Recently, chatting with car friends in the forum and in the group of car friends, I found that many car friends have limited knowledge of vehicle maintenance. Encouraged by my car friends, I began to write this article about non-automobile industry insiders, non-auto repair industry insiders, incomplete daily car use and maintenance posts, hoping to help more novice and rookies in car use and maintenance.

Second, key words

We often mention several key words in car selection, car use and maintenance, such as “fuel consumption”, “space”, “safety”, “maintenance”, “abnormal noise”, “failure”, “preservation of value”, “durability” and so on. Today, I will start with these key words and write one by one. I will talk less about the car selection part, focusing on the car use and maintenance behind.

(1) keywords related to car selection: “safety”, “space”, “preservation of value” and “durability”

1. Security

In fact, safety is an attribute that cars are being paid more and more attention to. this is attributed to three points. first, the number of cars in various cities in China is very large, and the more vehicles on the road, the greater the probability of accidents. Second, the driving level of drivers is mixed, there is a good saying, you can control yourself not to hit others, but can not control others not to hit you. Third, the general living standard and cognitive level have improved, and we cherish our own life safety more.

Automobile safety classification

There are basically two classification methods, one is divided into active security and passive security, the other is divided into external security and internal security, but at present, active security and passive security is a more professional classification.

(1) active safety-prevention

In fact, the active safety of a car is the ability to avoid accidents, which includes many active safety systems that we are familiar with, such as: FCA and PCM pre-collision warning, TCS traction control system, ESP body electronic stabilizer, VSA vehicle stability control system, ABS anti-lock brake, LCA braking force distribution, LCA lane change assist and so on. AEB collision mitigation brake. I believe that many friends have been dizzy, this lot of nouns, it doesn’t matter, we use a few pictures to show you some specific functions.

These active safety configurations can effectively reduce the probability of accidents and collisions in our daily use of cars, of course, this only reduces the probability, and can not guarantee that there will not be any accidents. So we not only need to see whether the active safety function of a car is complete, but also look at the passive safety performance of a car.

(2) passive safety-protection

The passive safety of a car refers to the ability of the car to protect the occupants after an accident, mainly in terms of body structure and material, the number and effectiveness of airbags, front and rear anti-collision steel beams, seat belts, safety glass, and so on. I think we are all familiar with these, so I won’t say much.

2. Space

In fact, there is not much to say in terms of space, because everyone’s demand for vehicles is different. Although Chinese people are better and bigger, they still have to act according to their ability, because the size of the vehicle is closely related to the key word we are going to say later, that is, “fuel consumption”.

3. Preservation of value

Value preservation is actually a unique keyword that has attracted more attention in China. This, uh, has the Chinese nation’s tradition of diligence and thrift, but there are also some brand car dealers who have been marketing for decades for sales. If you have to compare the preservation rate, I think the first model you compare should be at the same size level or at the same price level, otherwise the comparison will be meaningless.

For example, there are two cars An and B, the same size class and the same price class, the same naked car pricing 250000, A car discount 50, 000 naked car 200000, purchase tax 20 pound 11.3 = 17700, insurance 6500, landing price is 20 million 1.77 million 0.65 = 224200; B car original price, naked car 250000, purchase tax 2511.3 = 22100, insurance 0.75, landing price is 2502.21 million 0.75 yuan 27.96.
The preservation rate of A car is higher than that of B car.
The three-year preservation rate of car An is 70.39%, 60.59% and 53.46%.
The three-year preservation rate of car B is 82.82%, 75.11% and 68.83% respectively.
Let’s calculate the residual value of car An and car B in three years respectively.
Car A 25,70.39% 17.597 in the first year, 25.60.59% in the second year 15.143, and 53.46% in the third year 13.365.
Car B in the first year 25,82.82% 20.705, the second year 25,75.11% 18.777, the third year 25,68.83% 17.207.
If we just look at the preservation rate and salvage value above, we may definitely think that we will lose a lot of money to buy A car, but there is one more point we need to see.
The landing amount of car An is 224200 yuan, the actual loss in the first year is 22.42-17.597 = 48230 yuan, and that in the third year is 22.42-13.365 = 90550 yuan
The landing amount of car B was 279600 yuan, with a loss of 27.96 yuan to 20.705 yuan in the first year and 107530 yuan in the third year.
From this comparison, we can see that the preservation rate of A car is not as high as that of B car, but from the first year to the third year, the loss of money is less than that of A car than B car.

