Essential Car Maintenance Tips

TIPS OF THE WEEK

Keep your car’s resale value as high as possible with these simple, actionable tips on how to maintain your car properly.

Cars are expensive, there’s no doubt about it, and if you’d like to ensure your investment lasts as long as possible, you should do your best to take care of it.

Some of these maintenance tips include:

Replacing filters on time

Keeping an eye on your tire tread

Changing your oil regularly

Keeping the interior clean

Fixing scratches quickly

Maintaining your brakes

Not smoking in the cabin

Maintaining your car not only ensures it lasts longer, and that each component operates as it should, but it also protects its resale value.

Replace Your Filters On Time Every Time

Regularly replacing the filters in your car is one of the best ways to ensure it lasts a long time.

Each of these is in charge of removing contaminants before they continue on to cause harm. Over time, these particles will build up in filters, and you’ll need to replace them, or they’ll become clogged.

Some of these include the following:

Fuel filter (replace every 2-years or 30,000 miles)

Engine air filter (replace every 15,000-30,000 miles)

Cabin air filter (replace every 15,000-20,000 miles)

Engine oil filter (replace every 3-months or 3,000 miles)

Emission filter (replace every 100,000 miles)

Ignoring any of these can lead to devastating consequences. Take your oil filter, for instance, which keeps things like dirt, dust, and metallic particles from reaching your engine. These contaminants can build up in your oil and turn it into sludge, which your engine doesn’t cope well with.

When this happens, your engine has to work harder, which can cause it to overheat. When an engine overheats, it is more likely to develop a blown head gasket or a cracked block, which are costly repairs that are best avoided.

Lighten The Load On Your Keychain

Here’s one you might not have thought about. Would you believe that having too much weight hanging from your keychain can harm your car?

That’s right, the constant motion of it swinging back and forth can eventually wear out your ignition switch, meaning you’ll have to replace it.

How much does it cost to replace an ignition switch? Expect to spend between $150-$250, including both parts and labor. If you try to turn the key and it seems to stick, or if you have trouble pulling it out, this is an early sign that it is beginning to fail.

Thankfully, by lightening the number of keys, trinkets, and fobs you are packing, you can add years to the life of your ignition switch.

Ensure Your Tires Have Enough Tread And Are Properly Inflated

The only point of contact our cars have with the road is the tires, for this reason, keeping them in good shape should be a priority. The first thing to watch for is the amount of tread they have, and the second is that they have enough air in them.

 (Source: AutoChimps)