What Proper Vehicle Care Looks Like

Of all the things you own, your vehicle is likely among the most expensive — if not the most expensive. Therefore, you want to do everything in your power to ensure that it stays functional and maintains value for as long as possible. This way, not only do you improve the overall driving experience over the course of owning your car, but you also improve your chances of getting a higher price if you do ultimately decide to sell it down the road.

With these things in mind, you can find five things that deserve to be in your regular vehicle maintenance routine.

Change Your Oil Regularly

Your vehicle is a very high-powered machine with a lot of interconnected parts. To be able to drive your car at high speeds over long distances, especially year after year, you want to make sure that you’re properly lubricating all the different parts powering your vehicle. 

To gain a sense of how many parts are involved in this process, you simply have to open up your car’s hood. A look in any direction will reveal parts that push up against one another, interlock with one another, and generally interact in ways that are bound to produce a lot of friction. To make sure this friction doesn’t cause any part, or your car as a whole, to overheat, you need to regularly change the oil in your vehicle.

Most vehicles have what is called a “dipstick” to help you understand the remaining oil in your vehicle. If after taking the dipstick out of the vehicle you notice that the oil marking is very low, then that’s a sign that the oil in your vehicle desperately needs to be changed. Allowing your vehicle to completely spend the rest of its oil reserves makes way for a hot, volatile, and dangerous environment inside of your vehicle. Naturally, whenever something as flammable as gasoline is around, you want to do everything you can to reduce the chance of ignition — regularly changing oil is one way to do this.

If you’re not comfortable making the change yourself (perhaps it’s your first car), then consult with family members to see if they can help you. If family or friends can’t provide any assistance, the next best thing to do is get a professional oil change in Longmont CO. With an oil change in Longmont, you can drive off the lot assured that your vehicle is lubricated with enough oil to help you traverse even the steepest hills in Colorado. 

Prioritize Premium Fuel

Outside of oil, you also want to make sure that you’re only fuelling your vehicle with the most premium fuel available. When you see that higher cost above a premium fuel pump, it’s tempting to drive right on by and settle on a cheaper, standard-fuel pump, but this is seriously doing your vehicle a disservice.

You may be saving money in the short term by opting for cheaper fuel, but there’s a good chance that it will come back to bite you in the later stages of your vehicle’s life. You may be okay if you only use your vehicle sparingly and not on tough roads, but if you need your vehicle every day to get you from A to B as quickly as possible, then premium fuel will undoubtedly be a better, more cost-effective choice. 

This is because, with premium fuel, your car can operate more efficiently. With higher-quality fuel, you can be more confident that air bubbles and other impurities aren’t making their way into your vehicle’s internal parts. Over time, these impurities can cause your vehicle to be less efficient, more prone to breakdowns, and generally operate at a lower level. 

In this sense, premium fuel can actually save you money in the long run. Similar to how a healthy diet reduces your chances of sickness — and therefore costly doctor visits — premium fuel reduces the likelihood that your vehicle will need costly repairs or tune-ups down the road. 

If you’re having difficulty understanding what kind of fuel works best with your vehicle, you can bring your vehicle in for car service in Longmont for a professional’s opinion. This process can save you the trial and error otherwise involved in cycling through different kinds of fuel — and the spending associated with that. 

Regular Tune-ups

Regardless of how well you treat your vehicle and the quality of products you put inside of it, you should still make an effort to take it in for regular checkups. For example, taking your vehicle in for alignment in Longmont is a great way to make sure that there aren’t any issues with your vehicle’s tires — issues that may be causing your vehicle to work harder than necessary to drive in a straight line. 

Tune-ups are also typically a lot cheaper than full-on auto repair in Longmont, as you’re bringing in your vehicle for prevention against problems as opposed to bringing it after a problem has already occurred. Tune-ups also look great on a CarFax history sheet, which can help you sell your vehicle for money if you ultimately decide to sell it down the road. 

If you place yourself in a buyer’s shoes, wouldn’t you want to see that vehicle you’re considering buying was regularly maintained? Of course you would! This is why tune-ups help to not only improve your driving experience, but also increase the value of your car on the marketplace. 

Takeaway

There may be a lot of moving parts to your vehicle, but by just following the guidelines outlined above, you can make sure that they stay in working order and maintain their value over the course of your vehicle’s life. 

Plus, by regularly changing your oil, prioritizing premium fuel, and taking your vehicle in for regular tune-ups, you can get more cash for your vehicle when it’s time to sell it. After all, no one wants to buy a used car that wasn’t properly taken care of by its last owner.