Responsible car ownership includes staying up to date with your vehicle service. Ongoing preventative car maintenance in Madison, TN is crucial to protecting your car and extending its life as long as possible.
Whenever you purchase a vehicle, you should familiarize yourself with the recommended maintenance schedule found in your owner’s manual or service booklet. Adhere to those guidelines as much as possible—they’re in the manual for a reason, and they will help you keep your car in great operating shape.
Here are some car maintenance tips for you to keep in mind.
What to know about mileage-based service
If you have an older car, it’s more likely to have service intervals based on mileage, which means you’ll need to be more proactive about tracking when you need to take your vehicle in for service. You’ll have to consider the style of driving you most commonly do. Some mileage-based service recommendations are for cars used in “normal” conditions, while others are for people operating in “severe” conditions, and the definitions can vary based on the automaker.
You can generally consider your conditions “severe” if you make primarily short trips of five miles or less, frequently perform sustained stop-and-go driving, tend to drive in very hot or cold climates or frequently carry heavy loads or tow a trailer. More rigorous driving requires more rigorous maintenance, so your maintenance intervals will likely be shorter.
Generally speaking, you can expect to need oil changes every 5,000 to 7,500 miles, though some full-synthetic oils can last as long as 15,000 miles. Your manufacturer will provide recommendations in your manual based on the suggested oil.
Service reminders
For newer vehicles, your vehicle will have built-in automatic maintenance and service reminders, which means you don’t need to worry about tracking your mileage. These reminders consider a variety of operating conditions, and will give you alerts when it’s time for oil changes, inspections, fluid level checks and various other standard maintenance services. You can generally place your trust in these systems to let you know when you need to take your vehicle in for maintenance, but if you don’t frequently drive your vehicle, you should still make it a point to get an oil change at least once a year, even if you don’t get alerted by your onboard system.
When in doubt, you should always follow the recommendations provided by the manufacturer in your owner’s manual. The manual will contain a lot of important, useful information that is specific to the make and model of your vehicle, and should be able to provide answers to any questions you have about service intervals and the necessary types of maintenance you need to perform on your vehicle.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can stick to a good car maintenance schedule in Madison, TN to extend your vehicle’s lifespan for as long as possible, we encourage you to contact the mechanics at Madison Muffler & Auto Repair today. We look forward to assisting you soon!