The maintenance of a car increases its life span and also ensures smooth running and top performance. Perhaps with time, major car components will become disposable and easily replaced, but until then you will need to take your car for regular servicing.

When your household bills stack up, it is often dangerously tempting to skip servicing your car. Despite the cost, it's worth servicing your car regularly to avoid bigger costs that may be incurred in failure to do so. Fortunately, you can service the few main areas that keep your car operating safely and reliably for a longer period. They include the following:

Oil

Oil is the life blood of your car's engine. Oil keeps your car's engine parts working properly and rotating smoothly. With time, the oil is usually contaminated by exhaust gasses from the cylinders and small metals which reduces its effectiveness. Heat emission from the engine also breaks down the oil reducing its thickness. This makes the oil too thin, reducing its ability to lubricate the engine casing parts to wear out faster.

If you own a modern car, you can drive up to 5,000 or 10,000 miles between oil changes. However, to be aware how long your vehicle can go between oil changes, you can consult your owner's manual. In cases where you do not have the manual, you can search the internet for a digital copy.

Brake pads

There are no rules as to how long brake pads will last. Changing brake pads varies based on the type of driving you do, driving style, quality of the brake pads you use, the weight of your vehicle and essentially the condition of your brake rotors. Driving aggressively uses the brakes more often, wearing them out quicker than normal. Driving in hilly and off-road areas will also wear out your brakes quicker than normal.

Most modern cars come with a brake pad inbuilt indicator. If this is not the case with your vehicle, you should visit a shop that offer free brake inspections regularly.

Air filters

Air filters get clogged with dust and dirt with time. When this happens, your gas mileage and horsepower will reduce and also cause your engine to stall out and run rough. How frequently you change your air filter varies with the number of miles you drive each year and the atmospheric conditions during those miles. In addition, if you drive in severe conditions like rural dirt roads, or urban areas with a lot dust from construction, you will need to change the air filter more frequently.

Tires

The life expectancy of tires varies with the quality of tires you use. Other problems may also result to premature tire wear, hence it's important to regularly check them. You can do this by running your hand over the trend on the inner and outer edges.  Presence of uneven ridges, waves or wires is a reason enough to get your car checked out in a tire shop. For more information, contact a car service station.