Properly maintaining your car can increase its longevity by years. However, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to taking care of your car to ensure that it can stand the test of time.
There is often a range of signs that present themselves to let you know when you need to take action. Although, some drivers like to stay ahead of these warning signs to minimize any damage.
Proper Maintenance
One of the most effective ways you can ensure your car’s longevity is to properly maintain it. Without proper maintenance, smaller issues can quickly become bigger and even permanent.
Taking proper care of your car can also reduce costs in the long run by preventing you from having to take it to a garage to get a big problem fixed.
It’s common for people to neglect proper maintenance of their vehicles and this can lead to serious problems. Be sure to check your manual to see how often your car should be serviced. Keeping up to date with the services helps your car last longer and perform better.
Some of the main elements to keep on top of include the following:
- Refills and checks of the cooling system
- Oil changes
- Inspecting your brakes
- Changing the battery
Regularly Cleaning
Whilst it seems like washing your car is just something that makes it look nice, it’s also great for boosting the longevity of your car.
This is because cars gain a lot of contaminants while being driven which can lead to corrosion. The paint on the outer layer of your car keeps the panels shielded from the weather but underneath this paint, the materials can become rusted if left dirty for too long.
During winter times, there’s more salt on the roads which can lead to corrosions within the metal panels of your car. Most cars nowadays have systems that enable water to drip out from the suspension, exhaust, and chassis.
However, an accumulation of salt and dirt on the outside of your car can still cause the panels to become weakened with rust. Therefore, it’s important to regularly wash your vehicle.
Check Your Tires
The tires are one of the most important aspects that your car requires to drive and perform well. Your handling, braking, and acceleration are all impacted by your tires. This means that it’s crucial for you to check that your tires are in good condition to drive.
You can carry out quick and simple visual tests every now and then by just looking at each of your tires. Try to look for whether they’re looking a little deflated or have anything sticking out of them.
Too much wear and low tread are factors to look at too. Making sure that your tires are properly inflated with the correct pressure is important too. This will help improve your vehicle’s mileage.
Inspect Filters & Fluids
Some different filters and fluids go into a car to make it run smoothly and ensuring that you inspect them regularly is important. Your car engine relies heavily on fluids such as transmission fluid, coolant, and oil.
It can be easy to forget that these fluids are drained over time and need topping up. If you leave your car without these essential fluids for too long, it can cause permanent damage to the engine.
Checking that your fluids are at the correct levels regularly is a quick and easy task that can help save you a lot of money and hassle in the future.
Pay Attention To Your Instrument Cluster
It’s common for us to start up our cars and see something on our instrument cluster light up. This is your vehicle letting you know that something isn’t right and requires your attention.
However, many of us choose to ignore these warning lights and continue driving. This is something that can drastically reduce the longevity of a car.
If you’re unsure what a warning light on your dashboard means, refer to your manual as it includes details on what the lights are telling you. If you’re still unsure about what the issue is, you should take your car into a garage to have a mechanic take a look and make a diagnosis.
Making sure that you act quickly when you see a warning light come up can prevent the issue from becoming more severe and causing even more damage.
Manage Your Driving Habits
So, taking care of your car by maintaining it, servicing it, doing regular checks, and not ignoring the warning lights can all improve its lifespan. You can also improve the chances of your cat lasting longer by keeping an eye on how you drive it.
Driving habits such as sharp cornering, quick acceleration, and harsh braking can all negatively impact the lifespan of your car. People who drive aggressively or in a rush often find that it wears down and has problems more frequently.
Having said that, you also want to give your car the occasional push. People who drive their car without the RPMs going high may be doing their engine a disservice.
It can be good for your engine when you put your foot down and take the RPM’s higher than you usually would when driving. This is because it causes leftover deposits of carbon to be flushed out.
Carbon deposits can build up in the combustion chamber, throttle body, and valves and cause problems. Therefore, it can be a good idea to take the RPM higher than normal to get rid of the excess carbon.
Here are a few more tips how to make your car last longer.
Conclusion
Over time, parts of the car will wear down and require replacing/fixing. These issues are inevitable but with the proper maintenance, they can be minimized.
After reading more about some of the steps you can take to improve the longevity of your car, we hope that you’re feeling more confident about properly maintaining your vehicle.
