Car maintenance should be the number one priority for all motorists out there. The level of maintenance you put in your car reflects its performance on the road that is why here, we have prepared a shortlist of the most basic tips you should know on how to maintain your car to its tip-top condition and to prevent costly break downs in the future.
1. Read Your Owner’s Manual
As funny as it may sound, reading your car’s owner’s manual is the first step into car maintenance. Usually, most modern cars have a maintenance schedule section on their owner’s manual for wear and tear items such as engine oil and filter, tires, belts and hoses etc.
If your car does not come with a manual, don’t worry as you can find copies of it online.
2. Check Your Tires
Tires keep your car on the road and they need to be properly inflated in order to function properly. In order to know the proper tire pressure setting for your car, go check the owner’s manual or try to see if it’s indicated on the driver’s door jamb. You also need to make sure that the tread pattern of your tires is sufficient enough or else they would not grip properly and an expensive accident is haunting you, especially in wet conditions.
3. Change Your Oil
The engine oil is what keeps the engine lubricated. With proper lubrication, it prevents important engine parts from grinding against each other. What is the proper time to change oil?
Anytime is a right time! Keep the engine fresh with fresh fluids! For a normal daily regular driver, we recommend 6 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first.
For a heavier mileage car or turbocharged car, between 3 to 6 months or between 5,000km to 7,500km, depending on how you like your car to be.
For more performance/enthusiasts’ owners, try to keep it below 5,000km or 3 months per visit, if you almost drive it daily.
If you are a super low mileage car user, you should at least visit the workshop twice a year just for safety checks and even just to change fresh engine oil.
4. Check Other Fluids Too
Engine oil is not the only vital fluid in your car. It also has brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant and washer fluid. Check all of these too and make sure that they are at the recommended level.
We hope that this short list helps and if you’re still unsure on how to do basic maintenance on your car, schedule an appointment with us and we’ll be more than happy to help you!
