Top 6 Car Maintenance Tips

Written on the 14 January 2022 by BumperTech

Whether you have a new car or an older car, doing some basic regular maintenance is the key to keeping it performing at its optimum level, ensuring the safety of you and your passengers, and potentially saving money.

These 6 simple tips anyone can do, to give you peace of mind and keep some coins in your pocket.

1.            Tyres

Checking your tyres regularly is not just about looking at the tread for uneven wear, foreign objects, or tears on the actual tyre, but checking air pressure. Incorrect air pressure can have a huge impact on the running and handling of your car, namely, it can impact fuel economy and lead to premature wear and tear on your tyres.

Getting into the habit of checking your tyre pressure when you are filling up with fuel is a great way to maintain optimum pressure levels. The ideal tyre pressure for your car can be found either in your manual, driver’s side door frame or glove box.

2.            Engine Oil

Although your engine oil is checked and topped up at your regular servicing, it is still very important to keep checking it between mechanic visits. Running out of oil is extremely bad for the engine and can lead to major damage!

Checking monthly is a great way to ensure lubrication for your engine.

What you are looking for is the amount and whether you need to top it up, and the colour of your oil, it shouldn’t be black! A dark colour may suggest excessive heat or the presence of contaminants.

3.            Windscreen wiper blades & wiper fluid

Our Queensland storms can be quite hectic, especially when you are out on the road and need to be able to see clearly!  Changing your windscreen wipers when they are not cleaning your windscreen adequately or are split or starting to perish, is very important. This goes in hand with the wiper fluid, which aids in keeping your windscreen clean! Always ensure you use the correct windscreen additives and not household detergents!

Windscreen wipers can be replaced every 6 months and you can check and top up the wiper fluid when you are washing the car.

4.            Lights & Indicators

As we all know it can be very dangerous on our roads and if your lights and indicators are faulty or not working correctly, the percentage of something unfortunate happening increases 10-fold. Testing your headlights including high beam, along with your indicators, front and back, as well as the reversing and fog lights, is an important step in the maintenance of your car.

5.            Battery

As the most critical part of your car, without the battery, nothing in your car will work and most of us at one stage or another have been stranded somewhere due to the battery. Checking the battery consists of either checking the battery fluid by either removing the caps or checking the indicator, if your battery does need a top-up, ensure that you use only distilled water. Make sure there is no corrosion on your battery and that the top is clean and dry.  If your battery has not been updated in the last 2-3 years, we would advise getting it checked and replaced.

6.            Paintwork

Lastly, regularly checking your paintwork for chips and scratches is another important step to be added to your car maintenance routine. Leaving scratches and chips untreated can lead to rust forming on your car and under your paintwork, paint to flake off and ultimately causing body rot. Most scratches and chips can be easily fixed, so it is best to get onto them immediately.

BumperTech can help you fix those scratches and chips to your paintwork at your convenience, contact us today for a free quote!