The bad news? Crash test dummies, anti-lock brake systems, dual side airbags, stability and traction controls, and other vehicle safety features won’t cut the mustard if your car isn’t well-maintained or falling apart. The good news is there are some really simple things you can do to get your car, truck, or SUV’s safety back up to snuff.
Repairs
Unfixed fender benders, old lemons, minor run-ins with hidden curbs and speed bumps, and heavy duty wear and tear can put your car in the fast lane to the scrap yard. When your vehicle needs repair, sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not. Letting an experienced repair Technician from Hillmuth take a look at your vehicle and run a diagnostics will determine which parts aren’t operating properly and where the underlying problem is.
When certain areas of the vehicle are broken or under-performing, it can seriously endanger or hinder the vehicle’s safety (and driving) performance on the road. These items include your axle, suspension, brakes, transmission, clutch, steering and more.
Other areas can indirectly impact how safe it is when you drive your car as well. Is your windshield always blurry because your wiper fluid has a leak? Is your oxygen system leaking into your car and making you sleepy or dizzy? On that note, broken heat or air conditioning systems can make you uncomfortable, while broken electrical or even sound systems can be a frustrating distraction—not something to risk fiddling with while you’re driving.
We work on all makes and models of cars, trucks, SUVs, RVs, and more at Hillmuth, so bring your vehicle on in for repairs or service and we’ll get it back to operating safely and soundly.
Tires
Other than repairs, another way you can regain or enhance your vehicle’s safety is by paying attention to your tires. Maintaining a proper pressure, keeping your tread thick enough, and rotating your tires at every other oil change for more even wearing are three simple easy to avoid balding, to extend mileage, and to help the overall safety of your car. Making sure you have an inflated spare in the trunk at all times is a good idea to promote safety on the road, too. Finally, keep track of the mileage on your tires —typically they last from 35 to 45 thousand miles.
If you need help choosing the correct type of tire for your vehicle, click here. Explore more information on our tire services or get in touch with an expert at Hillmuth today. We’ll get your tires mounted, balanced, and road force tested to ensure peak performance and safer handling.
Preventive Care & Routine Maintenance
A lot of people out there may think “Nothing seems wrong with my car, so I don’t have to do anything until something breaks down.” For a vehicle, this conception is a little different than “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Why? Because you are constantly putting wear and tear on it, exposing it to the elements—basically slowly eroding its parts towards a breaking point with each turn of the wheel and each step on the brake. The key is to not let its parts reach a breaking point by carefully monitoring them, cleaning and maintaining parts, and ensuring that each system is running smoothly.
To put things in perspective, after sleep and work hours, you probably spend the most time out on the road—about 10-13% or more of your waking life. In fact, according to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, average males between 35-54 drive 18,858 miles each year. Supposing an average of 35-40 mph, that comes to about 19 ½ to 22 ½ straight days of driving—and sorry, that 3 week roadtrip doesn’t include pit stops at Sheetz, Wawa, or 7-11. And if you’ve got a longer commute, as a lot of people do who live in MD and work downtown—that figure is even higher. That’s a lot of time putting your life in the hands of metal machinery…and a lot of wear and tear, too.
So you spend a lot of time in your car—so what? Instead of a car, imagine you’re in a rusty old elevator that has never been inspected or maintained before for those 3 full weeks. Nothing seems broken yet, but would you really want to risk it happening?
The point is that if you’re spending so much time in your car, it pays to maintain it, not only for safety reasons, but to extend the life of your vehicle, preserve its overall value, and save money by preventing expensive, dangerous breakdowns from happening.
Start bringing in your vehicle to Hillmuth for a maintenance check up every 3,000 miles and feel safer out on the road. Visit us today at a convenient location near you. Drop by and we will check and top off all your fluid levels and air up your tires, Free of charge
