kia and he I pay more for my daughter's insurance on her Kia than I do for the other three vehicles I have combined. And he's like,
and there's a lot of people that there's a lot of insurance companies that don't don't cover the insurance.
So you need to think about that.
If you're purchasing a new vehicle, new or used vehicle, I would recommend calling your insurance company and say, hey, what is what is it gonna be in order to cover the the insurance on this vehicle, because again, they're they're very I mean, they can be stolen within within less than a minute. And even if you have you
take the measures to properly make sure it doesn't get stolen, you're still gonna pay more.
And again he was like, hey, look, I'm paying.
More on just one vehicle than the my other three combined and just because there has such a high rate of theft. So it's just something that you should think
about if you're buying a newer used vehicle. Obviously we
know about the tariffs and everything like that. Everything's going up,
So if you're going out to buy a new vehicle or used one, that's something that you should take it.
In fact, make sure you do your due diligence.
Call your insurance company and make sure that or find out what it's going to cost to insurance. Now, insurance
here relatively is inexpensive compared to like Florida.
I just had a customer not too long ago.
They had moved from Florida to here, their daughters going to school at Xavier University. They moved here and she
called to get an insurance on their vehicles, and you know, I can't remember what the number exact numbers were, but she's like, hey, you know it's going to be you know, X amount of dollars. She goes, Okay, well what is
it for the year. And he's like, no, that's what
it is for the year. And she's like it was
quadruple in Florida the cost full coverage on there because there's such I guess bad drivers down in Florida. I
don't know, but you know, those are things that you need to think about when you're buying a new vehicle.
Is hey, what's it gonna cost me to ensure this thing?
And again, the only one that I'm aware of is the Hyundais and the Kias. That again, they they are
stolen all day long. They can be stolen within less
than a minute, and you're gonna pay a lot more.
So you know, you might sit there and go, oh, well, the the Hyundai or the Key is a little bit cheaper than the Honda or the Toyota, but then if you factor in the insurance, most likely you're gonna probably pay more. And again I'm not I like Hundai and
Kia as a brand, don't have a ton of problems with them. They do burn oil, but I've talked about
that many many times on the show. Most of your
newer vehicles today are doing that. I was behind a
Hyunda the other day and I was just getting smoked by by this vehicle because it was burning so much oil.
So it's something that I, again I talk about all the time because it's something it's I know, for the for those of you who listen to me every Saturday, you know I talk about it almost every time. And
it's not because it's not because it's the only thing I can I want to talk about. It's just I
need to get the aware. I need to get it
out there. I need to get it out there. I
need the general public to know what these cars are doing, because again I had a BMW towed into me this week.
And because of lack of oil.
This vehicle that's the BMW is an BMW X three and it because of lack of oil, it again ruins the timing chains and it needs chains. And it was
it's almost ten thousand dollars to put timing chains on a BMW X three and that was due to the fact that it had been ran low on oil for many Now. Now this isn't just one time, right, This
isn't one time. This is over the lifetime, and there's
always so much confusion as to when it should be done.
And again, I want to I just want to hammer this into your head. And I want you to tell
every all, your children, your wife, your friends, your coworkers, anybody, if you want to get the life out of your vehicle and try to get it to one hundred two hundred, three hundred thousand miles. There needs to be a sense
of awareness that you need to make sure that the oil is being checked regularly because it cost you, the consumer so much. And again, with everything going with the
terrace and everything going up, you know, everybody's kind of starting to and I've noticed it, but everybody's starting to pinch those pennies, right. They're they're trying to They're watching
their money. And you know, nobody wants to go out
and spend fifty sixty thousand dollars on a car.
Regardless, but.
You want to get the life out of it, you need to make sure that you're checking it regularly. And again,
I feel that in the industry there's a lot of confusion, and I'm so grateful to have this platform to be able to sit here on Saturdays and tell you as a guy on the what I call the front lines, I'm there in the off every day dealing with these cars.
