How to Make Sure Your Car Looks and Drives Like New
A household car is often a necessity, and our poor cars do a lot. We use them for our daily commute to work and around our homes. We use them to travel and go on vacation. We might even work using our cars, delivering people or objects around. All of this adds a lot of wear and tear and, while you might love your car, it’s easy to take it for granted.
There’s nothing like that new car feel, however. So if you want to freshen up your vehicle, or if you’ve recently bought a second-hand car and want it to feel like new, here are a few ways to make your car look and drive so much better.
Buying Second-Hand vs New
First, let’s consider second-hand vehicles. There are a few ways to get a second-hand car, and one of the most popular ways is to get a CPO (certified pre-owned) car. These vehicles have had a previous owner before and have been sold back to a dealership, to then be sold to you.
There are a lot of good reasons to consider buying one of these vehicles. The most compelling of which is probably the price tag. Yes, you get what you pay for, but cars depreciate in value almost immediately. This means that your brand-new car is suddenly worth a lot less the moment you drive it home. A pre-owned car could be almost as new, but it’s much cheaper to buy and can still be a massive upgrade.
However, the downside is that you don’t necessarily know who had the car before. If you go for a CPO vehicle, you know that the car has been tested and has a good history. You will also know how many miles it’s been driven and whether or not it’s been in any collisions. You can be relatively secure in the knowledge that the car is functional. This is especially important if you plan on long journeys like road trips.
Most dealerships will also clean a second-hand car before selling it on. However, it might still have some signs of wear and tear, as well as other very minor issues that don’t affect the driving experience, but that do impact how the car feels.
Cleaning Your Car
One of the easiest ways to make a car feel new is to make sure it’s clean. Second-hand cars might have been cleaned, but they probably haven’t had the full treatment. And if you’ve owned a car for a while and it’s only really seen the inside of a car wash, it might be kind of clean, but it certainly won’t shine like a new car.
The best option in this case is probably to hire auto detailers to clean your car for you. They will clean it inside and out, and make sure that it has that lovely clean smell and freshly cleaned feel. This adds so much to making your car feel new and looked after.
Cleaning a car is more than just getting rid of dirt. The outside should be cleaned, dried, and then waxed and polished. Waxing your car is that extra step that makes it look and feel new, but wax does more than just look nice. A good layer of wax will protect your car from water, dirt, and other things that will come into contact with the paintwork.
The inside of your car should also be looked after. Leather seats look and feel great, but they can wear out over time. Conditioning the leather seats will prevent cracking, which ages your car and makes it look unpleasant. Seat covers can protect fabric seats, while potentially making them more comfortable.
Improving the Drive
The way your car looks and yes, smells, has a massive impact on how new it feels. But another thing to consider is the way it drives. If your car is nice and smooth, it’s much more pleasant to drive. But if it feels like it’s worn down and unresponsive, you might not enjoy it as much.
Part of this comes down to the type of car you drive. Some cars are just nicer to drive than others, and you also need to think about preference. Some people like an incredibly responsive car that just needs the barest touch to do what you want, while others find this approach too sensitive and jarring to drive.
However, part of this also comes down to how well-maintained your car is. Some parts of your car need to be very well looked after because they wear down very quickly. Your brakes are a prime example of this. You brake all the time when you drive, and your brakes will wear down each time you use them. Over time, they get less responsive until they’re arguably unsafe to use because they won’t stop when you expect them to.
If you notice a rapid decrease in brake responsiveness or other issues, take your car to the mechanic right away. Sudden changes in drivability are dangerous and they can also be a sign of damage to your vehicle. You should also get your car checked out if you’re in an accident. Even if it seems okay, your steering tracking might be off or you could have other issues that mean your car isn’t as safe as it should be.
However, even gradual changes can cause issues. If your car is regularly maintained, your mechanic will be able to prevent issues from cropping up, so you never end up driving an unsafe car. Even better, they can keep your car tuned up.
Sometimes, you can replace parts in your car to make it drive better and more comfortably. While the car itself is the same, better tires and brakes will make it handle more easily, so you can feel safer as you drive. You can even improve how quickly your car accelerates or how easily it can maintain its speed by changing some parts and making sure it’s properly tuned up. All of this will make your car drive like new, if not better.
