The freedom to own and operate a car is surely one of the most envied privileges in the world. It is also taken for granted by those that happen to have an automobile, perhaps not realizing that this possession of fun property isn’t shared by everyone. There are many different types of cars out and about on these roads, but whether they are leased, owned, or simply used they have one thing in common. Their drivers are always on the lookout, in some way or another, for the best car care tips in order to keep their automobile in good graces and avoid unnecessary auto body repairs if possible.
Taking care of your car may seem like a lot of work, but you have to put this in perspective. If you take the resources to properly take care of your car, you can avoid getting into unnecessary accidents. If you think that it can’t happen to you, think again. On a long enough timeline, automobile accidents are so common that almost every driver will have one or be a part of an accident in some way. In fact, on average a driver will have an auto accident claim once every 17.9 years.
In this article, we’ll try to take some of the best car care tips and integrate them together so that you keep your automobile in tip-top shape. Whether this means that you’re working on it yourself or having someone else do metal fabrication for a custom part is up to you, there’s no wrong way to baby your car if your goal is to keep it running and improving. We hope that this information will be extraordinarily helpful in assisting you with making the top tier choices for your automobile.
Safety Tips for Working with Cars
If you’re going to work on an automobile yourself, then you’re also going to want to know some of the best safety tips for working with cars. These are separate and distinct from the best car care tips, but work nicely together. Used in tandem, they will help you to improve your automobile while minimizing any time you might find yourself spending in walk in clinics because of an accident. Nobody likes being hurt, so it’s better to be smart and take precautions. While it may end up taking more time to do it the safe way, it is far preferable to lounging around in a hospital gown.
One of the first tips we can offer you is to simply know what type of car you’re working on and with. All cars are not alike, and even the same brands and models can change distinctly within a year’s time. What may have worked one year, or have been a “neat old trick” that your dad taught you may no longer make the cut for the best car care tips. You should always do the proper amount of research and preparation for the specific mechanics that you will be working on and have the exact tools required. Anything less is simply asking for trouble.
Next, you will want to have a pair of quality work gloves that help insulate you from electrical shocks, oil stains, heavy machinery, and more. Your hands may not seem delicate at a moment’s glance, but fingers and palms can be corroded by all sorts of things quite easily. Having a quality pair of gloves may give you more leverage in trying to turn or maneuver items by hand, while also cutting down on the chance that your finger will become victim to being caught, cut, or exposed to something unsavory.
Last, but certainly not least, of our best car care tips in terms of safety is to surround yourself with quality accessories that aid your work. For example, an air compressor and relevant air compressor accessories can help you immensely in blowing away dust, clearing an area to work in, or inflating tires or other necessary parts in your automobile. Similar tools, such as power drills or burnishing tools, can easily speed up your manual labor time by many degrees of efficiency by simply enabling you to do necessary work without expending as much effort. If you’ve ever tried to unscrew a screw by hand, then you’ll know what we mean.
How to Find Car Parts
Working on certain cars demands that the parts fit the job that needs to be done. In many cars, the parts are proprietary and cannot easily be switched with those of other brands. They are available in many auto parts stores as long as they are recent and relevant enough to be stocked, but in many cases must be ordered from the manufacturer through a special form. Not everybody can own the most recent car models, but one of the best car care tips to keep in mind is that quality parts can always be found somewhere for a reasonable price.
The most obvious place to find car parts is at any of the many automobile part shops that exist around the country in various places. If you’ve been looking at repairable salvage cars for sale, you’ll need to find the parts that match that type of car you bought. You can go to your local auto parts shop and ask about the parts you need. While they tend to only stock the new model years (or universal parts), they can also be an ordering point for getting rare or unique parts that are hard to locate. Since they talk to and have relationships with automobile part manufacturers, they also might have some insight into the best car care tips that year. Not because it’s secret knowledge, but because information improves.
Similarly, you should go to a reputable source if you need parts for repairing a motorcycle. You could start by going to a motorcycle dealer if you’re looking for certain parts. Even if they don’t have the parts there, they’ll likely know a parts shop in the area to refer you to.
If you don’t mind getting dirty and expending some effort, junkyards and scrap yards are also another place where it is possible to find automobile parts that have long been forgotten. You can find scrap yards and junkyards online, or look for them in the industrial parts of your town or city. Many of these establishments also resell mechanized items of all sorts (washers, dryers, trucks, etc) and will frequently have signs outside that say ” heavy equipment for sale” or other such phrases. Inquire via phone, email, or in-person with the proprietor to see what the rules on gathering car parts are.
