Auto Maintenance - The Money Saver

Taking care of your auto and spending a little money on it now will save you money in the long run.

How true the expression pay me now or pay me more later is. For instance;

Spend a little extra money to do the wheel alignment if your tires wore out from uneven wear. If you dont the new tires will wear out prematurely and you will spend more money on tires again.

Replace those spark plugs and wires as suggested by your auto manufacturer. Its cheaper to do it as maintenance than develop a misfire or break down on a long trip causing more expensive damage plus inconvenience.

Change that oil every 3 to 4 thousand miles to keep the engine clean. Dirty oil creates sludge and lessens gas mileage not to mention major engine repairs for lack of maintenance.

Check those brakes. Brakes usually last 30 thousand miles in the front and somewhat longer in the rear. It is much cheaper to replace the brake pads and shoes when they are getting thin rather than wait until they are metal on metal and ruin the drums and rotor.

If the car drifts one way or another and/or the steering wheel shakes while driving it should be check very soon. This condition can cause other components to wear plus it is a safety issue.

A check engine light on, misfire, stalling condition, or hesitation should be checked immediately. These symptoms can rapidly cause other damage and can lead to very expensive repairs if ignored.

Many of todays autos have timing belts. These are of the same basic materials that the other drive (fan) belts are made of. The timing belt is probably one of the more expensive and more important maintenance items you will have to do. Follow your manufacturers time and mileage recommendations for this service. Many of todays engines are called interference engines. This means if your timing belt skips or breaks the valve and pistons are no longer in sync and will hit each other causing very extensive damage internally to the point of having to replace the complete engine itself. A timing belt is a VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE.

With all of the expenses we occur in todays age it is very easy to put off auto maintenance because there is always tomorrow. Unfortunately tomorrow may be the time you are on a long trip for vacation and the car breaks down. This may very well be MUCH more expensive to repair than what it would have cost for routine maintenance not to mention a vacation cut short and ruined.

Keep the old buggy maintained and it should run trouble free for a long time. Todays vehicles tend to last much longer than those of the past.

For more auto tips and ideas please visit my blog at http://gunnys-auto-chat.blogspot.com

I have been an auto technician for 40 years and would like to share some of my knowledge.

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