5 Bad Habits That Are Terrible For Your Car
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Your car can be an intimate part of your life, or you can kill it within a matter of a few careless seconds on the highway. The choice is yours. Bad habits co-exist alongside good ones in your life. These five bad habits are a sure way to kill your car. Drop them, and preserve the lifespan of your beloved vehicle.
5 Bad Habits That Are Terrible For Your Car
Bad Habit No. 1: Irresponsible road usage
Negligent road use is a definite way to kill your car. Reckless driving, drunk driving, night driving without proper lighting or while you are sleeping or drunk, and driving through floods are examples of driving without your head on your shoulders.
Doing other things while driving takes your focus off the road. You may think that receiving a call or applying lipstick takes only a split second. While reaching out for your mobile device, your shift in body position slows down your response to a sudden critical situation on the road, resulting in an unwanted road accident and damage to your car.
Shifting gears without breaking and reversing without coming to a stop first wear out the vital control parts of your car. In the course of an emergency, your brakes may not respond as you want, or as fast as it actually was made to. Such abusive use of your car kills its vital functions.
Bad Habit No. 2: Negligent car care
Like all things on earth, a car needs proper care. Negligence kills a car faster than prolonged but careful use of it. Neglecting the proper care of your car is abuse that leads to its destruction.
Examples of negligent car care include not warming up the car properly after a long vacation or in cold weather, using the power washer on the car and using cheaper but unauthorized spare parts. You will need to care for your car well enough or face undesirable consequences.
Bad Habit No. 3: Missing out on servicing deadlines
Miss a dental appointment and find more cavities than you would wish for during the next dental appointment. Likewise, miss a servicing deadline that is stipulated in accompanying vehicle manual, and find yourself with a heftier repair bill. Service time frames are usually attached to car manuals, so keep a lookout for them. Your car will probably need to be sent in for checks on a regular basis. Make time for it, no matter how urgent other matters seem to be above it.
These days, car service dealerships offer a substitute car that you can hire on a temporary basis should your car need extended servicing. Otherwise, budget for public transportation during the servicing period. You might find not having to drive yourself a refreshing break.
Bad Habit No. 4: Not reading your car manual
You need to know your car intimately. Your car manual provides information that is updated and related to your car. A car manual will tell you the important components of your car, how to activate the functions and the service time frame for servicing various parts of your car. You need to know reliable dealers in spare parts for your car as well as how and where to get help pertaining to problems you face using your car.
All the vital information that you need is found in your car manual. Not reading your car manual is likened to getting a mail order bride that you do not bother to do research about. It may get you into repair costs way above your budget expenditure for maintaining your car. Do not depend on feedback and advice given by friends even if they are driving the same car model. Your car is likely to have its own peculiarities. Hence you need to know the manual, and likewise your car, intimately.
Bad Habit No. 5: Turning a blind eye to warning signs
Ignoring warning signs from the car such as the need to replace loose parts, running dry on fluids and unusual sounds, can mean certain death of your car. Using ill-fitting spare parts because your mechanic does not have those made for your car model also puts you into a precarious situation. Your car can overheat without the necessary coolants and burst into flames unexpectedly.
Having a car is likened to any act of responsibility such as having a baby or owning a pet. You cannot leave it to its fate and expect everything to go like clockwork. You need to treat it with the respect it deserves, just as you would want it to run the way you think it should. Therefore, avoid the five bad habits for a better maintained and safe car that will not have a premature death.
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