Most vehicle maintenance is based upon your manufacturer’s maintenance schedule. There are however many variations between manufacturers that give pause for the question:
Is this schedule thorough enough to truly take proper care of your vehicle?
Consider that all cars are really the same when looking at their construction and operation: they use internal combustion engines, hydraulic brake systems and, whether the transmission is standard or automatic, internal components are mostly the same between brands. Certainly some cars are more refined than others, but at the heart of it, they are all the same.
Why is it then, if all cars are essentially the same, that maintenance schedules and services recommended vary so much between manufacturers? Why, for example, are so many European manufacturers adamant about regularly replacing brake fluid when American manufacturers don’t mention it?
And what about so-called “fill for life” fluids found in many European automatic transmissions? Many of these “lifetime fluids” are the same fluid found in other makes of cars that recommend replacement every 50,000 kilometers.
The answer to these questions lies in several areas.
First: most manufacturers like to present their cars, at the time of sale, as being low maintenance as this helps make the car more attractive.
Second: the manufacturer’s engineering department creates the maintenance schedule based mostly on theory of how long components will last. Once the car is exposed to real life wear and tear the theories sometimes miss the mark.
Third: vehicle manufacturers are in the business of making and selling new cars so ultimately having them last a long time is not really their main concern.
Is there a superior way to service a car? Yes there is: by relying on the knowledge and experience that we auto service technicians have gathered, seeing the real world wear and tear that takes place on cars, and combining that with the best of the different manufacturer’s schedules, we can put together a truly comprehensive maintenance program.
The final part of the equation is you: how do you drive and how much. The ultimate result is a thoroughly maintained vehicle: a vehicle that truly lasts, is more reliable and costs less to run.
