Like all (if not most) tangible assets in your life, with age comes wear and tear, especially in the case of your car. Whether you’re driving a brand new vehicle fresh off the factory floor, a quality used car with only a few years under its belt or one that’s seen its fair share of highways, keeping your car in good nick is important, not because it’ll mean you car will last longer, but it’ll also save you money in the long run.

Here are five things you can do to minimise wear and tear on your car.

• Service your car regularly.

Getting your car serviced may seem super obvious but a lot of the time the service date on that little sticker stuck to your windshield can creep up until one day you wake up and find that your vehicle’s six months late for a service! Regular services can pick up all kinds of problems and inconsistencies that could be causing damage to your car, so mark a date in your calendar and book yours in right now to avoid causing long-term wear and tear to your vehicle.

• Keep on top of your maintenance schedule.

Just like with vehicle services, if you don’t keep on top of your routine maintenance schedule, things can start to go wrong. Check out our Repair Calendar here to find out what you should be replacing and when, so you can avoid costly repairs down the track.

• Keep an eye on your tire pressure.

Low tire pressure can not only put a dent in your tire’s lifespan but it can also eat into your vehicle’s fuel efficiency as well. Keeping your tires at their optimum pressure is as simple as looking at the sticker on the inside of your driver’s side door to find your vehicle’s recommended PSI, plugging it into the air pump at your local petrol station and inflating your tires to the optimal level.

• Use your parking brake.

One way of cutting down the wear and tear on your transmission is by utilising your hand brake when parking your car. Often people park their vehicle and take their foot off the brake pedal before putting on the hand brake, which puts stress on the transmission (because it’s holding the car in place). This is a really important one to keep in mind when parking on steep hills.

• Give your vehicle time to warm up.

Particularly in the colder seasons, it can take a couple of minutes for the oil in your engine to warm up and properly lubricate each of the parts, and there’s a whole host of things that can go wrong if your car’s guts aren’t properly lubricated. If you’re heading straight to the highway once you hop in your car, give it a moment to warm up first by waiting until the indicator on your temperature gauge hits the mid-point.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to vehicle maintenance is that your car is basically an extension of your body - it helps you get from A to B - and if you’re not doing everything you can to keep it healthy, things will go wrong and it’ll cost more than a round of antibiotics to fix.

Are you in the market for a mint-condition used car with the quality assurance of a 250-point vehicle inspection? Check out our unbeatable range here.

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