Your Garage: A Safe Haven for Your Automobile and You
If you’re trying to take care of your car, you’ll soon understand how essential it can be to have a quality garage in order. Not just because it gives you privacy and a dedicated space to work in, but because it can also function as a storage space and auto repair shop within the same day. It can be a space infused with time, effort, grit, and determination to get your car to work as intended. It can be a safe space in which you practice your various car hobbies away from the world of larger culture or bad weather. A quality garage is truly worth its weight in concrete.
If your home doesn’t have a garage or you currently have a car port or other “half garage,” but would like a finished one, then one of the best car care tips you can indulge in is enlisting the help of someone to construct a garage or set of doors for you. By contracting with a residential garage doors service, you can have qualified contractors and architects plan the perfect space for your car and dedicated repair space. From helping you get the perfect secure garage door to providing security for that space, there are many garage door companies that will do it all in one go.
A garage is also a great space to store multiple cars if you own them, or keep salvaged cars that you are taking the parts from out of bad weather. It can also be an aesthetics thing, with some neighborhoods frowning upon keeping cars on the front lawn or living space of where you are. You can also reduce episodes of theft, vandalism, or other such crimes. If you are working on cars in your garage then you already know what a quality storage space it can be, but to truly maximize and get the full value out of it will lead you to realize that having a garage is truly one of the best car care tips you could indulge in.
Evaluating a Car Repair Shop
If you’ve decided to never try to integrate the best car care tips with working on your car yourself, then you’ll eventually have to turn it over to someone who knows what they’re doing. It can be difficult to evaluate the quality of a car repair shop, but with a little know-how and some research, it’s usually not too difficult to figure out. Little giveaways, like having a parking lot or exterior with quality commercial paving or a functioning online website and phone service are a couple of easy markers to spot.
Word of mouth recommendations can also be very valuable, but you must take them with a grain of salt. While it is probably unlikely that your family member or friend is lying about receiving good service, it is simply their isolated experience that was good and not a collective series of data. Only by having your own experience and looking at the reviews by others can you start to understand and receive a great picture of how this particular shop conducts business.
One of the best car care tips that seems to get neglected often is to make sure that whoever is working on your car is a certified mechanic. The degrees and qualifications for this may vary from state to state, or might actually be set into place by your automobile manufacturer (this is the case for many specialty automobiles). The reason why it’s important to have a certified mechanic is the same reason why it’s important to have a licensed doctor, plumber, or other professional perform work for you. You simply want to be assured that they are up to all of the quality standards that you need in order to receive the best service.
Aesthetics and Accessorizing
While the best car care tips tend to focus on how to improve the mechanics of your vehicle, it’s also important to note that cars are an expression of who we are. From the color paint that we originally chose to how we treat the interior, there is always room for improving the aesthetics and accessories in or around our cars. This doesn’t necessarily mean spending a lot of money or time, but is something to think about.
Keeping your car clean can ensure that the “new car smell” lasts as long as it possibly can, while also giving you some peace of mind. A cluttered space can lead to disordered thinking, which can lead to bad driving. By keeping your car clean and smelling fresh, you’ll improve both you and your passenger’s experience. This is doubly important if you are planning to use your car for business or delivery purposes.
Accessories you can add to your car to increase its usefulness include a charging port adapted or spare fluids/fuses. By making your car a space where your life can continue uninterrupted, it makes hopping in the car a more seamless and pleasant experience. By having repair tools and fluids, you make sure that being stranded is never too isolating or terrible of an experience. If you’d like to not think about this, you should also consider belonging to an “auto club” like AAA.
Onward into the Future
It may seem like a lot of work to take care of a car and integrate the best car care tips, but at the end of the day it’s worth it. You may be tempted to throw up your hands, say that cars are too much work, and look toward a motorcycle for some relief, but you will encounter the same problems. Motorcycles are also mechanized vehicles, albeit simpler and more dangerous ones. In fact, the level of maintenance and skill to operate these machines might actually cause more stress than taking care of the car you already have.
There will always be the inevitable ups and downs of maintaining your vehicle, but these are almost always worth the price of admission. To be able to hop in a mechanized carriage and breeze through the countryside or make a visit to the grocery store is truly one of the joys of modern life if we only step back to realize it. If you’re willing to put in a bit of sweat, creativity, and elbow grease to integrate the best car care tips into the experience you will more than likely come out on top. It doesn’t always have to mean polishing your car’s paint to make it shine, it can also mean a simple regular oil change. But it’s worth keeping that motor running at the end of the day, isn’t it?