I'm at work every day talking to the technicians working on the cars, talking to the customers. Right and as
as a guy that's on the front line that has you know, we have several stores, right, I see this every day, and I see that there's mass confusion as to when it needs to be changed and what we all what I always advocate, if you can, please focus on the sticker, don't focus on what your neighbors said.
You should change your oil.
Now again, let me step back, and you know, of course some people might say, they go, well, of course, Dan, you're gonna say change your oil regular because that brings the customer in more and so on and so forth.
I get that, I understand that, but I'm telling you, every single day I have to break bad news to somebody.
Hey, listen, you need you need timing change is ten thousand dollars.
Which could have been prevented if you just change your oil for one hundred bucks, you know, every you know, every three months, right, so and every time it's it's amazing to me that when I come in, I and and people won't even bring their car in for an old change. They're bringing in for check breaks, right, And
we look up at that little sticker and he's an old change, like, oh yeah, well, my car says it's I'm only I got twenty percent. Uh. You know the
person I you know, the dealership about it from says I need to change it at ten. And I'm telling
you it's the simplest, most important thing that you can do for your vehicle. And I try to hammer this
point in every week because every single day I'm dealing with and you know, listen, it breaks my heart when I got to call somebody and say this gentleman was pretty upset. You know, he had to get everything out
of his car and he's like, I'm gonna have it just towed back to my house.
And I understand it's expensive.
It's expensive not because of my cost, just because the amount of labor and the cost it is to do the job. And it's something that can be prevent for
you and everybody else out there that that that I that's listening to me. It's the simplest, best thing that
you can do. Okay, So and here's here's what we
want to focus on. I'm not I don't want to
focus on what the car tells you as far as what your percentage is.
I don't want to.
I don't want to focus on what the dealership told you when you bought it, or the salesman told you that you know what to change it at Okay, my salesman told me to change it every ten thousand miles.
I'm not doing that. Now.
He understood that, and he knew what I did, but he's like, oh, you know Ford has changed ten thousand.
You're good. No, I'm not going to do that.
I've had this discussion with my father in law because he calls me all the time. He goes, hey, whence
should I change the oil? And again, it's every five
thousand miles period. I don't care what make, what model,
what year, anything like that. It's five thousand miles period.
The best way to do that. And if you bring
it to any down of entire repair shop, any of our shops, you're gonna a little sticker in the upper part of that windshield and it's either five months or five thousand miles period. We don't want to focus on
what the car says, what your neighbor says, what the salesman says. It's every five thousand miles, because again, majority
of these vehicles today are burning oil, and you don't know it. A lot of people think that it's you know,
you get this big puff of white smoke and and you're gonna get a lot of people too go oh well, I didn't see any type of warning signs. You're not
gonna get a warning sign. You're not. I've had cars
come in with less than a half quarter of oil with no low oil light. They just that they don't
come on. They don't put them on in these cars anymore.
And so again it kind of if you change it regularly, you're gonna stay on top of it and not run the car low on oil. And again, the way these
cars are designed one is for a fuel efficiency government standards and whatnot. And in that process and the way
they're designed especially, they're gonna burn oil. Most majority, I
would say ninety percent of cars that are out there today burn oil. And you need to be aware of it,
and you need to check it if you can. If not,
you can bring it to any of our locations and we'll check it for you, or you can go to Google or YouTube and say, how do I check my oil?
It's the most important thing to do. And again, changing
it regularly is gonna get you the longevity. I if
you want your car to last two hundred and fifty thousand miles, the single cheapest best thing that you can do is change the oil. And I and I know,
for some of you who listen to me, so they go, oh my god, he's talking about changing oil again. But
I'm telling you it's I could save people hundreds of thousands of dollars, not one individual, but I mean there's so much time that the car comes in and it's just it's rampant, and it's just like, I've got to get this out there. So for those of you who
listen to me, you gotta I hate to be, you know, sound redundant, but it's like, man, it's so important. It's
so important that you do it. So taking your phone
calls and I'm gonna call five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. That number again, five one three
seven four nine fifty five hundred coming up.
