1. Clean the inside and outside of your car every month. Seriously.
Why It’s Important: Keeping your car clean is like keeping your room clean, except everyone can see your car and gauge how dirty (or clean) you are. Grab ArmorAll’s cheap but awesome vacuum, to clean the inside of your car, a bottle of Optimum’s car wash for the outside of your car, and make your car look brand new.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: An unclean car will eventually attract dirt and grime that can damage your interior and exterior, and probably won’t earn you any extra props from that person you like.
2. Change your oil every 5,000 to 7,500 miles and use a reliable brand.
Why It’s Important: Every car maker has different things to say when it comes to oil, but most experts agree that it’s good to change it out regularly.
If you’re confused on what to use, most cars work well with synthetic oil like Mobil 1, and it’s usually easier to get your oil replaced at a shop versus doing it yourself.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Your car needs oil to lubricate your engine and stop detergents, so make sure you follow these steps to check your oil every other month or so.
If your car doesn’t have fresh oil, dirt will build up and eventually kill your engine, which will cost thousands of dollars and your happiness.
3. Check your tire pressure every month and rotate your tires every 7,500 miles.
Why It’s Important: Incorrect tire pressure can lead to a ton of problems, including poor breaking, instability, less gas mileage, and of course, a flat tire, so check your tire pressure with a gauge.
Also, rotate your tires often to make sure that they wear evenly, making sure you get the most before replacing them.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Replacing your tires will cost anywhere from $350 to $700, while a tire pressure gauge and rotation cost about $10 and $50, respectively.
If your tires need to be rotated, simply take them into a dealer or auto body shop.
4. Get your brake pads replaced every 25,000 miles or sooner if your brakes are wearing down.
Why It’s Important: It’s always a good idea to have your brakes checked out every so often by a professional, as a nasty grinding noise can bring an unpleasant worry.
A big part of this are the brake pads, which resist loss of brake power at high temperatures and can be replaced by a mechanic if needed.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Neglecting your brake pads will eventually lead to your brake rotors failing, leading to a $300 to $600 replacement and at worst, an emergency you don’t want to deal with.
5. Make sure your mirrors are always good to go.
Why It’s Important: Having eyes in the back of your head would be the driving advantage, but unfortunately we’re only human and the next best thing we have are mirrors.
A good, clean set of front and rear view mirrors can save you from a lot of trouble on the road.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Driving with dirty or no mirrors at all makes you everyone’s least favorite driver on the road, and that’s probably the last thing you want to be.
6. Maintain your car’s interior to keep its resale value high.
Why It’s Important: Grime has chemicals that will eat away at things like your leather dashboard or vinyl seats, eventually leading to your car looking like a flithy time machine.
Thankfully, products like Meguiar’s Quik Interior Detailer and Leather Honeyare relatively cheap and help keep everything looking like the day you got it.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: A dirty, unkept interior can lead to you losing hundreds of dollars when you try to resell your car, meaning you’ll have less money towards the dream of something new. Keeping your car’s interior fresh isn’t that big of a commitment, so you should get it over with.
7. Change out any bad headlight bulbs as soon as you can.
Why It’s Important: Driving home in the dark can turn into an absolute nightmare if one of your headlights isn’t working correctly or showing a very dim light. Most of the time, this is caused by a dead headlight bulb, which can be checked and replaced with something like a Sylvania High Performance Bulb that’ll last much longer.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: You should never consider the risk of driving at night without proper headlights, and you’re also bound to be pulled over with the cops if you try. Generally, replacing a headlight bulb yourself is pretty simple and requires just a few steps and tools.
8. If you’re not going to drive your car for a while, make sure it’s properly stored.
Why It’s Important: If you’re going to be away for a bit, make sure your car is covered, clean, topped off with gas, and started every so often to keep the battery fresh.
If no one’s around to drive or start your car, you can buy a battery tender which stops a discharge.
The Cost of Not Doing It: Not keeping your car properly stored can lead to a dead battery, hurt engine, and even some unpleasant creatures living under your car’s hood. Those rats and spiders won’t help you pay your repair bills if anything happens, so it’s best to store your car the right way.
9. Change your air filter every 30,000 miles or every year.
Why It’s Important: Think of your car’s air filter like your lungs: It’s important you keep them clean and healthy so that you breathe easier and harmful things don’t affect your breathing.
For a car, a dirty air filter will hurt your acceleration and make your car less efficient, making an inspection and new air filter every so often important.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Your car isn’t going to explode from a dirty air filter, but it’s possible that leaving one in can cause your engine to fail and damage your combustion chamber. Spend 15 minutes to pop a new air filter in and you’ll forget why you worried in the first place.
10. Get some Rain-X products for your windows to guard yourself from water.
Why It’s Important: Rain-X makes two products that deserve your attention, one being a spray for your car’s glass that repels rain and another being windshield wiper blades that do their job well. Spraying your car with Rain-X is pretty easy, while you should inspect your wipers every six months and change them if necessary.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Rain-X isn’t essential for your car, but nothing beats the peace of mind you get watching rain drops fall of your windshield or watching your wipers deflect everything.
11. Check your spark plugs every 30,000 miles and replace them every 60,000 miles.
Why It’s Important: Spark plugs are necessary for any car to function well, and while most last for a long while, it’s still recommended you make sure yours aren’t affecting your engine as a whole. Every 30,000 miles, get yours checked out by a shop or dealer and make sure to replace them if they’ve gone bad.
The Cost Of Not Doing It: Bad spark plugs can lead to horrible gas mileage and a lack of acceleration, along with a whole host of other problems. Eventually, bad plugs can greatly impact an engine, leading to what could be a lot of troublesome repairs.
SOURCE: www.buzzfeed.com