How Often Should Car Maintenance Be Performed?

Maintenance Check Anyone?

How often should you change oil? When do you change your battery? These are some of the questions we come across everyday at the auto shop.  We, at Rodney Auto Centre, ensure your questions are answered professionally. We also want our clients to be satisfied with our quality and professional car diagnostic services. 

This blog post outlines the most important things to do for your car, so that you minimise the issues you may encounter in the long run. 

Car diagnostic places recommend car owners to have your vehicles checked every six (6) months or if you have reached 10,000 kilometers, whichever comes first. However, if you own an older vehicle, the maintenance must be every 3 months to prevent it from falling apart. Additionally, all car manufacturers do car servicing and car repairs differently, but the basic car diagnostics are essentially the same. It is also worth noting that most of the time, car problems are noticed due to  unusual noise or vibration from the engine, exhaust, or suspension, etc. Therefore, when you encounter unusual sounds on your car, it is best to visit the nearest car repair shop in your area.

How Often Should I Change Oil

Now, many car owners ask this question: how often should I change oil? Oil is one of the important things to be maintained in your car. Usually, the answer is indicated in your car’s manual or vehicle service manual. It gives you an idea on recommended regular car servicing intervals for a certain mileage of time period. Here are some of them:

  • At least every 3 months/ 5,000km – 6,000km would be ideal for petrol cars
  • While at least every 1 month/2,000km – 3,000km would be fine for diesel cars.

These intervals may vary depending on the make and model of car you possess. When you have your oil changed and other similar maintenance performed on your vehicle, it increases its longevity and reduces the amount of time that you are likely to need another major repair. Consult a trusted mechanic like Rodney Auto Centre to know what car servicing intervals you should follow.

Tire Maintenance and Others

Tires are often neglected until they are worn out. Tires play a vital role and must also be checked regularly. Most car tires have a certain number of recommended kilometers or miles that can be travelled before it needs to be replaced. 

Again, car owners are advised to either check with the car manufacturer or get it done at the nearest car repair shop for more updated information on how often you change car tires and other parts such as brakes, radiator hoses, etc.

Also, please note that driving under severe conditions will increase wear and tear on your mileage on car parts (tires, suspension springs etc) resulting in premature failure unless care is taken when driving on challenging terrain like highways where vehicles tend to go at high speeds. For some car owners, it may be more cost effective to maintain car parts rather than replace them when they wear out. 

As we always say, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, taking care of small problems before they become larger ones can help save you a lot of money in the long run. Even small things like replacing your windshield wipers every six months can save you money. You should never have to replace an alternator or battery because you waited too long to have it serviced. 

When you have your car’s alternator and battery tested regularly, you will be able to catch any problems that may occur. As with just about anything in life, there are some disadvantages to preventative maintenance on your car. The following are just a few:

  • If you drive more than 10,000 kilometers or miles a year , you should probably only do preventative maintenance once a year because it can be costly and time-consuming to have your car serviced regularly.
  • You will also need to make sure that you schedule any necessary repairs right away as well or you may find yourself getting stuck with a large bill for the work.

The Bottom Line

For most people, getting regular maintenance on their vehicle is a good idea. How often you choose to have it performed really just depends on how much driving you do each year and whether or not you feel that your repair costs are worth small savings from preventive maintenance.

If you only drive around 5,000 miles a year, it probably isn’t worth the money to have the work done on your vehicle regularly. However, if you drive around 15,000 miles a year, you should try to get regular maintenance done at least once per year in order to keep your car running efficiently and prevent major repairs from occurring.

You will need to consider the cost of the service, as well as, how long it takes to perform the work in order to decide whether or not it is worth the money to have regular maintenance performed on your vehicle.

Car Maintenance is necessary to keep a vehicle in top condition. In order for your car to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, it needs to be serviced regularly. The question of whether or not you should have regular maintenance performed really comes down to how much budget or how much driving you do each year.

For car diagnostics and other car repair services, consult your local expert in Silverdale at 09 426 5016. Visit www.rodneyautocentre.co.nz for the full list of services. 

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