We have Gary and Charlie.
You're listening to the Car Show on fifty five KRS the talk station.
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
Do you have a truck camper r VA a trailer that needs body repair? If so, call my buddy Dave
Breakmanute Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair located just All five seventy five or Route sixty three.
It's convenient to both Cincinnati and date.
With over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork, Franks knows the most important things are quality work and customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
doing the job right and get in your vehicle back on the road. Call five one three eight two nine
ninety thirty eight two nine ninety thirty All the news and the views of Brian Thomas Monday morning.
At five on fifty f KRC, the talk station.
Taking your car question. Is the number to call five
one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. That number
gain five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred.
I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center and uh if you go to donovantire dot com you can find your nearest location. Love to help you out and do
anything that we can that your car might need. But
here on Saturdays, it's all about you and what I can do to try to help you out and walk you through whatever whatever it might pertain to on that vehicle, whether it's maintenance, you're you're buying a new vehicle, or you have a car question, or you know, whatever it might pertain to that vehicle.
That's what I'm here for to try to help you out.
So again the number to call five one, three, seven fifty five hundred.
Let's go to the phones. We have Gary. Hey, Gary,
welcome to the car show. How can I help?
Well?
Thank you, Dean.
I have a question. I have a Subaru engine, an
E eighty one, got a few years on it, and I wrestle with the fact of either using straight ten W thirty oil in it, or putting a cord of slick fifty with the ten W thirty oil, or using synthetic oil. Now, when this engine was built, as we
all know, there wasn't synthetic oils on the market like there is now. It's very important that I maintained this engine.
What's your opinion? Should I use ten W thirty like
they did with the original engine? Because I burn I
burn none ethanol gas. I burned straight gas.
Okay, So what I would tell you what i'd recommend?
I don't.
I don't know anything about the product Slicks fifty. I
don't know anything to I mean, I've heard it advertise or whatnot, but I've never used the product, so I can't vouch for it.
Or give you an opinion about it, just to be honest with you.
Okay, I would done with that subject.
Yeah, I would.
I would stick to ten thirty and what the engine was designed with when it was designed. Now, hear me
out on this. I have a two thousand Honda Civic.
And the reason why I don't so I've always advocated, like, hey, synthetic is a great product, and most most of your vehicles nowadays are synthetic, and synthetics supposed to be better than long last last year.
I get that.
But hear me out on this, And I know this sounds silly, but I've had this car for twenty two years, and I had it. I changed the oil religiously. I'm
I'm I'm a little over the top on it. I
changed every fifteen hundred miles. Okay, that's how over the
top I am on it.
Okay.
But at one hundred thousand miles, I decided, Hey, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna switch from the ten W thirty
that the car came with, and I'm gonna switch to synthetic.
It's gonna last longer, right, And I noticed a massive difference in my fuel economy, my fuel my fuel economy went way down. Miles per gallon went way down, and
I'm like, I just I was like, well, you know what, maybe it's just because it's getting older's got one hundred thousand miles on it. And at the time, and I'm
not paid by Vaveling, but I was using Vaveling oil and they had an engine guarantee. They said, hey, listen,
if you can prove that you change your oil every you know, three thousand miles, We're going to guarantee your engine to I can't remember what it was, it was like three hundred.
I remember those commercials.
So I'm like, all right, So I did that, and I did that for quite some time, and then I got to the point where I'm like, man, this is so expensive, especially when you know I'm changing it every fifteen hundred yes, and so I'm like, you know what, and I just again, I just fuel economy went way down.
I'm like, that's just old.
And I'm telling you, I mean, my fuel economy went cut down pretty tremendously, almost instant.
And again I was like, oh, that's weird.
And then I'm telling you, as soon as I went back to the standard ten thirty of the car, just regular conventional oil. My fuel economy came right back up.
I can't speak.
