Once your car starts getting older, a few minor issues here and there is inevitable. However, you must understand that these minor issues might eventually escalate into larger problems, leading to expensive repairs and/or replacements. Moreover, the look and feel of your car might not be the same ever again. Having said that there are ways to ensure that your car delivers great performance and helps you enjoy smooth drives for a long time. So, here are a few activities that can help you prolong the life and performance of your car, thus reducing the long term chances of frequent breakdown and expensive workshop visits.
Drive with Ease during the Break-In Period
Once you buy your dream car, the first 1000 kilometres of driving is usually considered as the car’s break-in period. To ensure that the car delivers top-notch performance for a long duration, it is extremely important to drive with ease during this break-in period. A few key points to remember during this period are:
- Do not drive your car at a speed greater than 70 kmph or you might as well follow the instructions given by the car manufacturer.
- Ensure that you maintain a medium acceleration level – not more than 3000-3500 RPM
- Ensure that you drive the car regularly and not keep it idle, as this might hamper oil distribution across all the engine parts and cause long term engine damage.
Ensure Periodic Car Servicing
Once you are past the break-in period, it is important to get your car’s first servicing done. However, it is equally important to maintain a periodic car servicing routine, as a part of which, all essential components of your car are checked and then replaced or repaired as per the requirement. Some of the key aspects of a general car servicing routine include: replacing the engine oil (insufficient or poor-quality engine oil might hamper your car’s mileage and cause long term engine damage), topping up/replacing brake oil, coolant, etc., replacing of oil filter, air filter, among others.
Maintain Tyre Health
Replacement of car tyres can be very costly, especially for high-end cars. Hence, it is suggested to be careful while driving on terrains that are not smooth. Additionally, it is equally important to inflate your car tyres regularly to maintain healthy air pressure, thus avoiding the chances of rim and frame damage.
Periodic Car Washing
If you are someone who is a fan of aesthetics, regularly washing your car must be your top priority. Beyond the fact that it makes your car look nice and clean from both interior as well as the exterior, regular car washing goes a long way in ensuring that dust particles and other pollutants do not end up damaging your car’s key components.
Car Detailing
To prolong the life of your car, it is extremely important to monitor and maintain the cosmetic aspects of your car which get hampered due to several deterrents like bird dropping, weather erosion, tree gum, acid rain, UV rays, etc. This requires regular car detailing for both interiors and exteriors. Some of the major car detailing activities include – end to end exterior detailing, interior vacuum cleaning, engine detailing, wheel and alloy detailing, etc. All of these ensure the removal of visible and invisible contaminants, thus keeing the car’s value intact in the long run.
Monitor Brake Pad Thickness
Brake pads are the most crucial elements of your car’s braking system, especially if you usually drive in high traffic or hilly areas. In such cases, ensure that you monitor the thickness of your brake pads every once in a while. If they become too thin, there are chances of the brake pads wearing into the metal and eventually damaging the discs and callipers, which are far more expensive to replace. Hence, it is wise to keep a close look at the thickness of the brake pads and replace them immediately if they seem to be rusted or too thin.
Check Wheel Alignment
In case you feel weird vibrations or uneven swaying in either direction while you are on the steering wheel, it is probably time to get your wheel alignment checked. Nowadays it is usually done through computerized methods and is highly accurate. This is key to extending the life of your tyre tread and also the frontal alignment systems which are heavily expensive. Most importantly, a proper wheel alignment is crucial to your safety, especially when driving at high speeds.
Monitor your ABS or Anti-lock Braking System
The Anti-Lock Braking System is a highly sensitive mechanism, particularly in high-moisture conditions. In such conditions, the ABS pump might get damaged, eventually leading to the rotting of brake lines. It is particularly important to get an expert to monitor the moisture level that the ABS is getting exposed to. Brake oils attract moisture that might seep into the ABS and damage the highly expensive ABS pump.
Take Adequate Care during Idle Storage
Some of the most major problems arise when you do not take enough care of your car while it is not being used. Say, for example, if you are parking your car away for more than a month, you need to take adequate measures in order to ensure that it is in a reasonably good condition when you come back to restart it. To avoid unwanted costs on damage repair, make sure you follow these guidelines:
- Do not park your car with the hand brake/parking brake engaged. This might lead to the corrosion of the car brakes.
- Top up the fuel tank to avoid the accumulation of condensation particles.
- If possible, disengage the car’s battery to avoid unnecessary drainage.
- Cover the car with a car cover or any other covering material to protect the outer body from the sun, rain, and dust.
- Upon your return, ensure that you wash the car thoroughly before taking it out for a spin.
Ending Note
These are some of the best practices to prolong the life of your car and realize its true performance potential. If followed diligently, you can ensure that your car remains healthy and delivers the expected output for a comparatively longer duration without you having to spend time and energy on expensive workshop visits in the long run. Regular car maintenance will prevent unwanted breakdowns and heavily expensive repair and replacement costs.
Fixcraft, India’s first full-stack car repair and maintenance services platform provides end to end car servicing, car repairing, and car insurance services. With its own proprietary workshop, it eliminates your dependency on local garages which might not be qualified enough to take care of your car’s complex maintenance requirements.