Dear All, Having turned 18, my Mom has given me a brand new Yaris YR 1.3l automatic :D I know its nothing big or fancy but it costs alot to us, and to me that Yaris is as good as and even better than any car on the road. I have some questions that I hope you guys can shed some light on. Be4 I begin I have done forum searches, and reach through numerous posts. Nothing exactly helped me as I have no idea where to begin. I don't have much of a family other than my mom, sis and my gf so I couldn't really ask anyone for help either and all my friends had conflicting views so I figured I might as well ask here, where the true enthusiasts are. All my questions are caring for my car; I really treasure and value it (to the extent some of you might even go "its just a yaris" but to me its more than anything I could have hoped for), anyway here goes: 1) Maintenance: I intend to have my car serviced every 10,000km - are these checks sufficient to keep my car in great condition? Is there anything I should be doing inbetween like oil checks etc (i have no idea what they are but I've heard my friends talk about them)? 2) Car cleaning: i know this may be abit of an overkill but when the car is delivered to my door, should I do a ground up job (wash, surface preparation, polish, wax, interior detailing, scotch guard cleaning and protecting, glass polishing, and wheel/rim detailing) or should I just do what's lacking? Also are surface preps harmful to the paintjob? Its also not possible that I wash the car in the shade as my house does not have a garage - does this have a major impact? 3) With regards to bird droppings and things like that, will cleaning it off with meguiars quick detail be effective enough to prevent any damage to the paint job? 4) Are there any accessories you would recommend I get? So far I've listed some optional things like sheep skin covers for additional comfort but some of my friends say that it's more of a pain because apparently it doesn't do much and also adds to cleaning and causes more dust and allergens to accumulate so I'm half hearted on this one. 5) Is the standard steel wheels with the caps really as awfully bad as everyone makes them out to be (e.g. squeaky etc.); do I really need alloy wheels? I think the standard wheels look fine .. 6) Should I get a steering wheel lock even though I'm getting comprehensive car insurance and also upgrading to a decent car alarm system (can someone recommend something and who to do it? insurance company approved please) Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I'm sorry its alot of questions but I really have no one to ask .. I tried the library but they weren't exactly helpful and the internet sites most of which are very very conflicting and contradictory of each other. Thank you all once again!
