• Do you want your investment to last?
• How long do you want to keep your car?
• How many miles does your vehicle have?
• Have you been maintaining your car properly?
• Last Chance has been making cars last since 1978.
Making Your Vehicle Last Is All About Regular Inspections
Are you wondering how to make your vehicle (investment) last? Last Chance Auto Repair knows how to make a vehicle last. Any questions? Maybe the following will help out and answer your questions where you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your home. Otherwise give us a call were here for you day & night, rain or shine, sleet & snow, 24-7.
• Don’t Drive – As in the less you drive the longer your car (investment) will last. Silly but true. For one it will be better for the environment, two your wallet, three your health (hence walking, biking, etc) four your car will last longer. Plus can’t forget all the gas money you’ll be saving.
• Your Vehicle Doesn’t Like Short Trips – A short trips of 10 minutes or less can be extra hard on a vehicle, resulting in more wear and tear. During a short trip, your car’s engine never has a chance to reach its full operating temperature. Hence an importance of making sure your vehicle warms up before you getty up and go so to say. When cold, oil flow is insufficient to properly lubricate your engine because the oil is too thick and will not flow the same as when warm. Short trips will also not allow sufficient time for condensation in the oil system to burn off. Which hence may cause oxidation to build up inside your engine.
• Don’t Drive It Like You Stole It – Why drive it like you stole it? Are you a race car driver practicing for a race? Are you late for work? Is your wife about to pop? These are reasons to drive maybe 5 over the speed limit, safely of course. But typically you don’t have to peel out. You shouldn’t give your passengers whip lash as you drive. Are tickets worth getting and paying for in the long run one way or another? I don’t think so. Not driving your vehicle the way it was designed to be driven, only equals your vehicle not lasting as long as it could have lasted.
• Is Your Check Engine Light On – Typically your check engine lights don’t come on for no reason. If your engine oil light is on don’t drive it. You can blow your engine, hence your costly engine. If the engine temperature gauge and the brake lights are on you better figure out why with the quickness. If your brake light is on you might end up or even wake up in a corn field wondering how you got there. Temperature gauge lite up may mean your about to cook your engine and or transmission to the point of being well done. Regardless, not good.
• Extra Weight Equals Extra Wear & Tear – Are you driving around with stuff in your vehicle that you just don’t need? Extra weight adds stress to critical components and causes premature wear and tear that could of been prevented. It will also save you money on your gas bills in the long run.
• Keep Up On Your Maintenance – They don’t call it preventive maintenance for nothing.
• Change Your Oil & Other Fluids – Changing your fluids like the manufacturer recommends if not earlier is the way to go hands down. Not changing engine oil is the number one killer of engines these days period. Who is in second place you wonder? Broken timing belt. How do we know? Bills don’t lie. However that is pretty much covered under the maintenance section as changing your fluids are considered basic maintenance also it is so important we thought we’d list it under it’s own section. Better safe than sorry, keep up on your maintenance, plain and simple.
• Get Your Issues Fixed Sooner Than Later – You don’t want your vehicle’s problems to suffer from a snowball effect. Vehicle problems don’t typically fix themselves. However some problems are intermittent but don’t let it fool you the problem may come and go but in the long run it’s only going to get worse. If you think you have an issue with such things as your brakes, brake lines, ball joints, tie rods, airbags, seat belts or even the structural integrity of your vehicle, get it checked out ASAP. For one it’s not going to fix itself. Two if you don’t take care of it you may be putting people’s health at risk. Where in the long run is not worth it.
• Find A Mechanic You Can Trust Plus Afford – Finding a local auto mechanic you can trust is key to making sure your car plus wallet will feel better in the long run. Maintaining your car should be looked at as a partnership between you and your mechanic. When a problem occurs you should both be there for each other. Last Chance is here for you 24-7.