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Car Care Tips From Toyota Experts

• The first tip is to keep your oil clean. To do this, changing your oil and oil filter is the way to go. Using the proper grade of motor oil and a Genuine Toyota Oil Filter for your vehicle and mileage is key.
• Tire maintenance is essential to a safe drive. Air-pressure checks and adjustments will help minimize tire wear and increase your gas mileage. When it's time to replace tires, the experts agree that getting tires that match your vehicle specifications is crucial. Of course, a Toyota technician can always help determine what tire size you need.
• Air Filters are recommended for inspection every 15,000 miles or 18 months, whichever comes first. It is recommended also that they be replaced every 30,000 miles or 36 months, if they did not require replacement on first inspection.
• The simplest maintenance procedure you can perform, and one that is critical for safe driving, is changing your wiper inserts. The pros say at least every 6 months or 6,000 miles.
• Being able to stop your vehicle reliably is as important as keeping it moving. That's why the experts recommend having your brakes checked every time you bring in your Toyota for service.
• Your battery should be checked periodically to make sure you've got the power necessary to start your Toyota under any circumstances. If you need to replace your battery, your Toyota dealership can handle the whole job for you... or you can buy the battery from the dealership and install it yourself. If you just need to clean your battery connections, you can do so with a baking soda and water mixture. Just wipe it on the terminals with an old paintbrush. Remember, though, batteries contain acid, so make sure you don't get any acid on your hands or clothes, or in your eyes.

Keep Your Toyota Well-Groomed All Year Long !

One of the great things about your Toyota is the quality of the exterior finish, interior, detail component, and rubber materials used in the manufacture of your vehicle.

These materials are designed to stand up to years and years of driving in all kinds of weather conditions. Of course, there are a number of steps you can take-and Toyota products you can use-to further prolong the appearance and integrity of your vehicle.

Click the links below for tips on caring for your Toyota and the links above for the various Toyota Car Care Products available from your dealer.

Washing your vehicle

If there's one lesson to be learned here it's DON'T USE DISH DETERGENT to wash your car. Dish detergents are meant to clean everything off the surface of a dish so you can, well, eat off it! However, that squeaky clean feeling on your car after washing with a detergent is a sign your paint has been left unprotected. Best bet, use Toyota Liquid Car Wash, specially formulated to dissolve dirt without compromising your vehicle's finish.

As for what type of cloth to use for washing, a 100% terrycloth towel works best, better than diapers, t-shirt, flannel and other seemingly soft fabrics

Removing tar and bug stains

Be very careful here. Lots of solvents commonly used to remove road grime, tar, asphalt, and bug residues can seriously damage your vehicle. Don't take the gamble with gasoline, alcohol, acetone, or other non-recommended solvents. Toyota Bug & Tar Remover is the safe, smart choice

Cleaning the paint

This is not the same as "washing" your car. A car wash gets rid of loose dirt, road grime and bird droppings, but some contaminates get so bonded to the surface of your vehicle, a slight abrasive is needed. That's where Toyota Cleaner & Polish comes in.

This special formulation combines silicones, waxes and mild abrasives to remove stubborn grime and leave a brilliant surface shine.

Interior

Regardless of whether your vehicle's seats are leather or cloth, the number one enemy of the interior is the sun's ultraviolet rays. And of course a certain amount of spills, marks and grime are unavoidable.

Window tinting helps minimize the damaging effects of the sun (fading of cloth, drying of leather and vinyl), as will an inexpensive windshield sunshade used anytime the sun is out-regardless of the season. And for extra protection, apply Toyota Vinyl & Leather Protectant at regular intervals. For carpet and upholstery stains-including crayon, oil, grease, lipstick, etc.-there's Toyota Fabric Spot Remover.

Wheel and tire cleaning

Nothing adds the finishing touch to a car wash like a good tire dressing. And not just for appearance sake, but for protection too. Toyota Tire Shine is especially easy to use in its Spray-n-go formulation. And it's long-lasting too.

To cleanse wheels of road dirt and brake dust, Toyota Wheel Cleaner works both on petroleum and non-petroleum based soils and is safe and effective for chrome and alloy, as well as plastic and rubber components.

Car Care Kit

Fabric Spot Remover

Liquid Car Wash

Vinyl & Leather Protectant