Like all of your other machines, your car needs maintenance and fixes every now and then. To keep it in good shape, and to avoid sudden breakdowns and mishaps, make sure you perform some regular maintenance tasks on your beloved vehicle. In this article, we highlight five of the ones you’d surely be glad you familiarize yourself with in advance.
1. Waxing the Exterior
Waxing the exterior of your car is not really a luxury thing; it’s a solid maintenance strategy. By maintaining a coat of wax on the body paint, you actually help prevent common effects of prolonged sun exposure and environmental damage like fading, discoloring, and oxidation.
As a bonus, wax also gives your car a mirror-like finish and a glamorous shine. According to Driving Geeks you can get the most out of your money by using one of the best car wax brands on the market, and bring out your vehicle’s color and shine while thoroughly protecting it from the elements.
2. Rotating the Tires
Car tires are no cheap accessory, and one of the simplest ways to extend their life is by regularly rotating them on your car. This is because front and rear tires wear differently, as the front tires carry over 60% of a car’s weight, making them wear faster. While most manufacturers would suggest that you rotate your tires every 5,000 miles, check your manual just to be sure.
Start by engaging the hand brakes for safety, then loosen the lug nuts on all your wheels – but don’t unscrew them just yet. Then lift up one wheel using the car jack, and place the jack stand underneath it to secure the position. Now you can remove the tire, and repeat on all four, making notes of the old locations of each. Then rotate the tires according to the appropriate pattern for your type, and screw the lug nuts on by hand as much as you can when you place a tire onto the wheel mount. This process should take about 20 minutes.
3. Checking Fluids
Just like our bodies, our cars need several types of fluids to work. Refer to your owner’s manual to discover how to find each fluid tank, and regularly check your coolant; antifreeze; power steering; and wiper fluid levels. Although sometimes it’s as simple as seeing the tank level directly, most have gauges or dipsticks that you can basically just pull out and compare current levels to a notch on the stick that tells you where the ideal level should be.
If any of the fluids is running low, add more yourself if possible, or take your car to the shop to get it changed. On the other hand – and this is very important – always check for leaks and never ever ignore them.
4. Replacing Windshield Wipers
Not only do old wipers prevent you from seeing the road clearly, but they can also cause permanent damage to your windshield glass as they start to scratch through it when the rubber lining wears out.
Buy yourself a new pair of wipers; raise the existing wiper blades and observe how they are attached to the car’s metal arms; press on the tab; and carefully pull out the old blade. Now insert the new blades in the opposite direction of how you removed the old ones, and be careful as to not bend the metal arms or scratch the windshield in the process. Voila!
5. Replacing Light Bulbs
You need your car lights for safety all around, so don’t ignore a bust lamp! Carefully take out the old bulb with you to the shop and buy the same exact size and fit, and reinstall the new way like you would any regular light bulb. It’s really that simple.
Be Safe
Now that you know about five car fixes, try them on your vehicle now and take note of the dates so you can remember when to do them next!
