Belts and Hoses

In domino fashion, failing to plan for maintenance can turn small problems into larger ones, putting a serious dent in your automotive budget. The penalties of procrastinating on vehicle maintenance range from a heater that runs cold to a battery that won’t start the car.

Take care of your car’s seasonal services immediately and make plans to get ahead of the game next year. An early visit to your repair facility provides the opportunity to budget for unanticipated repairs. The Car Care Council offers the following checklist:

Auto technicians say the key to keeping vehicles running well-today and down the road-is routine maintenance. Yet many drivers tend to stall when it comes to keeping up with some everyday auto-basics.

A recent survey by the Car Care Council found:

Picture yourself driving 500 miles at more than 200 miles an hour, under the most stressful conditions, never knowing what you might have to avoid in the next fraction of a second. That goes with the territory in the NASCAR racing circuit.

Compare this to your own driving. How much time would you need to deal with a road emergency? At 60 miles an hour, that’s 66 feet per second, you’ve already gone about 60 feet since you began reading this sentence.

“It looks like new! I would have never guessed that car was eight years old.”

That is what we owners want to hear, but keeping our cars looking like the late models is tough, even with today’s long-lasting finishes. Dents, dings and cracked glass are several items that age the appearance of a vehicle. Fortunately, technology has helped advance the solutions to these problems, making the fixes quicker and less expensive. With mobile repair units, these items often can be repaired on site at your home or work, adding to the convenience.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), floods are one of the most common and widespread of all disasters. Most communities in the United States have experienced some level of flooding from high water due to spring rains, heavy thunderstorms or winter snow thaws. While your vehicle may not have been flooded or completely covered in water, that doesn't necessarily mean that you should not be concerned about water damage. If you drove through high water, there's a chance that you may have damaged your vehicle.

Ten or 15 years ago, auto technicians would rebuild hard parts for customers right in the shop. Today, that system doesn't work, because consumers don't have time to wait and don't want to pay for the additional labor. Remanufacturing now solves these problems, and as such, it is one of the largest product categories in the automotive aftermarket. The entire remanufacturing industry generates approximately $65 billion in sales, with the automotive segment representing $37 billion of that total.

Maintaining Present Vehicle May Be Key to Long-Term Financial Happiness. How will you spend your tax refund? Flat-screen TV? IPod? Clothes? The Car Care Council has a better idea for your money: spend it on your second biggest investment, your car.

The Women’s Board of the Car Care Council encourages women to improve their “car smarts” and pass along this information to the rest of their family. Female drivers already are on the right tract, according to the Women’s Board, who said that three out of four women think that following the recommended maintenance schedule for their car is either “important” or “extremely important.” There’s no one like a parent to teach the next generation how to treat a car with special care.

Driver’s education classes rarely include instruction on vehicle maintenance. The Women’s Board of the Car Care Council reminds parents that someone must be responsible for teaching young drivers basic automotive maintenance. After all, one day this teen is going to buy a car, which probably will be her second biggest investment. Here’s how to help make it a better one. 1.Your new driver needs to understand that any vehicle, regardless of age, needs routine maintenance. Make sure she knows and follows the maintenance schedule for her vehicle.

Most car nuts consider themselves good stewards, but even the most common checks get overlooked in between kids’ events, early days at the office and the occasional weekend travel. The Women’s Board of the Car Care Council joins me in encouraging you to check these six items that often get neglected: 1. Keep time - Basic engine maintenance. Check that little book in your glove box under all the napkins. There is a service schedule. If you’re always running around you probably qualify for the “severe duty” schedule.