Automotive

General Automotive Maintenance Tips

Are you concerned about your vehicle maintenance? Here are some good tips to keep your car on the road and out of the shop.

The first thing to remember is to follow the manufacturer’s maintenance steps. This is critical if you want to maintain your car warranty and it will save you money in the long. If your warranty does not say that a dealer has to do the work, feel free to have your own mechanic do the work for you. That should save you a small fortune.

Next is to keep track of when the dealer says you should replace parts such as fuel filters, belts, timing belts and other parts that wear out. Plan ahead to have those parts replaced. This will allow you to save up for the repair. Do not wait until the parts give out because when they fail they can cause more problems.

We have a car that we neglected to perform the recommended service on and we paid dearly when the problems from not replacing a $9.00 part ended up costing nearly $1000.00 to fix. If we had gone to the shop, it would have been about double that price.

Once your warranty has expired, you can do the work for yourself. I recommend that you find a repair manual for you vehicle. They are available at most parts stores or online. I have even seen articles that tell you how to get them free. I have never followed the links and do not know what they require from you.

Unless you have containers for your used fluids, you should go to a shop for oil changes. Do not just go to an open area and let the oil drain on the ground. Most maintenance is simple to perform and you may find that you actually enjoy doing it.

Be sure that you have all of the parts and tools necessary to complete whatever task you are working on. There is nothing more frustrating than having to run to the parts store in the middle of a repair. When you look for parts, check the prices online. Many parts stores have great savings online and the shipping costs are not too expensive for most parts. You can find The best deals for shipping on online platforms like Shiply.