Personal vehicles are complex machines, and if you own one you need to take care of it. Even if you aren’t mechanically inclined, there are simple things you can do to help keep your vehicle in peak condition. Knowing how to preform these simpler maintenance tasks not only saves you money, but knowing can get you out of troublesome situations as well. Not having to rely on professionals to fix your own vehicle for simply fixed problems can give tremendous peace of mind.

Tire Change

The simplest thing that you should know how to do to your car is change a tire. Your car comes with a spare tire and all the tools necessary, so it’s not a matter of not having the tools you need. As well, most of the time tire problems happen while on the road in inconvenient locations. To change your tire, first find the spare tire, the screw jack, the tire iron and the jack crank. You will want to fit the jack close to the offending tire and crank up until the weight starts to be lifted from the tire. Once the weight has been lifted a little off of the tire loosen the lug nuts with the tire iron, then lift the tire all the way off the ground and remove lug nuts and tire. Put the spare on with the reverse process.Detailed steps can be found here: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Tire

Oil Change

Changing your engine oil is the single most important piece of maintenance that you can do for your car and being able to do it yourself will save you money. You will need a new oil filter, new oil (check your manual for the recommended weight), a pan to catch the old oil and an oil filter wrench. Check you manual for your oil filter location, but most models place the filter under the car. it’s advisable to run the car for a while to heat the oil up, thus making it run a little better. Make sure the vehicle is shut off before draining the old oil, however! Find the oil pan and drain the old oil into a catch pan by removing the stopper. Remove the old oil filter with the oil filter wrench. Fill the new filter with new oil and hand tighten the filter. Using an oil filter wrench is overkill, you’ll likely damage your new filter that way. make sure the oil pan plug is secure before filling the vehicle up with new oil. Turn on the engine and check for leaks.Detailed steps can be found here: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-the-Oil-in-Your-Car