What should I do to maintain my car?
Vehicle maintenance is a very important part of car ownership and it's something that's often neglected because vehicles are getting much more reliable. However, they're not quite to the point of an appliance yet and they still need required and regular maintenance. Follow the oil change schedule very closely to what's suggested in the owners' manual. That doesn't mean, like your dad did, to do it every three thousand miles. In many vehicles, it's up to five or even eight thousand miles in between oil changes. Secondly, you want to make sure that the vehicle stays clean. There's a lot of things in today's environment and air pollution that can degrade the paint and finish of a vehicle much faster than years past. You want to make sure that you keep the surface clean from contaminants as much as possible. The last issue is to address small things as they come up before they turn into a much larger issue. If you notice that your fuel economy has dropped recently, if you're hearing a little noise in the front suspension, if the steering wheel doesn't quite respond the way it used to, or you feel a new shimmy when you apply the brakes, address these maintenance issues. These are the sort of things that can led to a much bigger problem. It's best to solve these car maintenance issues when they're small, rather than a much larger repair.
