With so many things to look out for and so many ways to take care of your car, the question now is where do you start and what do you do at certain points in time. With a car maintenance schedule, you’ll make sure that every part of your car is looked after and you’ll know exactly which part to have checked up at specific times.

1. The first thing you have to check off the list of car maintenance is car wash. This is the simplest and also the cheapest car job you can do in the way of maintenance. You can do it yourself on your free days or you can go to a car wash center. You’ll only be paying somewhere $5 to $10 per washing.
2. The next items to take care of with car maintenance happen every week or every time to you go to the gas station to refuel. Check your car fluid levels and fluids cover for oil, coolant, wiper fluid and power steering fluid. If they need to be replaced, go ahead and replace them. This will help with your goal of increasing the life of your car and it also helps preserve your car engine’s character. Don’t forget to use quality branded engine oil. One that’s synthetic oil treated and has additives will help control the friction in your engine. Again, check car fluid levels when you go for a gas fill up. You should also check car fluid levels before you go on a long trip. It will cost you somewhere between $50 and $120 to get an oil change.
3. You also have to check your tire condition, pressure and alignment while you’re at the gas station for a fill up. When your tires are properly inflated, it will help you with regard to fuel economy, it improves it. Alignment helps improve gas mileage for your car and this will only cost you about $60.
4. When your car mileage hits 3,000, or after three months, it’s time to change engine oil and filter. With air and fuel filters, you’re keeping things in check so that no harm is caused to your car engine. This will cost about $10 to $15 for air filters. You have to check hoses for any bulging or leaking and you also have to check the wiper blades.For the tires, tread depth has to be looked into too. Battery terminals as well as the cables should be checked for corrosion. While the battery is the most important part of a car, it can be the most ignored part. If you take care of the battery, paying about $50 to $120 for its care, you’ll have a longer battery life.
5. After six months have passed or every time you rake up 7,500 more miles on your mileage, it’s time for you to get a check up on your service battery, the rotation and balance of your tires and the wear of your brake pad. Again, car for your battery will increase its life and it will only cost you $50 to $120 to look into the condition of your batteries. Your brake pad can be at the mercy of your foot and it needs to be replaced every six months.You ensure a smoother ride when you have your tires checked for rotation and balance and this will cost you $60 and for the suspension work on your car as it relates to alignment, it will be worth $60 to $100. If the suspension system needs to be replaced you need to shell out $1000 to $2000 or more if you drive a luxury car.
6. Every year or every 15,000 miles, car maintenance consists of flushing and filling transmission fluid and changing the transmission filter. You also have to replace the air and fuel filters at this time. PCV and breather elements need to be replaced as well as the carbon canister filter. Again, in maintaining the integrity of your car’s filters will amount to $10 to $15 for the air filters and fuel filter change will be worth about $25.This is also the time to lubricate the parking brake, locks, hinges and doors of your car. Go ahead and check your car’s lignment as well as the CV joint boots of your car.
7. After two years or with every 30,000 miles listed on your mileage counter, your radiator coolant must be flushed and replaced. Brake fluid should also be flushed and refilled. The parts of your car like the distributor cap, wires, rotor, spark plugs, differential/transfer case fluid and the cabin air filter have to be replaced as well. Finally, for the two year car maintenance, you have to inspect the exhaust system of your car.The small parts will be fairly priced and inspection can also be done for you by your mechanic for a small amount.
8. When four years have passed or with every 60,000 miles added to your mileage counter, the power steering fluid of your car has to be flushed and refilled. The timing belt or chain also has to be replaced. If your car has a long warranty, you can get the parts you need replaced for a discount and you can get labor charges on your car waived.

It takes a little bit of effort to making sure your car is in top condition. With the little things you do, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money from having to get your car repaired or having to buy a new car because you’ll be lengthening your car’s life using the car maintenance schedule. Little attentions here and there go a long way.

Here’s a list of 23 MUST DO car maintenance tips that will keep your car in tip top shape in between major services.

