5 Best Maintenance Tips for New Car Owners

You have bought the car of your dreams and can’t wait to get behind the wheels. Moreover, this also happens to be your first ride, so naturally, you have a hard time curbing your excitement. However, before you get carried away, we would like to give you a gentle reminder that buying your vehicle has just been the easy part so far. You’ll also have to consider spending a significant amount of time and effort to maintain it. And for new owners, this can be quite a daunting task. Furthermore, amateur car owners also have difficulty planning and figuring out what maintenance work they should conduct on their new ride.

Well, worry not because we are here to help you take the best care of your ride. This article will take you through 5 of the best maintenance tips and tricks to keep your car in top shape.

Let’s go!

Clean the Car Battery Frequently

Like any other vehicle part, your car’s battery also requires regular maintenance and cleaning. If left uncleaned for an extended period, the battery would lose its charge retention capacity, eventually causing electrical and starting problems. One must be thorough with battery maintenance and follow the manufacturer’s recommendation found in your owner’s manual.

Start by cleaning the terminals of the battery. But first of all, make sure it is disconnected. You can ensure this by detaching the negative terminal. You can then use a cleaning brush and battery cleaner fluid to wipe off the terminals. Also, use the same brush to clean the battery’s body and then reconnect it but start with the positive terminal this time.

Keep the Engine Clean

Your engine is the heart and soul of your vehicle, and the least you can do is take good care of it. There are various ways irregular maintenance can affect the performance of your engine. For instance, not replacing the engine oil on a timely basis can hamper its proper functioning. Furthermore, you should always use clean fuel in your engine to keep it free from any gunk.

Apart from that, as a responsible owner, you should always check for oil leakage from the engine and identify it early to prevent problems. You don’t want to take things for granted, as something as simple as an oil leak can cause several issues and cause repair costs to skyrocket over time.

Last but not least, you should try your best to avoid debris and dust from accumulating over leaks and always make sure to wipe off any gunk from the engine’s surface.

Remedy Minor Scratches Immediately

Car scratches are exceptionally annoying! They sometimes seem to appear out of nowhere. As a new car owner, you might already have read all those articles containing tips and tricks to avoid these damages to your new, shiny, and perfect baby and maybe practice these helpful suggestions to a fault. But somehow, somewhere, something (or someone) always manages to leave these hideous marks without you knowing.

Most car exterior scratches caused by day-to-day exposures at home or in parking lots are mild. These are scratches that only damage the clear coat or paint. The good news is these scratches can be easily remedied at home on your own. No professional help is needed!

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p dir=”ltr”>You can visit your local auto repair shops to get recommendations on the best product to use. You can also get equally reliable product recommendations online and have them deliver the products to your home. Some online shops even have this amazing feature of identifying the best paint match based on your car’s make, model, and year; no physical visit is required!

On the other hand, deep scratches reach beyond the coat of paint into the metal. These warrant the help of professionals to repair—sometimes a little pricey but still a small price to pay to restore your car’s perfect, shiny exterior.

No matter the severity, a scratch is a scratch and should be acted on fast. In some cases, habitually ignoring these car exterior damages can lead to more serious issues and costly repairs in the long run.

Take Good Care of Your Tires

Tires withstand immense wear and tear and are highly susceptible to damage. Moreover, tires running low may compromise the overall stability of your vehicle and pose a significant safety hazard. Low pressure also makes your tire more vulnerable to wear.

Hence, keeping your tire pressure at the specified value is always recommended. Luckily, you can easily buy an air pressure gauge and check your car’s tire pressure about once a month or so. When in doubt, have a look in your owner’s manual to find more information about the manufacturer’s recommended threshold.

Keep an Eye on the Spark Plugs

To understand why you should always keep an eye out for a faulty spark plug, let’s understand what they do in the first place. In simple words, spark plugs play a vital role in the operation of your car by igniting the air-fuel mixture. A worn-out spark plug will be unable to generate an adequate spark to create this explosion, and in turn, your engine cannot produce power. Without a proper spark plug, the air-fuel mixture won’t ignite properly, causing misfires. A fundamental sign of a faulty spark plug is the vehicle failing to start despite several attempts. Other symptoms include uneven acceleration, increased vibration while riding, and a drop in your car’s overall mileage.

If some of these symptoms match, you should immediately take your ride to a trusted mechanic. And yes, I know — going to the mechanic is rarely a nice experience and nobody likes to spend hours at the repair shop with nothing better to do than play Uptown Pokies (FUN!) and wait for the repair to be complete. Nonetheless, it’s still much better than being left stranded on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck.

Alternatively, you can also get your hands on your car’s repair manual and replace it yourself — it’s actually not that hard and a lot cheaper.

Check the Fluid Levels

Like the blood in your veins carries oxygen to your organs or takes out metabolic waste, different types of fluids ensure the proper functioning of your car, including brake fluid, power steering fluid, or engine oil. A slight reduction in quantity or drop in quality can prove detrimental to your vehicle’s overall functioning. For example, brake fluids tend to absorb moisture over time, and your braking mechanism could become prone to rust. On the other hand, if your vehicle has hydraulic power steering, failing to replace the steering fluid every 2-3 years leaves the much more expensive power steering pump at risk.

Furthermore, engine oil is another fluid that needs to be changed quite frequently, or else the engine’s internal parts will start to heat up. What’s even worse is that spoilt engine oil also leaves the components vulnerable to extreme wear and tear, which could severely damage the engine.

So as a word of advice, you should always keep your car’s fluid levels in check to prevent unwanted damage to your vehicle parts and keep repair costs light on the pocket.

Last Words

Of course, these were only some of the most basic maintenance tips we have covered above, but they aren’t the only factors you need to consider. Your vehicle is a complex machine, and different problems will arise with time. Still, all of these tips are part of your vehicle’s preventive maintenance and will go a long in helping you make the most of your ride