Some people will manage to be rid of their car before it amasses too much wear and tear, like using a new Honda Civic lease in Los Angeles. However, for many other people, they’re going to be with their car for the long haul, and this means giving a lot of time deciding whether or not it makes sense to try and fix things with the help of a mechanic or trying to go it alone.
Make no mistake, every car owner is going to want to look into the services of a trusted mechanic at some point, as there’s going to be many important maintenance tasks best left in the hands of a professional. However, there are some other ways to contribute to car maintenance, and save a little money in the process. To make things easier, here’s a rapid-fire list of actionable advice.
- Change the air filter of the car. The filter is naturally going to be clogged over time due to a buildup of dirt and other particles, but by putting in a fresh one after a while, there’s a lot less worry of that getting into the engine.
- Checking tire pressure is something that can easily be done at home, and there are a lot of different tools that allow it. The car manual will help you determine what the ideal pressure is. Do a regular tire check around every two weeks.
- A lot of the time, people get in the habit of waiting until they get some sort of indicator or reminder that they need to check the oil in their engine, but don’t do this. After all, engine oil helps deal against corrosion and contaminants on the road. In general, make sure to check every two weeks at a minimum, as well as before any major trips. Make sure to change the oil in accordance with your manufacturer’s specifications as well.
- Make sure to check coolant levels once a week, but first wait until the engine has been off for a period of time so it can get cool.
- Checking wheel balance may be a hard thing to do at first, but this isn’t the case at all. Just take a note and see if the weight of the wheel and tires don’t feel even when turning. While an imbalanced set of wheels won’t take the car off the road right away, it can cause issues, like making more wear and tear on both tires and suspension.