1. Break in new cars carefully – If you’re driving a new car there is a break in period. This step is incredibly important and can’t be overlooked. If you are too hard on the engine it will seriously lower the life span of your car and cause you a heap of headache in the future. When buying a new car, make sure you’re aware of all break in procedures so that you can follow the steps to the tee.
2. Buy good gas and don’t allow the tank to get too empty – Not all gasoline was created equal. Make sure you purchase gas from a reputable company so that you don’t get stale or dirty fuel. Also, if you can avoid using the bottom 1/4 (quarter) tank of fuel you will maintain a cleaner fuel system. Condensation and sediment can build up in your gas tank and if you run your car almost to empty you increase the risk of this sediment being picked up by your fuel filter.
3. Don’t fill up at a gas station that is being refilled – If you’re looking for a fillup, don’t buy gasoline from a station that has a tanker truck in the lot. This means they are filling the tanks and this causes the sediment in the tanks to be kicked up and enter the gas station system. It’s best to come back the following day or to find another station.
4. Park in the shade – This car tip will help to keep UV rays off of your paint job and extend the life and colour of your car’s paint.
5. Clean the inside regularly – Don’t just wash the outside of your car, clean the inside too. Give your car a vacuum and clean the dash board and instrument panel. Use a protectant like Armourall to protect your dashboard from the sun.
6. Fix weatherstripping right away – Bad weatherstripping can cause leaks, which can cause mold, which is almost impossible to fully clean. Make sure if you see bad weatherstripping on your car to fix it right away. It will only get worse if you leave it.
7. Maintain your leather – If you have leather seats, buy a leather conditioner and use it regularly on your leather interior. This will prevent drying or cracking and will extend the colour and softness of your leather.
8. Protect your paint – When washing your car, be sure to use a wax at the end. This will not only add to the shine, but protect your paint from the sun. Also, don’t use your car as a shelf… everyone needs a place to lean or put stuff sometimes, but it shouldn’t be your car.
9. Fix windsheild chips – If you fix windshield chips right away they can’t turn into full blown cracks. Usually you can get chips filled and fixed at a glass shop for pretty cheap… and it only takes a few minutes so you really have no reason not to.
10. Keep an old blanket handy – An old blanket in your car can be handy for a number of things. If you have to transport something on the roof, or if you’re placing something dirty in your trunk you can protect your carpet, paint or interior.
11. Wash in winter – You should definitely wash your car in the winter and not only the summer. Winter driving will create a lot of build up of salt, dirt and grime which can hurt your paint, cause rust and ruin your wheels. Wash your car just as regularly in the winter as the summer.
12. Keep tire valve caps on – It’s easy to lose these buggers, but if you do your tires can slowly (or quickly) lose air and leave you stranded, cause you fuel mileage or worse, cause an accident. Tire pressure is very important, and tire valve caps help to maintain it.
13. Rotate your tires – If your car has tires that can be rotated, they should be regularly. Unless you have high performance tires, you should be able to rotate them to maintain tread wear and increase the life of your tires.
14. keep your tires properly inflated – Even a small drop in tire pressure can cause major drops in fuel economy. Plus it can damage your tires, increase tread wear and even cause a blowout. To make sure you’re not spending too much at the pump, or putting yourself in danger, make sure your tires are properly inflated. The correct tire pressure will be printed on the side of your tires and most tire shops will fill your tires at no cost.
15. Check for moisture in airpumps – If you are filling the air in your tires and you notice that there is moisture coming from the air pump you need to let the shop owner know. The air pump will need to be drained. If they cannot or will not drain the water, find another shop with a pump that will not fill your tires with moisture. The excess moisture can cause pressure problems and even corrode your wheels from the inside.
16. Clean your wheels – Your wheels see a lot of dirt, grime, water and use. Maintain the finish on your wheels properly by cleaning them when you wash your car. Most modern wheels have a clear coat finish like the paint job on your car and can be maintained in the same way.
17. Check your wheel alignment – An incorrect wheel alignment can cause the car to not drive straight or wear your tires excessively. In order to maintain your car’s tires and make sure your car is safe to drive, have your alignment checked when servicing your car.
18. Check engine oil regularly – Ever second fillup or so you should be checking the oil level in your car. Low or dirty oil can cause excess wear on your engine and a multitude of problems down the road. Engine oil is VITAL to your car’s engine and must be taken seriously.
19. Change your oil frequently – Engine oil will collect dirt and grime from the inside of your engine. By changing it regularly you are removing the dirt and maintaining a clean engine that will last longer and run better.
20. Change oil, air and fuel filters regularly – Don’t forget to change the filters in your engine. Each of the power train’s filters will effect engine performance and an excess buildup of dirt in the filters will drastically decrease the efficiency of the engine.
21. Check spark plugs – Checking spark plugs is necessary once every two oil changes. They should be properly gapped by a technician and clean of any buildup. A lot of engine problems can be spotted early on by checking your spark plugs and changing if necessary.
22. Fuel injector cleaner – Fuel injector cleaner will help to maintain the flow of fuel into your engine cylinders. Dirty fuel injectors can cause low fuel economy or even damage or fire in the engine compartment. If you have a fuel injected engine, every 6 months add a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to a full tank of gas.
23. Run your AC unit in winter – By running your A/C unit in the winter you make sure that it stays in working condition. If the AC unit is not running for too long, it can cause problems when you go to use it in the following summer.

