The best maintenance strategy for your car should be focused on prevention. Over the total ownership time of a vehicle, prevention can save money and reduce the number of hours a car spends in a car service. If you truly care about your car, you will focus on prevention and there are many reasons why you would choose to replace something before it breaks.

A good example is a timing chain or timing belt. Your car, depending on its engine, can have either of the two. When a timing chain or belt breaks, it can destroy your intake valves, cylinder head, camshaft, head gasket, and several other components. Replacing the timing chain preventively as per the recommendations of the manufacturer can save you a lot of money on repairs. This maintenance strategy is just about following the automaker guidelines. The user manual should contain all the maintenance work that is required for your car’s make and model.

Another similar example is the replacement of fluids. Certainly, a car can run on the same oil for more than the recommended mileage before it is being replaced. Doing so can cause damage to the internal components of the engine. It may also require the entire engine to be cleaned due to carbon deposits that accumulate inside the engine. This can be tens of times more expensive than an oil change.

There are plenty more examples that further demonstrate why prevention is the best maintenance strategy for a vehicle owner. You will replace fewer parts and the car will run and drive as it should for longer. Also, a well-maintained car that had a good maintenance strategy tends to depreciate must better than a poorly maintained car. In the end, not only that you save money on repairs, keep the car running longer, have fewer hours in the repair shop but you also preserve the car’s resell value.