4. Durability

Durability is also a clich é, but now the development of the automobile industry and automotive technology is different from that in the past 10, 20, 30 years. Joint venture brands have long collectively entered a bottleneck in durability. Domestic brands have also made great progress in durability, so as long as it is not in the design, mechanical problems, it is basically not a big problem. Durability has long been lost in terms of department and brand advantages, focusing more on the production and processing technology as well as the quality control of car companies and manufacturers.

(2) key words related to vehicle use: “fuel consumption”, “maintenance”, “abnormal noise” and “failure”

1. Fuel consumption

In terms of fuel consumption, there are actually two big things, one is the powertrain matching and the self-weight of the model, and the other is the driving habits and driving conditions of drivers. The greater the power of the vehicle itself, the fuel consumption will increase accordingly, the higher the body, the greater the wind resistance, the higher the fuel consumption (so the SUV is generally higher than the car fuel consumption), and the greater the vehicle weight, the fuel consumption will increase accordingly, so if you care about the fuel consumption very much, don’t consider the large SUV model, because the fuel consumption will definitely be higher than the car. With regard to driving habits, in fact, the car is not afraid of you stepping on the accelerator, and your fuel consumption is not necessarily much higher than that. The main reason is that you can’t always step on the throttle, make a good prediction, and let the car glide at a constant speed after raising the speed. slow down ahead of time at traffic lights.
Many drivers will compare fuel consumption with each other. In fact, this comparison also follows a principle of comparing fuel consumption with the same size and displacement. I don’t know what software we usually use to watch fuel consumption statistics. I personally use a bear to record fuel consumption. I will also compare fuel consumption with other riders of the same model, and also compare fuel consumption with different models, in the entry-level medium-sized SUV level. What I see is that the fuel consumption of other models in all departments is surprisingly consistent.

This is the point. I need to talk more about it. First of all, our car maintenance is divided into several types, the first is powertrain maintenance, that is, engine maintenance, gearbox maintenance, turbine, air intake and so on. The second is the maintenance of the interior of the vehicle. The third is the maintenance of chassis and other auto parts.

(1) Powertrain maintenance

First, engine oil, machine filter, and other consumables.
At present, there are many brands and models of oil on the market, and our common brands in China are: 1. Shell, 2. Mobil, 3. Castrol, 4. Great Wall, 5. Unification, 6. Compton, 7. Foss, 8. Total, 9.BP, 10. Kunlun. We believe that Mobil, Castrol and Shell engine oil are most commonly used. The real engine oil with the same model and label on these brands actually has little difference in performance, and the difference is also very slight. As long as the oil used by drivers is authentic, there will be no big problem.
But the main thing we need to pay attention to is the use of inferior or inferior engine oil in the market and some unscrupulous businessmen when doing maintenance for us, as well as assembling engine oil. First, donate maintenance as far as possible, if you must that maintenance must be on the side to watch the operation. Second, it is not a gift of maintenance, but also must be on the side to watch the operation. Third, whether it is to change oil or other consumables to keep good receipts and vouchers, it is best to take pictures and keep files.
Second, fuel oil treasure, fuel system cleaner should be used in the end.
In fact, we can see that many car lovers and commentators have been saying that fuel oil treasure is an intelligence tax. I can’t deny this, but first of all, we have to make it clear that fuel oil treasure and fuel system cleaner are two different things. First of all, talking about fuel oil bao, although most areas and most vehicles actually do not use fuel oil treasure, it should be divided by case, because not all models and under all circumstances fuel oil treasure is useless. If the local gasoline quality is not high, then fuel oil treasure is very useful, or high altitude areas and vehicles with relatively old models, fuel oil treasure is of great help. Then let’s talk about fuel system cleaners. It is well known that domestic gasoline standards are relatively low and their purity is not so high, so long-term use of any car will result in carbon accumulation. In addition, urban road congestion is becoming more and more serious. Carbon accumulation is even more serious. Here, as long as it is a car, as long as it burns engine oil, carbon deposition is inevitable, regardless of brand or car model. Regular use of fuel system additives can effectively remove the newly generated carbon deposition and prevent the adhesion of carbon deposition. I generally use Chevron’s 355ML classic fuel system cleaner. The way to use it is to use the last tank of oil before each maintenance. Add the detergent before refueling, and then fill it up. This tank of oil will be repaired immediately after running.

