Gaari Means Car. Car Reviews & Car News

Question by I Love Jus: How do I take good care of a car?
I know absolutely nothing about the insides of the car. I just know how to drive it. So pleae I need to know what I should do, and check to make the life of the car the longest possible.

I just got a new sedan. I want to know what steps to take.

Like inside and out.

What happens if I don’t wash my car? When does it start to damage your car if you don’t wash it? Like all those fluid and oil changes. How do I do that. Where should I take it to?

Should I take it to the dealer? Do they do all that? What about tire rotations. There seems to be so much that needs to be done.
please in english i don’t know metric.

Best answer:

Answer by owner_of_a_lonely_CAR
The first thing to remember is that oil (especially engine oil) is the life blood of your car. In my experience if the drive chain is running fine the car is worth repair. Synthetic oil is the ONLY way to go. Some cars will do well with regular oil. But the problem is you don’t know which until it is too late. If you think that synthetic oil is too expensive, then you can run regular oil and have the valve covers removed to check for sludge build up (at 5K and 10K). If it looks clean then you can probably stick with regular oil (but check again at 20K and 30K). On my Honda civic the valve cover removal is 5 minutes. On my Audi the valve cover removal is about 1.5 hours. So good luck.

The second thing is that fluids (engine oil, transmission oil, radiator fluid / anti freeze, brake fluid, etc.) in general need replacing time to time (some at 30K and some at 60K). Engine oil should be replace somewhere between 3K to 7.5K (see your car owners manual).

You should go to auto parts dealer and get a car repair manual for your car. It will answer lots of question about your car. Even if you don’t intend to work on your own car, it can still help you understand you car and keep mechanics from screwing you over. See this link for example

http://www.delmarlearning.com/Browse_Catalog.aspx?Cat1ID=AU&Cat2ID=CHM&Cat3ID=CHM07&Cat4ID=7CCA

These are usually for older (about +5 years) old cars. You can order FACTORY repair manual but that might be too much.
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I recently found this book at the book store.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Handyman-Simple-Care-Repair/dp/0762105135/ref=sr_1_1/104-3574148-6690307?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184559570&sr=8-1

I found it surprisingly informative. I’ve done all kinds of car repairs myself (brakes, clutch, etc.). But even for people like myself there are plenty of tips I can use. It isn’t HOWTO fix your car book. It is more of what a car owner need to know to keep it in good running order. It answers all your questions above and even more (in plain simple English). At $ 11, it is the best $ 11 insurance you’ll ever spend.

In fact if everybody here read this book once, about 95% of the question here would not even exist.
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Trust me on the oil and fluids.

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