You might send your Audi in for service every so often, but what are you doing between appointments? Just like we brush our teeth between dentist appointments, there are things you can do to keep your Audi vehicle in immaculate shape without requiring professional assistance. Even if you prefer to service yourself, we have some advice!
Clean, Clean, Clean
You might think that cleaning is just to help the aesthetic of your car, but it’s important to clean for its health too. When left to sit on the car, dirt and grime will damage the paintwork. For the best results, we recommend sticking with warm water and professional soap products. While some will choose washing liquid, this can cause problems in itself over time. You can also use a microfiber cloth or sponge so that your car doesn’t come away from the clean with a scratch.
With car cleaning, it’s often the smaller details that make the biggest difference. Therefore, we advise taking particular care with the windows, tires, and rims. In fact, you might even want to invest in professional tire gel.
Self Service Tips for Audi Owners
Regular Checks
In our experience, the majority of large issues with Audis could have been prevented with regular checks. Whether it’s the lights or the oil, a few simple checks will prevent small problems from becoming large (and expensive) issues. For example, look at the following:
- Oil – Check the oil levels every few weeks so that the engine stays healthy.
- Tires – Not only should you check that the tires are inflated, pay attention to the tread depth, and look for scratches, nails, and other potential problems.
- Windscreen and Wiper Blades – As the saying goes, left alone a chip will quickly turn into a crack. As many drivers will tell you (from experience!), it’s much cheaper to fix a small chip than a full crack. At the same time, you can also assess the health of the wiper blades. If they start to scrape or are bent, look for a replacement.
- Lights – Finally, make sure the lights are working when driving in the dark. If one goes, a replacement is only a small expense. Don’t forget to check the fog lights and side lights too.
Read the Manual (and Act on Dashboard Lights)
Whenever you buy a car, it will come with a manual from the manufacturer. Even when buying secondhand, this manual is made available (or you can even find it online). It’s surprising the number of car owners who ignore this manual when it has a wealth of useful information. You should find the recommended tire pressures, instructions for how to check the oil, and various other self-service tips.
While on this note, please don’t ignore any lights that pop up on the dashboard. Unless it’s an electrical fault, a light showing on the dashboard is warning you of a problem. The longer you ignore it, the more damage it will do to the car. Again, refer back to the manual if you aren’t sure what a certain light means.
Don’t Go Beyond Your Ability or Knowledge Levels
To finish, we’ll say that there’s no need to go beyond your level of knowledge if you don’t feel confident. Between services, what we’ve said today is normally enough. If you want to service your Audi vehicle completely, this is where you need to spend some time learning the vehicle. Eventually, you can perform the oil change, air filter change, fluid checks, and spark plug change.
For example, Audi suggests replacing spark plugs every 30,000 miles. On the other hand, you can keep an eye on the condition of the air filter and replace it when necessary!
