My maintenance minder says wheel alignment and brake fluid.

My car has 23,000 miles; tires wearing evenly, doesn't drift or pull to the side, and brake fluid level is good and the car stops predictably with appropriate pedal pressure.

I'm retired and on a fixed income, so I'm curious why I need new brake fluid and/or a 4 wheel alignment. I want to keep my car in good condition, but I need to pinch pennies.

Comments? TIA

 

Both are good ideas, but for very different reasons:

• Brake fluid is hygroscopic and as such, absorbs water, so whether you drive 100 miles per year or 100,000 miles per year, brake fluid should be replaced on a periodic basis. If your car came with DOT-3 brake fluid (likely), then every three to four years is sufficient, however, if your car came with DOT-4 (ala. many or even most German cars), then the flush/refill cycle is every two years.
• Alignments are a bit squishier when it comes to when needed; I usually go between forty and sixty thousand miles between alignments (basically when I replace my tires); the only time I deviate from this if I encounter something in the roads which is severe, say a couple years ago when I hit a pot hole (it was full of water and was not visible); even through I hit it at only about 15 mph, it was severe enough to damage my rim and destroy my tire. One other thought on alignments, on the rare occasion when I'd take my car to a Honda or Acura dealership for service, almost the first thing they'd do is check the alignment (and never once were any of my cars sufficiently out to require the service).

 

Great info! THANKS!