The way you drive can have a severe impact on the maintenance cost of your car. In some cases, driving patterns and behaviour can have accumulative effects with the cost coming as one big chunk. These are some of the most common issues affecting your vehicle’s health and thus cost to service it.
Aggressive driving describes harsh breaking and speeding. In particular, the brakes and tyres take the brunt of impact of this driving style. When accelerating at full throttle, tyres may even spin on slippery surfaces; this will result in faster tyre wear. Harsh breaking puts a strain on the brake pads and discs / drums. Gently accelerating and braking on the other hand, while still wearing out these parts over time, will give the driver more milage out of these components. The more aggressive the style, the quicker parts need to be replaced, thus cost adds up faster.
Idling is another issue that impacts the wear and tear of a car. Although one would send a vehicle to service after within a prescribed distance (say 10 000 Km), idling should be considered as well. When idling, the engine is running, lubricants are circulated, air is filtered etc. Car manufacturers may even recommend shorter service intervals, knowing that traffic jams result in the engine running more hours to complete the distance indicated as the service point.
Short trips also impact the long-term maintenance cost. Apart from higher fuel consumption, there are several other issues associated with short trips. First of all, the engine will not reach its optimal operating temperature. Lubricants may age faster as a result of this and may not perform as intended. Condensation and sludge build-up are further results of short trips Increased wear and tear may result. Most often, the timing belt / chain is one part that impacted negatively by short drives.
Shorter trips also have a negative impact on brakes. As the discs and brake pads may not warm up properly, the frequent need to brake wears them out faster. Within the Klang Valley, this is certainly true. Oftentimes, German Motors may recommend coming in for a service sooner as engines may have exceeded the running times anticipated by the OEM.
Apart from frequent, planned, longer trips on highways to counter the negative effects of the above mentioned issues, German Motors recommends to adjust the servicing schedule. Oftentimes, there is no possibility for a driver to change routes and thus idling and the trip duration cannot be changed. Especially when commuting, we are often passengers of the traffic conditions.
