How to Maintain High-Mileage Vehicles
Provided By: CarInsurance.com
With the price of new cars skyrocketing people are choosing to keep their cars longer thus putting more and more miles on them. As time goes by and miles are piled on the car can begin to not function as well as it did when it was new. To keep high mileage cars running well you need to do proper maintenance.
People are keeping their vehicles for more years. It could be due to the high price of new cars but also partly because some cars are built to last longer than ever before. You can hope that your high mileage car is part of the later group.
There is not an exact mileage number when your car turns into a high-mileage vehicle. It usually depends on the age of the car and the miles put on it. 50,000 miles might not sound high to you, unless you then hear that the car is only 2 years old. So high-mileage is relative but it is safe to assume after around 75,000 miles the car is not running as it once was.
The car’s engine has been a lot by of hours by this time and its performance is decreasing. Parts begin to wear down. This means not only the main engine parts but the hoses and belts and so on. What you need to do is to make sure that these parts do not break down and hurt your engine or other vital components.
What can you do to keep the engine and the rest of the cars components running like new, even with 100,000 miles on the odometer, is to perform regular maintenance on the vehicle. This maintenance is nearly the same as you should have been doing throughout the life of your car thus far. Scheduled maintenance for your car is like a regular checkup for you at the doctor’s office.
Regularly check and change your oil.Since the engine has been working to drive you all those miles it might be getting tired. With proper lubrication from the engine oil it is more likely your engine will continue to run smoothly. Change your oil according to the owner’s manual or the advice of your mechanic. Once your mileage gets to a certain point your mechanic might suggest having the oil changed more frequently.
Keep your car tuned-up.Just because your car is not new anymore does not mean you should not take it in for its regular tune-ups. It is probably more important than ever now to get the filters changed, spark plugs replaced and belts or hoses changed out. This should not only allow your car to run better but get better gas mileage.
Check your tires.Weekly check your tire pressure and tire wear. If your tire pressure is too low or too high it can affect other parts of the car and give your older car worse gas mileage. Checking the wear pattern will allow you to see if the car is out of alignment or has other issues that you need to be concerned about.
Listen to the car.
When a car gets 50 or 60 thousand miles on it, it is not new anymore. You will notice small noises and oddities. As long as you know what is rattling and why you do not need to be alarmed. But if you hear a new noise, especially any engine noises get the car to your mechanic pronto. It could turn out to be nothing or it could be a big problem. If you are aware of when the noise started and what was going on at the time the mechanic should be able to diagnosis the problem and fix it before it becomes a severe issue.
If you give your car continuous TLC it should last for a long time. Modern technology is allowing vehicles to run longer than ever. Being aware of sounds of your car and giving it the proper attention and maintenance should allow it to continue to operate for you for miles to come.
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