Good to know this is really good information today. I
mean not have my Subaru engine breakdown on me. I
have a gyroplane that I put it in. I can't
pull over to the side of the road if I have an engine breakdown. No, no, I can't tell you
how many hours I have on that engine. But I
do have a twenty four, and what you're saying is exactly correct. I have a twenty four Kia with two
hundred and seventy nine thousand miles on it. Now, I've
heard a lot of criticism about kids over the years, and we have two Hondas and watched one Dodge truck and there's only two of us to drive. But that
Kia runs like a scalded dog. In fact, there was
an incident last year where my kid was stolen and they had it parked up the street and a guy put a note in it and he said, you need this car more than I do, and he left the car and sheriff told me about it.
I'm teasing you, like, oh my god, I.
Do have a kid with that kind of mileish on it.
And as far as the Hyundai's and that go. They
sent us stickers to put on the window that the car has been adjusted that it's harder to steal for what it's worth. I have a twenty nineteen and the
twenty twenty four. Okay, now with Dodge Ram truck with
the twenty twenty twenty fifteen, do you think I should put synthetic oil in that or straight ten W thirty if.
It's a you know what I have here. You know
it said that super engines in eighty one?
Correct, yes, sir, all right, so I think on the fifteen you could switch to the synthetic. I think fifteen
you'll be fine. I mean I was putting synthetic in
my I have a uh, you know seven Ford f one fifty, and you know I put synthetic in that.
But as far as like an eighty one, I would stick to that's the way it was designed and manufactured.
And but no, I think you put synthetic in it.
But again, I'm not always hung up on you know, semisynthetic, synthetic or conventional. What I want to see is is
it being changed regularly. That's what I'm a big proponent to,
is just changing it regularly because it's so it's it's the lifeblood of your car.
It's so important.
And every person that I know that's brought their car to me that has two hundred, three hundred thousand miles on the arm, you know, how do you? And I ask,
how do you get that many miles on a car? Well,
just change the world regularly, And you know, it's just so important. And these newer cars nowadays, they have so many,
in my opinion, nonsense timing chains and guides and this and that. And if you just keep up on the oil,
you'll get three hundred thousand miles. But you know, it's
always about well, the dealer said this, and the technically you know, the service advisor that I bought the car from or salesman said this, and I read online this, and it's just like, hey, I've got this platform. I'm
gonna speak loudly. Hey, look, just change it regularly. If
you're using a conventional oil and I've always said this, three thousand and with you conventional oil three thousand miles, you'll be fine. But I just with the age of
the vehicle, I would recommend using just the conventional oil what it was designed to do because again I made the switch and I was like, why am I getting horrible fuel economy? And as soon as I went back
to conventional oil came right back.
So it's like, well, the.
Only thing to you but to excuse me, but to you, oil is oil? Is there? I hate to put you
in this kind of a corner. What would be the
best ten W thirty that you would suggest? I mean
there's so many Yeah.
I mean there's so many brands.
And I'm i I Quaker Valelating mobile.
Yeah, I think any of those products are gonna any It's just you know, you want to make sure it, you know, is what your car calls for as far as you know, you want to make sure that it's up to the test.
But you know, I'm not always.
Hung up on the brands per se, because you know a lot of people people say this to me all the time. It kind of goes right through me. But
you know, it's like, well, oil's oil. It's like, no, no,
it's not. You know, you want to do a question,
you want to do a you want to right, you want to have a quality brand that is that's that you know, has you know, stay in the test of time and I think any of those brands you know will be perfectly fine.
But I would say a.
Detergent with the detergent what they call the detergent in the oil.
Uh huh. Yep.
Well, you've been very helpful, and I can't command you on pointing out the fact that oil is that important because I'm pushing eighty. I got eighty years of age.
I've got tens of hundreds of thousand miles under my belt.
I've always changed. I've always taken care of the cars,
even in my tractors, in the lawnmower, in my aircraft.
It's spark plugs and oil and very little, very little, seldom with a problem. I thank you for your time, Dean,
have a good day.
