Final Story, Feature Lead

It was late in March, six months into the school year, and like many college freshmen Erin McCormick was driving her Dodge Neon without the supervision of her parents. It was extremely hot outside, and she was not familiar with the necessary steps to maintain a car.
“I honestly had no idea that I was supposed to do things to keep my car from breaking down,” said McCormick. “I had driven it for over a year by this point.”
McCormick’s car started overheating on a regular basis, and she took it in to get looked at.
“It started overheating after a half-hour of driving, so I decided something was wrong,” she said.
Many students leaving home for the first time are not taught what is necessary to maintain their cars. Students often drive more miles, and driving without ever having the oil changed can damage the engine.
“You should change your oil roughly every 3,000 miles, or after three months when it starts to get old,” said Allyn Van Hout, assistant manager of Jiffy Lube in Pullman. “After a while the oil starts building composites in the engine which is bad.”
“I’ve had people bring in their cars where the oil is black, or where there are actually only a few drops of oil in the car,” said Van Hout. “If you run completely out of oil it can destroy your engine.”
Clean oil is a clear tan color, said Van Hout. When it gets old it turns to a dark black color.
“I’ve had people laugh about it when I tell them how close they were to destroying their engine,” said Van Hout. “I try to explain to them that they could be paying thousands of dollars in engine repairs for not changing their oil.”
In some of these cases the car’s owners are college students that are unaware of the fact that the oil needs to be changed, said Van Hout.
This was exactly the case in McCormick’s situation.
“When I took my car in I told them I had never changed the oil before,” said McCormick. “Good thing I took it in when I did and nothing happened to my car.”
Van Hout said that changing oil is a universal need for all cars.
“It is the one thing that every car needs to have done,” Van Hout said. “It is the easiest thing to do that every car needs.”
As for other maintenance tips for college students with their own cars, follow the manufacturers recommendations for tune-ups based on the vehicles current mileage, said Van Hout.
“A higher mileage car might require more frequent changes or tune-ups based on the make and model,” said Van Hout.
“I knew a lot of people who didn’t change their oil regularly either,” said McCormick. “I make sure to tell my friends when they get a new car.”
“I’m never going to forget again,” said McCormick. “It was pretty embarrassing when my car started smoking on the highway.”