Buying a car is a big investment. While in inflation adjusted dollars, the cost of a new car hasn't actually risen that much (due to cheaper labor overseas, and efficiencies in manufacturing), for most people just starting out, a new car is a substantial investment ? easily a year to half a year's take home income. Making that investment last is in your best interest as a car owner.
Cars, in routine operations, run with temperature extremes ranging from ambient air to three hundred degrees. While they're designed to handle this range, that range of temperatures, and the sheer amount of power involved in running a car, should give you some appreciation for the high quality engineering behind your car's engine, and should give you some hints on what to do to preserve the life of your car.
First of all, don't put off maintenance. Routine maintenance of your car is just like getting a physical every year from the doctor; it's not that you expect to find something wrong, but that you want to find the small problems before they grow to become large ones. In similar light, don't put off changing the oil; remember when we talked about the wide range of temperatures your car undergoes in routine operations? Well, your oil is what protects the moving parts of your car when it runs. Motor oil is meant to coat the parts of the car and lubricate them, and also transmits heat from friction and wear and tear. The "clinginess" of oil to engine parts is its viscosity, and in general, engines are built and tuned to run within a certain range of engine oil viscosities and weights.
That lubrication effect from oil helps prevent the single biggest cause of engine damage: Grinding and wear from road grit, metal particles ground off from inside the engine and more. The oil traps these microscopic particles, and keeps them from abrading the surfaces. These accumulated particles, plus carbon that's "cooked out" of the oil in high temperature circumstances, form engine oil sludge, which is one of the things that regularly changing the oil, and running an engine cleaning test, clears up. Think of it as clearing the gunk out of the engine to make it run better.
Speaking of engine damage and damaging your car, it's pretty clear that anything that makes your oil last longer is going to be beneficial to your car's health and operations. One of the big culprits in engine damage, especially with new cars, is the "break in" phase. Drive gently during the first 50-100 miles you own the car; and vary your speed regularly over the first 500 miles. What you're trying to do is give your engine an opportunity to "work in" all the places where contact occurs; this is the time when most of the internal particulate damage to a car is done. By varying your speed for the first 500 miles or so, you're helping to ensure that proper seating of your piston rings takes please, which will help reduce oil consumption for the life of the car. Also, be sure to flush and change the oil after the first 1500 miles or so; this will eliminate microscopic bits of metal and grit that get shaken loose during the break in phase.
After changing the oil, be sure to replace it with a high quality synthetic motor oil. Synthetics are formulated to maintain viscosity over a wider range of temperatures, and to avoid high temperature breakdowns and boil off. They produce fewer carbon deposits, and retain their viscosity for up to three times longer, and offer generally better protection throughout their cycle.
The other place where routine work and careful driving can greatly extend the life of your car is the transmission. Drive gently ? avoid making sudden starts and stops. After you're done with the break-in period, try to maintain a constant speed when you drive. It doesn't save any time to accelerate and break suddenly, but it does wear the engine out faster. Likewise, only change gears when you need to ? this prevents wear and tear on the transmission. Like the advice above about engine oil, use a high quality synthetic for your transmission fluid, and replace the transmission fluid early on a new car, for the same reasons you do your first oil change after 1500 miles.
Fortunately creating a website doesn't require a lot of knowledge, free time or money for that matter. Nowadays having a site won't cost more than a few dollars per month and that really depends on the hosting provider you choose. More affordable hosting plans can start at only $4 month whilst other more complex solutions could literally reach the hundreds of dollars. Beginners won't have to worry about this given that in most cases a basic hosting package offers all the necessary features required to host a site.
When thinking of creating a website there are a few questions each individual should ask before venturing on. Knowing exactly what is pretended and how to achieve those goals is the most important step to be taken before initiating a project. The internet presents many extremely flexible solutions that could all provide the results pretended but the problem is that some require basic knowledge whilst others don't.
The first way in which an individual could create a website is by coding it himself with the aid of an HTML editor. This might seem rather complex but the truth is that HTML is a programming language extremely easy to use and perfectly suited for creating basic internet sites. Please not that this solution is only suited for simple sites which consist mostly of static content.
Advantages -Easy to dominate -Full control over every aspect of the site -Good learning experience -Well documented on the internet, information widely available
Disadvantages -Only suited for very simple sites, more complex sites require good skills -Not suited for dynamic content sites -Requires some learning -Long time to develop
The best solution for someone lacking basic programming knowledge is the use of a CMS. A content management system (CMS) is used to manage the content of a site. Instead of creating a bunch of static HTML pages a user can install a CMS and have it organize, store, and display the content efficiently. Individuals are only required to create the actual content and publish it.
Advantages -Most CMS are extremely easy to use -Robust, many features on offer -Saves time -Tolls that help in the creations and publishing of content -Many CMS to choose from -Most are Free -No programming knowledge required
Disadvantages -Some CMS are complex -Might seem overwhelming at first
Wordpress is one of the most popular and widely used CMS on the internet. Although the initial project anticipated the development of a stable blogging platform, that notion has changed considerably over the years. Today Wordpress is an extremely easy to use, robust CMS that can be utilized in many projects be it to create a simple blog or a complex site. The advantages of using Wordpress are considerable.
Advantages -Extremely easy to use -Enormous community ready help if any problem arises -Many free plugins to add extra functionalities -Unbelievable amount of free Themes to chose from Disadvantages -Initially intended as a blogging platform, other CMS might offer better solutions for sites -Creating a complex site requires a lot of technical experience
Joomla! is a free, open source content management system especially created for publishing content on the internet. A more robust solution, Joomla could be considered a multifaceted, feature rich software package best suited for complex sites. The reason for this is that not only can an individual create a simple website with the aid of this CMS but they can also develop a large scale portal or community site with extreme ease. With Joomla the possibilities are endless.
Advantages -Free to use -Very well documented -Good community of users ready to help -Extremely flexible -Possibilities are endless
Disadvantages -Beginners will struggle seeing as Joomla is a rather complex CMS -Some extensions are expensive
As you can see creating a site isn't very hard, all that is needed is the right tools. The resources provided free of charge on the internet are more than sufficient for any individual to start putting together a site. All you have to do is chose the best solutions and build the site.
Both Ron Toomes & Joshua Watson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ron Toomes has sinced written about articles on various topics from Used Car, Cars. Ron Toomes has been in the Automotive Business for 25 years the last 10 as a Synthetic Lubrication Executive Jobber and Web Site Owner. Ron writes articles for: