A new AAA survey shows more than half of motorists rely on in-car reminder systems to tell them when to perform vehicle maintenance.
63 percent of respondents to the AAA survey actually have built-in electronic maintenance reminder systems in their vehicles. 51 percent of those actually rely on the service reminder system.
"The advancements in modern maintenance reminder systems take the guess work out of deciding when to take your vehicle in for service," AAA South Dakota Spokesman Marilyn Buskohl said.
A recent AAA Car Care Month study on the maintenance habits of vehicle owners shows 35 percent of the respondents perform maintenance more frequently than recommended by their reminder system. 13 percent said they do maintenance less frequently than the system recommends.
To help car owners get the most out of their vehicles, AAA recommends those with in-car reminder systems to become educated and not ignore the reminder when the light comes on.
"The trick now is educating consumers to trust that their vehicle will altert them when maintenance is needed," Buskohl said in a news release.
For vehicles without reminder systems, AAA recommends owners to be educated on the vehicle's maintenance schedule and to keep up with that schedule.