You take care all right, Thank you, bye bye. That
was great. That was that was great. It's so important.
So it's so important, so easy to do. So all right,
then imber to call five one three that number again.
Phone lines are wide open. Love to hear from you again.
You get on, you call, We'll get you right on.
So the number call five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. That number gain five one three, seven
four nine fifty five hundred, coming up. We have Charlie.
You're listening to the Car Show on fifty five KRS the talk station.
I have been a customer of Donovan's for ten years.
It's not always easy to find a mechanic that you can trust, that isn't going to take advantage of you.
They treated me respectfully, not talk down to me. There
are mechanics right down the road, but I chose to keep coming back here because they treated me as family, so much so that four years ago I started working here.
Hi Dale Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center, the honest choice for car repair in Cincinnati since nineteen fifty eight.
Find the one nearest you at donovantire dot com. The
best way to wake up in the morning, A hot cup of coffee and Brian Thomas Monday morning at five on fifty five KRC the talk station.
You're listening to the Car show fifty five KRC.
I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center. Again, you've
here all the time, but I'm third generation been My grandfather started the business in nineteen fifty eight and continue to go strong and.
Continue to grow.
And again I've said this multiple times for those of you who listen all the time.
I truly, truly enjoy what I.
Do, and so much so that I'm here every Saturday so I can try to help you out with your car questions. Doesn't always necessarily have to be that you
bring it to Donovans, because I get a lot of I get a lot of callers from all over the country.
I mean, really, you can call from anywhere in.
The world, but I get a lot, a lot from Boston, Florida, New York, California. And my job, my object here is
to talk to you and help you out in any type of your car needs. I've been doing this for
twenty five years, and it's all I've ever wanted to do, pretty much since I could put a runch in my hand.
There's a I have a picture at home. I gotta
find that thing. I don't know where it's at, but
picture of me when I was I must have been six or seven years old and had a towel on the ground and I'm underneath a car and acting like I'm working on it, you know, because that's that's all I know. I mean, and uh again, I enjoy it
enough so that I'm here every Saturday to answer your car question.
So I really do. Uh. I appreciate all.
The callers and uh, you know you guys calling up so uh, real quick, I'm gonna get to Charlie here in just a second, real quick. If you're in the
Tri state area, that's you know, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio with all the Wayne Waine, with all the rain we're getting.
If you have a water leak in your vehicle, which is I mean, I see it a lot.
Okay, got a great guy.
It's called the you can call me anytime, but it's called the water doctor. Okay, this is what he does.
He specializes and fixes these cars. Now, nine out of
ten times, if you have a sunroof and you have water getting into your vehicle, most likely it's the sunroof trains either they're detached or they're clogged, especially if you park underneath the tree where there's leaves to breed or whatnot.
Happens all the time.
And if you take it to your dealer, or if you take it to any repair shop in this this local area, they're gonna call him Jerry at the water Doctor and does a phenomenal job.
Great guy, upstanding guy.
And again, if you have a water leak in your vehicle.
And I want to bring this up because of all the rain that we've had, and it's not good to get water in your car because most of these newer vehicles, all of the modules, all the electronics, everything that runs that vehicle. These manufacturers put the modules and everything in
the in the floor, so that water just ruins them.
And it'll cost you one hundreds and thousands of dollars to fix these things. So it's something that if you
notice water penetrating or getting your vehicle, call the water doctor and you know, you can bring it to one of our locations. He'll come and he'll fix it and
had a great cost. So something to think about. I
was just thinking about that when at the break when it was like, while I'm staring outside and it's just pouring down rain. So all right, again the number to
call five one, three, seven, four, nine fifty five hundred.
Let's go back to the phones we have Charlie. Hey, Charlie,
thank you for your patience. I really do appreciate it.
How can I help?
