Car Maintenance Will Save You Considerable Money

Have you taken your car to get your oil changed at one of the nationwide auto service chains lately? While there have you noticed that they now offer a long list of maintenance items that they will check free, and inevitably they will come to you after checking and always have some recommendations for you? Many of the new car dealerships are also doing the same kind of service. I worked as a general manager of one of these chain auto maintenance shops for two years. My location went from being number 783 to number 12 in growth and profit. The reason was in offering these services free, and by taking the customer out to look at their vehicle to see what was actually going on.

As with everything, you need to be cautious, and what I would like to do is give you a broad view of the services, and if they are truly needed or not and at what time or mileage they should truly be done at. Remember it is a two sided sword for the honest maintenance shop between offering services to increase the sale, and not offering what is truly not needed. It is hard at times, as customers to determine if it is truly needed, or just a "sales job" by an over zealous sales clerk. Any time they are going to do work, ask them to do the free check, and then show you any recommendations before they move ahead on the routine oil change.

Let us start with the oil change. Most new vehicles do not need their oil changed every 3,000 miles, but actually every 5,000 miles. That means if you drive 15,000 miles per year you go from doing the 5 that they recommend to 3 which the manufacturer recommends. In oil changes alone you would be saving approximately $50.00 per year by going by the manufacture recommendation. The grade of oil is generally a 5/20 or 5/30 weight oil. If your car is over 100, 000 miles I recommend the high mileage oil when doing an oil change. Synthetic oil is an expensive proposition currently, and you would be looking at double the cost minimum per oil change. Remember, that once you change to synthetic oil, you can not go back. The oil change should include lubrication as well, and every nipple should be greased. IF not you will be replacing boots and parts that are much more expensive than the cost of any oil change. The air filter should also be checked and a good test to see if it needs to be replaced is if you can see light through the filter paper, then it does not need to be changed yet. They should also be checking your antifreeze level and ph of the coolant. Remember many newer vehicles use a new type of coolant like Dexcool. Make sure they replace and fill with the proper type.

Every time that you have an oil change you need to have your tires rotated. A proper rotation is the two front tires "x" to the back and the two back tires brought directly to the front. If you have directional tires, then they can only be rotated front to back. The tire pressure needs to be checked as well and most passenger tires are at a pressure of 30 pounds. The manufacturer will give you the correct recommendation for the type of vehicle and I strongly recommend that you go by that number. There is a new fad that is out, and that is to fill the tires with nitrogen, and have a green indicator valve stem. Keep in mind many smaller shops do not have the ability to work with these, so when you have an emergency, you may not be able to get a repair or replacement until you can find a shop that will deflate those tires. I strongly recommend you steer clear of this for now. Every second or third rotation I would recommend that you have your tires spin balanced electronically. If you have true alloy wheels, then the shop will need to use alloy weights, or sticky weights, and they are not attached to the rim for you to see, but are stuck inside the rim either at the front or back of the rim. Tires being at the right pressure, and balanced properly will actually save you one or two miles per gallon. There are also some other things to look at when the tires are rotated. These are signs of maybe other issues. If you have what is called feathering, which is a rough feeling in one direction while the other direction is smooth, and usually the tread wear is going in one direction either pointing all in or all out is a sign of improper alignment, known as the toe or damaged steering parts. If there is cupping, which is where you feel hills and plateaus on your tires, it is a sign of improper suspension or steering parts or the tires may be balanced incorrectly. If only one edge of the tire is worn, that is a sign of improper alignment, the camber, or you may have suspension or steering problems. The other worn tire is the one that has either worn on both edges or worn only in the center. If the edges are worn, that means that your tires are under inflated, and if the center is worn, that means you have an over inflation of your tires. The last check is to check the depth of tread. The best way is to have a tread depth gauge, where you should have more than 2/32s of a tread left. Any less than 2/32s could be dangerous especially in wet or icy conditions or real hot conditions. If you need to replace tires, it is best to do all four, and you need to do all four on 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicles, and you need to replace at least two tires on two wheel drives that will both go on the same axle. The only other requirement is to try to get the exact tire if only replacing two, or a tire with as close to exact tread design as possible.

Alignments are critical maintenance to keep the cost of front end parts and steering parts to a minimum. I strongly recommend that two times yearly that you have alignments if you drive 15, 000 to 20,000 miles per year. With the bumps in the highways, construction, potholes, and curbs, you will be truly shocked at how far out of line your vehicle can become. To not keep up on your alignments will also wear your tires out quicker, and with the new 16, 18, and 20 inch tires on new vehicles you are looking at tires that start at $100.00 each and go up to almost $300.00 per tire. Keep in mind as well that the new car manufacturers use brand name tires, but with the discounts they get, these tires are made to last between 20,000 and 25,000 miles before replacement will be needed. You truly need a four wheel alignment so that all four wheels align properly, even if the two rear tires have no actual adjustments. This will stop the effect of a car going down the road looking like it is dancing off to one side. That means it did not have a four wheel alignment, but a two wheel alignment, or maybe no alignment at all. Every time that you replace tires, you need to have a four wheel alignment as well.

These are the basics that you should keep a handle on. There are other considerations such as Engine cleaning, transmission flushes, engine coolant flushes, replacing tie rods and ball joints, as well as shocks or struts. These need to be done at longer mileage intervals and we can discuss these another time. Keep in mind, that the average person spends more on vehicles in a lifetime than they do on homes, so with that kind of investment, it benefits you to stay on top of the regular maintenance routines, and have a reputable shop do all of the work. Cheep product is not saving you money, but creating future headaches.