If you are keen to try and keep your car on the road as long as possible, that’s something that a lot of people can get on board with. After all, it makes financial sense to try and keep your vehicle running as long as you can – as long as you don’t have to pour loads of money into it in order to do so – and this is something that might actually be easier than you think to achieve. Generally, it’s about paying attention to a few key points that we will look into here.
If you have an older car, much of this can be especially difficult to get right, but it is still perfectly possible as long as you follow some key points. Here are the main ways that you might be able to keep an old car running for longer.
Service It
Quite simply, one of the best things you can do for your car is just to make sure that you service it from time to time. If you have the knowhow, you might be able to do this yourself – but if not then you might want to try and find a trustworthy mechanic to do it for you. That is especially important if you drive a unique car or an older one that has particular needs – you’ll probably find that you need to take it to a particular mechanic that deals with that type of car.
In any case, you should ideally make sure that you are servicing your car once a year if it is older, or even every six months if you are able to. As long as you do that, it’s going to be on the road so much longer, and you will find that it actually costs you less to run overall as well.
Practice Mechanical Sympathy
If you are keen to keep your car running for as long as possible, it’s vital that you pay close attention to how you drive. There is a term here that can be especially important to know about – mechanical sympathy. Driving with mechanical sympathy simply means that you are driving with a strong general awareness of how your car works. This then enables you to drive in a sensible and appropriate manner, and so reduces the wear and tear on the vehicle, as well as the likelihood that it is going to suffer any lasting damage.
In practice, this often means that you are being careful about braking, changing gears, and so on – and it’s all the kind of stuff that you can learn as you go, and which will become more and more obvious over time. As long as you drive in this way, it’s likely you will get a lot more out of any car, no matter its age.
Use Genuine Parts
When something goes wrong and you need to replace some part of the vehicle, you should make sure to use genuine parts every time if possible. This is going to mean that the part lasts a lot longer, that it is going to be appropriate for the vehicle, and the kind of part that will actually stand the use of the vehicle. With older cars it can sometimes be harder to source certain parts, depending on the manufacturer, but you should always try your hardest to find it if possible. You will find that this is going to really make a huge difference, so it’s something you should aim for whenever a part does need replacing.
If you drive a Chevy, for instance, you will need to get some Chevy parts diagrams and then find a specific branded part for the replacement. This is the best way to ensure the new part lasts as long as it is meant to.
Change Your Filters
From time to time, you should make sure to change your filters. This includes the oil filter as well as the water and air filters, if your car has them. These will naturally get clogged up over time, and the result of that will be that you are going to have a much less enjoyable drive, and of course that the vehicle itself is not going to last as long.
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to change the filters, but you don’t have to do it yourself if you are unsure about it – you can simply hire someone to do it for you. In either case, be sure to check this roughly every six months or so – that should be frequent enough to keep the health of the car in check in this way.
Replace Spark Plugs
For petrol vehicles, the spark plugs are one of the most important parts of the vehicle. They are what is used to ignite the fuel and therefore get the engine going, so if there is anything wrong with the spark plugs, there is going to be a problem getting the vehicle going. If you want to keep your engine in good condition, the spark plugs are going to need some care and attention from time to time, so this is something that you should certainly think about.
This again is something that many people should be able to do themselves. If you want to do this yourself, simply remove the old spark plugs and put new ones on – it really is that simple. This is the kind of thing that is going to make a huge difference to how long the car runs and how smoothly too.
Keep It Clean
Although you might think of it as mostly an aesthetic concern, it’s actually also a mechanical issue to try and keep your car clean. Keeping it clean is going to help ensure that no dirt gets into places where it might cause trouble, so that is something that you should certainly make sure you are doing here. Keep it clean, and it’s going to mean that your car is much more likely to run for a long time.
