How Should First Time Car Buyers Maintain Their Cars in India

For first time car buyers, maintaining a car in the initial phase of ownership might be a task involving several things which they might be unaware of. There are several aspects related to your car’s systems and driving behavior, which should be proper and be aware of, for an easy ownership experience in a longer run.

Following are some key maintenance tips for first time car buyers, which will help them in becoming good and responsible drivers:-

1. Keep user manual of your car for reference – The user manual which a car comes along with is rightfully called the bible for your car. All the specifications, details of features of how they should be used and working of all the systems in your car are described properly in it. You can use the user manual in case if you are having a confusion on any of these things.
2. Maintain right tyre pressure – Keeping your car’s tyres intact with the right air pressure is a safe process to carry out to avoid any kind of punctures. In addition, it also helps in enhancing the fuel economy of your car, something which is very essential process to carry out for a car in its run-in period. Also, it is better to keep track of the condition of tyres before driving.
3. Know the significance of warning lights – The instrument console of your car has all the possible warning lights linked to various systems of your car, including engine and electrical systems. Make sure you are aware of all these warning signals, which do light up in case of malfunctioning or when they are in operation. You can learn about these warning lights from the user manual of your car.
4. Keep the engine bay clean – While most of us do keep our cars in a clean condition in the initial months of ownership, it is important to keep the engine bay of your car clean as well. This is more important in regions of high rainfall or sand storms, for the engine bay tends to get dirtier frequently. The possible accumulation of dirt and dust in the engine bay might result in malfunctioning of any of the engine components.
5. Don’t let the battery drain out – If you are not using your car on a daily basis and you take it out very less frequently, the battery of your car might drain out gradually. This happens more prominently in regions of cold weather and snowfalls. Even if you are not driving out frequently, it is important to crank the engine and let it run for a couple of minutes.
6. Follow the service schedules regularly – Each and every car has its own pre-set durations of service intervals. To keep your car in a healthy condition and the standard warranty of your car intact, it is important to follow these service intervals. In the initial services (both free and paid ones), there is not much part replacement work carried out, but only the fluid levels and filter replacements are done.
7. Keep fluid levels in optimum condition – For smooth operation of the engine and other operating systems of your car, it is important to keep them in lubricated. All of these lubricants are topped in every pre-mentioned service interval. This is also one of the main reasons why the periodic services should not be skipped.
8. Don’t drive rashly – The run-in period is the duration when the engine of your car needs to be driven sedately. Avoid frequent speed fluctuations, unnecessary heavy throttling, irregular braking and overloading. If you do all of these mistakes, this will put in unnecessary strain on the engine, which will be harmful for its performance and efficiency in the long run.
9. Avoid driving in reserve fuel or low fuel – While your car is capable of being driven in low fuel level or even after the fuel level hits reserve, it is advisable to do so. Driving with low fuel will harm the fuel pump in the long run and can even lead to malfunctioning of fuel gauge.
10. Keep the interior always clean – Whether your car is new or old, it is important to keep the interiors of your car always clean. Keep the cabin free of dust, dirt, mud and other impurities, so as to maintain a proper hygiene.

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