Taking Good Care Of Your Car
Regardless of whether you are thinking of buying a first or second-hand car, I am sure you want to get the most value out of your new beloved car. This would imply that you have to maintain your car to ensure it can be taken out for drives for as long as possible, or at least for the duration before you will buy a car with better specs. However, many drivers do not take proper care of their cars to maintain their performance during their expected lifespan. Hence, this results in many severe consequences that could have been prevented should the car have been better-taken care of.
Prevention is always better than cure. However, in reality, many do not heed this saying. It is logical because many dislike the idea of having to burn a hole in their wallets. However, all car owners need to know that car maintenance fees are not large compared to the amount they have to pay when the car breaks down in the future.
Now, you may be asking – what preventive measures should a car owner take? What types of maintenance should you send your car to ensure it is operationally ready for a drive? In this article, we will share the list of maintenance activities to ensure your car is in the pink of health. This is very important, especially if you need to go on a long trip. It won’t hurt to do a car inspection singapore.
Having said that, you do not have to maintain your car personally, whereby you tend to your car engine yourself. If you really want to save some bucks, you can consider doing maintenance personally. Fortunately, you should know that many of the maintenance issues can be checked by your friendly community car mechanic at a low price. Although sending your car for maintenance will cost some bucks, the potential future breakdowns will definitely cost more. Hence, you should heed the advice we are giving in this article.
1. Read and understand your car’s manual
First thing first is to ensure you read and understand what type of vehicle is your car from the manual itself. Every car comes with a manual that will give you more in-depth information about the car you just bought. For example, what type of petrol does the manufacturer advise? Can you attach chains to your tires when it is snowing without violating the warranty conditions? The answers to these commonly asked questions are likely to be found in the car manual.
2. Inspect your tire pressure regularly
This is one of the most important things you should check with regards to your car. Unhealthy tires can bring about serious consequences during a drive. Tires that are not fully inflated wear out faster and are partly responsible for bad gas mileage. You also have to ensure your tires are not over-inflated – this would greatly increase the chances of your tires exploding. This is definitely not something you would want to face when you are driving on the expressway.
3. Switch up your tires
Occasionally, you should rotate your tires in the opposite direction by switching the positions of your left tires with your right tires and vice versa. The aim of doing this is to balance the wear experienced by the tire over time which will in turn increase their lifespan.
4. Replace the oil in your vehicle
For many years, car owners are brainwashed to believe that their car’s oil has to be changed every 3000 miles or every quarter of the year, whichever condition is fulfilled first. We have good news for car owners – you do not have to replace your car’s oil that often.
The question would be so how long can you drive before requesting a change in oil? This answer varies for different make and model of your car. This should be specified in your car’s manual. Generally, cars can go with the same batch of oil for half a year or for 5000 miles. However, you should also consider the weather conditions your car has to go through. If you drive the car more often under extreme conditions, you should change the oil more frequently.
If you are unsure as to how frequently you should replace the oil, we advise you to be on the cautious side and bring your car in for an oil replacement earlier. When changing at the workshop, you can also check occasionally if there are any issues that might develop in the oil compartment, such as leakages.
5. Replace your windshield wipers
If your car’s wipers are leaving marks behind on your windshield, it is a sign for you to replace your wipers. Such wipers can be dangerous as they cannot remove liquids and substances on your windshield that could potentially block your vision of the road, leading to undesirable accidents.
6. Change your driving habits
This change does not require any technical knowledge. If you seek to reduce the wear and tear to your car, you need to drive properly. For example, you should slow down when going over bumps and avoid driving at high speeds. Most drivers do not know that they are wearing their cars out at a faster rate when they consistently drive at high speeds.
7. Replace your timing belt
If your timing belt malfunction while you are driving, you would need to send your car for a major repair. Other than the timing belt, you might have to repair other components that were broken by the belt’s unexpected breakdown. It is wise to replace your belt for every 60,000 miles traveled, but you should check out your car manual for recommendations by the manufacturer.
8. Check your battery
Getting a dead cell while you are on the road can be nasty, which sees many car owners abandoned at the side of roads. Fortunately, many workshops provide affordable battery testing. You can check if there are any issues with your battery to ensure you do not have to call for a tow truck given a sudden dead cell. It is wise for car owners to change their car batteries once every four or five years.
Conclusion
Hence, we hope you can adhere to the list above. There are also other aspects of your car that you need to check, but these are the basics.
