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Maintaining Your Vehicle
Most of us know that if we take care of our bodies— eat well, exercise, and get regular check ups— we can live a lot longer and feel better too. The same goes for your vehicle: you take care of it and it will take care of you by running at 100,000 miles and beyond.
In this article, Esurance offers some advice on how to keep your vehicle looking and feeling young. (Keep in mind that every vehicle has different requirements, so it’s best to follow the maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual.)
Minimum or Maximum Service Schedules
Many auto body shops in the past have offered 2 service interval schedules: normal-duty and severe-duty. Normal-duty repairs are generally thought of as the minimum requirements for maintaining your vehicle. Since most drivers put a lot of wear and tear on their vehicles, it’s generally recommended that drivers take a more aggressive approach to their vehicles’ maintenance schedule.
Your vehicle will perform only as well as you take care of it. If you find yourself answering “yes” to a couple of these items, your vehicle may require more regularly scheduled checkups. Do you:
- Drive in areas with extreme temperatures?
- Tow frequently?
- Maintain high speeds for long periods of time?
- Take frequent trips of 5 miles or less?
- Idle for long periods?
- Brake and accelerate a lot?
Regular Servicing
Your owner’s manual will spell out what’s best for your vehicle, but generally most vehicles require that you:
- Check tire air levels frequently and make sure your lights are working properly. (If one of your lights is out, you could get pulled over and receive a citation, which could result in an increase in your auto insurance premium.)
- Check and replace oil filters and other fluid levels every 3-5000 miles or every 3-4 months.
- Rotate your tires and have the tire balance checked every 6-7500 miles
- Check your brakes around the same time you have your tires rotated or more frequently if you’re especially hard on your brakes. Your ability to stop when necessary can prevent someone from getting hurt or having to file an auto insurance claim.
- Check air and fuel filters, have your transmission serviced, and wheels inspected around 12-15,000 miles.
- Don’t forget that belts and hoses, as well as other systems, will require your attention and care.
It may be time for you to perform a tune-up on your auto insurance too! Find out if you’re carrying the right amount of auto insurance coverage when you get a personalized report from Esurance’s Coverage Counselor. Once you’ve obtained a report on the amount of coverage you should have, get a free auto insurance quote from Esurance. You could save hundreds on your auto insurance.
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