A car must be well maintained to prevent constant breakdowns and for your own safety. When you maintain your car well, you also improve its longevity and resale value.
This means you must take your car for regular service which extends its life as well as fuel efficiency. When your car is well-maintained, it has less emissions and therefore less environmental impact in addition to consuming less gas per mile covered. This also saves you quite a tidy sum in costly repairs since a car in good condition rarely breaks down.
Here are car maintenance tips you need to know.
Drive smoothly
Don’t drive like a maniac. Accelerating hard then slamming on the brakes endangers your life as well as that of other road users and damages your car. It also consumers a lot of gas for no useful distance coverage.
Instead drive your car smoothly. Gradually step on the gas pedal when you want to overtake and make sure there’s sufficient space to do so. When you need to stop, start decelerating with some distance to spare rather than getting to your destination and coming to a sudden halt.
After starting your car, build up speed gradually since accelerating immediately after start-up damages your engine.
Regular service
You must take your car for minor service after 3 months or 3000 miles of driving, whichever comes first. A medium service should be scheduled after 6 months or 9 months of driving, whichever comes first. Your car is due every year or after 15,000 miles of driving.
Don’t skimp on taking your car for service in a bid to save money. You’ll end up with a bigger problem that costs more money to repair. Autoserviceprices.Com can guide you on how much money you should expect to spend on each service so you can budget accordingly.
Wash your car weekly
Giving your car a regular wash keeps it clean, maintains the paint and extends its life.
Clean both the interior and exterior of your car for your own comfort and that of other occupants and to extend its life. Dust, dirt and mud have a corrosive effect on your car and can make it look older and dull. Spilled liquids and food crumbs can attract bugs as well stain your seats.
While cleaning your car, remember to clean and dry the mats and also dust your dash board to make your car sparkling clean.
Check the tires
Your tire pressure affects your fuel efficiency as well the control of the vehicle. Your tires should always be inflated to the right pressure as indicated by the information often on the sides of the tires. Check your tire pressure every two weeks and inflate as needed.
You should also watch out for the condition of the tires since worn out tires are more prone to bursting which can lead to a serious accident. While at it, also check the alignment of your wheels since an improper alignment often causes your tires to wear out unevenly.
