The essentials to quality car service

Merely ensuring that your ride is being serviced at regular intervals is just not enough, especially when most of us opt for local garages to serve the purpose over authorised ones (to save a bit of the dough). Knowing what your car needs and when, and assuring it gets just that is most important. Being an informed customer pays. Trust me.
Know a bit about your car. Being clueless is not going to help you at all, when some greedy mechanic decides to milk you extra. You could start by going through the service manual that comes along with the car and stays just like new, even when you sell your wheels, after years of togetherness. It doesn’t take much time to go through it, and the rewards are many. The manual has detailed instructions about servicing and efficient upkeep of the car (don’t put it in your locker. Read it.)
Most important is to know which components are to be inspected and which to be replaced on every service (remember each periodic service has different checklist).
Your mechanic, either to make money, might end up changing all the basic components (plugs, oil, and air filter); or might end up changing none. They might suggest that the parts have still got enough life in them, due to lack of expertise or lack of motivation to work. So, if you are well-informed, you won’t take any of that advices. You won’t end up just being a listener; rather you would command them actively. Don’t let yourself be fooled.
The best favour you could extend to your beloved ride is to be patient and have it serviced in front of you (those few hours spent amidst the stench of spent oil and petrol will save you many a precious ones afterwards). Rest assured you will not have to worry if the job was carried out well or not.
That said, the most important part however, and one in which you could easily be deceived by mechanic, is the engine oil – the life-blood of your car engine. The life of your engine depends largely on the quality of the oil you put in it.
People typically don’t pay much attention to their oil – “oil is oil, right?” Wrong.
Engine oil plays a crucial role in the car engine. Without it, the parts wouldn’t be able to move freely, the seals would dry up and crack, and little bits of dirt and metal would clog the works. Without engine oil, the whole combustion process would grind to a halt.
Most drivers only know the engine needs oil just like it needs gasoline; how much, what kind and how often to add it seems a mystery to them.
It is intimidating when you see those bottles of engine oil lined up along the shelves, each promising to keep your engine cleaner, improve your fuel efficiency, and more.
And every one of them has cryptic letters and numbers on the front. And most of us go by the mechanic’s dictum, when it comes to choosing one. Wrong again.
Use only the grade of oil recommended in the owner’s manual. It will usually have a designation such as 5W 30 or 10W 40 (or any other like SAE ratings). Those letters and numbers tell you what the oil’s viscosity rating is (some people call this as the oil’s weight). Viscosity is a measure of how easily the oil flows — is it thick or thin? Your engine would perform optimally only if the recommended grade is used.
Remember, the mechanic might advise you that they are all the same, and there is no point in putting expensive oil in the car. Obliging to that is killing your ride. Strictly go with the car manual recommendation.
Also, pay attention to the quality part of the oil. A mineral based and synthetic engine oil of the same grade might perform differently under varied conditions. Mostly, modern high performance cars come with a recommendation of synthetic oil, as mineral oils cannot withstand the high stress and friction of the components, especially under high temperatures, resulting in loss of lubrication.
Mineral oil is less expensive than the synthetic oil, which is engineered to allow for more miles between oil changes, and has additives to help keep the oil clean and functioning for longer durations.
It’s also more stable at higher and lower temperatures than mineral oil. Surprise your mechanic next time you visit his workshop. He’s been in need of a service too since long.