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Its finally happening. My first car!!
SDFGHJKL:'YUIM
![[image loading]](http://www.carsingh.com/ford/ford-figo.jpg)
Granted its not a lambo or an Aston Martin as dreamed when I was young (and foolish!)... But still...
I think its a landmark moment in a mans life!
Anyway I just wanted to ask older/experienced TLers if they had any advice to give on how to maintain/drive a new car.
Before anyone goes all lmgtfy on me :p allow me to say that the interwebs dont seem to have any consensus statement on the matter. One says drive the car hard and fast and the other says drive only in dense traffic... One says change oil at 5000km and the other says change at 50 km!!
Any help on the matter wud be appreciated.
TY
Edit: Its a Ford Figo.
Edit 2: It is Bought and paid for!! No lease BS for my baby... xD
 
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If it is a new car, and you want to keep the warranty just follow the dealerships preventative maintenance plan. When looking at a new vehicle you can ask the salesman what the scheduled maintenance looks like. Some cars are 3000 km, 5000km or like my previous car it was 24 000 km between oil changes or one year which ever came first. Hard to say what your new car's will be. Good luck finding the one for you though.
edit: a quick google of your car brought this up. http://www.india.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1248885760315&pagename=Page&c=DFYPage&site=FIPL , it isn't quite the answer but it does give you some estimates on what some repairs would cost.
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Is it a lease? If it's a lease, try to do the bare minimum maintenance on it, because it should be good for the whole duration of the lease, then leave the dealership with the problems. If you buy the car and intend to use it for a long time, then you should probably take care of it as much as you can.
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god damn brag blog my first car was a 20 year old piece of crap.
although i have to say it did have a celebirty connection as it was the former car of tiger woods current caddies dad.
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Grats on your first car!
As a side note, on the same parking floor in my condo from the elevator entrance to my car, there is a sexy yellow Aston Martin sitting there, all the time. I've seen it every time I go to work and come back from work. I may have seen it not there maybe two times, both on the weekend.
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Grats!
new cars don't need to be "broken in" anymore ("drive hard" or "drive easy" for the first X miles). Just drive normally. As above posters stated: follow the instructions that came with the car for most specifics. I would recommend changing the oil at least every six months (more depending on how much you drive - my mi->km conversion might be off but at least ever 10k km).
Have the tires rotated (I think about as often as you get the oil changed - often something you can usually do at the same time anyway). Also don't skimp on getting new tires or having your breaks checked regularly (my car slid off the road once b/c my tires were bald on the first rain..).
Look for a forum for people with similar cars (probably similar engine types is a good place to start - just do some google searches for your vehicle and you should find something).
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Looks like what the US calls a Focus. I think, not very good with Fords.
Feel free to shoot me any PMs you have on car work. I do all my work on my babies (2002 and 1978 Trans Am, plus my old 2000 Subaru Forester and 1988 Jeep Cherokee) and it's really simple to do a lot of stuff yourself.
The time between oil changes are going to be different for a lot of people. Too many different factors. Type of oil, oil weight, amount of oil the car needs, type of driving (highway vs city), and personal preference.
Some people in the US do 2,000 miles, 3,000 miles, 5,000 miles on regular motor oil.
Also if you use Synthetic oil, people go 3,000, 6,000, 10,000, 12,000 miles.
I changed my regular oil every 3000 miles, but I've recently moved to Synthetic and I usually do every 9,000 or so.
Your owners manual should give you a good baseline idea of what to expect for that sort of thing. Someone recommended you find a forum for Ford Figo - do it. It's a great idea/resource. I use a Firebird/Camaro forum for my Pontiacs all the time.
I'm by no means a professional mechanic. I prefer the term "Shade Mechanic" as in I work on my cars when I can. I had originally done a bunch of car-maintenance and care blogs in notepad but my OS took a nosedive and killed that initiative.
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Like Torenhire said, time between oil changes have many different factors. I would suggest, as a guide line, either to change the oil at least every 6 months or before 5000 miles (8000 km), whichever comes first. Those numbers are pretty safe, imo. Consult the owners manual if you want to know what the dealer suggests.
Keep your interior tidy. You never want to be in a situation where you need to give someone a ride and have to start cleaning up your junk.
Wash and vacuum at least once a month. You don't have to detail it like a pro, just some common sense maintenance.
Get the tires balanced/rotated when you get your oil changed.
If you feel your car starting to pull to one side, get the alignment done asap. This helps keep your tires from wearing out in an odd way.
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On December 17 2011 03:54 iamperfection wrote:
god damn brag blog my first car was a 20 year old piece of crap.
although i have to say it did have a celebirty connection as it was the former car of tiger woods current caddies dad.
thank you for this,
Douche bag TS, complaining he didnt get an Aston martin or Lamborghini
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every new car comes with a maintenance schedule. follow it to maintain warranty status.
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For a similar price, I'm actually planning to buy a used BMW 3-series.
There are so many great used cars out on the market... I suggest you take a look!
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Follow the manufacturer's maintenance suggestions and keep a log of it in the owners manual, this can make a nice difference if you ever want to sell it.
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I agree with the above, and oil every 3,000 miles if older than 2007 and every 5-6k if newer. Check tire pressure regularly, especially when the temperature is fluxing (and SUPER especially if your car is outside or the garage is sensitive to the outside temperature) Filled tires help the car get better gas mileage and wear the tires down less. You can check correct pressures by your driver door or in the manual.
If automatic learn to "gimmy" the gas to get to a gear your need...Helps gas mileage when you're not in 3rd gear going to 65 MPH...
Check battery charge regularly and make sure it is charging/not leaking. Can help save a headache down the road if you spot it early.
Always keep your winshield wiper fluid near full, as it doesn't freeze in high volumes in the cold. Freezing can cause a lot of issues because of line-leaks and the obvious visibility issues when you need it.
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EPT
