Accurate Automotive (@accurateautoinc), a Colorado-based auto repair shop, posted a viral TikTok of mechanics sharing the most common maintenance mistakes car owners make.
The video, posted Friday with the caption, “Common mistakes: Car Maintenance,” has received over 31,000 views and 960 likes by Tuesday.
To begin the video, someone off-camera asks a mechanic, “What are some common mistakes when it comes to car maintenance?”
“If you go way too long on oil changes, they go way above 5,000 miles, or they don’t think a check engine line is as serious as what it is,” the mechanic says.
The interviewer asks five other mechanics the same question throughout the video.
“Not keeping up with your maintenance or skipping maintenance,” one says. “It’s definitely gonna cost you in the long run.”
Another agrees, saying, “running your car low on oil and skipping recommended maintenance.”
One says, “Not knowing what you’re doing,” and “not double checking fluid types.”
Despite most of the mechanics believing that normal wear-and-tear maintenance is the most common mistake, one says, “Thinking that your spark plugs need to be changed out ’cause … you feel a hesitation or something like that.”
“Just take it to a mechanic that knows what they’re doing,” he adds. “He’ll tell you what it is.”
The last mechanic to be interviewed agrees that “waiting too long on your oil changes” is an issue, but “letting your brakes go metal on metal” is another problem he sees.
@accurateautoinc Common mistakes: Car Maintenance #automotive #mechanic #cartips #autorepair #carcommunity ♬ original sound – AccurateAuto
Viewers in the comment sections had mixed opinions on the mechanics’ thoughts.
“Oil change every 10,000 miles. I get over 200,000 miles on my vehicles. I’ve been doing it since the 90’s. My current Hyundai has over 237,000 miles,” one commenter wrote.
A viewer responded, urging them, “You will regret 10,000 miles oil change one day.”
“My oil change is once a year per my mechanic and the manufacturer,” another remarked. “That’s the minimum required maintenance,” someone else responded. “Key word is minimum.”
AAA suggests, “It used to be normal to change the oil every 3,000 miles, but with modern lubricants most engines today have recommended oil change intervals of 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Moreover, if your car’s engine requires full-synthetic motor oil, it might go as far as 15,000 miles between services!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Accurate Automotive (@accurateautoinc) via email.
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