A friend of mine has a 97 SL that has 160K miles, and looks like it's in great shape and it gets 36 combined hwy/city, but he says it uses a qt of oil for every two fill ups. Anything specific I should be looking for in this car? He only wants $600 for it. I am just looking for a daily commuter that will see a max of 50 miles/weekday

 

OK - roughly a quart/1000mi. Not good, but not the worst either. Check and make sure you don't have oil in the coolant (and vice versa also). Place a large piece of cardboard under the car where you park, and see if you can locate a leak. As long as the tyres are reasonably sound, and there's no big digs in the brake discs, you might be making a good deal

 

At this point in time with the miles on the car the engine is pretty much worn out with oil mileage like that.
Why? Probably because way back when the recommended oil to be used was too light a weight for longevity.
The odds of getting a fix is about zero.
Choices are;
Start using a heavier weight oil. It probably will do no good but should have been done a long time ago.
Try something like Z-max as a regular additive for a while. It has been reported the oil control rings will get carboned up and stick, and they >may< work them selves free.
I doubt it.
Check oil and add frequently. Oil is cheap compared to the alternatives.

 

Thanks. Tires are brand new, brakes should be good as the car just passed it's annual safety inspection last month. He is going to let me have the car for a week to see if I like it. I'll have a mechanic check it out during that time.

 

That's right about where my '99 SW2 is at also...kudos to your buddy for telling you the truth about the oil useage before you bought it...mine was a surprise, probably just because I didn't know it was an important question to ask for this car...
I'm still using the 5w-30, as there are no leaks...I tried going to a heavier oil but it seemed to disappear even faster...I have recently started running an additive with each oil change to see if I can get those rings knocked loose again...started with Sea Foam with the last change, going to Z-Max with this next one...car runs great, GOOD power (more than I ever thought you'd get out of 1900 cc's!) and can't be beat for a commuter...you'll be happy with it as long as the oil sitch doesn't excaberate....just like me!
Every two tanks on mine is 740 miles though...

 

Mine was bought in 1996 as a 2 year old used car. At that point in time, it was servced using 10W30 oil. A good year around oil, it had about 45,000 miles or so on it then. In 1999 I swtiched to 20W50 which is even a better choice based on where I live.
To me, these selections seemed obvious as the correct oil to use on an engine based on my knowledge of how things worked
and
recognising that the industry was pushing light weight oil as a fuel miliage incentive. Something that concerned me a whole lot less then engine reliability based on using oils compatible with climate and driving.
The pay off. I still do it, my Saturn uses no oil between oil changes and so for the most part do my other cars despite dealer recomendations to use the light weight oil.
No thanks, I have no use for the recommendations and I have no problems with my cars.

 

Anyone use BG products in theirs? My mechanic just started offering BG service about 6 months ago. So that could be an option.

 

I have to be totally honest here -- I have never personally used the BG product line, although I have heard several stories as to their effectivity. (Please note that I use the term "stories" only because I cannot personally verify the results). Here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, my nearest distributorship for BG products is in Abita Springs, Louisiana ....

 

I too, to be honest, have never heard of the BG product line. Also to be honest, in general I do not believe in "Motor fix it in a can" cures to what ever it is that ails your car.
I personally drive my primary car well over the national average in miles per year and at this point in my life it is one of 7 I own. I buy what I want, when I want it and can afford it. My Saturn was purchased used in 1996 and purposely has not been driven into the ground. Although 3 years ago it was extensively restorated by repairing what ills it had, a complete paint job with plenty of bling that if I had to pay for it would have been about $6000.00 and the interior repaired that was caused by water damage.
I do for the most part, my own work as it is a hobby and it lets me own 7 cars because I could not afford to pay some one else to maintain them for me. My Saturn has about 110,000 miles on it and has no problems that I can think of other than the Odometer does not work and I have replacement parts sitting on the shelf. Well, the horn either.
My Chrysler on the other hand was purchased new in 2007, is getting ready to turn 60,000 miles now and every time the dealer has insisted it was ready for the;
Injector Cleaning service
or
what ever
that consisted predominately of pouring
Motor Fix It in a can through what ever it was they wanted to pour it
I have passed on the service for the following reasons
1. It generally cost between $35.00 and $60.00 to have them pour a $5.00 can of stuff through the engine or whatever
and
2. I can pour it myself if I wanted to and I don’t.
In general those products do not impress me as something that is beneficial in the long run as an alternative to regular maintenance using proper lubricants at advisable intervals nor have I on the whole seen them as a repair to worn out or damaged parts
with a couple of exceptions.
Lucas additives have seemingly solved power steering leaks and binding problems, I have slowed down front and rear main bearing seal leaks with 3m products designed for the purpose. Slowed down = instead of a quart of oil every tank of gas, it was every other tank.
Lucas products have dealt with automatic transmission seal leakage
and for what ever reason, Z-max caused a very high mileage Saturn to stop burning oil when it was tried because noting else worked at the time.
However this car was carefully maintained by the owner who bought it new and was perplexed by the some what sudden increase in oil usage and we had become friends so we did two things to it.
Stopped using the light weight recommended motor oil
which is something I personally will not use, but used instead an oil weight that is suggested for use based on mileage of the car and the temperature range the car lives in. For me, that is 20W50. Changing to the heavier oil did nothing except give me a warm fuzzy feeling. 2 oil changes later the beasty had quick consuming oil after using Z-Max.
Is that an endorsement. No, other than it worked that time under those conditions for me.
Alternative oil additives and maintenance items have been around since just after cars were invented some where around 1897 or so. They may work under certain circumstances but there is nothing to my knowledge that says regular usage is cost justified.
I have my favorites, mostly because they sponsor racing.
But the mystique in many cases is advertising or word of mouth hype.
I am currently re-rebuilding a Chevy motor that has almost no miles on it that I recently bought for $300.00 to install in a car I own.
Why did I buy it, it was a hell of a deal and the current owner could not sell it.
Everytime he mentioned it was rebuilt using CRISCO (YES THAT IS WHAT I SAID, CRISCO) as an assembly lube the potential buyer walked.
Do you have any idea what rancid Crisco does to Lifters?
Why was Crisco used to rebuild it?
The same rational used to justify almost any “Motor fix it in a can” type product.
What I am I using as an assembly lube?
The cam shaft assembly lube on the cam supplied with my New Iskenderian cam shaft and some 10W40 mixed with STP which is my favorite assembly lube. ‘
We are all guilty of using STUFF
Ur call, if you think it is worth it go for it.
I’m not going to tell you it isn’t, even if deep down, I don’t think it is.

 

rancid crisco

just when I thought you were outta stories, Unc