Maintenance 101

One indication that the power-steering fluid level should at least be checked is if the steering wheel becomes harder to turn or you hear a whining noise coming from the power-steering pump.

To keep your car in good shape, every two to three weeks is a good rule of thumb for how often you should drive your car.

If you live in a place where the temperature never gets down to freezing, you might be able to get by with plain water in place of windshield wiper fluid.

Vehicles have an adjustment screw or bolt on the headlight assembly for adjusting headlight height, and some also have a screw for horizontal aim.

Proper tire pressure is much more crucial to your car than you may think, and it results in a safer and more economical experience on the road.

Limp Mode allows your car to be driven a limited distance at reduced speed when something is wrong and may cause severe damage or stop the vehicle from running.

How long brakes last depends on factors like how the car is driven and the condition of the rest of the braking system.

Although original-equipment tires can last for 50,000 miles or more, how long any tire lasts is dependent not only on the tire itself, but on how that car is maintained.

As a general rule of thumb, many sources quote three to five years as an average, though some car batteries have been known to last 10 years.

In the past, the factory-recommended interval for changing the automatic transmission fluid was typically between 30,000 and 100,000 miles, but some newer vehicles have what’s referred to as “lifetime fluid.”