Tips For Maintaining Your Car

We spend so much time driving our vehicle’s, I think we often times forget to do regular maintenance on them. Aside from getting gas, it seems like we forget to maintain what’s under the hood until that pesky check engine light comes on! I have some quick tips for maintaining your car.

Ok, first things first:

Set a reminder!

That’s the easiest and most helpful tip I can give you. Set a reminder to do regular maintenance on your car. Be it once per month, once per quarter or twice a year, set that reminder so you won’t forget. We always have our phones with us and almost everyone has a smartphone nowadays. Setting up a reminder on your calendar or Google is such a great way to remember the things we need to remember. Personally, I have reminders set for a TON of things. School, home, travel, blogging, you name it. It helps me stay on task.

You can set reminders to check your oil, windshield wiper fluid, antifreeze, coolant, tire pressure, etc. If you think you’ll need to check certain things on a different schedule, set up a couple different reminders.

My second tip is:

Make a list.

Jot down, or print ours, a list of the things you’ll need to check each month/quarter to maintain your car. I’ve created a simple printable list that you can print out and hang on your refrigerator or place in your monthly bills binder, if you have one. I have ours inside a page protector, in our bills binder. So it stays clean and doesn’t get lost. Each month when I sit down to pay my bills, it’s right there in the front, ready for me to check.

Things to include for maintaining your car are:

Monthly:

• Check Oil – if you have your oil changed professionally, they will check most of these for you.
• Check Tire Pressure
• Check Antifreeze
• Check Coolant
• Check Wiper Fluid
• Wash/Go To Carwash – especially in the winter when road salt can accumulate and damage your paint.

Quarterly:

• Change Oil – your oil change will be based on mileage, etc. Your schedule may differ
• Check or Change Sparkplugs
• Rotate Tires
• Check Brakes/Pads
• Check belts – serpentine, etc.

These are the things on the top of my list. You may have more that you prefer to keep a regular watch over and your schedule may differ. With that said, this is a great starting point for regularly maintaining your car.

If your car hasn’t been maintained or you simply need a new one, consider selling your car instead.

Click the button below the image to download your printable:

If you’re in the market for a new car or searching for more vehicle tips, check out cars.com for more info.

What are some tips you have for maintaining your car? What are some things you like to do regularly?