A Little Care Can Go A Long Way

There is an old saying that pops up in every day conversation on a fairly regular basis. We have all heard it. We have all used it. What is the saying? Here it is: "It is the little things that count". Here at Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale we believe that phrase to be the cornerstone of car maintenance. We see a lot of, totally preventable, problems come through our shop every day. The trick to keeping your car in good shape is to stay on top of your maintenance schedule and to inspect, or let us inspect, your vehicle regularly.

How do you keep track of all the little things? We have a solution for you; Our Carefree Maintenance Program.

We will keep track of it for you! 

If you want to dive deeper into taking care of your car, we recently came across this article that was published in Reader's Digest. Some of the tips only apply to older vehicles, but others are fun little facts to be aware of. Take a gander at the article here.

Here were some of our favorite tips from the article:

6. Lighten up your key chainDoes your car key share a chain with a dozen or more other keys? That’s a pretty heavy load hanging off the car key when it’s in the ignition.The weight, combined with bouncing while you drive, can wear out the tumblers inside the ignition and eventually lead to ignition switch failure.To add years of service to your ignition switch, purchase a lightweight key chain that allows you to separate your ignition key from the others. Drive with only the ignition key in your ignition. If your ignition key “sticks” when you try to turn on the car, it’s a warning that your ignition switch is about to fail. Replace it before you get stranded. 

10. Park in the shadeOf course, a garage is always the ideal place to park your car. But if one isn’t available, minimize interior damage from UV sunlight and heat by always trying to park your car in the shade. If no shade is available or if you find parking under a tree results in bird droppings, use a car shade to minimize the sun’s impact. As a bonus, you’ll have a cooler car to step into on hot sunny days. Car shades come in two basic types: those that you unfold and place on the front windshield and rear window, or pleated types that attach to the windshield posts (with adhesive), window frames (with Velcro), or the windows themselves (with suction cups).

17. Fix bad weatherstripping immediatelyIf your weatherstripping is letting rainwater leak into the interior of your car, take a look at it and decide if you can repair it or if it needs to be replaced. Small leaks can be handled with brush-on seam sealers. Resecure loose sections, not otherwise damaged, with trim adhesive. Torn sections may be repaired with special caulking available at auto parts stores. You may also be able to extend the life of worn-but-intact sections by inserting foam rods, available at automotive stores, into the hollow section of the weatherstripping. If you decide to replace entire sections of gasket, don’t simply buy generic stuff such as you’d use around the house. Buy a product that matches your car’s original weatherstripping — it’s available in a wide variety of profiles from dealerships and automotive mail-order catalogues.