When it comes to lengthening your car’s life, there are certain tips that we’ve all heard a hundred times before. “Get your oil changed regularly, make sure you keep up on regular maintenance work, don’t ignore a ‘check engine’ light.” However, there are many other ways we wear down our cars that we don’t even think about. These are just a few lesser-known tips for keeping your car lasting longer.
Lighten Up Your Keyring
Keyrings are wonderfully convenient tools for holding not only our car keys but also our keys for work and home, our library cards, portable flashlights, and Swiss Army knives—that’s even before we get to the decorative odds and ends. They’re not too heavy for us when we put the keys in our pockets (if they’ll fit), but these tools weigh down your car’s ignition and can even cause damage. That’s a lot of hassle for a personalized keychain.
Wash Your Car
Washing your car is not just about keeping the car looking nice. That’s because there’s more than just mud and grime on your car when it’s dirty. Tar, road salt, bird droppings, and brake dust can all accumulate on your car. All of these things are corrosive and will wear down your car body and wheels more quickly. Most professionals recommend washing the car at least once a week; for an extra layer of protection, you can wax the car or add a ceramic coating.
Wash Your Engine
Most people don’t even realize that an engine needs washing. However, accumulated grease, dirt, and brake dust all make your engine work harder simply to run. Also, as we said earlier, brake dust is corrosive and will quickly wear down the engine’s metal. Cleaning your engine will also help prevent grease fires—as you could guess, these are potentially catastrophic. Not to worry—local automotive places offer engine degreasing services.
The classic car maintenance advice is classic for a reason. It is solid advice that keeps your car running for a good, long while. Still, cars are complicated machines; sometimes, looking a little deeper into the lesser-known tips for keeping your car lasting longer is worth the extra effort.
