Car maintenance generally includes the replacement and inspection of parts like brakes, spark plugs, wiper blades and motor oil. It may also include a tune-up and should be scheduled annually with your local dealer.

Some conditions that influence your car maintenance needs are directly related to your driving habits. The conditions you drive in and how you drive can affect how frequently your car needs to be repaired or serviced outside of regular routine maintenance. Conditions that warrant scheduling car maintenance include:

• Air filter changes
• Headlight replacement
• Tire rotations
• Transmission fluid adjustments
• Oil levels
• Coolant levels 
• Battery performance

If any of these conditions are left unchecked, they can take a toll on the performance of your vehicle and may eventually justify early replacement.

Driving Habits That Negatively Affect Car Performance

Bad driving habits can harm your vehicle, resulting in additional car maintenance trips and costly bills. Vehicles are made to be durable and last for long distances in sometimes tough conditions, but they’re not immune to accelerated wear or breakdowns due to being handled poorly by their owners.

Bad Braking Habits

Your braking habits can do a lot of damage to your vehicle if you’re not careful. Brakes are intended to stop your vehicle, but if used carelessly, they can wear early or damage components other than the brake pads. This may risk your safety on the road. This can mean costly car maintenance trips and a shortened lifespan for your brake pads, drums and vehicle.

Braking habits that take a toll on your vehicle include:

• Abrupt starting and stopping: These can wear out your brakes causing the need for early repair or replacement.
• Excessive braking downhill: If your vehicle is accelerating while going downhill, you may be tempted to apply the brakes to slow down. While this may be necessary for safety and to avoid speeding, the added friction from accelerating causes heat to build up in the brake pads, causing accelerated wear.
• Riding the brakes:  Excessive brake use can result in warping and wear down, along with generating additional heat that may cause brake fluid to boil. In the short term, this habit can damage your brakes, making them unreliable on the road. In the long term, riding the brakes can reduce the fuel economy of your vehicle.
• Not using parking brakes: Parking brakes can become brittle and snap if they are not used. Additionally, not using the parking brake puts stress on the transmission. While the transmission stops your vehicle when it’s in park, it is the parking brake that prevents the wheels from further motion.

Engaging the Clutch Too Much

The clutch can become worn down prematurely if left engaged consistently, such as when you make stops at a red light or pause before a turn. You may need premature servicing or car maintenance if your clutch is constantly under pressure.

Shifting Between Drive and Reverse Without Stopping

It’s necessary to come to a complete stop before going into reverse. Otherwise, your transmission may suffer. Braking effectively between shifting into reverse keeps your transmission from overworking to stop your vehicle. Transmission failure is a common car maintenance request for those who regularly shift into reverse without coming to a complete stop, as it can complicate your vehicle’s ability to transition between the two gears long term.

Warning Lights On

Illuminated warning lights in your vehicles should be addressed as soon as possible. They can indicate issues with the engine, coolant, battery or even airbag, all of which can become costly to repair if damage or malfunctions are allowed to escalate. Letting warning issues go for long periods can add additional stress to your vehicle, resulting in extra car maintenance down the road.

Gas Tank Staying Near Empty

Keeping your tank near empty can have an adverse effect on the lifespan of your vehicle. Gasoline functions as a coolant, preventing certain vehicle parts, like the fuel pump and converter, from overheating during use. If your tank stays near empty, it may overheat when you run out of fuel, resulting in damage.

Hitting the Curb

It may be tempting to use curbs to help you park in tight spaces, but you risk damaging your wheels in the process. In the short term, this could result in early tire changes, but long term, this can take a toll on the alignment of your vehicle.

Going Without Regular Car Maintenance

Regular car maintenance is the best way to maintain the longevity of your vehicle. Going without regular maintenance can cause preventable problems, like a weakened brake pad or punctured tire, to escalate and damage your vehicle. Whether this means attending to warning lights promptly or ensuring that your oil is changed regularly, it’s better to handle vehicle issues sooner rather than later.

Schedule Car Maintenance With Easterns Automotive

If you’re looking to simplify your car-buying experience, look no further than Easterns Automotive. We are discerning in our choice of vehicles, which is why you can rest assured the vehicles in our used car inventory are well maintained and in good working order. Call us at 877-867-0641 to see how we can help.

For decades, cars have been an essential part of everyday life, but their widespread adoption as the primary means of transportation didn’t happen overnight. Back when automobiles were first introduced to the public in 1886, cars were viewed as a luxury item that only the wealthiest households could afford. Today, over 130 years later, there are an estimated 1.4 billion vehicles in the world.

We rely heavily on cars to get us from point A to point B. Whether it’s work, school or soccer practice, reliable transportation is a necessity in our day-to-day lives.

It’s no surprise that there are many fascinating facts about these extremely complex yet very common pieces of vital property. Next time you find yourself chatting with a group of friends at a party or sitting around the dinner table with family, spark a conversation and show off your automobile knowledge with these fun facts.

1. The first full-size car was built in 1789 by French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot using water and steam pressure.
2. German engineer Karl Friedrich Benz (also known as Carl) invented the first modern car using three wheels and an engine located in the back. The Benz Patent Motorcar was first announced to the public in 1886 at an original cost of $150.
3. The Duryea Motor Wagon, introduced in 1893, was the first American-made gasoline-powered car. It was built by the Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, using a $70 carriage and single cylinder-gasoline motor.
4. The Ford Model T, which was first made available by the Ford Motor Company in 1908, was the first affordable mass-produced vehicle. With a maximum speed between 40 to 45 miles-per-hour (mph), the Model T cost $825 (equivalent to $18,000 today).
5. BMW was first known as an aircraft engine manufacturer — the first product being the BMW III (a straight-six aircraft engine). BMW didn’t start making cars until they acquired a German automobile manufacturer in 1928.
6. On average, if you count every nut and bolt, a modern vehicle has 30,000 parts.
7. Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, invented the first hybrid car in 1900 using an octagonal electric motor.
8. The three-point seatbelt we use today was invented by Swedish mechanical engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin when he was hired by Volvo. The three-point lap seatbelts were first introduced in Volvo cars in 1959.
9. The first muscle car (also known as a “supercar”) was released by General Motors in 1949. In order to be considered a muscle car, a vehicle needed to have a lightweight body, V8 engine and rear-wheel drive — all features that were designed for drag racing. The earliest muscle car on the market was the Oldsmobile 88, which went on to make NASCAR history.
10. The code inside an average car’s internal computer could stretch for 100 miles if printed on paper.
11. Car insurance was first implemented in the United Kingdom when Minister of Transport Herbert Morrison mandated the Road Traffic Act 1930.
12. Only 18 percent of Americans know how to drive stick shift, which might explain why only 5-percent of vehicles sold in the country are manual.
13. The fastest police car in the world is in Dubai. The Dubai Police Department’s fleet includes 14 supercars — the Bugatti Veyron being the fastest with a top speed of 253 mph.
14. The Ford Crown Victoria was the last vehicle to offer a cassette tape player in 2011.
15. The top selling car of all-time is the Toyota Corolla. Since it was first introduced by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1966, the manufacturer has sold an estimated 50 million Corollas.

Visit Your Local Pre-Owned Car Dealership in Washington D.C. and Baltimore

At Easterns Automotive, we take pride in maintaining an extensive inventory of pre-owned vehicles. Whether you’re looking to sell your car or trade it in for a more reliable vehicle, our team is here to ensure you receive a fair price and great financing services.

At Easterns, we do what we can to make the car buying process as easy as possible. Learn more about our trade-in offers and how we can help by calling us at 877-867-0641.