Car Maintenance Tips From When to Get Your Wheels Aligned to Replacing Your Air Filters
Since you rely on your vehicle to get you from point A to point B on a regular basis, you need to make sure it’s properly maintained. While you may take care of some of your car’s maintenance yourself, chances are that you have a car care center handle most of it. If you’re not sure when you should be taking your car in for a wheel alignment, an oil change, or other maintenance needs, here are a few tips.
When to Get Your Wheels Aligned
Whether you commute long distances or just around the neighborhood, experts agree that you should have your tire alignment checked every 6,000 miles. When cars and other vehicles are out of alignment, this can decrease your vehicle’s fuel efficiency up to 7%.
It’s a good rule of thumb to follow your car manufacturer’s recommendations for when to get your wheels aligned, or rotated. In general, however, this should be taken care of every 7,500 miles.
When to Replace Your Belts and Hoses
If you want to avoid having your car break down, it’s a good idea to check your belts and hoses on a regular basis. If they look worn out, then they probably are. Since you don’t want to take chances with your car breaking down, this would be the time to replace them.
Timing belts usually need to be replaced between 60,000 to 90,000 miles, according to the Car Care Council. As with having your tires aligned, it’s a good idea to check your owner’s manual on this, too.
When to Get Your Oil Changed
While it does depend on your car, it’s a good idea to have your oil changed every 4 months or every 5,000 miles. Once again, it’s important to follow your car manufacturer’s recommendations.
You may be interested to know that synthetic oils actually burn cleaner than traditional oils. Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Synthetic Oil, for example, will also keep your pistons cleaner. In addition to keeping those pistons around 65% cleaner than the toughest industry standards, it will also keep them 25% cleaner than either Mobil 1 or Valvoline SynPower.
When to Replace Your Air Filters
Do you have an older car? If so, were you aware that when you regularly replace dirty or clogged air filters you can improve your gas mileage? In fact, this can potentially improve your mileage by up to 14%. Given the price of gas these days, your savings can add up.
When to Visit a Car Care Center
Given all the above, it’s a good idea to visit a car care center on a regular basis. They’ll be able to tell you when to get your wheels aligned as well as when to take care of other important maintenance requirements. Since the last thing you want is your car to break down, make a note on your calendar so you remember the importance of regular maintenance.
Find out more here.