You don’t have to be a learner or new driver to be unsure of vehicle maintenance basics – many of us, experienced or otherwise, sometimes fall short of going through the proper steps to ensure that our car is up to scratch. It pays, then, to at least be aware of the essentials when it comes to taking care of our vehicles, whether it’s organising a tyre check-up, or keeping an eye on your oil levels. Check out our top maintenance recommendations here:
1. Tyre check-ups
Don’t let your tyres down (that one’s a favourite around the garage) by allowing tyre pressure to go too low. Equally, avoid that tyre pressure being too high, and check regularly for general wear and tear. The tread of your tyres should never go below 1.6mm in depth, and sticking to the pressure guidelines of your vehicle’s handbook will help you optimise fuel efficiency, while also minimising damage, and helping with steering.
2. Brake inspections
It’s not difficult to appreciate the value of having your brakes in tip-top condition, but not everyone is so sure to how best go about it. We recommend regular brake inspections, as well as being aware of the classic telltale signs of a braking issues, such as unusual noises, a lack of responsiveness, a lack of resistance, or your vehicle pulling to the left or right whenever you apply the brakes. Winter conditions for driving make the proper maintenance of your brakes all the more important.
3. MOTs
Annual MOTs are a legal requirement for any car that’s over three years old, so know when yours is due and put it in the diary. While your car’s MOT is a basic legal and safety requirement, it doesn’t mean you should neglect your car’s maintenance throughout the rest of the year! So always keep an eye out for car behaviour that is out of the ordinary and be responsive to potential issues.
4. Take heed
If you’ve noticed dashboard warning lights blinking when perhaps they shouldn’t be, don’t ignore it. You might have seen one stay on when the rest have turned off, or one that flicks itself on for no obvious reason. While the temptation may be to assume that it’s just down to some issue with the electrics, the far safer, sensible and more prudent course of action is to assume that something needs to be checked out. Leaving a problem to work itself out will likely only worsen any issue, potentially costing you a lot more than it would have otherwise.
5. Windscreen chips
No-one likes a windscreen chip, but that doesn’t mean the issue should go ignored. Just as the tiniest crack in your mobile phone screen will end up spidering its way all across your handheld device, so will a tiny chip in your car’s windscreen soon render it unusable. So before an unseen pothole or freezing morning suddenly causes that fixable chip to become an enormous crack that necessitates a costly replacement, get it seen and repaired.
Need any help or advice with your car maintenance? Call us now on 020 8361 8888