Blog posts tagged with 'car maintenance'

Summer maintenance, winter maintenance, before-a-road-trip maintenance . . . car owners can easily feel like they spend more time doing maintenance than actually driving their vehicles! However, you can’t deny the benefits of doing the right maintenance at the right time.

As the weather cools down and you’re looking forward to the first snow, you may wonder what care your vehicle needs in the winter months. No one wants to be in a disabled car on a snowy road. Just the thought of this winter dilemma is enough to make you shiver! Of course, you also want to avoid expensive repairs, extend the life of your vehicle and even save money at the gas pump. These are all good reasons to make sure your vehicle is in good shape. After all, it’s cheaper to perform basic maintenance than to pay for major repairs. But what maintenance should you do, and when?

As summer heat and humidity reach their peak, you will want to protect your vehicle. The good news is that you can avoid costly repairs—we'll show you how with this checklist.

When was the last time you checked your tires? According to some studies, less than 1 in 5 Americans check their tires regularly. In overlooking this routine matter, many people don’t realize that they’re actually losing money—and putting themselves at risk

When you are rushing down the highway in a 4,000-pound vehicle, you don’t want to have doubts about the condition of your brakes. You simply want to know that when you put your foot on the brake your vehicle will slowly – or quickly, depending on your need – come to a stop. In fact, maintaining your brakes is one of the most important maintenance tasks for your vehicle. It’s a step that protects you and your loved ones, which is why many people choose to personally change the brakes on their vehicles. At first, changing your brakes can seem like a complicated procedure, but once you’ve done it a few times it can take as little as a couple of hours to finish the whole job. Knowing how to change your brakes is a way to avoid the high costs at auto repair places and keep your car in optimum shape.

While making major repairs on your car may be out of the question, one task many people can learn to accomplish - in under half an hour - is to change their vehicle’s motor oil. Why take the time to do this? For one thing, doing it yourself will save you money. You’ll also feel good about protecting one of your most important possessions since regular oil changes help prolong the life of your vehicle and protect your investment.

Everyone knows that having a clear view out of the windshield is vital. However, if several weeks’ worth of bug splats, dried raindrop marks, pollen, or general dirt accumulate on the windshield, that clear view can be a thing of the past. To make it all the more difficult, the job of cleaning your windshield while on the road can be impossible if your windshield wipers are old and worn out. If your windshield wipers seem to chatter more than a toddler as they swish back and forth over your windshield, or they leave more dirt and streaks than they remove, it may be time to replace them. However, first take a few minutes to clean the blades and see if that resolves the problem. If not, it is definitely time to invest in new blades.