Extended plug service intervals

[John Larson <jdlarson@ix.netcom.com>]

Good morning. This is an opinion, and contains harsh language which may
offend some people. Allowing sparkplugs to remain in service until the
car runs like c**p allows the following scenarios to become likely. You
toast the O2 sensor, you cause damage to the ignition primary and
secondary systems, you see severely lowered fuel economy, you toast the
catalytic converter, and you wash down the cylinder walls with unburned
gasoline. Furthermore, you could fail a smog ck, which could result in
major repair expenses, and perhaps a penalty of some sort, or you could
be stranded in some inconvenient place at some inconvenient time. In my
professional experience, people who boast of extremely extended plug
life also are guilty of failure to perform yearly fuel filter changes,
rarely change their oil, their air filter, and the performance of what
most techs would consider the most basic owner preventive maintenance. I
once had to remove an engine from some kind of midsize GM thing  at the
end of a guy's lease and do a panic teardown because he'd never changed
the oil, causing the oil pickup screen to varnish over and become
completely plugged, something that would unquestionably have been
prevented by regular oil changes over the 3 year period. But look at the
money he saved in oil changes. Even if he had shopped the coupons and
had it done at the cheapest places, using the cheapest products, it
would have saved his engine. You could estimate he saved $120 to $150
over the 36,000 miles, and he spent $1800 at the end of the lease. What
a deal.
Again, in my experience, these same people who boast of the longest
service intervals scream the loudest when confronted with the costs of
repairing the damage caused by their folly, and seek any way out of
paying the costs. "Can't you just gut the plugged converter?", "can't
you just disconnect the failed O2 sensor?"," how much if I bring the
parts, I can get 'em cheaper down at xxxx". "I know they're not Bosch
(or NGK, or ND), but the generic counterman said  they'll work OK,
right?" Where's all that saved money when it's time to spend it?
Excuse me the Weekly Rant, but I personally and professionally consider
anyone who drives his motor vehicle, whether it be an expensive "toy" or
the cheapest form of basic transportation, into the ground, to be little
more than a fool.
As always, the champion of sanity and shameless promoter of the lowly
regarded and under appreciated automotive technicians, John (Not that
I'm all that sane myself, it keeps me going.)