Is your car making a rumbling noise? Do you not get enough power when you press on the gas pedal? Then you need to hop — or rather, drive — on down to the auto service shop. It's okay if you do not know what is wrong with your car, because that is the auto mechanic's job to figure out. They can take a look, run a few tests, and figure out what's going on. Then, they'll give you an estimate for the repairs. Your car will feel like a whole new machine once it's all fixed up! Learn more about that process as you read the articles we've curated here.
3 Essential Steps to Take When Caring for Your Vehicle
Have you recently purchased your first vehicle? Are you currently in "research everything" mode so that you know how to properly care for your new mode of transportation? Your vehicle has a lot of important parts that it needs in order to function. The most obvious, and visible, of these may be your vehicle's tires. As long as it's not raining, you can drive without functional windshield wipers and you can usually drive around without heating or air conditioning but you simply cannot drive around without good tires. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know how to care for this component properly.
Some things that you need to do for your vehicle include:
Get an emergency air pump
You may find yourself with a flat tire and a slow leak while being far away from a gas station or a tire service shop. You could call a tow truck to have your vehicle towed, but that won't always be necessary if you have an emergency air pump for your tire. With a slow leak, you should be able to fill the tire enough to be able to drive to the shop safely in order to get the thing repaired or replaced. With a more serious issue, you may still need to have your car towed or otherwise call for service.
Have a roadside assistance plan
Sometimes, you might have a credit card that offers roadside assistance as one of its perks. At other times, you might have to pay for a separate plan for your vehicle. This can be more than worth the money that you spend, however, since the cost of having your vehicle towed to a tire service shop is almost certain to be more than the cost of multiple years of paying for almost any roadside assistance plan.
Know how to use a tire gauge
The unfortunate reality is that a lot of drivers don't own a tire gauge and don't know how to use one even if they did have one. It's essential to check your tires regularly to know if they need more air or if they are fine. Regular checks of your tires can even reveal the presence of a slow leak before any modern pressure sensors in your vehicle notice anything amiss. The sensors in your vehicle are good for notifying you that you need to go to a tire service shop right now, but those sensors aren't always good about warning you that a problem is developing.