What are important maintenance tips for a car? Find out more about the essential car maintenance tips you can use to keep your vehicle in peak condition.
Essential Car Maintenance
One of the easiest ways to look after your car and ensure it has a good resale value once you decide to part ways with it is with regular, essential maintenance checks.
These checks and maintenance tasks are easy to do and prove invaluable when keeping your car in a roadworthy condition, not to mention making car insurance claims and expensive repair costs a thing of the past.
Vehicle maintenance, from checking your brake pads and brake system to changing your car's air filters and oil filters, is a task every car owner should be familiar with.
They are expensive machines, and if you're sensible about your money, you'll want to ensure your investment lasts as long as possible.
With the right care, you can keep your car running as long as you like. Here we've provided a few helpful car maintenance tips for car owners to follow.
These tips will help you keep your car clean and in good condition. Some of the most crucial vehicle maintenance you should familiarise yourself with include:
Ensuring your car's interior is clean
Repainting over scratches when you notice them
Checking your brake pads, brake fluid, suspension system and brake system regularly.
Making your cabin a no-smoking area
Regularly checking your car's battery
Monitoring your tyre tread and air pressure, including the spare tyre
Replacing oil filters, transmission fluid and air filters when necessary
Changing your engine oil regularly
Having your car's engine, serpentine belt or timing belt, and spark plugs regularly checked.
Modern cars are far easier to take care of thanks to the onboard computers and warning lights telling you if there is an issue and reminding your what stage of your maintenance schedule you are at. From oil changes to tyre changes, here are our tips for the most useful car maintenance checks you need to perform.
Car Maintenance Tips
Regular services and maintenance checks ensure your car drives smoothly and safely on the open road. Warning lights are the most obvious sign there is an issue, but with our maintenance tips, you can help avoid them altogether.
You might also want to consult your owner's manual for any specific maintenance checks your need to perform for your car's model year.
Performing these car maintenance checks yourself is an easy way to keep your vehicles in good shape and may even reduce your servicing bills.
If you notice your vehicle drives a little differently than it used to, then it may be worthwhile going through these tips to see if they might solve the issue rather than heading straight for your nearest garage.
Car maintenance isn't as complicated as you might think, and any vehicle owner can perform these checks with a little know-how and a willing attitude.
Your car's manual will be your best friend for any maintenance checks you make since it will list the most crucial areas to check for your particular model. From checking your tread pattern to your water pumps, here are the most essential maintenance checks car owners can perform.
Ensuring your windscreen fluid is topped up is essential for safe driving, especially in the winter and before your head out on longer journeys.
In fact, you are legally required to have an appropriate amount of windscreen wash in your car's washer bottle, so it's best to stay on the safe side and ensure you check it's filled correctly.
The first things to check with your tyres are your tyre pressures, and topping them up if necessary. Too low or too high air pressure in your tyres alters how your car drives on the road and can even lead to increased tyre wear.
You must also fit the right tyre size for the make and model of your car. Your tyre tread is also legally required to be at least 1.6mm deep across the central 3/4 of the tyre. The 20p test is the easiest way for car owners to check their tyre tread depth.
When you check, your engine oil levels should lie between the lowest and highest mark on your dipstick.
If your engine oil levels are too low, you increase the risk of a dangerous breakdown and can even damage the inner components of your car's engine, which is naturally one of the most important parts of any car. Too much oil is just as risky, so ensure you don't overfill it.
As a general rule, you should replace your car's battery once every three years. This is because a flat battery is one of the most common reasons for vehicle breakdowns.
One of the main signs your car's battery life might be getting low is your engine turning over more sluggishly than usual when you start your car. A flickering battery light on your instrument display is another clear sign to look out for, especially if it takes a while to go out when you've started your car.
Typically, you should take your car for a service after every 12,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.
Of course, different cars and driving styles will alter this, so it's best to check your owner's manual and mileage to ensure you don't leave it too long between car services.
Coolant is a mixture of antifreeze and water and is essential not only during the winter but throughout the year. Your car's engine needs coolant to maintain the right temperature when driving.
Again, it's best to consult your owner's manual to determine your car's specific coolant requirements.
If you're lucky enough to live somewhere where there are good drivers on the roads, you might not get to use your horn all that often.
But this is an opportunity to give it a good blast to check it is working correctly and is loud enough to attract attention. Having a fully-functioning horn is vital as it allows you to warn other road users and pedestrians of any dangers nearby.
You should always check your exhaust outside or at least in a well-ventilated area. Set your car running and check for any leaks in the exhaust system and listen for any strange noises or unusual amounts of smoke.
You should always be checking your mirrors while you are driving anyway, but before you head out on a journey, ensure they are all easily visible from the driver's view. They may need a quick clean before you set off if they aren't.
While you're busy cleaning your mirrors, if you have a modern car with a reversing camera, you might want to give your reversing camera lens a quick clean as well.
Check that your handbrake and footbrake are working properly before every journey. Make sure you do this on your driveway or a quiet section of road with no traffic so you can really test that your brakes are functioning properly.
Given that they will gradually lose their luminescence, it can be difficult to notice when your headlights, brake lights and indicators start failing.
Therefore, having someone stand outside your car while you try all the lights may be a good idea. Your assistant can check that your lights and indicators are all working properly. And don't forget to test your fog lights as well.
You should also check that your windscreen wipers and in working order, with no holes or tears in the wiper blades. While you're there, you can also check your windscreen for any chips or cracks.
If you notice any damage to your windscreen, you should have them repaired as soon as possible to avoid further damage. If you let a chip develop into a crack, you may have to replace the entire windscreen instead of simply having it repaired.
Many motorists aren't familiar with what the various warning lights on their dashboards mean. Again, your trusty owner's manual is the place to go. Familiarising yourself with what your dashboard lights mean will make it less confusing and stressful if one should pop up.
Rust is the nemesis of every vehicle owner. If you notice any signs of rust on your car, you should deal with it immediately, along with any other damaged bodywork you find, to prevent it from setting in and causing structural damage. Many car owners think rust is merely a cosmetic issue, but the last thing you want is for it to reach your car's frame.
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