Maintaining your cars value: tips for maintaining and upgrading your vehicle's health

Collaborative Post | Cars are not usually purchased as investments, but if you take good care of your car during the time that you own and regularly drive it, you can help to maintain its value, saving you a useful chunk towards its replacement. Let's have a look at some tips on how to maintain your vehicle's value by upgrading its health.

Photo by Yehor Tulinov on Unsplash

Start Early

Just like 'being good for Father Christmas' and regular daily dental hygiene should be a year round thing, so too should consistent and immediate car maintenance. Sadly, just like good behaviour and dental care, vehicular maintenance is often neglected until just before it is time to sell on the vehicle or get its MOT test certificate renewed! Try to avoid this tendency by implementing and adhering to a good routine of maintenance with your car, from the moment it first passes into your possession. This not only includes ensuring that your car is regularly serviced (annually for most cars, but six-monthly if you drive a lot especially on bad roads) but also being mindful of the condition of the car: how it feels when you drive, any noises that it makes, and whether it suddenly starts using more fuel or oil for no apparent reason. By keeping your car in the best possible shape from the start, you will not only maintain its high value throughout its life, but you will be able to pick up on any problems as they begin, fixing them before they become serious and thus ensuring a long healthy life for the vehicle.

Do Sweat the Small Stuff

And taking care of the small things is important if you want to avoid the big repairs bills further down the road. Find out what that squeak is before your wheel seizes up; investigate the faint burning smell before the tyre bearings lock up, and if your steering starts to feel a little loose, get it sorted before it turns into a major problem.

Regular Maintenance

A lot of the above points will be taken care of if you follow good car care practices which brings us back, once again to the necessity of frequent and thorough services. Your tyres too must be looked after – as the only point of contact with the road, they should always be the best possible shape and fully compliant with UK regulations. Regular inspections can help identify problems early, such as uneven wear or damage, enhancing safety and extending tyre lifespan. In case your tyres are showing signs of wear after regular maintenance and you happen to be in West Yorkshire, visit Reg Greenwood’s website they offer tyres in their Castleford branch, ensuring you have the best options for your vehicle's needs and driving safety.

Final Touches

If the time has come to sell your well-preserved car so that you can get a new one, you can boost your chances of making the best price for the vehicle by offering the following
:

• Service record: Details of all the services, parts replaced, and accurate mileage will go a long way to helping your buyer to trust that you have looked after the car and that there will be no unpleasant surprises waiting for you.
• Long MOT and insurance: Buying a car, even a second-hand one, is a considerable investment, and having to fork out for an MOT test within a couple of months of making the purchase can leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Try and sell the car immediately after its previous MOT so that the new buyer can enjoy their vehicle for a while before having to dig into their motoring budget again.
• A good-looking car: Finally, keep the car clean and neat. Match paint, if you've had to cover up scratches, polish up the mirrors and clean the numberplate as well as decluttering and giving the interior a bit of a valet. If your car is attractive, it will draw the eye and attention of prospect buyers – and help you stick to your asking price besides!

Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post.