Change your oil regularly. If you don't change your oil often enough your car will start to lose valuable lubrication and result is damage to your engine and eventually your car breaking down. Changing your oil every five thousand miles should suffice. Motor oils have improved in quality and the age old three thousand change is no longer the stigma.
Step 2
Do not drive "bald" tires. Tires need to be replaced after heavy use. Tires lose threading over time due to wear and tear. If you drive on "bald" tires this can cause you to hydroplane and can even cause you to wear out your rotors which can be quite pricey to replace, more so than tires. You can extend tire life by rotating them every 6 months or, on usage. Depending on your vehicle you should change out the tires on your vehicle when all the threading is almost depleted. Don't wait till they are "bald".
Step 3
Drive Responsibly. Not only can this endanger the lives of people around you it can put your car at risk to be damaged eternally. If you get into a car accident this is the first step to having reoccurring car problems. Street-racing can wear out your brakes as well as your rotors. Hitting curbs will knock out your cars alignment. Be sure not to hit the brakes last minute as that is a sure fire way to eat away at your brake pads. Drive responsibly and save yourself from future hassles.
Step 4
Be sure to Check your brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, and power steering fluids regularly. Don't wait to get them checked until you change your oil. Replace them yourself if you need to. Its a simple task, check your user manual if you are not sure how this is done.
Step 5
Don't Ride the Draft. This means keep a safe distance from vehicles. Debris and rocks can be shot at you at a million miles an hour cracking your windshield. If you don't see a crack, it could be a small fracture that will slowly make itself know over time. If you get a crack in your windshield get it repaired asap. It can start to spider and cause obstructions in your view.
Also Riding behind cars will cause an accident sooner or later. It might not happen today or tomorrow but It will happen, its too risky. Car accidents are often the catalyst for a car to start its break down demise.
Step 6
Check your car's maintenance manual for how often the vehicle needs to be tuned up and follow that guide to the T. Regular tune ups keep a car healthy and can prevent it from breaking down and extend its driving life.