Caring for your car saves money
If you look after your car properly, you’ll be less likely to be hit with hefty repair bills in the future. Find out why your car’s service manual is your best friend and about general tips on servicing and maintaining your vehicle.
Getting your car serviced regularly – and maintaining it between services – is money well spent and not wasted. Problems are likely to be caught early on when they’re cheaper to fix help to save money and increase your car resale value.
A well-maintained car is also more efficient, so you’ll save money on fuel as well. If you need to claim on a warranty you’ll normally have to show that you’ve got a complete service record book.
Tip 1: Car service manual is your best friend
Your car’s service manual is the key to keeping your vehicle in good shape. Written by the people who designed and built your car, it should show:
- How often you’ll need to get your car serviced
- How often regular maintenance tasks need to be carried out
- When the car’s replaceable parts might need to be changed
It’s also a good idea to use the service manual to plan ahead for the cost of your car’s maintenance and repair bills.
photo by photoSteve101 via Flickr
Tip 2: Look out for dashboard messages
Most cars now have dashboard warning messages about a wide range of topics, including issues with the braking system, engine, oil and coolant levels, and tyre pressure.
A few of the messages are particularly urgent – they mean you need to pull off the road and stop the engine immediately. For others, like low tyre pressure, you must go to the closest petrol station for a quick check up.
So if you see a lit-up warning message, always check it out straight away. It could save you hefty repair costs at a later point or even prevent you being a danger to other motorists and pedestrians.
Tip 3: Don’t skip servicing
When money’s short, it can be tempting to skip servicing your car. But if you do this you run the risk of much bigger bills in the close future.
The average cost of a basic car service is around £125 – far less than the cost of having to replace parts later because of damage through poor maintenance.
Tip 4: Look after your tyres
Tyres that are over or under pressure wear unevenly and will need to be replaced sooner. Also chek wheel of tyres, because tyres with wheels that are out of alignment wear unevenly.
Depending on your car, tyres can cost anything from £70 each so it makes sense to get maximum mileage out of them.
Tip 5: Check lug nuts of the wheel
If you are driving your car on damage roads, then you should check lug nut of wheel after regular interval. Because damage roads cause a lot of vibration, which can loosen lug nuts of a car wheel. Check the loosen nut and bolts. Tight them using a torque wrench. Always keep a torque wrench in your car, It can save you money and life too.
Tip 5: Keep an eye on the cam belt
Check your service manual to find out when your car is next due to have its camshaft drive belt or timing belt) replaced. This varies from car to car, but is often needed at around 70,000 to 80,000 miles.
Cam belt replacement can seem expensive (as much as £250 or more) but if it fails while you’re driving, you could face serious engine damage that could cost much more to fix than changing it when recommended.
Guest Author: Haroon Shahzad
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