Save Money by Busting These 7 Car Maintenance Myths
Are you wasting money on car maintenance? Many drivers hold on to outdated ideas that made sense in the past, but no longer apply to today's vehicles. Beliefs like these continue to persist because we stick to what our parents taught us, even though automotive technology is not what it used to be.
Let's take a look at seven car maintenance myths that are costing you money and learn what you should actually be doing.
Myth 1: Change your oil every 3,000 miles
This myth is based on the time when vehicles used conventional motor oil and older engines. Today's vehicles often have synthetic oil, and can generally go 7,500 to 10,000 miles and in some cases, high-end synthetics can go up to 15,000 miles. There is often no "rule of thumb" for mileage in today's vehicles, the manufacturer's recommended interval is what matters. Check your owner's manual.
The truth: Changing oil too frequently is wasting money as well as creating unnecessary waste to the environment. If your car has an oil life monitoring system, trust it!
Myth 2: You should always replace tires in pairs or sets of four
This is a myth tire shops love because it helps create extra sales. If you have a single damaged tire and the remaining tires have 70% or more tread, it is safe to only replace one tire on a front-wheel or rear-wheel drive car.
When to replace more than one tire:
All-wheel drive vehicles (refer to your manual for tolerance to tread depth)
Existing tires have 50% or less tread remaining
Always match brand and tire type for consistency.
Myth 3: Premium gas gives better performance in any car
If your owner's manual does not specifically state you need premium fuel, then you are throwing money away. Premium gas has a higher octane rating that is intended to prevent engine knock in high-performance engines. Regular engines cannot take advantage of that improvement.
Important points to recall:
Most turbo engines are fine on regular gas
Premium gasoline will not improve fuel economy on regular engines
Only use premium if "required," not when "recommended".
Myth 4: You have to warm up your engine before driving
Modern fuel injected engines do not need long warm-ups compared to carbureted engines. Letting the car idle actually causes more problems than benefits, like carbon buildup and wasting gas.
Best practice: Start your car, wait 30 seconds and drive gently until the temperature gauge shows it is warmed up again. Don't exceed a high RPM for the first few minutes of driving.
Myth 5: Seasonal "Winterizing" and "Summerizing" are necessary
These typically expensive seasonal preparation packages at service stations are designed to prey off your fears of permanent damage from weather. Regular maintenance all year promotes changes for seasonal use as necessary.Regularly checking your coolant levels, battery condition and tire pressure is a monthly process not a twice yearly process.
What you really need: A snow brush, winter washer fluid and jumper cables. Forget about overpriced seasonal packages and just maintain your vehicle all year round.
Myth 6: Car maintenance tasks need to be completed by a professional
There are a lot of common and easy maintenance actions that most car owners can do and don't need professional help for. The most common easy things will be replacing air filters, cabin filters, windshield wipers and checking some fluids. Most people can easily do these things if they have common tools.
Things that you may be able to do yourself:
Replacing Air and Cabin Filters
Checking fluids and topping them up
Changing windshield wipers
Putting battery testing voltage into battery
Myth 7: You should Inflate tires to maximum PSI as indicated on the sidewall
The number on the sidewall demonstrates maximum pressure not optimal pressure. Overinflated tires wear unevenly, have less traction while wearing tires out more and have a greater risk of a blow out.
How to find your proper pressure (for car specific pressure): Find sticker on driver door jamb or in the owner manual. The manufacturer specified pressure has passed testing to achieve optimum engine performance, fuel economy and tire life.
Conclusion
These myths will exist because they sound logical, but you are wasting hundreds of dollars by following these. These days cars are made better and more reliable and don't need as much maintenance as they once did. Y
our owner's manual has manufacturer recommendations that have undergone lot's testing - your owner's manual is your most reliable source of information relating to your maintenance schedule.
