Post Your Tips

* Keep the various fluids in your car up to date. Follow the scheduled maintenance schedule for your car, adjusting it a bit depending on how and where you drive.

* Pay attention to your car's scheduled maintenance for other items, such as changing belts, rotating your tires, etc.

* If you go to an oil change center, avoid the "upsell" where they try to sell you more than you need. Of course, you need to determine whether they're simply trying to get you to purchase something unnecessary or whether you really do need what they suggest.

* Keep your tires inflated to the proper temperature, checking them after having only driven for a mile or so. As the car moves the pressure will change with the increased temperature from driving, leading to a reading that doesn't match the recommended value. The proper tire pressure may be indicated in your owner's manual or on a panel in the door or elsewhere in the car. When buying new tires, verify that what's indicated is the correct value. The guages on gas station air machines are usually inaccurate, so get a good guage from an auto parts store.

* If your brakes screech or scrape, take them in for service as soon as possible. Not doing that quickly will compromise your safety and may lead to an expensive repair, such as having to have the rotors replaced.