The Ten Worst Things You Can Do to Your Car

Maybe the title should have been: The worst things you don't do to your car.

Most involve skipping regular maintenance like replacing the filters, getting the oil changed, checking tire pressure etc. The tricky one is "ignoring the check engine light." Most of us I'd bet ignore this because it always seems to mean nothing or something but no one really knows exactly what.

Not long ago I was driving my new truck over to Collinsville when all of a sudden a message lit up on the dash which told me that tire pressure had a problem. This was the first time I'd seen anything like that and it did not go away and frankly I was very afraid I'd have a flat on the interstate. So I got off at 203 and put some air in a tire or two at a truck stop. The message was gone but I  decided not to get back on the interstate but take the back roads over to Collinsville just in case. How dumb was that? It took forever and along the way that darn tire message came back on. I had no idea what it meant but it was scary and of course driving through Granite City I saw steel mills but no gas stations. 

Finally got to Collinsville and I stopped at Collinsville Automotive, our go to guys for car repair. Larry asked Chris to check the tires right away and it turned out they all needed a bit of air because the weather had recently gotten colder which contracts the air in the tires. Not a dangerous situation but one that was easily fixed.  

On a side note, maybe one of the most frightening or disconcerting features of new cars is all the messages. They can truly scare you when you're driving because you have no idea if something is a major emergency or just a maintenance message. My truck has more warning messages than miles.

Funny part of this article is the comments, guys who know cars don't like this story.

Comments

[Enoch Ross]

I agree with that article, especially the points on the air filter and the need to change oil. Some people skip on it to “save” money or use it for something they deem more important only to later come to the realization that the decision brought them a bigger world of trouble. On another note, all the warning messages can be alarming when one lights up. But I find that it gives people more reason to pay attention to what their car needs.