Car Maintenance
If you’ve ever purchased a new vehicle, you’ll know that it comes with car maintenance. You don’t need to give it a moment’s thought – you get reminders by phone or email from the car dealership that it’s time for a service and you trust their mechanic to look after it for you.
But if you don’t own a new vehicle, how are you supposed to know what specific service or car maintenance check needs to be done?
Auckland Car Mechanic
We’ve put together this handy checklist to help you schedule regular maintenance. We always recommend you talk to a mechanic you trust, but you can use this as a good starting point. We’ve divided the service checks into short, medium and long-term checks to give you an idea of recommended frequency.
Do all cars need regular servicing?
Yes, every car needs servicing and car maintenance. Even with brand new cars, there are car maintenance checks you can do in between your regular service appointments to keep your car running at its best.
If you don’t drive a brand new car, there are numerous car maintenance checks you can do at different intervals to extend the life of your vehicle.
There are 3 main reasons why we’re always emphasising the importance of regular maintenance and service checks:
- Safety – Keeping your car well maintained ensures that everything is operating as it should, keeping you safe and minimising the risk of a breakdown or an accident – prevention is key!
- Value – Keeping your car well maintained helps it holds its value. When you go to sell it or trade it in, records of regular servicing will help you get a higher price.
- Better driving – Keeping your car well maintained will give you a more comfortable driving experience and will help your car operate with better fuel efficiency – that will probably save you money over time!
Short-term car maintenance
These are things that need to be done quite regularly – and many of them you can do yourself.
- Check your oil
- Check and top up your coolant levels
- Change your oil filter
- Check your tyre pressure and tyre condition
- Check your spare tyre
- Test your lights
- Test your brakes
- Check and top up your windshield washer fluid
Medium-term car maintenance
These service checks don’t need to be done every month, but they should probably be done more than once a year (it all depends on the age and condition of your vehicle, and how much you drive). A few of these you may be able to do yourself, and others require the skill and equipment of a professional mechanic.
- Change your oil
- Rotate your tyres
- Wax your vehicle
- Replace your windshield wiper blades
- Change your air filters
Long-term car maintenance
Many of these are more complex, so you’ll want to book in with your mechanic to look after them for you.
- Change your transmission fluid
- Flush and change your coolant fluid
- Test your battery tested
- Check your shocks, struts and suspension
- Inspect your spark plugs
- Check your belts
- Check your differentials
- Check your wheel alignment and wheel balance
- Check your air conditioning system
The frequency or timing of these checks depends on several factors, including how much you drive, the conditions you drive in, how aggressively or carefully you drive, the age of your vehicle, etc. So there is no hard and fast rule around when each of these service checks should be done.
If you get in touch with us at Roskill Auto Mechanical we can put together a customised service plan for you that’s designed specifically for your vehicle and your driving habits.
Contact us online or call us on 092421870 for a free quote or to book an appointment.
