As a car owner, it is crucial for you to practise regular maintenance of your vehicle. This helps ensure safety, as well as extends the lifespan of your automobile. You must make a habit of performing regular car maintenance, if you want to avoid mishaps or costly repairs down the road.
Here are some basics to do.
Check the Manual
Like many other people, you may be tempted to put off reading your car’s manual, but you should not. You should read your car’s manual because it informs you about, among other things, the recommended time to check or replace certain aspects and parts of your vehicle. Check for an electronic manual online if you’d rather read a digital version, or if you’ve misplaced your car’s manual. When you check the manual, you should take a look at the maintenance schedule section to find all the information that you need.
Change the Oil Filter and Oil
The engine’s lifeblood is the oil, which is why you should change it regularly. It is a lubricant that keeps essential engine parts from grinding on each other, which can destroy the engine. If you do not regularly change your oil, it will accumulate contaminants that create friction that can cause the parts to rub against each other. You can check your car’s manual or the internet to see which kind of oil you should use and how often you should change it.
Check the Other Fluids
While motor oil is crucial to a car, you should check all the other fluids in your vehicle as well. You can remove the cover of the washer fluid, coolant and brake fluid and visually inspect all of them to check the levels. However, if you check the coolant, you should never take out the radiator cap because you can get scalded. Look at the nearby transparent refill container to check the level, instead.
Use the Right Parts
While this is not necessarily a maintenance step, this is a rule that you should follow. When you get parts for your car, make sure that they are genuine parts, specifically for the make and model of your car. That way, you know it will work well with your vehicle and last much longer. There are several dealers in NZ that can help you out with this For instance, you will want to find a reliable dealer of Jaguar parts to keep your sleek baby purring perfectly.
Maintain Your Battery
There is nothing worse than a dead battery in the middle of your drive. While you will eventually need a new battery, maintaining your battery can help extend its life. You should ensure that it has a good connection to make the car battery run smoothly. You can find battery-cleaning fluid in many auto parts stores. If you want to improve the connection and extend its life, you can also remove the battery then clean the connections.
Check Your Brake Pads
One of the most important systems in your car is your brake system. Check it more often if you drive daily. Diligently change your brake pads, as recommended. If you are often stuck in city traffic, you may need to check them very frequently since you will use them a lot.
Maintaining your car is a great way to make the most out of it. Be sure you follow the tips above to save cash and extend the life of your vehicle.