Well, I called you about new cars, but before I get into that, uh, I've got a two thousand and five across our town country and I borrowed that in April of two thousand and four. They put them out
real early that year, but everything was fine. I got
over one hundred thousand miles on it, and the dealership I went. I took a Cadillac dealership because they were
the car with it with an all change, but they switched to all synthetic oil. All of a sudden, everything
started leaking on it, all the gaskets and everything, and they said, oh, no, it couldn't happen. But at the
same time I put I changed the synthetical on my Crasslin lawnmower. All the gaskets started leaking on it too,
So I don't think that was a I was told later that you ought anything after I think two thousand and six or something was okay to use synthetical. Well
that's true or not, but I was told it couldn't have happened, but I told it, was told you shouldn't use it on an older vehicle. The synthetical.
Yeah, I mean yeah, I really think that.
You should stick to what the manufacturer at the time, at that year when it was manufactured, that you'd stick to, you know, what that car was manufacturing and designed to do, because again, I have my little civic that I have.
You know, it's twenty five years old, and I still put conventional oil in it.
I don't and I don't have any problems with it.
I mean, knock on wood and I do too.
I usually I went back to the conventional oil, and I couldn't find a dealership around here that are any or a car place that didn't use the blended. So
I used the blended role now and then I was fifteen hundred miles. I have to add a cord till
I get up to five thousand, and then I get it changed. But what I called about was I'm gonna
I got a My car's resting out. I got about
one hundred and seventies and on it, so I'm going to get another car, and I'm just gonna. I thought
about a hon that they're more expensive than the Christler, but somebody told me they didn't think they were making as well now the engines and all, so I don't know.
I swear I was trying to find out.
Okay, now it's a great question. I love this question
because you know, I see, I see.
A lot, and I had this I was talking to a young lady earlier this week I was taking her home, was dropping her off, taking her home, and we were talking about it.
But let me ask you something is are you looking for a car? SUV?
Van? What van?
You want a van? Okay, go ahead.
I maybe seven, but I still all of the old haul stuff when I needed gotcha.
So are you? Are you looking to buy used or new? Well?
They used are so expensive, I figure I'm going to have one more car, so I was thinking about a new one.
Okay, all right, Well, I mean typically your interest rates are going to be cheaper on a newer one anyways, Right, So you buy a car with you know, thirty thousand miles on it, and you're gonna pay more on your interest rate if you find if for those of you out there financing it, I will always I always lean towards Hanna. Now that's just my preference. I've had, Like
I told you, my little Civic that I have, I've had for twenty five years. I've always liked the Hunter brand.
But yes, you're right, they are more expensive. Reason being
is because there's they're a lot more reliable and they last longer. Now I don't have a problem with the
Chrysler minivan.
I really don't.
The only thing that I can tell you that I noticed is there is a it's a it is an absolute poor design by Chrysler, and we do a ton of them. But there is what's called the oil filter,
what they call the oil filter housing, the oil cooler, oil filter sit right on top, right in the valley of the engine, and these it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when these housings leak. And it's
a it's a it's about a twelve hundred dollars cost, right.
Not not hateful, not like hey don't buy their car because of it, but that's we We we see a lot of those. And Chrysler Man does not build. They're
not making their parts as long as they used to.
I mean, I've got a twenty eighteen Jeep which is owned by Chrysler.
I know it's not a Chryst it's you know, it's owned by Chrysler.
But I've got a twenty eighteen Jeep that needed a throttle body and not available.
Chrysler doesn't make it anymore. So you're you're, you're, you're
you know. The only reason I.
Was, yeah, I was thinking about going to Honda. My
daughter bought one of them. It's similar to this crassler
it's the Odyssey. Uh but she said it's really hard
to get the seats out. And one of the crashloerds
they just toole down, says, you've got a flat. Yeah,
you know, I can put a sheet of fly with it in the back of my this van.
What about Have you looked at the Toyot Sienna.
No, I wasn't familiar with it.
That's you know, well, my my first choice if I'm buying a van, my first choice is Honda Odyssey.
My mother in law has one. She loves it.
They're great cars. That that would be my first. Number
two would be the toy To Sienna. My father in law.
