Basic Maintenance That Can Make Your Car Last Longer

The future in uncertain, which means most of us are trying to save every buck we can. When it comes to your car, doing some basic maintenance can make it last an incredibly long time. The longer your car last, the longer it will be before you have to spend money on a new one.

Ask anyone about what car maintenance should be done and they will usually blurt out, “Change the oil every 3,000 miles”. Somewhere, a marketing professional is smiling happily. Yes, you should change the oil regularly, but not this often. Even so, there are other steps you can take that will make a world of difference for your car.

Okay, let’s start with oil. The 3,000 mile recommendation is a marketing slogan, not a fact. Oil has become very sophisticated and will usually last 5,000 miles without any problems unless you are putting it under major stress. An even better move is to switch to a synthetic oil like Mobil One. These always will last much longer, often 10,000 miles or more. You can pull up recommendations for your car online. Most manufacturers offer them.

A second critical maintenance step to your car has to do with breathing. Air is a critical part to the combustion process. You need gas. You need a spark. You need air. The air comes into the engine through an air filter. Your engine can start to starve for air if you don’t change out your oil filter. This makes the engine run poorly and puts stress on the system. Stress is bad for a car. Change your air filter every 10,000 miles.

Ask yourself a simple question: Is it good for a machine to run hot? The answer is nearly always that it is not. Most people understand this, yet they also never take any steps to do upkeep on the coolant system of their car. If you want to kill an engine well before its normal lifespan, just neglect the coolant system.

It is important to understand that oil is meant to lubricate, not cool an engine. Your radiator and coolant system is just as important as keeping your oil up. Make sure to adjust your coolant system at the beginning of each summer and winter. When you do, make sure to check the hoses and such so you’ll know if it is performing right. If your car tends to run hot, you should have the thermometer in the coolant system checked.

There you are. Three basic maintenance steps. If you stay on top of them, you are nearly guaranteed to have a car that is going to last a very long time. These days, that counts as money in the bank.
Write By : Dirk Gibson