Caring for and maintaining your cars doesn’t mean you need to bring them to your trusted garages every time. Although you would have peace of mind with your mechanic taking care of things, there are several routine maintenance activities that you can do on your own. As a car owner, you need to realise that you can work in tandem with your credible mechanic to keep your vehicle as road-worthy as possible.
However, if you wish to have your car checked regularly by professionals, that’s a great thing because you’ll have peace of mind. Whenever you choose a garage to service your vehicle, you need to look into their expertise, experience, and other factors. If you’re still in doubt, you can always check out Ignition Auto for their list of accredited services to keep your car running safely and smoothly.
Here are some routine things that you can check on your car.
Check tyres
Remember that it doesn’t take a long time to inspect your tyres. A cursory inspection will reveal if your tyres still have enough tread to take you places or if they’re nearly bald and need replacement. A quick test will be to insert a quarter on the grooves. If the coin can still stand or fit within the grooves, you still have a good tyre. If it doesn’t, it may be time to change it. You need to remember that a good set of tyres means you will arrive at your destination safely.
You also need to check the air pressure and the tyre’s stability. You shouldn’t inflate the tyre more than the recommended pressure because you’ll expose yourself to greater risk.
Inspect all fluids
Another thing that you can easily do is check the different automotive fluids. Regularly check your brake fluid level as well as the motor oil. You need these two fluids to be as topped up as possible to ensure that you will have complete control of your vehicle. You can also check your car’s transmission fluid, windshield wiper fluid and coolants. Be careful to use a dipstick to check the transmission fluid, and don’t try to check the coolant right after you turn the car off, as there’s a chance you’ll get scalded.
Look at belts and hoses thoroughly
When looking under the hood, you can also check the timing belt and the different hoses that help keep your car running. If your timing belt shows signs of wear and tear, you need to have the mechanic replace it ASAP. The same thing is true for your hoses. You need to check if there are cracks, leaks or tears because you must prevent liquids from seeping through and affecting the car’s performance.
Check wiper blades
When you notice your windshield streaking or the wipers screech when you turn them on, perhaps it’s time to replace the wiper blades. You can easily do this as you only need to follow the manual.
Takeaways
There are several car maintenance tasks that you can do yourself. However, if you’re not that well-versed in caring for your car, you need to find a reputable car garage to help out.