Have you heard the saying “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”, “My dad said that none of this is necessary”, “You’re just selling me things I don’t need”, or “I’ve never done any of this on my old cars.” They’ve been duped into believing that the cars of today are the same as those of yesterday, and nothing could be farther from the truth. Part of our job is to provide you with enough information to allow you to make an informed decision that’s appropriate for you and your situation. Preventative maintenance always saves you money, and our experience proves it. Let me share a few facts.
Facts. . .
There are at least 30,000 parts on the average new car, and over 5,000 of them move. All moving parts require a clean source of lubricating oils, coolants, or greases, and this is provided by some relatively inexpensive, but very hard-working, fluids and filters. In addition, we have electronic parts that can be affected by poor maintenance habits. The simplest of new cars have more computers than the Apollo moon landers - in fact, you could get to the moon with just 1/10th the computing power found in a modern car! Today’s electronics are so sophisticated that cars will run even when there are serious failures beginning. The systems have enough authority to mask developing problems. By the time you have a detectable malfunction, one that you can feel or otherwise sense, you may have damaged expensive parts. The only outward indication the drivers may get is a warning lamp on the dash.
Then why did my car seem to run OK?
Poor maintenance practices force electronics to work overtime, or to carry excess current to compensate for worn out spark plugs, filters, etc. Continuous operation in overtime (engineers call this “exceeding the duty cycle”) build heat in electronic components, leads to increased component on-time, and ultimately to premature failure. Electronics hate heat, excess current, vibration and violent swings in temperature and humidity. Asking them to operate beyond design limits is just begging for trouble you don’t need. In many cases, your new car will run just fine right up to the point of which it won’t run at all, often without any noticeable symptoms. Neglecting maintenance is a good way to force a car into breakdown, early and often.
The Choice is yours
In the final analysis, there is a choice—all preventative maintenance is optional. But keep in mind, the neglected preventative maintenance that a car needed yesterday or today will still need to be done tomorrow and does not cease to exist by forgetting about it. We won’t try to coerce you into saving money by caring for your car. You can choose to do inexpensive, routine preventative maintenance on a timetable that you control to fit your schedule and budget, or you can wait until it breaks unexpectedly, leaving you stranded, “busting” the budget and forcing you to find alternative transportation on an emergency basis. In either case, we’ll be happy to help in any way we can.
