It is a sad truth that even your most beloved vehicle(s) will not stay with you forever. That’s not to say, however, that we can’t extend their life spans significantly through systematic and careful maintenance, which also has the added benefit of reducing the risk of a major mechanical mishap and associated inconvenience. These five maintenance tips may seem pretty basic, but adhering to them can make a huge difference.
1. Maintain Calm at all Times
This might seem to be a pretty unnecessary tip, but it’s true. Driving too hard can damage your car, and so can overusing the breaks. The rushed attitude towards driving can actually reduce the life of your car, and add to the time spent on repairs. Go easy on your vehicle while driving, and that goes for gear shifts as well. For example, stop your car entirely before going into reverse or forward gear, thus preventing stress to the transmission components. Here’s the bottom line: driving calmly has been found to improve fuel economy by around 35%. It is also much easier on your passengers. They will not complain of any headaches!
2. Give Your Engine some Time during the Start Up
No, firing up the engine and then flooring it half a second later does not help it warm up. Here’s where people who do that go wrong. Cold engines have very little to absolutely no lubrication left on the moving parts, because all the oil has percolated down to the oil pan. Therefore, after startup, at least a few seconds are needed for the engine to attain the lubrication it needs, during which time the rpm should be kept down to the bare minimum. After half a minute or so (more if it’s been 24 hours since last use), you can start driving. If that is how the Transporter wants to drive, then so be it. It does not mean you have to follow suit.
3. Keep an Ear Out for Abnormal Car Sounds
At least every once in a while, switch off your radio or sound system and listen to the sounds of your vehicle, trying to hear if anything is amiss. This goes for when you’re driving as well as when the car is idle. Here’s an example: if you hear a faint clicking noise, there could be something metallic stuck in your tire. Meanwhile, a loud squeal may indicate that it’s time you picked up some new brakes. Sometimes you can hear a sound and identify immediately what’s going wrong, but if you can’t find the reason for the odd noise(s), take your car to a mechanic as soon as you can.
4. Tire Pressure and Fluids should be Checked Regularly
At least once a week (okay fine, once every other week), there are a few things that you really need to check. One of them is the fluids, most particularly the oil. Then there are also the levels of power steering fluid and transmission fluids. You also need to occasionally take a look at the reservoirs for radiator overflow and brake cylinders, not to mention air cleaners. Finally, one of the most important checks is to see if the tire pressure is at the right level of psi. You can find out exactly how to identify if something’s gone wrong in your owner’s manual.
5. Following the Service Schedule, No Matter What
This should be the one thing everyone knows, but even if they do, most vehicle owners choose to disregard it. You don’t have to follow the dealer’s service schedule, but you should go according to the one put forward by the manufacturers, who should know what’s best for the car, seeing as they built it. And when you have smart vehicles that come with their own monitoring systems and let you know when they need their oil changed, you have no excuse or reason to ignore this information.