Uh so, my mother in law has the Odyssey. My
father in law has a Sienna. I mean he almost
has two hundred thousand miles on that thing. And I'm
telling you he's never And I'm gonna knock on wood because I don't want to. I don't want to wish
anything bat him. Never had any problems with the Sienna.
Never.
And if I'm my third choice would be the the now Again, the Honda and the Toyota are you're gonna pay more for even if even if they have one hundred thousand miles, you know, but they typically make their parts longer, last longer, and less headache. But you know,
we really don't have a ton of problems with the Chrysler.
We really don't.
Just that oil filter housing which was the poor designed by them, but for the most part, they just don't make their parts as long as Honda and Toyota.
Yeah, the Sienna, is that a Toyota, Yes, sir, yep, Toyota Siena. Okay, that's why I was trying to thank
the Hana made that.
Yeah, I'm sorry I should have said that.
Yeah, Toyota Sienna, you really ought to look into that.
Okay, it's gonna be my life one so the life long time, make it count.
Okay, Okay, Well, thank you, sure, thank you absolutely. I
appreciate the phone call you every great weekend. Good luck
to you.
Hey, well, if you're listening, when you buy that van, I want to hear, I want to, you know, want I want to get a full report on how you like it. So all right, the number to call five one, three, seven, four,
nine fifty five hundred coming up. We have uh we
have John and Allen. You're listening to the Car show
on fifty five krs the Talk station.
Do you have a truck, camper, r V or trailer that needs body repair? If so, call my buddy Dave
Breakman at Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair located just All five seventy five or Route sixty three.
It's convenient to both Cincinnati and Date.
With over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork, Franks knows the most important things are quality work and customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
doing the job right and get in your vehicle back on the road. Call five one three eight two nine
ninety thirty eight two nine ninety thirty.
You're listening to the car.
Show on fifty five krs DE Talk station on Dan Donovan from Donovan's Auto Entire Center. And again, if you're
in the tri state area of Kentucky, Indiana or Ohio, you can go to donovantire dot com and find your nearest location and we would be more than happy to take care of you in all of your car needs.
But now I'm taking care of.
Your car needs as far as what you have and what you have may have a question about.
So love to hear from you.
And again I'm here every Saturday to answer your car questions and number to call five one, three seven.
All right, let's go back to the phones we have.
John. Hey, John, welcome to the car show.
How can I help?
No, I got to I guess a question I'm trying to figure out on my car. So I've had a
couple of times in the last I guess month, just two times. I guess when my after I drive it
for say a half hour forty minutes, if I stop at a store, run into the store, come back out, try to start it. I have nothing, wait a pout
a half hour or forty minutes, come back and start starts up with no problem. First I thought of I
thought maybe with my alternators, double check that alternators fine, charging, batteries getting charged fine, and everything. So I guess I'm
just trying to figure out what could be causing that issue.
Sure, so real quick, So I want to when you run into the store and come back out, turn the key, do you have power?
Radio lights? Dash light up? Is that all happen?
Yes? I see my time on all of that on
the radio and everything. It's all there, but as soon
as I try to turn, I don't. There's nothing. It
doesn't even try to crank or anything. It's like, there's nothing.
There, gotcha? Okay.
So typically, so what you're most likely dealing with is that starter. A lot of times, if the car does
not crank, nine out of ten times, it's the start itself. Okay,
And probably what's happening. And this happens all the time
with crank sensors, but we're not dealing with that. We're
because crank sensor will still allow the car to crank, but it won't fire the car.
But anyways, a lot of.
The times the car when you stop and shut it off, it's called kind of like a hot soak. That starter
just kind of bakes a little bit and then it won't fire. It just won't do its job. The selamoid's
probably shot and you need a starter. So if the
battery test good, the alternatory test good, and you go.
And so what happens is that starter then cools down the engine and everything cools down and then it starts firing again. So most likely you need a new starter.
How many miles are on the vehicle.
On this engine, there's uh about fifty five thousand on.
It, okay, rig Okay, so you say on this I had.
