Extend the Life of Your Car: Avoid These 8 Maintenance Mistakes!

Let’s face it; you make promises to your beloved car during its arrival, and gradually fail to fulfil it. They help you get to and from your office, your kid’s school, basketball match, etc. But you begin to take it for granted after seeing that it’s doing what it is supposed to do. After some years, your car starts troubling you as you were ignoring maintenance.

No doubt, you must be leading a busy life, but taking out some time to love your car is vital. Otherwise, without getting a grace period, you’ll be left stranded somewhere on the road. It might also lead you to pay a fortune. Therefore, take care of your car by avoiding these eight maintenance mistakes and extend its life.

1. Skipping rotation of tires:

You generally look down at your car’s tires when you feel the pressure is low. That is correct, but they need your timely attention too. There is no doubt that today’s automobile tires are pretty tough and can last on average 50,000 miles without the need for replacement. Despite that, if you won’t rotate your tires after every 5000-8000 miles, then they might not last that long (not even half). You need to keep looking for the real mileage of a car.

Each of your tires performs a different function, so are they going to wear differently? Maybe or maybe not! But, skipping the rotation of tires will not give each tire an equal chance to re-balance the wear patterns over time. And the good news is, the tire rotation is very inexpensive and does not take a lot of time.

2. Missing changing oil:

One of the expensive mistakes ever! Though you do not need a frequent oil change in the recent car model, you should still change it regularly. With time, it becomes thick and dirty, which can lead to overheating of your engine and premature wearing and tearing of its components. Therefore, you should make a habit of changing regular oil for every 5000 miles and synthetic oil every 15000 miles.

Sometimes, mechanics also recommend you to change the oil, but it is partly your responsibility to be aware of this information. It will allow you to book an appointment at the proper time.

3. Overlooking brake issues:

The simple fact is, the more city driving, the higher the chances are for more stop and go, and the quicker the brakes wear down. In general, the brake pads are to be replaced every 50,000 miles according to the manufacturer’s manual. But as soon as you start hearing grinding noises, either get your brake pads checked or shoes.

The worst thing that can occur is the leakage of a brake fluid, which can gradually cause the car to lose all its braking power. Therefore, for safety purposes, you should change the brake fluid every two years, regardless of mileage.

4. Missing to get wheels aligned:

During the installation, your mechanic aligns the wheels to make sure they point straight forward. But if you hit a pothole or clip that curb, then your wheels can be misaligned. You’ll come to know about this when your car begins to pull to one side. It will accelerate tire wear, reducing fuel efficiency, and impeding the braking ability.

The only way to ensure the right balance of your car is by having the alignment of wheels checked. How often you should check depends on several factors. However, we would recommend you to do it once or twice a year.

5. Avoiding the car wash:

There is no denying that no one seems to have sufficient time to get everything on their to-do list done. And we understand that! Though avoiding the car wash once or twice won’t damage your car, ignoring build-up overtime could sadden it. If you do not remove dirt, dust, and chemicals promptly, then it can lead to premature rusting.

Regular wash would help protect your car’s paintwork too. In case you do not have time to wash your four-wheeler, then do the weekly visits to the car wash. It will go a long way in ensuring that your car runs well and safely for as long as you want.

6. Do not select roadside garages:

Generally, drivers choose roadside garages to avoid burning the money. But if you’re unaware of the technical issues, it becomes easy for the cheap mechanics to rob you with mediocre quality parts. Sooner or later, you have to visit them frequently, and they will complete the final job expensively. Not to mention, you also need to deal with the nuisance of having to go through the same thing twice.

As some roadside mechanics are the jack of all trades and master of none, they may ruin your car parts by applying trial and error method. So, it’s always better to take your car to an authorised service centre and provide first-class treatment.

7. Wrecking the interior:

As you welcome guests in your house, you tend to do the same in your car, especially if it is a new one. And that is one of the reasons that not only your exterior needs attention, but also your car’s interior needs timely maintenance. Additionally, you may not like uninvited guests like rats, mice, other rodents, and dirt to wreak havoc on seats and floorboards.

So, regular vacuum cleaning, stain removal, and wiping away of dirt and grime from your interior can help your car to last longer.

8. Doing guesswork for tire pressure:

Most of the time, drivers guess the tire pressure by staring at the tires. It’s one of the basic car maintenance mistakes that many car drivers make. However, the average recommended tire pressure is between 30 and 35 psi. The lower than the recommended one will not blow out your tires but can lead to a bad fuel economy, affecting your wallet.

Generally, outside weather can also affect the tire pressure. It loses 1 to 2 lbs of air for every 10° temperature drop. Therefore, it is always the best idea to keep the check of tire pressure regularly (every 15 days).

Always stick to your promises!

Everyone, including your car, likes people who stick to their promises. When you fail to do so with your four-wheeler, the resulting repair costs dwarf the money that you could have kept for some other work. However, the above information will surely help you to save money in the long run. After all, the car is (or maybe) your second largest purchase.