Ways To Make Your Car Last

I read an article about cars that last a million miles and was inspired to write a post on ways to make your existing car last longer. I hope this will be a good reminder to all the drivers out there as well as a checklist for myself and others to take better care of your car - it will take better care of you and your wallet!

• Read your owners manual (use the Kaizen method if you need to).
• Keep your tires properly inflated. I've seen some half inflated tires being driven.
  
• Change your oil every 3000 miles, or whatever your owners manual says.
• Drive slower, use the 80/20 rule, keep to around 60MPH when driving on highways. Just cruise.
• Avoid stop and go as much as possible, slow down if you can.
  
• Warm up your engine in the cold months. Let it idle in park for about 5 minutes (this number varies). I wait until the engine temperature gauge has moved a little bit.
• Never let anyone else drive your car. This assumes you are a safe and careful driver to begin with.
• Keep it simple - always purchase the most basic version of the car model. All the extras usually result in extra initial costs and extra maintenance costs.
• Find a good mechanic who you trust, someone other than the dealer you purchased from.
• Buy a manual stick shift - if you can drive a stick shift, it may last longer. Again, less to go wrong and repair.
  

If you have additional tips to make your current car last a little longer or to make it edge closer to the million mile mark, please let us know in the comments.

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Photo by stevoarnold