Planning to Purchase Your First Car? A Few Tips on Auto Maintenance and Repairs
Whether you’re planning to purchase your first or second car, you may already know which auto body shop you’ll go to for regular maintenance and repairs. Just in case this is your very first car, you may want to know a few pointers about maintenance, repairs, and the used-car market.
Auto Maintenance
In order to keep your car running well, it needs to have regular routine maintenance. Part of this involves having your alignment checked every 6,000 miles, according to the experts. You can also have your tire alignment checked when you have your oil changed.
Brakes generally last between 25,000 to 50,000 miles. Since much depends on how often you drive, as well as how far and in what type of terrain, it’s a good idea to ask an expert how often you’ll need to have a brake replacement.
You may be aware that roughly 95% new, factory-released cars, trucks, and SUVS have a clear coat finish. If you’ve purchased or are planning to purchase a brand new car, then you’ll want to keep this surface protected from contaminates and oxidation by applying a wax coat twice or more every year.
Auto Repairs
In 2013, there were a total of 1.8 million rear-end crashes. This comprises 32.2% of all of the crashes that occurred within that year. Figures show that 3 million of these rear-end crashes just resulted in property damage. While it’s a good thing no one was hurt in these particular crashes, this does mean that rear bumpers, lights, and other auto-body parts likely needed to be repaired or replaced.
Windshields, for example, often need to be replaced after collisions or when they’ve sustained other types of damage. Hail, rocks, and other types of heavy debris can create impact holes, chips, or cracks. In fact, about 13 to 14 million windshields need to be replaced every year due to these and other reasons.
Car windshields are composed of 2 pieces of glass. These pieces of glass are separated by a layer of polyvinyl butyrate, or PVB, which basically glues the pieces together to form a unit.
If you need your windshield replaced, remember that you need to wait an hour before driving your car. While your windshield will stay in place, it may take 8 to 24 hours for the adhesive to dry completely.
The Used Car Market
Are you in the market for a second car? You might want to consider purchasing a used vehicle. It’s interesting to note that the average vehicle will usually have 3 owners during its lifespan. When considering private-party and dealership sales, this amounts to about 40 million used cars for sale a year!
Do you know how many used cars for sale there were during 2015? The “2015 Used Vehicle Market Report” stated that 38.3 million used cars were actually sold during that year. This amounted to the highest number of used-car sales in over 8 years.
When you’re checking out used cars for sale, chances are that you may already have an idea of what make and model you’d like to drive. Just in case it’s difficult to choose, it’s a good idea to test drive more than a few.