Your car is a major investment. After spending so much money on the purchase, you don’t want to have to spend even more on large repairs. And while it may not be possible to protect your car from every single danger, there are a few simple things you can do that will help keep it safe and running well. Here are 5 strategies you can use for a healthier car:

Perform Regular Maintenance

The best thing you can do is perform regular maintenance on your car. No matter how nice or expensive your car is, over time it will wear down. Your tires will lose tread, your brakes won’t work as well, and your engine oil will become dirty. Taking your car in for regular maintenance appointments is the best way to ensure that nothing breaks down on you unexpectedly.

You can find a schedule for when you should bring your car in for maintenance inside your owner’s manual, or you can look it up online. If it’s been a while since you’ve had any maintenance work done on your car, you should make an appointment sooner rather than later.

Get An Extended Warranty

Of course, no matter how much maintenance you do on your car, something could still break down. When this happens, it’s often a large out of pocket expense that many people find hard to afford. It’s these expensive repairs that lead to people doing temporary fixes or putting off the repair altogether, harming the long-term health of their car.

To avoid this, you should consider getting an extended warranty on your vehicle. An extended warranty will help cover the cost of repairs after your initial warranty has expired. When looking for an extended warranty, be sure to find one for your specific model of car. For example, if you drive a Chevy, you could get a Chevy extended warranty from Olive.

Avoid Bad Driving Times

There are certain times where you should avoid driving if you can. For example, if there is a bad rain or snow storm coming in, you’re better off staying at home. Bad weather is one of the leading causes of car accidents and can easily lead to damage to your car.

Bad weather isn’t the only time to avoid the roads if you can, though. If you didn’t get enough sleep the night before, or if you’ve had a few drinks, you should not get behind the wheel. There are also certain times, like New Year’s Eve, when there are significantly more drunk drivers on the road. Use your common sense, and if waiting a few hours will make the roads safer, try to wait it out.

Park in Safe Locations

To keep your car safe when you’re not in it, you should pay closer attention to where you park. If you can park your car in a garage that would be best, but it’s not possible for everyone. For those of you parking your car in a driveway or on a street, take a quick look up to ensure you’re not parked under any tree branches that are about to fall.

When you’re on the go, try to avoid parking on the street in bad neighborhoods. Opt instead for a parking garage or monitored parking lot to give your car some additional security. If you do park on the street, make sure you are close enough to the curb so that you don’t accidentally get hit by an oncoming car or bicycle.

Use Your Car’s Safety Features

Finally, many newer cars come with advanced safety features built-in. To keep your car safe, you should use these safety features whenever you can. For example, if your car has blind-spot monitoring, make sure it is turned on whenever you’re on the highway. Another common safety feature is GPS tracking in case your car gets stolen. You may need to set this up, so do this soon if you haven’t already. Lastly, connect your car to your cell phone and set up hands-free communication, so that you don’t get distracted while you are driving.

Keeping your car safe and healthy forever isn’t always possible, but you can do a lot to keep it in good shape. All it takes is doing things like modifying your driving habits a little bit and keeping on top of scheduled maintenance. In the long run, these tiny adjustments and expenses now will save you a lot of money and stress down the line.