While I'm not entirely sure where my love of cars came from, I was begging my parents to let me look at cars in the car lots by age 10 and playing with Hot Wheels way before that, I do know my grandpa taught me a lot about them. He was fanatical about caring for his cars.
While there were many car care tips, he always said there were two things that were indisputably the two most important things for car care. One was regular oil changes. Said the engine would get sludge and changing the oil keeps your engine running clean and longer. And it isn't good enough to just add the right kind of oil, but the old oil has to come out each time. Along with a new oil filter. The second tip was to use good gas. No chicken gas (an inside family joke) for our vehicles. Nope, has to be Shell or Exxon preferably.
I currently drive a Miata that says "Premium Recommended, but not Required." And a Cadillac that does require premium gasoline. Do I do these things? Of course! And why? Because I value the cars and want them to be in top running shape for as long as possible. I don't sit there at the pump and choose low octane gas due to the cost. I might complain, but I use the recommended and/or required octanes.
Some of his other tips included keeping your tires balanced and properly inflated. My STS alerts me if one tire is lower and has digital gauges where I can check the tire pressure. I do this manually on my Miata. Why? Because if one tire isn't holding up it's correct amount of pressure, it will put the whole car off balance and wear out the tires faster.
I also read the manuals or google items to make sure the proper oil, gas and tire pressure is used for each model, as each of our vehicles are different.
So by now you may be wondering, why the car maintenance lesson? Glad you asked. My body has been running sluggish, autoimmune issues flaring and join issues. I was evaluating what I've eaten lately, and being the holiday season, I've eaten WAY more sugar than I normally do plus add in the early sunsets and my activity level has been lower. I know I feel better when I eat right, but get lazy in it. Healthy foods can cost more. It takes time to prep food. It takes time to read labels. Here is where the car care comes into play. I realized I pay more for better fuel for my car, I'll even go out of my way to find the "right" gas stations. I take time to do the proper maintenance on them, to make sure the foundation (tires) are all equally supporting the car, to read the articles on how to get the most of your car. Yet I'm putting junk in my body and not consistently making sure all the pillars (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, etc) for a proper foundation are equally being cared for. If I do these things for my cars, in the hope they will last 10-20 years, why wouldn't I do it for my body? That I hope will last 80 years, and that God says is His temple.
Sometimes we forget the maintenance on our vehicles, and we don't remember until an alert comes on or it runs sluggish or knocking. It's always better to do preventative maintenance then repairs. Same with our bodies. I start feeling better and then let it slide until warning signs go off. But right now my warning lights are all going off and its time to treat my body at least as well as I treat my vehicles.
