The cost of owning an automobile is not restricted to the purchase price, petrol and insurance protection. Maintaining your car has a cost and ignoring your car's preventative routine will end up costing you more in the long run. Motor oil is the lifeblood of your engine, changing it every 3,000 miles is cheap insurance that your engine's innards will live to serve you for as long as you can possible want to own your car. And a regular check of your tire pressure will enhance tire life and reduce fuel consumption.
All the other service items your car may require are in your car's owner's manual contains a list of regularly scheduled maintenance items that you should be doing to your car on a routine basis. But if you are like me and nearly every other new car owner, once you figure out how to program the clock and the radio, the owner's manual gets stuffed back in the glove box until the next Daylight Saving's Time.
Even the most ardent At Home Mechanic will begin to tire of checking the fluid levels ("They were fine a couple of months ago"). Gas stations that offer truly Full Service disappeared with 25-cent gasoline; nobody is offering to check your tire pressure, oil level or coolant level any more. If you are vigilant, you could do all that stuff yourself at your local Self-Serve gas station. But the reality of modern life is that you only dash in and out of the self-serve with time only for some gas with a Big Gulp, a Slim Jim or an order of double latte to go.
Your new car dealer is more than happy to help you keep your car serviced regularly, in many cases he will give away oil changes for little or no money. The dealership makes it most money from the service department so their motivation is to sell you service and repairs that your car may not strictly need. His motive is to get you car on a rack so that the service writer can call you with the grim news that unless you change the coolant right now, they cannot be held responsible for your car's engine lasting the night.
Roadside retail oil change specialists aggressively advertise low cost, high-speed oil changes for the busy motorist. But their profit margin on an oil change is razor thin so the real money in that business is selling air filters, windshield wipers, and radiator flushes. Those helpful young people writing down the details of your make, model and mileage are also subtly pressuring you to add-on services that will drive your bill beyond the range of a crisp portrait of Ben Franklin.
So how do you protect yourself? Start by digging out that Owner's Manual in the glove box. When exactly does the manufacturer recommend a coolant change, a transmission service or a tire rotation? Does it match what the kid with the clipboard is telling you?
While there is no danger in servicing your car earlier than recommended, there is no reason to spend more than you need to as well. Get the details from your service manual. Be prepared to look that kid straight in the eye and tell him to keep his lubrication system flush, his fuel injector cleaner and his radiator service to himself until your car is truly in need.