Taking care of your car is much like taking care of yourself: It is all about forming the right habits. If you do not brush your teeth every night, finding the time to brush your teeth is going to be way more of a chore. Similarly, if you do not plan to get your tires rotated every 7000 miles, then planning to do so feels like guesswork.
And that is what it really comes down to: The action of taking care of your car is all about turning guesswork into a plan. Most people do not know when they are supposed to take care of their car. They do not know the mileage at which each component needs attention. They might not know what components to give attention.
So, Central Auto Care would like to provide this short guide on how to take better care of your car.
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Change Your Oil Every 5,000 Miles
This is something many people are pretty good about, but it is so fundamental to a healthy car that it is worth mentioning anyway. The big thing people miss is the exact mileage. Many people get their oil changed every one or two months. The issue with doing it based on time rather than mileage is efficiency.
If you get your oil changed after two months when you have only driven 200 miles in that time, then that is a waste of time, money, and oil. So, wait until you hit 5000 miles before you change that oil out.
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Change Your Air Filter Every 15,000 Miles
If there is any car part that is easy to maintain, but constantly gets neglected, it is the air filter. The air filter cleans the air going into your engine. Procrastinating changing it out will result in mild issues at first, but eventually your engine will begin to sputter and struggle to function.
The best part about changing the air filter, and in fact doing most car maintenance, is that you can measure how often you need to do one based one when you do others. Keeping track of multiple parts changing at multiple mileages is difficult. Instead, just change the air filter once for every three oil changes.
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Rotate Your Tires Every 10,000 Miles
Some guides will, rather justifiably, tell you to get your tires rotated every 5,000 miles. It is not a terrible loss of efficiency to do this that early. In fact, you should start thinking about getting your tires rotated at 5,000 miles. The reason 10,000 miles is recommended here is because you are already changing your oil at 5,000 miles.
The wise thing to do is to rotate your tires every 5,000 miles. But the practical thing to do is to not overload yourself with obligations at any particular mileage milestone. You would not need a guide on how to take care of your car if you were an expert at finding time for these things. So, make it easy on yourself.
All of these services are offered by Central Auto Care in Okotoks AB. So, if you need them done on your car, or if you would just like to talk about more ways to take care of your car, just drop by and ask.