{"id":250,"date":"2015-04-10T14:02:17","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T22:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.checkworks.com\/blog\/?p=250"},"modified":"2015-07-22T14:14:54","modified_gmt":"2015-07-22T22:14:54","slug":"secrets-and-tips-to-save-you-from-the-stress-of-auto-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/secrets-and-tips-to-save-you-from-the-stress-of-auto-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Secrets and Tips to Save You From The Stress of Auto Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Auto<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

By MJ Plaste<\/strong>r<\/p>\n

\u201cA car is the most expensive purchase most Americans make. More Americans buy cars than buy houses. They feel like their car is a member of the family,\u201d said Johnny Whitaker, retired auto-industry insider and consultant. He shares his top 15 tips below.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Read the owner\u2019s manual<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cI\u2019ll bet you\u2019ve never taken the owner\u2019s manual out of your glove compartment,\u201d asked Whitaker. \u201cThis is the No. 1 mistake<\/strong> car owners make. Everything you need to know is in that manual, and you can save a fortune on car maintenance if you\u2019ll just read the manual and do [with a few exceptions below] what it says.\u201d
    \nWhen he set up Cadillac service departments at dealerships across the country, he saw mistakes everywhere that would have been avoided if car owners had read the manual.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What Everyone \u2018Knows\u2019 About Car Maintenance Might Be Wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Whitaker disagrees with some \u2018conventional wisdom.\u2019 He made no bones about saying that what he says might differ from conventional wisdom, but he\u2019s not telling you anything that he doesn\u2019t do with his own cars. For example:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Oil Changes<\/strong> \u2013 Today\u2019s manufacturers often suggest oil changes every 5,000 miles. Some new cars come with one or more years\u2019 worth of free oil changes. \u201cIf you were a car manufacturer, would you want to eat the cost of oil, filters and labor every 3,000 or every 5,000 miles,\u201d Whitaker asked. \u201cI still change mine every 3,000 miles,\u201d he added, \u201cbecause the only change is that manufacturers are saving millions by raising the mileage.\u201d<\/li>\n
    2. Oil <\/strong>\u2013 \u201cNever, under any circumstances, use 10W40 oil. It turns to a gel under heat.\u201d He uses 10W50 year-round.<\/li>\n
    3. Tuneups<\/strong>\u05aa \u2013 When I asked how often to get a tuneup, he said, \u201cWhat\u2019s THAT? What century are you living in?\u201d Modern cars don\u2019t require what used to be known as a tune up\u2014tweaking the engine. Who knew!<\/li>\n
    4. Tire rotation <\/strong>\u2013 \u201cI always rotate tires back to front, not in the X formation. Once a tire starts to wear, you will not correct it no matter what you do. If you rotate in the X formation, you\u2019re changing the direction the tire normally goes, and it could \u2018sling a ply,\u2019 which could cause more uneven wear. Tire places are in the business of selling tires, not rotating them.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Common Car Maintenance Mistakes and Assumptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Car vibration <\/strong>\u2013 When a car vibrates, people assume it needs a front-end alignment. \u201cIt\u2019s usually the wheels, tires and\/or balance,\u201d said Whitaker.<\/li>\n
      2. Oil filters<\/strong> \u2013 People often try to save money by changing the oil without changing the filter. Whitaker\u2019s standard reply: \u201cWell, how about you just save your bath water, and bathe in that for a week?\u201d He also cautioned against using generic filters because they can<\/strong> cause problems.<\/li>\n
      3. Brakes<\/strong> \u2013Most people think that when they hear a squeal as they apply the brakes, they need new brakes. That squeal indicates a glaze on the brake pads, and it does not mean you need new brakes. If you hear the squeal when you\u2019re not touching the brake, and it goes away when you hit the brake, that\u2019s the warning indicator that you need new brake pads.<\/li>\n
      4. Brake pads<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cSpend some money on brake pads. Don\u2019t cut this corner. At a dealer, the standards are enforced, and the warranties are honored,\u201d said Whitaker.<\/li>\n
      5. Leaks <\/strong>\u2013 Did you know that leaks can be deadly? He said, \u201cThink about it. What happens when oil hits a hot manifold? It can catch fire. Take care of leaks.\u201d<\/li>\n
      6. Air conditioning <\/strong>\u2013 If it sounds like your compressor has died, your air conditioner might just need some coolant and\/or you might need some new hoses.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Tips for Saving Money on Car Maintenance<\/strong><\/p>\n

        With labor costs running around $100 an hour, here are a few simple preventive steps:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Air Conditioning<\/strong> \u2013 Run your air conditioner during the winter once a month for 20 minutes to lubricant through the system.<\/li>\n
        2. Windshield washer fluid<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019ll cost you an hour of labor plus parts when the tank is full of fluid but it doesn\u2019t spray on your windshield. Add 1 teaspoon of powdered laundry detergent to each tank of fluid.<\/li>\n
        3. Gas<\/strong> \u2013 If your car requires premium, use it. Shell and Amoco have an engine-cleaning additive in their premium gas.<\/li>\n
        4. Windshield wipers <\/strong>\u2013 When you think you need to change your windshield wipers, try this first: If the wipers are still soft, spray a little household ammonia on a paper towel and clean the wipers. Then clean your windshield with some ammonia to remove road grime.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Whitaker said, \u201cUnlike home maintenance, you can\u2019t use a calendar for car maintenance. Treat your car with care, but don\u2019t go looking for trouble [like flushing fluids] unless there is a problem. When you try to fix a nonexistent problem, they will break something 90 percent of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            By MJ Plaster \u201cA car is the most expensive purchase most Americans make. More Americans buy cars than buy houses. They feel like their car is a member of the family,\u201d said Johnny Whitaker, retired auto-industry insider and consultant. He shares his top 15 tips below. Read the owner\u2019s manual \u2013 \u201cI\u2019ll bet you\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}