How To Keep You Car Well Maintained

When you purchase a car, you want it to stay looking as good as the day you got it. To do this, you have to keep it well maintained. Keeping on top of the maintenance of your car will not only help you to get the best price for your car when you sell it in the future, but it will also keep it working well for longer. Car maintenance may seem like a lot of work, but it is worth it in the long run. Below are a few things that you should be doing to ensure the upkeep of your car:

Keep your fluids topped up

The fluids in your vehicle are what help to keep it running. You need to make sure that you check their levels regularly and keep them topped up. To check your oil levels take out the dipstick, wipe it clean then dip it back in to ensure it is between the minimum and maximum lines.

When you fill-up the coolant reservoir you should fill it half with water and half with antifreeze.

Don’t forget to fill up the windscreen washer bottle with screenwash, do not use washing up liquid as this could damage the paint on your car.

Take your car for regular services

Your car should be serviced either once a year or after every 10000 miles. It may be tempting to skip a service so that you can save a bit of money, but that could end up with you having to pay a significantly larger bill in the future. A service should include an oil and oil filter change and could include the replacement of spark plugs and air filters. Keeping on top of these, and other things, with a service, will help to prevent more significant problems from happening as quickly.

Check your tyres

Tyres ensure the safety of your car so need to be checked regularly. The tyre pressure should match what it says in your car manual or on the inside of your car door. Under-inflated tyres can mean that your fuel consumption increases, so you will want to keep them at the right level.

You also need to make sure that your tyre tread is at a depth of more than 1.6mm to be safe. If it starts to get anywhere close to this, then you should think about getting them replaced. A tyre shop like Border Bandag Tyre Service is good because they stock tyres for all makes and models of cars.

Don’t modify your car

No matter how much you want to modify your vehicle, it can really affect the length of the life of your car. It can also make it less reliable. It will not increase the worth of your car either; in fact, it may reduce the amount that your car will resell for.

Extra strain can be put on the mechanisms of your car if modifications are made. If you try and increase the power of the engine, it can put a strain on it and your brakes as they will have to work harder to break at higher speeds.