To replace that e GM previously because of a timing chrain issue that happened though with.
It got it okay, Yeah, that's pretty common.
So most likely we're dealing with the starter now that the problem is.
You need to get it. If you get it to
your mechanic in.
Order to really really identify if it's the start or not.
We got to get it to act up, right. Your
technician has got to get it to act up, so they're gonna have to drive it, get it hot, and you know there it could be a relay issue, could be.
You know, start a relay or whatnot.
But most likely it's going to be your starter that needs to be replaced. But again, any mechanic or whoever
looks at it, you need to let them know. Hey, listen,
when it acts up, it's after I've been driving it for thirty minutes and then park, run to a gas station, come back out. Give them that information because what's gonna
happen is they're going to drive around the block and go, let's start it right up, you know, we can't find anything wrong with it. Give them that information that you
gave me. Hey, look after I'm driving it for thirty minutes,
run into a gas station and come back out. It
won't start and it's a no crank. And if they
have that information, that's going to give them, you know, a better reason. It's going to allow them to diagnose
it quicker. You know, far too often people feel like, oh,
if I give them too information, it's going to cost me too much. It's gonna cost me more money. But
it's the absolute opposite. You give them your technician every
bit of information that you possibly can, and it's going to take them less time to try to diagnose it and get it back to you. So but I think
you need to start her. Okay, all right, thank you
very much for holding I appreciate it, and have a great weekend.
All right, let's go. We're running out of time. Let's
go to Alan.
Hey, Alan, I'm really kind of tenched on time, but I'd love to help you.
How can I help you?
Okay, I'll give you my quick version. I've got a
twenty ten Highlander. I just had front struts put on
to diagnose a problem of front end vibration and how it acts is when I go to work in the morning, I have front and vibration driving sixty sixty five miles an hour for like ten fifteen minutes, and it may not completely go away, but it goes away largely on my way home from work after seven hours. It's always smooth.
Okay when it vibrates.
Is it vibrating when you're applying the brakes when you have your foot on the gas.
What I'm traveling. Yes, So whether I take my hand
off the steering room or not, I still feel it in my body.
Okay.
So you're driving it, you get your foot on the gas and it's vibrating.
Correct.
Okay, if you let off the gas, does it continue to vibrate?
Yes?
Okay.
And front and the front struts helped, but didn't eliminate.
Okay, what I would? What about did you have the
tires looked at and balanced?
They have? They are balanced. There are seven year old tires.
They've got about forty five thousand, thirty about thirty five to forty thousand miles on them. There's still plenty of
tread life, but they're seven years old. Yeah, and that's
what the mechanics suggested to try next is new tires.
So typically yeah, So there's a couple of things that cause a vibration. If you've got a vibration under acceleration,
which you don't have, but I'm just under acceleration. If
you have a vibration, it's usually a drivetrain axle or something like that. That's not what you have because if
you let off the gas, it's still there.
Okay. If you have a vibration when applying the brakes.
At higher speeds, that's usually break pulsation, you've got a break issue.
But if it's got new brakes on it, okay.
So if it's doing it all the time, there's only two things that could be.
Either one of the either one of the tires is either bad, has a broken belt or out of or needs to be balanced.
So it's either a.
Tire issue or you've got to break or I'm sorry, break caliper hose. That's kind of hanging up and causing it.
But if it in the morning, it does it, But in the afternoon it doesn't. You know, typically it's a
little bit warmer in the afternoon. I would think from
what you're telling me, it sounds like it's a tire.
We're dealing with a tire issue. You need to get
those tires checked and maybe rebalanced. And if you can
find a mechanic that has what's called a road force balancer, use that.
Okay, thank you very much. Huh.
I have a great day, man. I love answering these questions.
It's just always uh sorry, I'm just so sorry. I'm
out of time, but I'll be back next Saturday answer all your questions.
Everybody, have a great weekend.
Listen to Dane Domond you listen to Carshon on fifty five Case, the talk station
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