Keep Your Car in Good Running Condition
Mercedes Porsche Mechanic | Midtown Auto Repair | Services | Sacramento
P. 916.382.7700
Shelter in place means staying at home. It means minimizing contact with other people. It means limiting the number of times you walk out your front door. It also means that, unless you are an essential worker who drives to work every day, your car usage has decreased. If you have found yourself using your car less, we applaud you as you are the ones helping us flatten the curve. That being said, we want your car to be ready and safe to drive when shelter in place orders are lifted. To ensure that your car is in good running condition follow these tips.
Keep your battery charged and keep your car’s moving parts lubricated by driving it. We know this tip forces you to leave your home and go into the public, but we are not telling you to drive on the freeway or on main roads. We are advising you to maybe take your car around the block or up and down your neighborhood streets. Doing so at least once or twice a week will ensure that your battery remains charged and all of your car’s parts will properly function in the near future.
If you can help it, we also advise you to not use your parking brake. We say this because leaving your parking brake on for an extended amount of time can cause the brake pads and rotor to stick or fuse together. This is not a huge problem to fix but it can certainly be avoided if you park on level ground.
Lastly, we advise you to give your car a visual once-over when you start driving more frequently. Inspect your car to make sure it is still roadworthy. Do the simple things like checking your car’s tire pressure, checking your car’s oil and coolant levels, and going easy on your brakes during your first couple of drives. Do not wake your car up from a 2-3 month long hibernation and expect it to hit the ground running as it did before the pandemic. Wake it up slowly, let it get going, give it some time, and after a couple of runs on continuous days your car will be ready to go.
Follow these tips to make sure your car is ready to go once this pandemic is all over. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at Midtown Autoworks.