Anti-lock brakes, traction and stability controls, dual side airbags, and other vehicle safety features will not help if you do not maintain your car properly. Fortunately, you can do some simple things to ensure your SUV, truck, or automobile functions properly.
Automotive Repairs
Minor fender benders and heavy-duty wear and tear can put your car quickly in the scrap yard. When your vehicle requires repair, sometimes it is not obvious, sometimes it is. Allowing Hillmuth Certified Automotive of Gaithersburg car mechanics to examine your vehicle and perform diagnostic tests will determine where the underlying problem lies. They will also determine the components that are not operating as they should. When certain parts of your vehicle are underperforming or broken, it can severely hinder your car as well as its driving performance.
Other areas can indirectly influence the safety of your car when you are driving it too. Is the windshield permanently blurry because of leaking wiper fluid? Are you feeling dizzy or sleepy because the oxygen system is leaking into your vehicle? By the way, broken air conditioning and heat systems can make you feel uncomfortable. Broken sound and electrical systems can severely distract your attention. This is something not worth risking with while driving your vehicle.
We work on all models and makes of cars, SUVs, trucks, and much more at our Hillmuth auto shop Columbia. Therefore, bring your vehicle to us for auto repairs Columbia, and we shall fix it so that it operates soundly and safely.
Tire Maintenance
Repairs apart, paying attention to your vehicle’s tires is one more way you can enhance your vehicle’s safety. Three easy and simple methods to extend your tire’s mileage are maintaining good tire tread and proper pressure, and rotating them every other oil change. Tire rotation allows for more even wear to avoid bald spots and to maintain the overall safety of your car. Ensuring that you have an inflated spare tire in the trunk always plays a role to promote safety while on the road. Keep an eye on the mileage of your tires. They typically last 35 to 45 thousand miles.
Contact our experts at Hillmuth regarding our tire services. We will get your tires road-tested, balanced, and mounted to ensure safer handling and peak performance.
Preventive Care & Routine Maintenance
Many people might believe, “Nothing seems wrong with my vehicle, so I don’t need to do anything until breaks down.” For vehicles, this thought is slightly different than “If it is not broken, do not fix it.” Because you continuously subject your vehicle to wear and tear and expose to the elements, parts will slowly erode to the point of no return. The key is not to allow the parts to deteriorate beyond repair.
To put things in perspective, you probably spend the most time out on the road after work hours and after sleep, i.e., nearly 10 to 13% or more of your waking life. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, average males aged 35-54 drive 18,858 miles every year. Considering an average speed of 35 to 40 mph, that calculates to nearly 19 ½ to 22 ½ straight days of driving. By the way, this figure is non-inclusive of pit stops at 7-11, Wawa, or Sheetz. In cases that you have a longer commute, these figures would be higher. That puts your life in the hands of machinery a lot, as well as a lot of wear and tear.
So what if you spend lots of time in your car?
Imagine you are in a rusty old elevator instead of a car. An elevator, which has never been maintained or inspected before for those three full weeks. Would you risk riding on it even if nothing seems broken yet?
If you spend a great deal of time in your car, maintain it, not just for safety reasons, but to enhance its life, preserve its total value, and save cash by preventing dangerous and expensive breakdowns from taking place.
Bring your car to Hillmuth for maintenance checks every 3,000 miles and feel safer while driving. Visit us today at a convenient location to you: Clarksville, Columbia, Gaithersburg, Glenwood. We will inspect and top off your vehicle’s fluid levels as well as air up your tires, for free.
