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Ensure your car lasts longer and looks better with these great tips. 

1. Service Your Car Regularly

This is perhaps the most important advice when it comes to making your car last longer. Yet it is also one the most overlooked. Given the improvements made to most modern cars, it is easy for car owners to miss required service sessions without thinking much about it. Unfortunately, failing to stick to the scheduled service intervals only causes your car to deteriorate faster.

So, if you are planning on keeping the car for a long time, ensure to follow the recommended service intervals. Better yet, arrange for servicing sessions more often or a few hundred miles early to be on the safe side.

There are many other benefits to regularly servicing your car besides making it last longer. It also improves its fuel efficiency, and performance, and as a bonus, it helps to preserve its resale value.

2. Don’t Ignore Issues

Perhaps you’ve started noticing a knocking noise every time you go over bumps, which wasn’t there before, or a grinding sensation when going around left-hand turns. Many drivers choose to dismiss such issues hoping that they will go away on their own. However, nothing could be further from the truth. If you neglect a wheel bearing that started to go bad, it can cause the hub to overheat and damage the CV joint leading to bigger and more expensive repairs.

A bad radiator fan can cause the car to overheat in traffic, which can cause the head gasket to blow. These are just but a few examples of instances where a failing component can have snowballing effects.

If you suspect that there may be something wrong with your car, don’t wait till it’s too late.

3. Pay Close Attention to Your Oil

Motor oil is a key part of what keeps your engine running properly. If the oil is old or contaminated, it can significantly shorten your engine’s lifespan. Refrain from using cheap oil and always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Do not exceed the oil change intervals.

When changing the oil, also replace the oil filter while you are at it. Instead of using an engine flush, refill with a cheaper oil then change it again after a few hundred miles with a quality name brand oil. And engine flush can be overly harsh on some engines.

If this seems like too much work, you can consider buying a vacuum oil extractor. This device helps to make oil changes a quick and simple process since the oil is extracted via a dipstick tube instead of messing around under the car.

4. Keep Your Car Clean

Did you know that keeping your car clean can help to prolong its life? When dust and grime are left to stay, they can lead to rust (especially during the winter season with salt on the roads). Even though the body of your car may be galvanized, some components in the undercarriage are rust-resistant. If neglected bushing and suspension components can suffer a shorter life expectancy. To prevent such problems, ensure to keep your car clean by cleaning it regularly and using quality car mats.

Regular washes and the occasional waxing will help to keep your car’s paintwork in great condition and preserve the car’s resale value. Lastly, you need to be on the lookout for bird droppings. They are known to eat through the paintwork and cause permanent damage. So, ensure to remove it as soon as you see it.

5. Always Warm up the Engine

Most of the damage caused to an engine happens when you start it from cold. Keep in mind that cold oil has less viscosity and will be sitting in the oil pan when you start the motor. It is important that this oil is first pumped around the engine to lubricate the parts and secondly, it needs to be warm to be effective.

But what most people don’t realize is that you don’t need to start it and leave it idling. The faster you can get the engine up to temperature the better. A cold engine takes a long time to warm up when it’s not under any load (especially if it’s diesel).

The most recommended method is to switch on the engine, let it idle for about 30-60 seconds (to let the oil circulate), then drive slowly for the first few miles until the engine reaches normal operating temperature. Do not rev the engine too much when its cold. After the temperature needle starts moving, or the heater blows warm, you can start driving normally.

6. Cool Down

This is particularly crucial for turbochargers. If the car is driven aggressively at higher revs, the turbo tends to become very hot. So, try to drive ‘off-boost’ for the last few miles of the journey. This will allow everything to cool down instead of switching off an incredibly hot engine that can reduce the life of the bearing in the turbo by cooking the oil.

Also, don’t leave it idling there since the lack of airflow can make the engine bay heat up. While this isn’t much of an issue with modern cars that come with water-cooled turbos, it is still important to always start and complete your journey with some gentle driving.

7. Gears or Brakes

Brakes are much-cheaper than a gearbox. Many drivers have a habit of slowing down their cars by shifting through gears. While this delivers the desired result, it puts extra stress on the clutch and gearbox. The brakes were put there for a reason. So, to keep the transmission in good condition, switch through the gears by matching the revs. Avoid quickly shifting like you are running the quarter-mile.

Sadly all cars will eventually need replacing, usually once they are beyond economical repair. The good news is that you can get cash for a scrap car that you can put toward your next vehicle.

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