In our last blog post, we covered a little bit about why it may be good to change your oil more often, so we wanted to give you a little insight into some of the other common forms of preventative maintenance, such as early replacement.
Sometimes when visiting a mechanic, they will recommend they replace what seems like a functioning part of your vehicle. While this may seem like an obvious way to make extra money, in some cases, mechanics are trying to help save you from a future car trouble by replacing a a part they've found to be failing.
One example might be a mechanic suggesting you replace both headlights even though only one was out. Though it may not be common knowledge, certain parts of a vehicle will give subtle warning signs just before they fail completely, such as headlights.
When looking at the headlight, the mechanic might have noticed a silvery or dark film forming inside the bulb which is caused by the filament degrading. If so, they might recommend you replace the bulb.
Another reason your mechanic might recommend that you change both bulbs is due to age or imbalances. These are also a legitimate reason, as once a bulb is blown, an imbalance can be created in the system, putting excess wear on the other bulb. As for the age, headlights are usually installed in pairs and will usually have about the same lifespan.
Whilst headlights are one example of why your mechanic would recommend replacing something that seems to work, another reason why your mechanic might suggest early replacement can come from the inspection carried out while servicing your car.
As a part of most services (excluding those carried out at a dealership), your mechanic will go through every part of the vehicle and check the condition of the oils and parts inside and, in certain cases, your mechanic might find early signs of wear and recommend fixing it.
For example, a mechanic might check the differential, a part which helps turn the wheels, and find that the oil was shiny and metallic. This is a very obvious sign that the pieces of the differential are wearing against each other and may be about to fail majorly and they might recommend something as simple as changing the type of oil or even something as drastic as replacing the differential.
The photo we used for this post is actually a differential that our mechanics changed due to wear inside, coming from not changing the oil regularly.
This type of preventative maintenance is much like finding a skin cancer in that, the earlier it is looked after, the better the outcome is. This is one of the big reasons every car should be serviced and inspected regularly, especially to save money over the life of your car.
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