Car maintenance is essential to avoid breakdowns but also to guarantee safety. But when you own a car, it’s never easy to know when to do car maintenance. When should you have your car serviced? After how many kilometres? How often? Should we do the minor maintenance or the major maintenance? We will answer all of these questions.

How often should you do the business of your car?

In general, it is advisable to do one car maintenance per year. But overhauling a car also depends on other things like the type and age of the vehicle as well as its mileage. Usually, it is recommended that you do some minor car maintenance every 15,000 km or annually. The major maintenance is generally done every 30,000 km or every two years.

Large maintenance or small maintenance?

There are several types of interviews: the “small interview” and the “big interview”. What are the exact differences between the two?

A small interview usually includes:

• Changing the engine, i.e. renewing the engine oil
• Checking fluids (oil and coolant level)
• Brake control
• Checking the headlights
• Checking the battery condition
• Checking the windshield wipers and replacing them if necessary
• Replacing the oil filter

The big interview

Major maintenance includes all the checks made during minor maintenance as well as the following overhauls in addition:

• Replacing the air filter
• Replacing the pollen filter
• Replacing the spark plugs (only on cars that run on gasoline)
• Exhaust control
• Checking shocks and tires
• The maintenance log

Each vehicle has a maintenance booklet. It is provided by the manufacturer when the car is purchased and it is imperative to follow and accompany the vehicle throughout its life, even if it changes owners. The maintenance log is a useful and important document. It is advisable to always leave it in the glove box. All repairs or maintenance operations must be recorded there. Thanks to it, you can easily follow the various revisions that have already been made to your car. It also allows you to determine the date of the next interview. Do not forget to present it to the mechanic during each maintenance. It will indicate the date, the mileage, the revisions that have been made and it will affix a stamp.

What to remember about car maintenance

Whether you have a new car or an old used car, it is essential to have it serviced. There are two types of maintenance: minor maintenance which is generally done every year (or 15,000 km) and major maintenance recommended every two years (or 30,000 km). These revisions made by professionals will prevent breakdowns and avoid accidents. To know when you need to do your car maintenance, do not forget to consult your maintenance book. This important document gathers all the technical information relating to your vehicle and all maintenance must be entered therein. At JL Prestige, we have a clear objective: that you enjoy every kilometre onboard your vehicle feeling all the tranquillity and security at the wheel. To achieve this, we have created the Audi Maintenance program, with which you will receive, for 4 or 5 years, the highest coverage. In this way, you will only have one concern: to appreciate the unbeatable feeling of driving your Audi.

Why hire us for Audi servicing?

We give you 5 reasons to entrust us with the maintenance of your Audi:

Closeness and flexibility

You can choose any Official Service of the Audi Network to carry out the Audi maintenance plan for your vehicle. In addition, we offer you different types of coverage so that you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

You will always know the exact price.

Eliminate unforeseen expenses. From the first moment, you will know the exact cost of maintaining your Audi.

Enjoy special conditions

Contract the product when you buy your Audi and pay for it in easy instalments or include it in the financing of the vehicle.

Audi Genuine Parts with a 24-month warranty

Only Audi Genuine Parts guarantee the highest quality, as they have been designed to perfectly match your Audi and perform their function optimally.

Maximum reliability. The training of Audi service centre personnel guarantees you the maximum knowledge of the vehicles to carry out any operation flawlessly and efficiently.

If you are thinking about buying a trailer, chances are you have come across a lot of information and sellers online that you wonder where to start from. It can be perplexing coming across different manufacturers and trailers that are available. The numerous adverts on trailers for sale aren’t helping either since you are tempted to take advantage of the listed enticing price. You have to consider many factors before purchasing a trailer, and the most important one is to choose an established trailer manufacturer. Even though your finances will be the significant determinant of what you buy, make sure you choose quality.

Knowing the type of trailer that you need will help you pinpoint the manufacturer that you settle for. Research the different pricing options for the trailers for sale as it will give you an insight into how much you will need. Luckily this information is easily accessible online, and you will be able to navigate easily through different web pages and noting the ones within your budget range. Focus on websites that connect you directly to the manufacturers instead of go-betweens who will need to earn a commission from you.

Check on your finances to ensure that you have enough cash to make the purchase. Confirm whether you will need financing and start the process. Once you have everything ready, it will be easy to contact trailer manufacturers and find out more about their services and products. This first contact will give you an insight into how they will treat you as you ask them a list of questions. You will know if they are patient enough to answer your questions about trailers that they have for sale and if they are willing to give you more information to help you get a clearer understanding of the matter. Here are three crucial things to consider before engaging a trailer manufacturing company.

Quality

The trailer manufacturers should be able to manufacture trailers that are of high quality. This way, they will serve their intended purpose well and for an extended period. Please inquire about the types of materials and techniques they use to produce the different types of trailers they have available. This information will give you an insight into what to expect. Share with them the intended use for the trailer, and they will be able to tell you with honesty if it will be able to withstand. The cargo limit will also act as a guide in making sure that you get a quality trailer.