(2) maintenance of vehicle appearance and interior

As a lover of mild cleanliness and severe manual waxing, it is very exciting to talk about this, .
First, let’s talk about the maintenance of the appearance of vehicles, there are transparent cars and clothing, color-changing film, crystal plating, coating, waxing, sealing glaze and so on.
The cost of ① transparent car and clothing is quite expensive, especially the brand TPU transparent car and clothing, the price is between 8000 and 30000, the protection is really strong, and good transparent car and clothing also have a certain degree of thermal repair, but the requirements for construction technology is relatively high, I can often see vehicle scratches, knife marks and other problems caused by construction problems, and because we have no way to distinguish the quality of TPU products. As a result, many friends spend a high price and end up with a low-end or even low-quality product. The life of transparent cars and clothing generally varies from 1 to 5 years, most of which can only be used for 2-3 years, and the cost performance is relatively low.
② crystal plating, in the real sense, the crystal plating needs to polish the whole car paint at first, then smear the liquid gauntlet on the polished car paint, dry it completely after smearing, polish the crystal gauntlet, and finally enter the paint room for stable baking and curing. So the crystal plating is damaging, the original car paint can be polished about 7 times, the life of the crystal plating is generally 1-2 years, if there is no curing, the life is 6-12 months.
③ sealing glaze, sealing glaze is actually similar to crystal plating, but the coating is not liquid gauntlet, but a kind of car lacquer glaze, the others are similar to crystal plating, but also damaging.
④ coating, there are two kinds of coating, one is similar to crystal plating and sealing glaze, using the so-called polymer coating agent, the second is a simple and easy to operate manual liquid coating agent, simple and easy to operate, but the time that can be maintained at one time is very limited, most products can only be kept for 2-4 weeks at a time.
⑤ waxing, waxing is divided into manual waxing and mechanical polishing waxing, manual waxing is suitable for new cars and cars with good paint protection, mechanical polishing and waxing is suitable for cars with poor paint protection and cars with damaged paint surface for a long time, mechanical polishing and waxing is also harmful.
I personally prefer manual waxing. Solid wax, liquid wax, and liquid coating agent are all my common maintenance materials. If solid wax is used purely by hand, the construction time will be about 2 hours. First, we must wash the car and dry the residual water. Then use a waxing sponge to dip the solid wax in a circle on the body paint to press wax. The purpose of this is to allow the solid wax to fully contact the car paint. It is recommended to divide the entire car into several small parts for wax pressing. Wait 3-5 minutes after pressing wax. After the wax on the surface of the car paint has cured, use a waxing towel to push off the excess solid wax on the surface of the car paint. This step is called pushing wax. Finally, use an unused waxing towel to brighten the surface of the car paint. I personally generally use turtle brand solid ice wax. It can also be waxed in the sun, and some plastic parts of the body can also be used without causing a white appearance.
Second, let’s talk about interior maintenance. Car interiors are mainly made of three materials, first plastic, second cloth, and third leather. Of course, the leather is also divided into different categories such as artificial leather, artificial leather, real leather, and leather. Plastics and leather need to be maintained regularly, otherwise damage will occur over a long period of use. Generally speaking, dial wax and leather maintenance wax can be used, and the maintenance cycle is only once a year. If you do not maintain it, it is normal for plastic to crack and leather seats to crack.

I think there should be no problem if I put these two together. First of all,”abnormal sound”. We often hear riders say this word, but is the “abnormal sound” that riders say really abnormal sound? How we define this “abnormal sound” is actually the key. There are two definitions of “abnormal sound” of a vehicle: first, the persistent sound that the vehicle should not make during operation is called abnormal sound; second, the vehicle emits during operation. A persistent sound that exceeds the specified intensity is called abnormal sound. It is not difficult to see from these two definitions that it is continuous first. One is a sound that should not be made, and the other is a sound that exceeds the intensity. So when we use our vehicles, for example, in winter, because the temperature is too low, we occasionally hear a certain plastic part making a sound due to thermal expansion and contraction, and then it disappears. Is this an abnormal sound? The answer is no. Then, is it considered abnormal to be loud when starting? The answer is no.
Then when we say “failure”, we must definitely talk about the issue of “failure rate” when we say failure rate. In fact, I suggest that everyone can refer to the failure rate information of the vehicle quality network to see how the proportion is, because a car is a machine, and if it is a machine, there is definitely a failure rate problem. No system or any car manufacturer dares to say that their car has no faults. At the end of this conversation, the first technology, the second manufacturer’s craftsmanship, and the third brand’s quality control.