New Year’s resolutions are a great way to get a kick start on improving your health. Whether it’s changing your diet, exercising more, or focusing on your emotional well-being, resolutions motivate us to do better. In fact, 84% of resolutions made by Americans are tied to their health (Forbes). As you plan out your resolutions, why not create some that focus on your vehicle health in 2023 too?
In this month’s blog post, we share some ways that you can set a vehicle health resolution plan in place to keep your stress down and avoid costly repairs.
Let’s put your vehicle resolutions into three groups:
- Owner Maintenance
- Service Professional Maintenance
- Factory Scheduled Maintenance
Owner Maintenance
There are many things you can do as a vehicle owner to stay on top of your vehicle’s health – and they don’t involve much effort. We suggest that you check the items below monthly. Mark your calendar or put a reminder in your phone and give yourself about 20-30 minutes to complete the tasks.
- Vehicle fluids: Your vehicle has many more fluids besides oil, such as brake, steering, transmission, coolant, and windshield wiper fluids. If you learn where these are located in your vehicle, you can stay on top of vital engine and system fluids. Review your vehicle owner’s manual for information on how to check your fluids, and what to do if they are low.
- Tires: Your tires are an important safety item and so they should be checked often for wear, tear, and possible damage. Keeping your tires inflated at the proper pressure is critical for safety, and you should also inspect the treads for wear. You can purchase an inexpensive tire tread gauge to measure the depth of each tire tread. Also, pick up a tire pressure gauge so you can measure the air pressure for each tire. If you see any issues, contact a service professional. Your tires are critical for staying safe on the road.
- Battery terminals: Your batteries typically last between 3-4 years, but you can extend their life by making sure they are free of corrosion on the terminals, and cables are properly connected.
- Wiper Blades: If your blades are worn, you will notice when they are in operation and not clearing your front or rear windshields. Blades may crack, warp, break, or bend and not have good contact with the glass. If you notice any of these, pick up a new pair and replace them.
If you implement these quick checks, you may proactively discover issues before they become expensive repairs or safety concerns.
Service Professional Maintenance
There are some maintenance tasks that are better handled by a professional. Not only do they have the right “know how”, but they have the right equipment to easily handle these tasks. In fact, many service professionals use sophisticated diagnostic tools today to evaluate the health of your vehicle systems.
These tasks should also be part of your vehicle health resolution, and may include:
- Oil and filter changes
- Fluid changes, as needed
- Hose and belt inspections or replacement, as needed
- Cabin and engine filter replacement
- Alignments, balancing, and rotations of tires
- Brake system inspections and/or repairs/replacement
- Fuel system inspection and/or repairs
- Ignition system inspections like spark plugs and wiring
The best way to get started on these tasks is to speak with a service professional about an ongoing maintenance plan. At Colonial Service Station, we can identify an ongoing plan that helps address your vehicle needs and your budget.
Factory-Scheduled Maintenance
The last category in your vehicle health resolution are the factory-scheduled maintenance items. These items are maintenance tasks that are typically recommended by the vehicle manufacturer for different vehicle systems and components based on specific timeframes. For example, your vehicle manufacturer may recommend a transmission fluid change and servicing every 100,000 miles driven. Or, it is a good practice to do a brake fluid flush every 30,000 miles or three years.
While the frequency of factor-scheduled maintenance is less, these items are very important and should never be overlooked. Speak with your service professional at Colonial Service Station to factor these into your ongoing plan.
It’s not too late to get started on your new year’s resolutions. Keep your vehicle in mind as you consider your resolutions, and you will be a much happier vehicle owner at the end of this year! Contact us at Colonial Service Station today to talk to us about your vehicle plan.