How to Properly Maintain Your Chevy Trax

When it comes to enjoying and getting the most from your vehicle, few things are as important as care and maintenance. That includes careful driving and treating your car well, of course, but it also includes proper maintenance and service for your vehicle. You should consider this when driving your current ride, and it’s also something to consider as you look for a used Chevy Trax for sale in Cincinnati. With a used vehicle, you always want to ensure it’s in the best condition possible, which means shopping at a reputable dealership like Online.cars that offers excellent vehicles and looking carefully at any vehicle you’re interested in to ensure it’s been well cared for. Once you drive away in a used Trax that meets your needs, you must continue to take proper care of it so it treats you well for a long time. Let’s take a look at the essential service schedule for a 2020 Chevy Trax as an example of what you should know when it comes to maintenance.

Basic Service | Every Fuel Stop and Once a Month

Proper maintenance doesn’t happen only at high mileage intervals; it happens regularly. Looking at Chevy’s recommendations for service and maintenance for the 2020 Trax, this starts every time you stop for gas. Chevy recommends checking the engine oil level with each fuel stop, which only takes a few minutes. It’s a great way to stay on top of your engine’s oil and ensure it still has plenty of oil in good condition.

Chevy recommends checking your tire inflation pressure monthly to ensure they’re properly inflated. You can get an inexpensive gauge for this, and it’s also a quick and simple bit of preventative care. You should also inspect your tires for wear and tear, paying particular attention to the evenness of wear on your tires and their tread depth. Finally, Chevy recommends checking your windshield washer fluid level each month, which is particularly important during seasons when you might use your washers more often.

We should note that Chevy doesn’t provide a clear mileage point for how often you should change the oil in the 2020 Trax. Instead, once the Change Engine Oil Soon light illuminates on the driver display, you should change the engine oil and filter within the next 600 miles. If something happens to reset this system, you should have your oil and filter changed at 3,000 miles from when it was previously changed just to be safe. Generally, expect this to be done about once yearly to keep the Trax running beautifully.

Routine Service | Every 7,500 Miles

The first interval you should consider when looking at proper service for your Chevy Trax is the 7,500-mile point. This is the most common point for service and routine inspections, making it one of the most important things you should consider for proper maintenance. At this interval, you should have the Trax’s tires inspected and rotated, the engine oil level and filter inspected and changed if needed, and the engine air filter inspected and replaced if necessary.

Additional inspections at this interval include checking the engine coolant level, plus the windshield washer fluid, tire inflation, and tear wear (if you check these each month, then there should be no surprises). Other fluids should be inspected visually to check for leaks, the brakes should be inspected, and the steering, suspension, and chassis should all get a routine visual inspection to ensure they’re in good shape. The power steering, fuel system, exhaust system, starter, transmission, and similar parts should also be inspected to look for damage or potential issues that can be addressed before becoming bigger issues down the road.

Routine Service | Every 15,000 Miles

Beyond the standard inspections and service every 7,500 miles, some additional work is necessary at a range of other intervals. Starting here, the only extra thing needed is replacing the windshield wiper blades. As we said, this is in addition to all the other inspections.

Routine Service | Every 22,500 Miles (or Every Two Years for Air Filter)

In the service interval between windshield wiper replacements, the interior air filter should be replaced. This is the filter for the A/C and heating system, so all the air passing into your vehicle’s cabin goes through it. Replacing this filter on a routine basis improves the air quality you breathe and is especially important if you or your passengers have seasonal allergies.

Routine Service | Every 45,000 Miles (or Every Four Years for Engine Air Filter)

This is one of the most extensive service intervals for your vehicle, which makes sense, given the number of miles that have been put on it at this point. Along with the typical inspections for 7,500 and 15,000 miles, the 2020 Trax should also have the evaporative control system inspected, and the engine air filter should be replaced—this is the filter for the air added to fuel in your engine, so it’s very important that it’s clean. If you’re checking out the service records for a used Trax, this is one of the most essential intervals to look at.

Routine Service | Every 60,000 Miles

Every 60,000 miles, the spark plugs should be replaced and the spark plug wires and similar components should be inspected to make sure they look good and they’re not damaged or showing signs of corrosion. Of course, this is in addition to the 7,500-mile inspections and service, plus replacing the windshield wiper blades.

Routine Service | Every 150,000 Miles

The final major milestone and interval point to keep in mind is at 150,000 miles, when Chevy suggests extra work beyond the standard inspections and windshield wiper replacements. At this point, the Trax should have its rear axle fluid changed if it’s an all-wheel drive model, its engine cooling system drained and refilled, and its accessory drive belts inspected. Note that the coolant should be replaced every five years and the belts inspected every 10 years if the Trax doesn’t hit 150,000 miles prior to those time spans.

Other Service and Maintenance Considerations

We should mention a couple of final considerations, starting with a reminder that all of these service intervals are recurring and additive, so at certain points, they’ll overlap, and you’ll need to have more work done. It’s a good idea to note this and check carefully if you’re looking at a service journal for a used model. Finally, this timetable is for everyday use on a vehicle, as a Chevy Trax put through severe use will need to have work done more often. Chevy defines severe use as driving in heavy city traffic and hot weather, mainly in hilly or mountainous terrain, frequent towing, high speeds, or competitive driving, or the vehicle is used professionally for ride-share or delivery services.

Get a Great Vehicle and Take Proper Care of It

With this in mind, you can see that proper service and maintenance for a vehicle like the Chevy Trax is pretty simple, but there are some key things to keep in mind. We know that this kind of scheduled service is not the most fun part of owning a vehicle, but it’s essential if you want to get the most from your SUV for a long time. A good used model might not perfectly follow this maintenance schedule, but you should be able to see that a previous owner tried to stick close to it and had maintenance and inspections performed on a routine basis. This ensures that the vehicle you pick will be in great shape. Choosing a dealership like Online.cars that puts your needs first and offers the best vehicles is also an easy way to ensure you get a terrific used model that you can use to enjoy the Cincinnati area for many years to come.