The 15 year old Ford is still showing plenty of signs of life
I used the following techniques to prolong the life of the Ford, but these ideas will work for ANY car. Most are just plain common sense.
1. Regular maintenance. In addition to taking the vehicle to a service dealer periodically, regularly check the tire pressure and oil level. You don't need to be an expert to do that.
2. When approaching a yellow light, take your foot off the accelerator and let the vehicle coast in. This reduces stress on both the engine and the brakes. The worst thing you can do is accelerate towards a yellow light, and then jam on the brakes when the light turns red..
3. Your driving pattern will also affect how long the vehicle will last. Short trips will stress the engine more than long ones. The reason for that is that for a short trip, carbon deposits will build up inside the pistons, but the car won't be running long enough to burn them off. A long trip, on the other hand, will enable the engine to heat up enough to burn off the carbon deposits. So try to collapse as many short trips into one as you can.
4. I used these techniques to drive my previous car. It lasted for 23 years.
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