Basic Car Maintenance Tips: Car Service At Home

• Car Advice,
• Dec 06, 2019

 

 

Doing something yourself is always better. It has been universal since the start of the time that if you do something yourself, it is bound to give you better results than something that you would get someone to do for you. Results, in this case, are not the direct outcomes of your effort. It also includes the satisfaction you will get later on because you did something and you tried your best. It does not matter whether the outcome is pleasant, the mental satisfaction always overcomes the minor details left out.

 

However, that does not mean that you should now start doing something you have zero knowledge about. Sometimes, it is better to let the professionals do the job. Car Service at home is an easy task and does not really require a professional.

 

Before we dig right into how to perform car service at home, let’s take a deep breath and first take a look at what car service actually is.

 

What is a car service?

Car service, to put simply, is the most basic car maintenance that includes simple procedures to ensure that your vehicle is working fine and will keep on doing so till the next car service. It is a regular procedure that is usually performed after a set amount of time or after the vehicle has traveled a certain amount of distance.

 

Should we do a car service at home?

Yes, indeed! Doing car service at home is actually much more convenient and easier than it is at some kind of a car spa. Speaking of them, if you’re thinking about searching for a “car spa near me”, you should probably reconsider. They cost a lot more than the actual price of a car service. At home, you can do it better and you would be satisfied with the results. As explained before, the outcome is not as good as the mental satisfaction, however, over time, you can become a master at it yourself.

 

Is there any better option than to do car service at home?

If you are against car service at home, a better alternative for you would be to head over to a mechanic or an auto-repair shop of some kind and pay them to do the car service for you. 

 

What does car service at home include?

One of the major steps in basic car maintenance is the car wash. Car cleaning at home is really easy. You would have probably done it a lot of times before. However, if you have not, or want to read about the steps we have about car cleaning, you should refer to the section below:

 

Car Cleaning at Home:

The best way to wash a car is to take it to the professionals at car washes. They know everything about washing a vehicle so they can probably do the cleaning better than a layman. However, if they are not available and you want to perform a car wash at home, you will need to imitate the steps they perform in order to achieve a successful car wash. Stick to the following steps while washing a car:

 

 1. Spray your car with water:

Spray your car with water. It is pretty self-explanatory. You should stay away from your vehicle and spray water on it from a distance and do not increase the water pressure just yet. Just make the car wet to remove any dust on it and to prepare it for the upcoming steps.

 

 2. Clean the car:

The next step involves properly cleaning the vehicle. Start from the bottom of the vehicle and work your way up. Start with the tyres, clean them properly and scrub them if necessary. After that, work your way up slightly and clean all parts of the vehicle except the windows. We will handle those later.

 

 3. Apply the detergent:

While cleaning, apply the detergent on your vehicle properly on the parts that you feel like it’s necessary. Tyres and bodies are mandatory. 

 

 4. Clean the detergent:

Let the detergent stay on for just a few minutes and after that, spray your vehicle with water once again to clean the detergent. This will remove both the detergent and dirt particles stuck on the vehicle.

 

 5. Clean the windows:

Remember when we left cleaning the windows at the end? Well, now’s the time to shift our focus back on them. Check out our best way to clean car windows heading below in order to find out the right steps to clean the windows.

 

 6. Dry the car:

When you have finished cleaning the vehicle, let it dry for a bit. You can go for a snack while the vehicle dries. It happens pretty quickly, so you would not need to wait a really long time for it to occur.

 

 7. Wax:

In order to learn properly about how to wax your vehicle, check out our article here.

Hey, with all this knowledge, you can start your own car cleaning services at home, ‘eh?

 

Car Service At Home:

Now towards the actual “service” and “maintenance” part of the article. The steps involved in this part are actually pretty simple and can be handled in a matter of seconds, however, to ensure that you get the best of outcomes, we are not going to half-ass our way but instead, every step will be detailed enough to make you familiar with the know-how of the work. 

 

 1. Oils and Fluids:

Your vehicle’s oil and fluids are pretty important. One of the first steps you should perform during a car service at home is to check the oils and fluids of your vehicle. Motor Oil, Engine Oil, Brake Oil, Mobile Oil, etc. all need to be checked from time to time. If any of them is low, you should get it refilled as soon as possible.

 

 2. Brakes:

Brakes are absolutely important. They are the only handle of your vehicle in case of emergencies. They should be checked during a test drive-ish thing. You can also check your brakes while you get the vehicle out of your house. If anything seems even the tiniest bit off, get your vehicle to a mechanic.

 

 3. Tyres:

Your vehicle’s tyres can go out of order through constant usage. If they seem to be somewhat in bad quality, get them changed. Faulty tyres are bound to blow up mid-journey and that can cause serious complications. Worst case; death by losing control of the vehicle. It is better to avoid it altogether than to hope for the best with the worst of equipment.

 

 4. Lights:

The glowing things! The most appealing feature of a vehicle other than the fact that a vehicle can go several kilometers per hour… Lights need to be in proper order so you can indicate others and see properly in case of severe weather conditions or at night.

 

  6. Exhaust:

If your vehicle’s exhaust system is not working properly, it would eventually affect your vehicle’s engine and that can cause serious issues. Your engine will eventually break down and all of that would be because you did not keep your exhaust system correct. Take our advice and this time during car service at home, check your exhaust system and if there is a fault, take it to a mechanic.

 

 7. Battery:

Now we know that there is no car battery replacement service at home but this is an important step in basic car maintenance.

 

 8. Filters:

Oil filters, fuel filters, air filters, and all kinds of filters that your vehicle might have a need to be cleaned thoroughly or even replaced after a fixed time. Refer to your car’s owner’s manual to find out when your filters need to be replaced. If the time is close, it is better to check them and have them replaced if they are causing issues or are outdated.

 

 9. Spark Plugs:

Spark plugs are pretty important for petrol cars. Diesel engines don’t have spark plugs, so car owners of that sort can sit back and enjoy while the others inspect their vehicle’s spark plugs and replace them if necessary.

 

It is believable that a car repair at home is pretty tough. Therefore, for repairs, you should always head over to a mechanic since they have the spare parts available most of the time.

 

So as you can see, car service at home is pretty easy to perform since it involves only the most basic steps of basic car maintenance. If you want to learn more about vehicle maintenance, check out our other articles. Whenever you purchase a car, make sure you run proper checks on it. QuickREVs performs car history checks, revs check, background check, etc. for you at a great price and provides the best output!