10 Tips And Tricks To Get Your Car To 200,000 Miles On A Budget
By Paulo Acoba
6. Know where to find your factory scheduled maintenance service, follow it and make a log of what you’ve done.
Did you know that the owner of the Volvo P1800 with more than 3 million miles on the engine and chassis had only two words of advice to get him that far? According to an interview with Autoblog, it was “Maintenance and TLC.”
"“I just read the owner’s manual. I figured, they built it, they wrote the book on it, so they know how to take care of it.” he said. By replacing hoses and belts and keeping up on oil changes Gordon has kept his car running, and plans to keep driving it as long as it runs."
Engineers have spent literally thousands of man hours designing your engine and chassis with enough tolerances built-in to survive the wear and tear of its intended audience, oftentimes your regular day-to-day commuters.
Your manufacturer can only guarantee that your car will last you if you follow your recommended service intervals found in your owner’s manual. Subsequently, many owners manuals are located online.
Most of the time your scheduled maintenance will only go up to 100,000 miles. From then on you simply just repeat the log all over again.
For example, here’s what you have to do on a 2015 Toyota Corolla at 5,000 miles.
- Check installation of driver’s floor mat
- Inspect and adjust all fluid levels
- Inspect wiper blades
- Rotate tires
- Visually inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs
Next: Learn how to do more complicated maintenance tasks via Youtube and online tutorials.