I am considering keeping my car beyond 20 years. Is it necessary to overhaul the engine or transmission?

There are no specific routines you need to follow through when a car reaches its 20th year. While age causes deterioration of the paintwork and interior, wear and tear of the engine or transmission largely depends on how much mileage the car has covered, how it is driven and how well it has been maintained.

If you have been the owner over the last few years, then you have first-hand knowledge of the car's service history and, more importantly, how well the car has been treated on the road.

A car that is driven aggressively most of the time and is not serviced regularly would end up with significantly higher wear and tear to the engine and transmission than what the mileage suggests.

Even at 200,000km, an engine that still performs smoothly and emits no smoke out of the exhaust is not in any need of overhaul.

Similarly, if the transmission shifts smoothly and there are no leaks from the gearbox, it is best to leave it alone. With a manual gearbox, there is hardly a need to strip and rebuild. An oil change would be enough to keep it going.

Anyone who wishes to renew a car's certificate of entitlement for a third term must have a special connection with it, or the car is a particularly special model that is worth keeping.

The decision to overhaul or not must also be based on the car's performance, oil consumption, fuel efficiency and past reliability.

Shreejit Changaroth