You went out and bought yourself a brand new car. Sure, you will be making payments for a while, but it is a treat you always wanted to allow yourself the luxury of owning. You work hard and deserve a nice set of wheels, never doubt it. However, now that you have a great car to get you around, it is time to start thinking about doing regular maintenance and care. If you do not take this part of car ownership seriously, your new car could become a ride riddled with all sorts of expensive problems. Here are a few car care tips to get you started.
Check Your Battery
Nothing kills your car’s ability to perform like a dead or dying battery. When checking your battery, begin by removing the terminals off their respective posts as a safety precaution. If your battery possesses caps, the type that can be removed, then you will need to check to make sure that the fluid levels are where they should be. This is especially true for hotter climates.
Inspect the battery terminals all around. If you notice any corrosion, then you will either need to clean this off with a wire brush or in extreme cases replace the terminals with new ones. Make sure the terminals are tightly attached to their respective posts before attempting to start your car. Learning how to check your battery performance with a multimeter is not a bad idea either.
Change Your Oil
There is a lot of confusion raised about changing your car’s oil. Some people say to do it every 3,000-miles. Others say to do it every five or six months or so. Instead of being confused about this issue, clever car owners have a secret that works best for their particular car’s make and model.
Since every car is different, this is why the manufacturer provides the car-owner with a manual which specifies not only when to change your new car’s oil, but the manual even tells you which type of oil is best to use in your car too. So, if you are ever unsure, you can always get the best advice straight from the manufacturer that is provided to you in your manual.
Keep It Clean
As with any maintenance issue, keeping your car clean is the first step to making your car look as good as the day you bought it for years to come. Often owners of new cars let this slide, but it really makes their car look worse than it should. Routinely cleaning the interior keeps the inside in great shape. If you truly love your car, you will never let anyone smoke in it either. As for the exterior of the car, it is smart to indulge in a car wash pass from a company like Quick Quack Car Wash or someone similar to keep dirt and debris off the paint job.
Check Your Tire Pressure
You have four tires to check, and it is a good idea to check them all about once a month. Alternatively, it is good to check tire pressure before a long road trip too. It is best to buy a better than average tire gauge to use for this task, because cheap tire gages can give inaccurate results.
When checking tire pressure, make sure that your tires and the spare are cold, or have no more than a couple of miles driving on them. Warmed tires will not necessarily give an accurate tire pressure reading. When it comes to filling the tire, you do not want to rely on the pressure label on the wall of the tire. Rather, it is better to go with the recommendation your manufacturer gives in your car’s manual.
Owning and operating a car is a big responsibility. There are a variety of maintenance issues you should learn to check up on and also do yourself. The more of these checks and tasks you can do yourself, the less likely you are to have problems when operating your car.
