Even if cars aren’t your passion in life, we can all agree that they’re integral to our daily lives. That’s why we spend so much money and time taking care of them. Some things we do, however, can inadvertently damage our vehicles and shorten their life spans. A lot of myths and misinformation about properly taking care of vehicles also tends to spread around. Here are a few maintenance mistakes that are damaging your vehicle that you should be careful of.
Ignoring Dashboard Lights
Everyone dreads those little lights popping up on their dashboards, but you definitely shouldn’t ignore them. The chances of a serious problem with your car are too high to continue driving around with one of those lights on. It’s better to be safe than risk further damage just because you don’t want to take your car to get looked at.
Going Past Your Oil Change Mileage
Your engine can’t function properly without oil, and it can’t function properly with old, gunked-up oil, either. Oil changes are essential to your vehicle’s long-lasting health. You can go a little over the recommended mileage before an oil change, but make sure you’re not driving far. Driving with old oil can wreak serious havoc on your engine.
Not Aligning Your Tires
How is not aligning your tires a maintenance mistake that damages your vehicle? Driving a car with improperly aligned tires isn’t just dangerous in and of itself—it also damages your tires. You could wear down the treads unevenly, making for a very strange driving experience. This also makes controlling the car more difficult.
Skipping Fluid Checkups
You need to check your fluids often. Once a month, at the very least, you should check your various fluids. Brake fluid, motor oil, power steering fluid, coolant—these can drain more quickly than you expect, especially if you drive a lot, so make sure to keep an eye on their levels, or your car will take some damage.
Not Dealing with Noises
An unknown noise in your car while you’re driving is never a good sign. If you start to hear a noise repeat itself as you drive more, you need to take your car in for a checkup. A plethora of reasons could cause a strange noise to start up, and none of them spell good things. Every moment you hear that noise is another possibility for permanent damage.
