Car Mistakes to Avoid
What are the worst things that you can do to your car that can cause serious and expensive damage?
I’m gonna share 10 costly mistakes that you should never do to your car that can cause severe damage, expensive repairs.
Every single one of these mistakes is a major one that you need to avoid.
Delaying Oil Changes
Starting with the first thing you should never do to your car, which is long oil change intervals.
This is a pretty basic one, but a very important one.
Neglecting or stretching out your oil change intervals too long, can damage your engine and eventually lead to engine failure.
Not only that, but if you fail to change your oil on time and keep all your documentation, if you experience an engine problem or an engine failure while still under warranty, the manufacturer might not cover the warranty repair.
So always make sure to follow the maintenance schedule in your vehicle’s owner’s manual at a minimum, but ideally, change your oil at a reasonable interval on synthetic oil That means changing your oil roughly every five to 6,000 miles or every eight to 10,000 kilometers and doing so will help prevent costly engine damage in the long run.
Neglecting Fluid Checks
And on a very similar note, the next thing that you should never do to your car is ignoring to check your fluids.
Once in a while, lift the hood of your car and check to make sure that all the fluid levels are okay.
Pull the engine oil dipstick and make sure that the oil level is between the minimum and maximum line.
Carry a bottle of oil in your trunk to top off the level. If it’s low, you should also check the coolant level.
Coolant is extremely important for keeping your engine running at the right temperature so it needs to be checked.
And while you’re under the hood, take a peek at the brake fluid level and the windshield washer fluid level to make sure they’re okay too.
All of these checks can be done in five minutes or so and they’re extremely important because driving your car when it has very low oil level or low coolant level can cause really serious and expensive damage.
So if anything is not quite right when you’re taking a look under there, take your car to a mechanic right away to get it checked.
Ignoring Warning Signs
Now moving on to the next thing that you should never do to your car, which I can’t emphasize enough. And that is ignoring warning signs.
This can include anything from the check engine light, the oil level or oil pressure light, ignoring the temperature gauge and other warning signs such as funny noises, smoke or rough running.
Any one of these warning signs can point to really serious and expensive trouble.
And ignoring the warning signs can be one of the worst and the most costly mistakes that you can make.
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Many vehicle owners experienced a major problem with their vehicle because they had some kind of a warning sign,
whether it’s the temperature gauge going way too high, having smoke or rough running problems or other kinds of notable issues and they just ignore the problem and continue to drive the vehicle anyway, turning what could have been a very minor, not expensive issue into an extremely costly one because they just continue to put more damage on the vehicle.
So if you have any of these warning signs, turn your vehicle off and do not drive it. Take it to a mechanic right away.
Overfilling the Gas Tank
The next thing that you should never do to your car is something that may seem rather harmless, but it can lead to a really expensive repair and that is overfilling your car’s gas tank.
You know that click that you get when you’re pumping gas into the tank, which means that the car is full.
Well, that also means that you need to stop pumping gas.
Do not continue to pump gas beyond the fill point because you could do damage to the car’s evaporative emissions control system.
This is the system which controls vapors from the gas tank, usually with a charcoal canister, which you can damage by overfilling leading to costly repairs. So don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk.
Running the Gas Tank Too Low
And on the flip side, another thing that you should never do to your car is running the gas tank very close to empty on a regular basis.
Most cars have a fuel pump that’s located inside the gas tank.
This is the pump which transfers the fuel from the tank all the way to the engine. And this pump relies on the fuel inside the tank to help keep it cool.
So if you’re running your gas tank near empty all the time, there’s no gasoline in the tank to keep that pump nice and cool, which means that it could eventually overheat and fail, which can be a really expensive repair.
And not only that, but running your tank very close to empty means that the fuel pump might also pick up debris and sediment from the bottom of the tank, which passes down to the fuel filter, causing it to clog up leading to another repair item.
So never run your car’s gas tank close to empty on a regular basis when it comes down to a quarter of a tank, fill it up and keep driving. That’s the best way to do it.
Letting Your Car Sit Too Long
The next thing that you should never do to your car is letting it sit for too long without driving it.
Modern vehicles are filled with all kinds of computers and other electronics, which are all constantly drawing on the battery even when it’s just sitting parked.
So it is no longer unusual for a modern vehicle to experience a completely dead battery after it’s been sitting unused for just a couple of weeks.
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Unfortunately, this is a somewhat normal Side effect of having vehicles that have so many computers and complicated electronics.
So if you’re not going to drive your car on a regular basis and let it sit for more than a week at a time, you need to consider picking up a battery maintainer to make sure that your battery doesn’t drain and go completely dead.
And the same is also true if you put your vehicle into storage for any length of time. Getting a battery maintainer can really save you a lot of money.
Driving Short Distances
Moving on to the next thing that you should never do to your car and that is driving it for very short distances. Stop and go.
City driving and short distance driving drives that are under around five miles or 10 kilometers are generally the worst types of drives for your vehicle.
Modern vehicles need to be driven longer distances in order to properly warm up and get the engine to operating temperature so it can burn off.
Condensation, prevent carbon buildup, oil dilution, and other issues which can result from very short drives on a regular basis.
This is especially true for vehicles that have turbocharge engines which are more likely to develop issues as a result of short distance drives on a regular basis.
So try to do longer drives whenever you can, especially highway drives, which are the best type for your vehicle.
And if that’s not possible and you just can’t avoid doing really short drives all the time, well just try to avoid buying a car that has a turbocharge engine.
Forgetting to Change Transmission Fluid
Moving on to the next thing that you should never do to your car. And that is ignoring the transmission fluid.
Most owners remember to change their engine oil, but the transmission needs attention to,
Even though more and more manufacturers are claiming that transmissions have lifetime fluid that never needs to be changed, the fluid still does become contaminated and less effective over time, which could lead to premature transmission failure given that a modern transmission can easily cost around seven to $8,000 to replace.
Changing the transmission fluid is a really good idea for preventative maintenance.
Change the fluid every 50 to 60,000 miles or every 80 to 100,000 kilometers, which is a pretty safe interval.
And this is especially true if you have a transmission that’s known for being especially fragile, such as certain types of cbts.
And if you have an all-wheel drive vehicle, change the fluid in the differentials and the transfer case at the same time while you’re at it just to help prolong the life of those expensive components.
Not Checking and Changing Filters
The next thing that you should never do to your vehicle is neglect, checking and changing the filters.
There are a few important filters that need attention, including the engine air filter, which needs to be clean and clear, otherwise it could reduce your fuel economy and performance.
There’s also a cabin air filter which cleans the air entering the cabin that you want to keep clean as well.
And there’s also a fuel filter, one which is often neglected, but an important one which cleans the fuel of contaminants as it heads from the gas tank to the engine.
Filters are very important, so make sure to get them checked and changed on a regular basis.
Neglecting Your Tires
And that brings us to the last thing that you should never do to your car, and that is ignore your tires.
It’s such an easy thing to forget about and assume all is well, but you need to check your tires periodically to make sure they have proper air pressure and check for wear.
Get yourself a pressure gauge and check the air pressure every month or so. Do not drive on tires with too much or too little air.
This will wear them out a lot faster and do not drive on super old or worn tires.
The risk of a tire blowing out is real and extremely dangerous, so don’t risk it.
Tires are extremely important for your safety.
They keep you safe during high speed highway driving when breaking, when going around corners, and when driving through harsh weather, including the winter time.
So make sure that your tires are in good shape, inflated to the proper air pressure, and also make sure that you’re using high quality tires.
So there you have it. All the things that you should never do to your vehicle.