Reputation

Anyone who wants to choose a trailer for their use will tell you how important it is to only deal with reputable companies. You will need a company that you can trust in your trucking needs regardless of whether they are commercial or personal. Previous clients will be able to give you an insight into who they are and the quality they provided. It would help if you did not compromise on receiving excellent and quality services. The main aim of any company is to ensure that there is client satisfaction. A good company must be reputable in offering customer satisfaction with ease.

Financially Stable

The trailer manufacturing company should be financially stable since financial stability will ensure that they can honor their warranties with ease. It is also vital since you will still need to engage them in the long run for support and assistance when you need it in the future. You will also have access to parts and maintenance services without looking for a new trailer company. You will need a manufacturer that will be there for you, in the long run, to support you as you continue to make use of the trailer that you will buy. It is advisable to go for a manufacturer that is well-established and has been in business for several years with the potential of continuing the same for the next several decades.

Different manufacturers are concentrating on producing different models to suit the clients’ needs that are on the rise. Please do not ignore the need for brakes, as most states have made them a mandatory requirement. Therefore, you can be sure that there are trailers for sale that are suitable for you. Take your time and do not rush into making hasty decisions. In the end, you are after something that will provide you with a secure and long-lasting service.

The Gearbox

Maybe plastic isn’t the first thing you think of when you think about your gearbox. Generally, you would expect the components in your shift stick to be made of something a lot more durable than that.

But that is without considering what custom plastic machining of high- performance polymers could do.

 So, in your gearbox, you would have shift forks, which work together to change the gears. As they shift, the forks lock into the shift collar to affect the chosen gears. By locking together, they can change the gear of the car.

When they move, the shift forks create a straight motion onto the shaft. On top of this, there’s a jerk-like movement of the shift collar and the fork. It is the combined motion and high rotation speed which will eventually have a detrimental effect on the condition of the shift fork.

With this in mind, the more enduring the shift forks bearings are, the longer the life of the gearbox.

But can a fabricated plastic component – even a high-performance polymer cut it, in the high temperatures and extreme vibrations of a gearbox?

It is necessary for the polymer bearing to be able to endure in temperatures which can be very high and still be able to make a linear movement and connect with the shift forks.

Fortunately, this is possible using some high-performance polymers.

Other Applications

In addition to their use in the gearbox, higher quality of polymers are rapidly being used in other areas of the automotive industry.

As automation in our cars increases and the demand for quality grows, actuators are shrinking in size. This means the components in them need ingenious design solutions.

Moving parts need to be kept moving without the need for lubrication and with this in mind, components using a lubrication-free design are crucial.

Lead screws and screw nuts can be manufactured by combining stainless steel with a high-performance polymer to create a product with much greater efficiency, a quieter service, and no need for lubrication. It is unaffected by dirt and dust and can be produced to very high standards indeed.

This combination of metal and polymer can result in a screw that may last up to five times the length of a conventional one.

 Maybe it is time to rethink the use of materials within the components for the automotive industry?

It is not always obvious how to go about choosing the right high-performance polymers for your custom plastic machining needs.  And within the business, there are some stubborn myths about the differences between injected molded and machined fabricated plastic components.

Elements To Consider

Application

First, you need to think about the application of your component to decide which material to use. What temperature will it be required to work at? Will it be exposed to sunlight, chemicals, etc. Then, there are the demands on strength, transparency, and general wear and tear to consider.

Plastics which are melt processible such as PSU, PEI, PPS and PPSU are often chosen for those fabricated plastic components which need to be high grade of polymer.

Other questions to ask are whether the component is to be part of a bearing or a wear element within a structural component. What must its impact resistance be, and so on?

Design

Next, you need to determine the design of the polymer part you will use. This means looking at the design with relation to stiffness, strength, wear resistance, friction, and fatigue resistance.

Then there is the grade to think about, whether your plastic component should be of a glass or carbon-reinforced grade, or a wear grade, with graphite PTFE.

Also, consider the size of the part needed, is it large or does it have a difficult to machine feature? What is the material with the most economical cost for a high level of output? Also, might your design be subject to change before being finalized?

Process

Then we come to the process. This is where it is helpful to ask your supplier about the process of custom plastic machining you will need.

Unfortunately, despite the wide choice of material available, it is not always possible to get the fabric you desire, in every size you might want it.

And as engineers often favor materials with a low viscosity for injection molding, this can lead to financial considerations.

Expenditure

Even now, it is often incorrectly assumed that all fabricated plastic components are automatically cheaper than their metal alternatives.

However, fabricated plastic components can frequently cost more than metal parts to manufacture. In particular, these higher standard of plastics are costly to produce when compared to the raw metal material alternatives.

Where the costs come down are with the manufacturing processes. Injection molding is less expensive than the process of forging a metallic shape. Cost analysis must be applied to the investment needed for making a mold for parts which will be injection molded, also remembering to take into account the entire lifetime of the component manufactured.

Injection molding is both speedy and effective when it comes to making fabricated plastic components, but it still requires an outlay. This may be between AUD1000 to AUD10000 depending.

Making Your Choice

Choosing the right materials for your design takes a high degree of specialism – be sure to select the best material and process for your needs and don’t be afraid to ask questions along the way to ensure your choice is an informed as possible.