Car Maintenance 101

Car maintenance is a crucial element of caring for your vehicle. Summer has gone and fall is officially here. With the changing seasons it’s good to brush up on vehicle maintenance tips to to keep you car running in tip-top shape for as long as possible. Here’s your quick guide to maintenance schedules that can help you catch issues before they arise!

Important Aspects of Car Maintenance

Brakes

Your brakes are a crucial part of keeping you safe on the road. If your brakes are malfunctioning it can spell disaster for your passengers and the cars around you. Always make sure that your brake fluid is topped off. ‘Spongy’ brakes or brakes that aren’t catching are also huge problem that should be addressed immediately. 

If your brakes start feeling soft or like your car starts pulling in one direction or another when you brake, bring your vehicle into Superior Auto for a brake check. 

Tires

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 9% of car crashes are tire-related. As the weather transitions to rain and snow, now it’s more important than ever to make sure that your tires can get you where you need to go. The last thing you want is to be cruising down I-5 and have your tires skid out on you due to a lack of traction. Make sure you frequently check your tire pressure and that your tread is deep enough to keep you safe.  

Filters

It’s important to make sure your air filters and engine filters aren’t covered in grime. A clean filter help keep debris and pathogens out of your cabin and engine. For an engine, this means a cleaner burn, which translate to better fuel use and fuel economy.

New filters can be purchased at any auto parts store, or you can get them replaced the next time you bring your vehicle in to be serviced. 

engine misfires

Oil

Oil should be checked monthly for best car maintenance practices. Your owner’s manual will have a maintenance schedule on how long you should go in between oil changes. As a rule of thumb, you should usually get an oil change every 3,000 miles (though according to AAA, you can sometimes go 5,000 to 7,500 miles.

Fluids

There are other fluids besides your brake fluid you need to check and keep up on for best car maintenance. Ideally, you should also be checking:

  • engine oil,
  • power steering fluid,
  • coolant,
  • transmission fluid, and
  • power steering fluid

A leak in any of these can really mess with the way your vehicle functions. 

Lights

It’s important to make sure all of your lights are working. Not only can a broken light be dangerous, it can cost you a ticket. 

When you replace your lights, it’s a good idea to make sure you replace both at the same time. If your lights are newer but still go out, it may be a blown fuse. 

In addition to changing your lights, it’s important to make sure your lights are clean! You’d be surprised how much of a difference cleaning your lights can make. Add this to your car maintenance list!

Wipers

Wiper blades are an underrated but crucial defense against the elements and important for car maintenance. It’s important to make sure that your wind shield wipers are working and that your blades are new and functional.

Paint

It is very important to maintain your vehicle paint. If you let the paint go and get rusted on the metal body, that rust will spread and infect the vehicle. It is best to have paint and body damage assessed properly.

We hope these tips help you to maintain your vehicle! For more tips from your premier mechanic in Seattle, read more from our blog!