Car Care and Vehicle Maintenance

Keeping your car regularly maintained is not only essential in ensuring that it remains roadworthy and safe to drive but can also help over the long term to reduce your repair and breakdown costs as well as helping to maintain fuel efficiency.

Whilst we recommend that you have your vehicle regularly serviced (we offer a number of vehicle service options including an oil change service and interim car service), there are a number of checks and preventative maintenance that can be done to help keep your annual running and repair costs down.

We would recommend that you check your vehicle on a fairly regular basis, at least every one or 2 weeks (roughly 500 miles) and before any long journeys.

Whilst car care can seem a little daunting, some of the visual checks require no understanding of vehicle maintenance and, armed with your vehicle's handbook, you will be able to find everything you need to check the following under the bonnet:

• Check engine oil level
• Check power assisted steering fluid level
• Check your engine coolant  level
• Check brake fluid level
• Check screen wash level

There are also some simple visual checks that can be done on the exterior of your car

• Check windscreen wipers are clean and washer jets are unclogged
• Check the windscreen for chips and cracks
• Check your tyre treads and pressures (don’t forget the spare!)
• Check all lights are working
• Check the bodywork and bumpers for any damage
• Check for signs of fluid leakage under the car
• Check for signs of additional smoke coming from the exhaust (other than when first starting the car)