Top 15 Car Care Tips To Take Care of Your Ride The Right Way

Your car is your long-term investment, and the best way to make the most of it is to take good care of it. Neglecting car care can lead to highly expensive repairs, or in the worst case scenario, a street accident.

The best way to go around it is to pay attention to car care. While most require expert supervision, there are simple car maintenance tasks you can perform at home in your free time.

Let’s look at 15 easy-to-remember car care tips that you can start following today to keep your car and yourself safe.

Tip #1. Perform Scheduled Cleaning On Your Car

Routine wax and wash treatment is a good practice to maintain if you wanna preserve your current paint job and prevent corrosion that occurs from road salt on your vehicle undercarriage.

This is a common occurrence when you’re living in a relatively colder part of the world. When you’re performing routine cleanings, it helps you keep your car in a presentable shape and preserves value when selling or trading.

Tip #2. Routine Maintenance Is A Must

Based on the miles driven, all cars have a unique maintenance routine. You can either find it on the manual for the car, or you can request it from the dealership where you got the car from.

The standard limit of maintenance for most cars is every 5,000 miles or every six months, while others allow you to go further after each maintenance.

This maintenance includes

• Oil change
• Multi-point inspection
• Wear check
• Windshield wiper repair/ replacement
• Air filter repair/ replacement
• Fluid level check

Tip #3. Never Skip The Major Maintenance Activities

When performing maintenance, there’s a high chance that you’ll need to swap out some of the old parts for new ones. These parts include:

• Spark plugs
• Oil filters
• Fuel filters
• PCV valves
• Belts
• Hoses

The longevity of these items varies depending on the make and model of your current vehicle.

Tip #4. Regular Brake Checks Can Save Your Life

There’s no time limit for brake checks. If you hit the brakes and you get a feeling that something isn’t quite right, you should immediately go for a quick check of the brakes.

The ideal time to check the brakes is whenever you rotate your tires. Rotating your tires is a standard practice every six months, but break checks aren’t limited to the timeframe.

Tip #5. Keep All Fluid Levels Optimal

Fluid check is easy to do even when at home, it only takes a few minutes. You can use the information you find to create a handy to-do list for emergencies. These fluids include:

• Engine oil
• Coolant
• Power steering fluid
• Windshield washer fluid
• Brake fluid
• Transmission fluid

These fluids should go through checking as frequently as possible, and lower fluid levels on any of them could impact your driving performance.

Correct level of all car fluids also help you deal with significant issues that might cost you a fortune in repairs later down the line.

Tip #6. Tread Carefully With Your Tires

Low treads on tires mean lower traction, and this increases your chances of losing control over your vehicle at times. This becomes even riskier when you’re driving in the rain, sleet, or snow.

The ideal way to do it is to buy a tread depth gauge and learn about the ideal depth of your tire. Another way to measure your tire tread depth is with a coin.

If the symbol of your coin is fully visible when you insert the penny upside down into the tread, it means that you need new tires right away.

Tip #7. Keep Your Tires Fully Inflated

Properly inflated tires ensure vehicle safety as well as improved fuel efficiency. If your vehicle is a newer model, your dashboard should have a feature where it warns you if the air pressure in your tire is low.

Otherwise, it’s better to use a tire pressure gauge to measure your tire pressure. Properly inflated tires contribute to better traction as well as fuel economy, so it’s best to keep your tire pressures optimal.

Tip #8. Don’t Ignore Your Gut Feelings

Does your car make a funny sound when you start it? Did you notice a strange little puddle where you parked your car this morning?

If the answer is yes and you feel something’s wrong with your car, don’t ignore it. Get your car checked right away.

Sometimes a car will offer obvious signatures that indicate a possible malfunction within the car, and it’s best not to ignore the idea, and take your car for maintenance right then and there.

A car always needs to be in its top condition if you want to stay safe on the road, and the winter conditions demand extra care and maintenance that can be the difference between a safe travel or a horrible accident.

Tip #9. Pay Attention To Dashboard Alerts

Modern cars come with a wide variety of dashboard alerts that tell you what’s wrong with your car with a large collection of unique symbols.

