Servicing Your Automobiles

You have picked out your new car, the financing is in order, and you are ready to drive it home. You may think that the hard work is over, but it is not. Now that you are the proud owner of an automobile, there are some things you are going to have to do or have done on a regular basis.

This is called vehicle maintenance and it must be done routinely to keep your car in good running order. Some car owners prefer to do a majority of this themselves, however as technology increases so does the difficulty of doing this. The most common maintenance issues are listed below.

Oil Change

The most overlooked part of vehicle maintenance is the one most essential to longevity. An oil change should be performed on your vehicle every three thousand miles.

You may have heard that industry standards have changed and that manufacturers are increasing the mileage between oil changes. This is true and it is not, you see the key words in the advertising are “under normal driving conditions”. Some carmakers are advertising that you can go as many as 10,000 miles without an oil change. This only applies if your driving habits do not fall into the severe category.

Severe

1) Repeated short distance driving
2) Long idling periods
3) Dusty, muddy, rough, hilly, sandy, and salty areas are severe driving
4) Extreme temperatures cold/hot and humid

As you can see, almost all the driving conditions of most of the country are listed as severe. Therefore, every three thousand miles is still smart.

Be sure that you check the manufacturers recommended oil against that of your service provider. Many warranties could be invalid with the use of substandard oil.

Tune Up

A tune up should be preformed about every 30,000 miles. This will keep your vehicle in top running order and could prevent breakdowns.

Tune-ups cover:

• Spark Plugs
• Air filter
• Fuel filter
• Adjustment of carburetor on older vehicles
• Clean/ replace fuel injectors
• Check compression
• Check distributor cap and plug wires
• All major fluids, brake, power steering, oil, transmission fluid and coolant or anti-freeze
• Belts and hoses should be checked for wear
• Computer codes run for issues
• Safety items such as lights, wipers, and tires (air pressure and tread depth)

These are the most common areas that should be checked when you have a tune up. Different service locations may offer different packages when it comes to this, for instance they may do a fluid check only. This is acceptable as long as you are aware that the other items will still need to be looked into.

A good routine of vehicle maintenance is essential to the longevity of your vehicle. The better you are at taking care of your car the less likely it is that it will break down or suffer major mechanical failure.

When choosing a mechanic to perform this work, ask around about their reputation. The best mechanics in town will have great feedback and will likely be extremely busy. It is also important that they be familiar with the make and model of car you own. A mechanic can be fantastic with Fords and not so much with Volkswagens. Do your homework and select someone with the right combination of references and experience.