Basic maintenance checks that can preserve your car for the long run

We all want the cars we love to last forever, and that goes for our modern cars as well as our classics. So what are the absolute basics you can do to keep your car in tip-top shape for years to come?

This simple overview of the routine checks that should be performed on any car periodically, including inspecting tire tread depth and wear, filters, and fluids, comes courtesy of Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained. It’s all very basic stuff, but it’s a great place to start if you know a new driver who needs to learn a few of the entry points to doing their own maintenance.

With oil life monitoring, warning lights, and tire pressure sensors, new drivers driving modern cars may get the impression that any issue will be brought to their attention before it really becomes a problem, so this is just the kind of reminder that could help keep an awful alignment from turning into a ruined radial.

If you’ve never seen a video from Engineering Explained, you’re missing out on some great explanations and sketches that show how cars work. He’s tackled everything from how rotary engines and torque converters work (poorly and magically, respectively) to how suspension changes can affect how a car will handle.

With the help of a whiteboard and markers, 3D-printed models, and often a vehicle subject, Jason breaks down subjects that are often hard to grasp and shows the inner workings of the complex machines we often take for granted.