If you see any of these symbols light up, it means your car is trying to tell you that something’s wrong with it, and you should never ignore an alert like that unless it’s a simple solution that you can implement at home.

But in other cases, it’s better to be safe than sorry. So if you see a light on the dashboard that you don’t like, it’s time to visit the shop on your way.

Tip #10. Ensure You Have A Spare Tire

Imagine you’re late to work, and your tire goes flat. You grit your teeth, get yourself ready mentally for a tire change, and while you’re pulling the jack out of your trunk you notice your spare is flat as well.

If that’s not the nightmare you want, don’t just keep a spare tire in the trunk, make sure it’s in optimal condition.

It’s easier to spend a few dirhams to pump air in a spare tire than to spend hundreds on a tow truck to get yourself out of the situation we mentioned earlier.

Tip #11. Never Skip Oil Change Day

According to multiple auto shops, oil-related issues are the most expensive car maintenance issues to take care of.

Oil affects pretty much your whole car, so it’s not a surprise that malfunctions caused by oil-related problems can result in expensive repair bills.

What’s worse is that oil problems reduce the lifespan of your engine health among other problems. And of course, considering your vehicle model, there might be cases where you can get a whole new ride altogether for the price of the engine of your current one.

You know how in gyms they say never to skip leg day? The same goes for the oil change of your car.

Tip #12. Pay Attention To The Brake Pads

The most obvious telltale sign of a damaged car brake is when you hear a squeaking sound whenever you step on the brake pedals.

The price for brake pads can get hiked up real fast, even more so if you’re considering additional charges for a proper professional or an auto repair shop.

Life’s not a cartoon where you can just screech to a halt like Fred Flintstone if you step down hard enough. Don’t risk your life to save some money, and don’t hesitate to perform brake service whenever you find signs of wear.

Tip #13. Replace Your Cabin Air Filters

Cabin air filters keep all the different pollutants out of your car cabin, and the importance of this part is obvious.

It can contribute to your health as well as the health of your air conditioning system. Using cabin air filters that are past their lifespan can allow higher amounts of pollutants in the car, which damages the air condition over time as well.

Servicing or replacing air conditioners can cost you thousands, so it’s best to pay attention to the part that’s more convenient to replace, which are your cabin air filters.

Tip #14. Keep The Windshield Wipers Active

Think about it: you can’t drive if you can’t see the road, right? The best way to keep the road in front of you visible is by using the windshield wipers. But what if they don’t work?

The worst-case scenario that can happen here is a car crash due to a dirty windshield. Now let’s take a quick financial decision: is it easier to replace just a pair of windshield wipers or the whole front half of the car?

The sensible answer is always the first one, and that’s why it’s paramount for you to keep your wipers functional whether you need to repair or replace them.

Tip #15. Check All The Lights and Signals

While the headlights are the only way for you to watch the road at night, the other lights are the ones that help you communicate with other drivers for a safe driving experience.

Malfunction of these lights can often result in a violation of safety driving regulations, and the procedure can get quite tedious.

The safest way to deal with both situations is to check frequently if all the lights are working.

Wrapping It All Up

Before wrapping this discussion up, here are the top 15 car care tips you should always pay attention to:

• Tip #1: Perform Scheduled Cleaning On Your Car
• Tip #2: Routine Maintenance Is A Must
• Tip #3: Never Skip The Major Maintenance Activities
• Tip #4: Regular Brake Checks Can Save Your Life
• Tip #5: Keep All Fluid Levels Optimal
• Tip #6: Tread carefully With Your Tires
• Tip #7: Keep Your Tires Fully Inflated
• Tip #8: Don’t Ignore Your Gut Feelings
• Tip #9: Pay Attention To Dashboard Alerts
• Tip #10: Ensure You Have A Spare Tire
• Tip #11: Never Skip Oil Change Day
• Tip #12: Pay Attention To The Brake Pads
• Tip #13: Replace Your Cabin Air Filters
• Tip #14: Keep The Windshield Wipers Active
• Tip #15: Check All The Lights And Signals

Car maintenance activities can put a dent in your wallet really fast, but if you keep your eyes open and take a few precautions following our car maintenance tips, you can save a lot in terms of costs, and increase your safety on road trips.

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