Top 4 Reasons to Change the Oil in Your Car (Featuring Red Green)

by Marjorie, Cars for Keeps Social Media Marketing Consultant

Remember the Red Green Show? If Michigan's rednecks, bumpkins and "yoopers" had an icon (other than Ted Nugent), it would be Red, handyman extrodinaire.

Since Cars for Keeps is giving away a free oil change this month, today we'll focus on a few reasons why oil changes are important to your vehicle's health. Red Green will demonstrate a few of the many things NOT to do to keep your vehicle running.

Changing your oil at home to save money is a nice idea, but as Red so charmingly demonstrates, oil changes gone wrong can easily lead to far bigger expenses. Like Red says:

"If you get it done at a gas station or wherever, you're just not sure if they've done a bad job, where if you do it at home, you know."

We hate to gainsay Red Green, but you can be sure that an oil change performed by Cars for Keeps is done right.

To make sure I had my facts straight, I called our mechanics at the shop and had them list for me a few of the grittily-detailed benefits of regular oil changes. They listed the top 4 ways regular oil changes can prevent mechanical failure and increase your car's performance.

Regular oil changes:

1) Remove contaminants like dirt and metal shavings from the engine, removing risk of failure or part wearing

2) Prolong engine life by reducing friction and heat

3) Keep the engine cool which, if you remember my overheated engine confession from last Wednesday, is very important

4) Keep your car running efficiently. Old oil can bog down your vehicle's mileage.

Consult your owners manual to see how often the oil in your vehicle should be changed. If it's been more than a year, you can just assume it's time to change your oil now.

Quirky Clunkers Contest: Win a Free Oil Change & Full Diagnostic!

Cars for Keeps is offering a free oil change and diagnostic for the winner of this contest. It's fun. It's easy. It's a great opportunity to make sure your car is in tip-top shape.

Contest Details:

Prize: Free oil change & full diagnostic (There's also a secret prize for all contestants who enter. Find out what the prize is by entering the contest!)

Enter now!

Answer the following question:

If you could fix one thing about your vehicle, what would it be?

Tell us in 30 words or less using these steps:

1) Tweet, Facebook or email the URL to this page to your friends (http://tinyurl.com/yl6h2t4)

2) Post your answer as a comment here (so we can read it!)

3) Email us at cars4keeps@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

Top 5 Ways to Prematurely Kill Your Car

by Marjorie, Social Media Marketing Manager for Cars for Keeps

I am NOT a mechanic - not, that is, unless auto mechanic skills are hereditary. My dad was a master tinkerer, and growing up all my family's vehicles were clunkers which he kept in somewhat working order far longer than the cars themselves expected to live. If you have a master tinkerer in your family, I'm sure you know what it's like: for every five cars in the driveway, two of them are sure to be working great.

While this was fun growing up, it's led to some bad car maintenance habits. We've all let those little quirky things about our vehicles go too long - some to worse ends than others. I've tortured many of my vehicles by not properly attending to maintenance. Here is a top 5 list of auto maintenance sins I've committed; I'm sure many of these will be all too familiar.

5) Forgetting to replace the oil cap after a refill. This I've actually done twice - to the same vehicle. Luckily, the smoke that billowed out from under the hood was only from the oil that was burning on the manifold.

4) Not checking radiator fluid. On a marathon trip across Montana, I forgot to check the radiator level and got 500 miles before the engine temperature spiked. Waiting three hours on the side of the road for it to cool down was a great lesson. Note: always carry a jug of water in your car - and only check the radiator fluid when it's cold!

3) Neglecting regular maintenance. Getting my wheels aligned was suddenly moved to the top of my priority list when my little Ford Focus' left rear tire fell off mid-cruise. Another reason to give your car regular checkups.

2) Neglecting windshield wipers and fluid. It seems like such a small priority on a clear, sunny day, but the minute rain or giant bugs hit your windshield, not having properly working wipers can mean the difference between a crash and a smooth ride. And how about those muddy country roads?

1) Not listening to my car. Most cars will tell you something is wrong before serious damage occurs. For example, my beautiful, rust-free, all-manual 1991 Mitsubishi pickup uses oil, and when it's running low, the engine has a faint tick. Once I failed to heed this warning; the engine overheated, and I almost ruined the car. Luckily, it survived and is doing just fine. No, it's not for sale.

What about you? What have been some of your worse auto maintenance sins?

Stay tuned for a chance to win a free oil change and checkup from Cars for Keeps. Contest details will be posted on Friday!

The Art of Loving Your Car

by Robert, Cars for Keeps Mechanic

This weekend my wife and I both decided to wash our cars. Not just a little soap and water and call it a day, but to really pamper them. We started with a soapy water wash then dried with sheepskin towels. Cleaned the rims and shined the tires and then finished with a wax job. Both of our arms felt like rubber and that they may fall off!

However we were not done yet! The carpets needed to be vacuumed; the dash wiped down, the seats wiped off and all of the glass inside and out needed cleaning.

After we had gotten elbow-deep in cleaning, I started to wonder why we did this to ourselves? Because we really do love our cars! They take us places we need to be, and sometimes they take us places we've never been. Our car, next to our family, friends, pets, and co-workers, is a major part in our life and yours too. It’s been there through the hard times and the good times. Through snow, rain, super hot days at the beach or a fantastic day at the vineyard. It may have given us a few problems and needed to be brought in on a tow hook once (or more!) but we still love it.

The point is that if you truly, deep down in your heart, love your car, you will want to take care of it. We at Cars for Keeps really do love cars. We are actually car nuts, and if you want to talk with someone who will appreciate all the things you love about your car, we are here for you. We not only love our own cars, but yours too.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a practical Volvo, a rusty Ford Pickup, a shiny new BMW or a problem ridden Maserati. We want you to know that we love your car and want to keep it in top condition throughout its entire life expectancy (or longer!). We want you to experience what you car can be, and that’s a lifetime of service from ANY automobile. With a combination of maintenance and problem prevention, we've been able to help many of our clients extend the lives of their vehicles to 300,000 miles or more - at 300,000 miles of smooth running, who wouldn't love your car? We love cars for keeps, and we fix cars for keeps.

Until next time, Robert.

A Woman’s Point of View: The Mechanic and What Makes Him Tick

by: Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Oct. 9, 2009

As an observer of human nature (as most women are), we notice personality types all the time. Consciously or unconsciously, we gather visual data about people so we know if we are in our safety/comfort zone with any person at any given time.

Now that I have covered the deep psychic stuff, let’s have some fun with it. Just remember, there are exceptions to every rule.

Mechanics with whom I have worked have a tendency to be introverts. They are much more comfortable with machines than they are with people. Every car they work on is a personal challenge. It does not seem to matter whether the job is large and complicated or small and simple. It is personal. It is what a blank canvas is to an artist. To be made into something beautiful. They are passionate about cars and how they can make each car run like a finely tuned instrument. They spend their lunch time watching “car things” on the computer and their weekends doing “car things”. They are always building. Always creating. Always solving. It is the epitome of the creative process in a most masculine way.

And who benefits from all this positive energy? Why, we women of course. Another perfect solution.