Don’t Forget These Top Vehicle Maintenance Issues

If it’s not a flat tire or your routine oil change, it’s easy to forget common vehicle maintenance issues if they don’t have noticeable or immediate consequences. Whether forgetting is caused by hectic day-to-day life or cost of maintenance, ignoring top maintenance issues can cause problems that are both worse and more expensive than the original issue.

Even if your vehicle receives regular maintenance, here are some of the top forgotten vehicle issues Foreign Affairs Motorsport’s expert technicians regularly come across.

Tires And Wheels

Because of their constant contact with the road, tires and wheels receive the most wear and tear. Here are a few commonly forgotten tire maintenance issues:

• Rotation

  Forgetting to rotate your tires is the leading cause of wear on vehicles. It often goes overlooked because people lose track of their last rotation. Not rotating your tires leads to uneven wear on your tread and results in you having to replace your tires more often. It also causes poor handling, which can be dangerous. Proper rotation leads to even tire wear, better gas mileage, and longer tire life.

  It’s recommended to have your tires rotated every six months or 5,000 miles.

• Inflation

  It’s easy to tell when a tire is flat and most modern vehicles have some sort of indicator that alerts you when tire pressure is low. It is common to put off inflating your tires to the correct pressure due to forgetting or just not having enough time. Not keeping tires inflated can affect your gas mileage, cause bad handling, and uneven wear on your tires.

  It is recommended to manually check the pressure on your tires once a month, even with a pressure indicator.

• Wheel Alignment

  Properly aligned wheels ensure your tires wear at the same rate. Wheels become unaligned by regular driving and if you hit curbs or potholes. Unaligned wheels will pull your car to one side, cause erratic steering, wheel shaking, and unpredictable wheel movement. It also causes your vehicle to handle differently and shortens the life of your wheels.

  It’s recommended to have your wheels aligned once a year.

Headlights

Nighttime driving already presents more risks than driving during the day but forgetting to maintain your headlights can make it even more dangerous. Here are some issues to keep in mind:

• Hazing/Glazing

  The plastic that covers our headlights takes a lot of abuse from dust, rocks, and heat from the bulbs. Local elements such as salt from icy roads or coastal air can also affect the quality of light. This causes a dull, yellow haze on the lenses that only produces 22% of the light new ones would. Considering 50% of crashes happen at night, glazed lights also decrease your vehicle’s safety. Headlights begin to cloud in three to five years.

  It’s recommended to have a mechanic restore and polish your headlights once a year.

Fluid Services

Most people remember to check their oil on a fairly regular basis, but many forget about other fluids in their vehicles such as power-steering fluid, antifreeze/coolant, windshield washing fluid, and brake fluid. Here are common problems caused by forgotten fluids:

• Power-Steering Fluid

  Slowly but continually, your power-steering fluid will pick up dirt and moisture that can clog your steering components over time and lead to possible failure.

  It is suggested that the power steering fluid is changed every 50,000 miles.

• Transmission Fluid

  When your transmission is not properly lubricated, your vehicle may not shift correctly and can damage your transmission.

  It’s recommended to check your transmission fluid every 20,000 to 60,000 miles, depending on the make and model of your vehicle.

• Brake Fluid

  With the ability to gather moisture out of the air, brake fluid can cause water to come into the unsealed reservoir. This can lead to the corrosion of the hydraulic system of your brakes.

  Depending on the make and model of your car, it will need to be changed every four to five years.

• Antifreeze/Coolant

  Water-cooled engines mean that with the closeness of water, heat, and different metals, your vehicle is susceptible to breaking down internal parts, cracked blocks, engine overheating, and radiator leaks.

  It is recommended to check your coolant levels each winter and flushing it every two years or 24,000 miles.

Tires, wheels, headlights, and fluids are just a few of the top maintenance issues people tend to forget. Let Foreign Affairs Motorsport make sure your car is running in tip-top shape by scheduling an appointment today at (954)-746-0488.