Detail your car at least once a year

Many consumers replace cars and trucks earlier than necessary because the vehicle begins to look old and tired. Even though the car or truck might have a long life ahead, the owner growing tired of it is the real reason for replacement.

If you fall into this category, try these simple and inexpensive tips:

Interior:

- Once year, remove EVERYTHING from the car. Remove absolutely everything that is not bolted on or screwed down.
- Clean every inch of the inside of the windows, wipe off the dash and doors, and vacuum every french fry and bread crumb and collect the coins from under the seats.
- If the floor mats are wearing down, treat yourself to a new set. Don't go for the cheap copies at the discount store. Call your local dealer and order factory fitting and matched floor mats. Remember; in many cases folks replace their car at this point so a hundred bucks or so for new floor mats really equates to very significant savings!
- Place back in the car the owners manual, necessary power cables for your cell phone or iPod and the interior is complete.

Exterior:

- My take is to leave this to professionals who, in most markets, will wash and wax the exterior of your car for $35-75 depending on your location. If you do this yourself, insure that you fully wash and dry the car without letting spots form. Use a high quality polish or polish with wax and closely follow the directions on the label.
- After washing and waxing, spend some time wiping off the fine brake dust on the rims or wheels.
- Finally, apply a deep shine solution like Armour All, to all the exposed plastic or rubber on the car -- especially the tires!

This is at least a four-hour effort per car. Once done, step back and ask yourself if you really need to replace the car or truck. Friends that have done this tell me that this simple and inexpensive activity can add one or two years to the pride of ownership.