Quick over view of Car maintenance and its types
Throughout the life of your vehicle (whether purchased new or used), repairs and maintenance are necessary.
We can distinguish several types of maintenance:
Routine maintenance:
Routine maintenance, which can be done by yourself and requires only a few minutes / hours per month. It keeps your vehicle in good condition, by doing some work necessary to achieve it.
In the routine maintenance you need to focus of these points daily:
- Take care of the bodywork : clean your car, repair superficial scratches
- Monitor and complete levels: engine oil level, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid, windshield washer. Do not hesitate to top up if your oil light is flashing or worse (in this case, you must immediately stop the vehicle because the engine is no longer properly lubricated).
- Check the battery and change it if it shows signs of weakness before winter
- Examine the state of wear and tire pressure, a simple reflex to achieve in a service station. You can take the opportunity to review the condition of your rims for each wheel.
- Maintain the interior: clean the interior of the car, floor mats, seats, degrease the interior windows and dust off the dashboard. Important for hygiene!
- Clean the windows and degrease the windshield, essential for good visibility
- Change the wiper blades , including the annoying rubber that tends to dry in the summer
- Replace defective fuses
- Replace burned bulbs and adjust headlights
- Check the operation of the accessories : trailer (braking, tires), gps (update) ...
Other stages of maintenance may require the intervention of a car professional:
- Maintain air conditioning and possibly recharge
- Change the tires
Finally, new equipment on new cars, including xenon headlights and back-up cameras, are very expensive to maintain. The gap between traditional and Xenon headlights can range from simple to fivefold!
The revision:
Depending on the maintenance and warranty booklet of your vehicle, periodic revisions may be required to examine, correct and replace certain parts. The operations performed during each revision depend on the mileage and the recommendations of the manufacturer. During the revision, the professional can also detect possible failures and establish a first diagnosis.
The repair:
Despite all the care and regular maintenance of your car, it sometimes breaks down or deteriorates: all that remains is to repair it (curative maintenance). It's up to you if you prefer:
- Replace damaged parts with second-hand parts or new parts yourself and fit them as described in the automotive technical journal of your car.
- Replace the parts yourself in a self garage near you.
- Use a professional auto garage.
