10 Tips And Tricks To Get Your Car To 200,000 Miles On A Budget

3. Checking your transmission fluid and maintaining its operation is vital to get your car to 200,000 miles.

If you’re already following your regularly scheduled maintenance, then you’re already on the right track to proper transmission longevity. With oil changes as the bread and butter of car maintenance, your transmission (automatic or manual) is oftentimes forgotten.

It shouldn’t. Your transmission is not only responsible for making sure your engine is always operating within its normal operating range, it also makes sure that power is being transmitted to whatever drive wheels you have. Replacing a transmission due to neglect is not only costly, it takes lots of time as well. Here are a couple of tips for automatics and manuals.

Automatics. 

• Check your transmission fluid levels properly at the given scheduled intervals.- Pay attention to the color, level, and smell of the fluid. Typically transmission fluid should look dark red and should smell like fresh rubber (you can always compare to fresh ATF lying around.) If the level is low, add enough to get the level back to where it should be.
• Pay attention to shifts- Shifts should be smooth yet firm with no audible or physical clunks or slippage. If slippage or sounds are heard and a fluid change doesn’t remedy the issue, a more thorough diagnosis by a professional may be needed.

Manuals

• Like Automatics, pay attention to oil levels in your transmission case and top off fluid when necessary.
• Pay attention to noises and slippage. Either may mean a worn out clutch or low fluid levels.
• Shift according to what your manual says. Oftentimes that means a full clutching operation spending minimal time riding the clutch.

Next: Learn to say no to your service provider.