5 Tips for Keeping Your Car Cruisin’

Driving is a near-universal experience for adults in the United States. While we may not all own cars, the vast majority have certainly driven at least once in our lives. Owner or not, it’s undeniable that a car brings with it plenty of convenience and opportunity. But all of that dries up if you can’t get your vehicle to run. Taking your things to a mechanic is expensive and frequently unnecessary so long as you have a basic amount of knowledge on how to perform basic maintenance. To help save you a nice chunk of change, here are five tips for keeping your car cruisin’ that you can try.

1. Change the Oil

Oil keeps your engine running smoothly and efficiently, so keeping the oil inside your car clean is pretty crucial to keeping your car working. Estimates vary for when you should be changing your oil with different considerations for the type of oil you use, how frequently you drive, the conditions you drive in, and much more. At the most frequent, you’re recommended to change your oil every 3,000 miles, though longer lasting brands can last upwards of 7,500 miles. When in doubt, just check your engine’s dipstick.

2. Check Tire Pressure

Unless you like the idea of ruining your rims with a bumpy ride, ensuring there’s enough air in your tires is a necessary obligation of a driver. An easy but unscientific way to check your pressure on the fly is to give your tires a light kick. They’re usually in good shape if the tire feels firm but with a small amount of give. The preferable and exact way would be to use a tire pressure gauge, comparing the numbers that show up on the gauge with what your tires should register (you can find this in your owner’s manual). If they’re low on air, you’ll have to pump them up.

3. Change the Air Filter

Your car has two air filters: one for the engine and one for the cabin. Both of these air filters need to be changed to keep your vehicle performing at its peak. Every 30,000 miles is a good benchmark for most cars, though the engine filter will likely need to be changed more frequently than the cabin filter given how much more dust and debris it’s required to suck up.

4. Check Your Brakes

Brake pads are fairly important for anyone who wants to be able to stop after their car starts rolling. When you hit the brakes, though, you’re slowly wearing the pads down until they’re no longer usable. Before they get to this state, it’s necessary to replace them. Given that your pads will wear down depending entirely upon how frequently and aggressively you use them, there isn’t a good one-size-fits-all timetable for when to change them. However, most manuals recommend inspecting your brake pads at least as often as every oil change. Additionally, you’ll likely be able to feel that something’s up when your braking starts to seem slow and spongy.

5. Clean Your Car

While cleaning your car might be tedious at times, it’s just as important to good functionality and longevity as anything else discussed here. Leaving garbage and debris scattered around makes your car a downright gross place to drive. It also introduced the possibility of slippery gearshifts or things being caught under the pedals during operations, potentially endangering you and everyone else on the road. Making the effort to toss out your trash and give your car a thorough cleaning annually or so is worth it for so many reasons.

Maintaining your car is essential to owning a vehicle. Even if you aren’t all that experienced working with your ride, you can still do these five simple things to keep it working great out on the road.

Auto insurance is also a consideration when it comes to keeping yourself on the road. From time to time, it’s a good idea to review your policy as well as some potential alternatives. Check out InsureYourCompany.com for one such alternative you might like to know about.