If you have any additional car maintenance tips to add to this list, be sure to let us know in the comments below.

The two biggest causes of car batteries failing is either leaving your lights on or alternator failure. One of these will probably happen to you at some point in your life.

So you have to know how to jump start a car safely and properly, so that when/if you ever do run into a dead battery in your car you can get back on the road quickly. You don’t always want to have to call out your car breakdown cover, particularly when it is something you can do yourself. Continue reading to find out how!

Preparing your vehicle to jump start a car:

First, you’re going to need a set of jumper cables. They are pretty common, so even if you don’t have a set you should be able to find someone who does. They aren’t expensive, so it’s actually a good idea to pick some up just in case anyways.

Move both cars so that the batteries are close to each other. If you don’t know where your battery is then pop the hood. Make sure that both vehicles are off, and have the parking brake on… you don’t want any accidents.

Make sure that both cars don’t have any accessories running. This means headlights, A/C, heaters, fans, cell phone chargers, radios etc. When you jump start the car it may cause damage to these accessories by pushing too much current through the car’s electrical system… so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Take a look at the batteries before jump starting. Make sure you know which side is positive (+) and which side is negative (-) before going further. The positive terminal is usually marked red and the the negative is usually black, but check the markings on the battery to make sure.

If your battery is damaged or is leaking… don’t jump start your car. You will need a new battery first, and if you try to jump start it anyways you may cause a lot more unwanted problems. Besides, a damaged battery is not going to hold a charge anyways.

Make sure there isn’t any corrosion on the battery terminals. The terminals themselves won’t hurt you, so you can clean them off with a rag or a brush if you have one.

Time to learn how to jump start a car

Step 1: Connect one of the positive (+) ends of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the DEAD battery.

Step 2: Connect the other positive (+) end of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 3: Connect one of the negative (-) ends of the jumper cables to the negative (-) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 4: Connect the other end of the negative (-) jumper cable to any non-painted metal part of the engine block on the DEAD battery’s car. Why not put it on the negative terminal of the dead battery? Because this could cause an explosion… and explosions are bad.

If you jump start your car by connecting the jumper cables in this order you minimize the chance of the cables sparking and is the safest way to jump start your car.

How do you know if you’ve connected everything right? The dome light in the car with the dead battery should come on when the circuit is complete (all the cables are attached). If the dome light doesn’t come on then you probably either have something connected incorrectly, or your jumper cables are toast.

