"Some
of the most important tips we can give you are
things you should not do to your vehicle, so I will begin with those..."
OVERHEATING: Please, never drive your vehicle when you know or suspect that your engine is overheating. This is a very expensive decision. If your temperature gauge is 3/4 or over, pull over and turn off the engine. Do not try to fix it yourself - just raising your hood at the wrong time can cause serious injury. If you do not see any steam or coolant boiling out onto the ground, you should be able to allow your engine to cool off 15-20 minutes, then restart and quickly drive to the nearest phone or service facility, constantly watching the temperature gauge. The safest decision is usually to call a tow truck. Just a minimum amount of overheating can actually ruin your engine and cost you a bundle on replacement. Constantly observing all the gauges on your car while driving should be as regular as looking into your mirrors. It's that important.
OIL LIGHTS: NEVER NEVER EVER drive with an oil light on or flashing, quickly pull over and turn off the engine. Checking the oil level will quickly tell you whether you have a low oil situation or an internal oil pressure problem. If the level is low, like not even on the dipstick, that may be why you have a light on. Correct the level and then restart the engine - if the light still appears, call a tow truck. If the light stays out, you may drive home or to the nearest full service facility and find out why the oil level was low. Each time that light is on at that moment you have no oil pressure, which means that your high revving engine is running with no lubrication going to all the moving parts. End result - serious engine damage.
EXCUSES: Please keep in mind some of the excuses we have heard over the years of why they did not pull over and turn off their engine: I was late to an important meeting; I was just trying to make it to work, or home; I was trying to get to the daycare on time; I was on the freeway trying to get closer to Houston before I pulled over. All these excuses ended with a $3000 to $6000 shop bill, plus being without their car for a week, and the price of a rental car. We realize that sometimes you have no other choice, especially when driving through an area that may be unsafe for you or your passengers to pull over and get out. Just be aware that the two items noted above can get expensive very quickly.
NOISES:
Never ignore strange noises. If you drive the car most of the time, and you
hear a noise that was not there the last time you drove the car, and it does
not sound like it is going away any time soon, you should have someone check
it out for you. It's always better to be safe than sorry.
HIGH WATER: During some of our heavy rains here in the Bay Area we frequently experience localized flooding. When at all possible you must avoid driving through deep water. What is deep water? When the water is as high as the curb, 4 inches or above, try to go around it, take another route. Some years flood damage can rank third as the most expensive car insurance claims, right behind collision and theft. Driving through deep water can cause wheel bearing grease to be washed out, brake components at each wheel to rust and seize, carpet and/or the padding underneath can become saturated before you see the first drop of water on the floorboard, computers, relays, modules and wiring harness that are mounted on the floor of your car can become shorted or corroded. The interior of your car can become mildewed with a wonderful odor that follows. So watch the weather, listen to traffic reports, learn the high water areas during storms when you're out, and avoid them in the future.
OIL CHANGES: Based on our own experience with our own service vehicles and personal vehicles, we recommend to change the oil every 3,750 miles or 90 days, whichever comes first. We do not believe in the need for expensive synthetic oil in normal use vehicles that are serviced as mentioned above. Honda even points that out in some of the later owners manuals. We also do not believe in cheap oil or oil filters used in many facilities today.
SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE: For years many people have argued about the maintenance schedule auto manufactures put into the owner's manuals. They claim that these services are expensive and unnecessary. All that we can share with you is our experience. I believe in following the maintenance schedule whether you own a Honda or a Ford; they are important and they do pay off. We have had several cars come into our shops over the years with well over 250-300 thousand miles on them, and they all had been serviced by the maintenance schedule. Another thing we have found over the years (which became rather humorous) was all the educated young women who had been coming into our shops for years servicing their Honda or Acura just they way they were supposed to, and getting excellent reliability out of their cars. Then after getting married, and leaving all the car details up to the new man in their lives, we would stop seeing the cars for regular service. When we did finally see the car, they were always in for repairs. Most people do not even realize that the car manufacturer or the extended warranty companies can deny most repairs that were under warranty if you do not have receipts showing you maintained the vehicle according to your owner's manual. Do not underestimate the importance of scheduled maintenance.
YOUR OWNER'S MANUAL: I am still amazed to this day by the number of people who will invest $5000 to $35,000 in a vehicle they depend on every day, and never open the owner's manual! Reading your manual, and understanding everything in it, is one of the most important things you can do for your car.