General Automotive Maintenance
What do you mean? My tires rotate all the time.
Getting Started
6 Rules To Make Your Car Last 300,000 Miles
Oil Change Every 3,000 to 4,000 miles
Use Only Fully Synthetic Oil
Clean Engine Filter Every Other Oil Change
Use A PEA based fuel injector cleaner every 5,000 to 7,000 miles
Change transmission fluid before it acts up (50,00 - 60,000 miles)
Change your coolant every 3-5 years
Rotations
All Wheel Drive (AWD)
You MUST rotate the tires at an even and consistent interval, often every 5k or 7.5k miles
Otherwise, uneven tire wear will lead to very expensive damage to the AWD mechanism.
2 Wheel Drive
It is advisable, but by no means necessary to rotate the tires
Tires will wear unevenly from lack of rotation, but no mechanical damage will take place.
Not rotating will …
Cause uneven levels of traction from tire to tire as they wear leading to problems
Difficulties in rain (hydroplaning)
Difficulties in snow (skidding) due to poor road-holding and poor ride quality.
There are some folks on this board who state that they never rotate their tires, but the usual result of failure to rotate tires is that you only buy 2 tires at a time as they wear out. By the time that you are ready to buy the next two tires, the original model tire may not be available, thus leading to different types of tires on the front and back of the vehicle. This in and of itself can lead to handling and traction problems.
Yes, it costs a few bucks to rotate your tires, but I think that the additional safety benefits make the cost worthwhile. And, if someone chooses to not rotate the tires on an AWD vehicle, they are literally flushing money down the drain, rather than saving money.
Where To Get It Done
Costco and Sam’s Club will both do it free for members
Discount Tires, and other similar shops will often do it for free if you buy tires from them, and sometimes even if you didn’t
All basic auto shops can do it for $15 - $20. You should never pay more then that.
Getting an oil change is one of the most important things you can do to keep your car working properly. "don’t worry, I use this stuff in the kitchen all the time, it’s great for baking muffins”
Getting An Oil Change
Oil is the number one factor in determining how long you car will last. You can check your oil using the often red dipstick. Change your oil and oil filter every 7-10 thousand miles.
Synthetic Vs Traditional
I like the analogy I've learned with an experienced mechanic:
Imagine that you have to carry and transport a huge wood log, and need a team for that. The first team consist of different sizes and strength people, they will get the job done, but may have trouble along the way, since some will have to work more, some will not be able to reach the log to carry in a comfortable position, etc. That's the regular oil. Now the second team is composed of lumberjacks with the same size/strength. They are fit for the task and work perfectly together. That's the synthetic oil.
Both are fine. It causes no issues to switch back and forth between the two. Even if you’ve been using synthetic for years, you can switch back to traditional with no problems. Synthetic is not a scam, it does perform better and does last up to twice as long.
The Cost
Truthfully, the cost can vary. For some expensive high end cars, it can cost more.
For most low end to mid range consumer vehicles it should be under $100. Between $60 - $80 is a usually reasonable for Synthetic. $30 - 50 for Traditional. But, you will likely have to refill with traditional much sooner.
Fluids
Coolant
Coolant is the biggest fluid here. Coolant is in the translucent container and should be kept in between the min and max lines. Make sure you get coolant meant for your engine type. Now days most coolant is safe for all cars but consult your owners manual.
Brake Fluid
Brake fluid is the same way. It has to be kept in between the min and max line of its container and has to be of a certain type, for convenience labeled DOT 1-4. If you start losing brake fluid find a mechanic.
Air Filters
Air filters can be changed at your discretion just make sure you check it once ever 6 months.
Cabin Air Filters
Cabin air filters (if your car has them) should be changed if the air coming from you A/C unit smells a bit funky. About 80% of cars today have them. 90% of the time they are behind the glove compartment.
Spark Plugs
Spark plugs are easy to change and don't even need to be changed often. Once roughly every 70k miles.
Finding A Mechanic You Can Trust
Since you’re reading a thread that has "zero knowledge of cars" in the title you are going to need a mechanic that you can trust to do work you can’t. Try to find an old family owned shop, they have stuck around for a reason. A quick change place is 9/10 times going to half-ass the work. (stripping bolts over torquing lugs) A dealership will do the work right, but you're gonna pay and big. $$$$$
Re-Cap
1. Use high-quality synthetic oil, and change it how you drive; and, a high-quality oil filter. (Depending on use, every 3000 to 4000 miles, or every 5000 miles. 2. Replace your engine air filter frequently; every other oil change or every oil change in dirty or hot environments. 3. Use Top-Tier fuel. Never let your tank go below a quarter of a tank. 4. Use a PEA-based (polyethylamine) fuel injector cleaner (e.g., Amsel Pi or royal Purple Max Clean) every 5000 to 7000 miles (or every oil change). 5. Change your transmission fluid BEFORE it acts up (every 50,000 to 60,000 miles, or 30,000 to 40,000 under certain conditions). 6. Change your coolant every three to five years.
The end of the road. Good luck out there.
Resources
Lastly heres a shout out to one of my favorite sub reddits where you can learn tons about cars by seeing other peoples broken stuff! R/rolledintotheshop
Sources
https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-rotation-why-and-how-often/60499/2