OK now to jump start the car

Run the car with the good battery for a few minutes and then turn it off. That’s right, turn it off.

Why? Because if you jump start a car with the good battery’s car running, you may actually burn out the alternator on the good car because of too much current being drawn from the electrical system.

So turn off the good car’s engine, and try to crank the car with the dead battery. Most times this will be enough and your car should start.

If that doesn’t work, then you have to start up the good car’s engine. Bring the RPMs just above idle (push the gas pedal just a little bit) to increase the current flow from the alternator. Then try to crank over the bad battery’s car once again.

It can take a few minutes to jump start a car sometimes, so be patient. If you’ve done the previous steps correctly you should have your car running quickly. If you still can’t get enough juice to start the car, try moving the negative (-) cable that is attached to your engine block to the negative (-) terminal on the battery. This should be your last resort, but it may just give you the extra boost you need.

Now to take off the jumper cables

After you’ve jump started your car you need to safely remove the jumper cables off of the batteries.

Disconnect the negative (-) cable from the exposed metal on the engine block first.

Then disconnect the other negative cable from the good car.

Then both of the positive cables.

So you’ve just learned how to jump start a car. As I mentioned above, it’s always a good idea to have a good set of jumper cables in your car/truck in case you have to jump start it. They aren’t expensive and they can really save your butt from time to time.

What if you don’t have jumper cables or can’t find another vehicle to help you?

This one can be tricky. After all, what happens when your battery is dead and you’re not near any other vehicles to help you out? Even worse, what if you’re stuck this way in the winter?

If you have a standard transmission (aka stick shift) then you’re in luck because you can jump start your car without jumper cables using your clutch.

Jumper cables in your trunk are pretty standard emergency equipment, but you may also want to consider investing in a jump starter for your car.

A jump starter will be able to successfully jump start your car without jumper cables. Essentially it’s a battery pack attached to one half set of jumper cables. You hook up your jump starter, flip a switch and hopefully there is enough juice to jump your car.

Be sure to read our reviews of jump starters however, as you don’t want to get stuck with a jump starter that doesn’t have the umph to jump your car. You can check out reviews and get a pretty damn good deal on jump starters over at amazon.com here.

Leave us a comment below about jump starting a car, or even a horror story… I’ve sure got a few, but that’s a different post.

You can only perform these steps if you have a STANDARD transmission car or truck. You need a clutch otherwise this will not work.

Hopefully your car or truck is near a hill of some sort, or you have some really strong friends to help you out.

Here are the steps to jump start the car

Step 1: Point the car down the hill and turn the ignition key to the on position (if you’re not near a hill then just motivate your friends with promises of beer or something).

Step 2: Push your clutch in all the way and release your parking brake. Make sure the car is in 2nd gear. 2nd gear should give you a bit more oomph when you jump the car, but first will also work.

Step 3: Once you’ve reached about 5 miles an hour you need to let the clutch out quickly… if you have friends pushing the car let them know before you do this because the car will slow down suddenly.

Step 4: The car should turn over and start. Once you hear the engine fire, push the clutch back in so you don’t go flying down the hill.

Step 5: If the car didn’t start, try it all over again. If you’ve tried a few times and the car still won’t start there may be another problem.

It’s important to remember that you won’t have power brakes when the car is not running. This means that when you’re jump starting your car, if the car doesn’t start you will have to press quite hard on the brake to get the car to stop rolling down the hill.

Remember, jump starting your car like this can only be done on a standard transmission car or truck… automatics simply will not work because of their torque converter.

Other options if you do not have jumper cables

If you don’t have jumper cables and you can’t manage to get your car started by dropping your clutch you may be out of luck. You may want to invest in a “jump starter” which would allow you to jump your car without cables or the above method. Basically, a jump starter is a battery pack with a set of cables that you hook up to your car battery.

You can check out reviews and grab a deal over at amazon.com on jump starters here.

See also our article on How to Jump Start a car with jumper cables.