WHAT IT PAYS TO KEEP YOUR CAR WELL MAINTAINED

Why does it pay to keep your car well maintained? The short answer – it’ll guarantee you pass your state inspection the first time! However, and more importantly, it severely diminishes your chances of ending up in an accident.

To keep is simple, here are the 4 most important maintenance items on your vehicle, courtesy of Primer Magazine:

1. Oil: Thankfully, you no longer need to check and change your oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles, newer cars can go for 5,000 – 10,000 miles. Why is it so important then? Fresh oil in your car keeps your parts running smoothly, allowing them to last longer, and changing your oil is much cheaper than the parts and labor required to full replace even a small piece of your cars system.
2. Air Filter: About once a year, you should change out your air filter. Just like changing your oil, a fully functioning filter will make your engine operate at a higher performance level and make parts last longer.
3. Brake Pads: You brake pads may be one of the few parts of your car that will alert you to its need to be replaced (regardless of whether you have a fancy electronic dash that issues these type of warnings). You hear that screech, time to replace. Worn down brake pads diminish your car’s stopping power, making it harder to react if there is a sudden change in traffic speed in front of you.
4. Tires: Baring any unforeseen nails or blowouts, you can typically expect your average tires to last 40,000 – 50,000 miles. Can’t remember when you last replaced them? Simply check the tire thread, when the treads of your tire reach the bottom of the grooves that life in between them it’s time to replace. Bald tires have a similar effect as worn break pads, they decrease you stopping power.

Keep up to date on these four key areas and always have you mechanic do a basic check up every time you get your car worked on and you’ll have better and safer times on the road.