It’s fair to say that not everyone who owns a car understands exactly how a car works. In fact, some drivers are so intimidated by the collection of mysterious machines under the hood that they end up neglecting basic car maintenance – or just taking the car back to the Toyota dealer in Northern Ireland for a regular check-up.
Of course, basic car maintenance can help you to avoid stress in the long-term, as it’ll help you to prevent bigger problems from arising. What’s more, once you’ve gotten into the habit of performing a few basic tasks, you’ll feel better about doing them in the future. Leaving it to a family member or friend to check your oil levels can be disempowering. Leaving it to a mechanic can be expensive!
Let’s take a look at a few basic tasks that’ll help you to build up your confidence, and take care of your car for the long run.
Inflating Tyres
Keeping your tyres pressurised will ensure that the maximum amount of rubber is in contact with the road surface. It’ll improve your fuel economy, reduce your braking distance, and generally make the driving experience more pleasant. Find a machine at your local forecourt, set the dial to the pressures recommended in your vehicle’s manual, and apply the end of the nozzle to the valve. This step will help alot with basic car maintenance.
Changing Screen wash
During winter, you’ll be grateful of a reservoir that’s filled with screen wash. The stuff won’t freeze, like water would, and it’ll help to ensure visibility. Lift the bonnet and identify the reservoir; then pour in the screen wash. You might need to do some diluting prior to doing this – follow the instructions on the bottle.
Changing Oil
Changing oil is something that only a minority of motorists do themselves, so it’s something for those feeling super-confident to move onto once other tasks have been mastered. You’ll need to remove the existing oil by unscrewing the drain plug on the underside of the tank. Fresh oil means better heat conduction, less friction, and less wear-and-tear in the long-run. Changing oil is the most important part of basic car maintenance.
There’s good news in the form of polling that says that younger drivers are more confident than older ones when it comes to looking after their cars. Moreover, given technological advances, it’s likely that cars will get more reliable in the future, and with less maintenance to worry about. But that’s not to say that there aren’t immediate benefits to performing the everyday tasks we’ve outlined here.