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5 Ways Your Car is Depreciating
To get the most value out of your vehicle, make sure to avoid these mistakes.

Whether you prefer to sell your car and replace it every few years or drive it ’till it dies, it’s in your best interest to maintain the value of the vehicle as much as possible. Not only will it fetch more on the resale market, but your driving experience will benefit from a well-cared-for vehicle.

Here are the top 5 mistakes that people make that devalue their cars.

Skipping Regular Maintenance

Adhering to a regular maintenance schedule is the easiest thing you can do to keep your vehicle running optimally. Having your car’s fluids changed at the appropriate intervals helps prevent the mechanical breakdown of your engine and transmission, and will prevent major mechanical failures. Premature engine or transmission failure is often attributed to the owner ignoring regular maintenance.

Failing to Keep it Clean

Cleaning your car is like cleaning your room – most people don’t like to do it, but it will make you feel better. Many of us spend hours a day in our vehicles, and when this space is clean, it will help us focus on the road, make ourselves and our passengers more comfortable, and is actually beneficial to our health. Furthermore, a last-minute pre-sale clean won’t yield the same results as if you had simply properly maintained your vehicle for its entire life.

Not Protecting Your Car’s Interior

This is true for all vehicles, but especially if your interior has leather or wood surfaces. Solar radiation penetrates through your vehicle’s windows and can cause fading, cracking, and other damage to your vehicle’s interior, just like how sunlight will fade home furnishings. Not much is sadder than seeing a once beautiful leather and wood interior that has fallen victim to decades of solar decay and has turned into a dried-out mess.

High-quality window tints block 99.9% of solar radiation (UVA and UVB rays), which will protect your interior surfaces from solar decay. Window tint doesn’t actually have to be darkened to provide UV protection – read more about high-quality window tint options right here. Protecting your vehicle’s interior gives you peace of mind that when the time comes to sell, the quality of your interior will help you get the most value possible out of your car.

Squeezing into Tight Parking Spots

How many times does it seem like the only available parking spots are marked, “small car only”? Even for small cars, these can be a squeeze to fit in and leave you frighteningly close to your neighbours. When at all possible, it’s best to avoid tight parking spaces, as you are just inviting door dings and scuffs. Trust us, it’s worth it to park a little farther away from your destination in exchange for a nice, roomy parking space.

Ignoring Warning Lights

This tip is similar to the first one, which was about keeping to a regular maintenance schedule. We know that the little lights on our dashboard can be intimidating, and it can feel better to simply ignore the check engine light until something actually stops working. The problem is that usually the longer you wait, the worse the problem gets. As much as we don’t want to believe it, our vehicles won’t fix themselves, and if a light is on, you should take it to a shop. No one wants to buy a used vehicle with an illuminated “check engine light”, and the repair will be less expensive the sooner you get to it.

Get the Most Out of Your Car

By avoiding these simple mistakes, you will be far ahead of most Canadians in terms of preserving the value of your car. Most of these tips are simple habits to get into that involve your daily driving, but we can help with #3. Diversity Auto Films has been serving drivers on Vancouver Island for over 2 decades, and are happy to help you find the tint that works best for you and your vehicle. Give us a shout – we’re always happy to chat.

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