Five regular car checks that could save you £100s

At Duffy Motors, we always try to deliver the highest quality MOT and servicing work at the most reasonable price points.

But generally, we only see customer’s cars at six-month or one-year intervals. In the intervening time, there are some basic preventative maintenance jobs that you can do that could end up saving you hundreds of pounds each year.

If performed regularly, these five car checks will help keep your car running healthily and could help you spot a minor problem before it develops into a more serious (and more expensive) problem.

Oil level

If you take just one thing from this blog post, check your oil level.

Checking your oil level is the most important thing you can do to keep your engine firing day after day.

Your engine needs oil to lubricate parts, but also for cooling and cleaning purposes. If your oil level dips too low then your engine can seize up or worse, start destroying itself from the inside.

Checking your oil is easy. Just dip the measure into the oil tank and check the fluid level is between the min and max markers.

On many modern cars, the dashboard display will indicate your fluid level.

Tyres

Checking tyre pressure and condition is crucial for performance and safety.

We recommend checking your tyre pressure every two weeks using a tyre pressure gauge. These affordable tools can help prevent tyre blow outs and can increase your fuel efficiency.

You should also be checking for noticeable signs of wear and failing tread on your tyres.

Measure your tyre tread depth to ensure that it is within safe legal limits.

The legal limit for tyres is 1.6mm, which is about the same depth as the outer rim of a 20 pence piece. Most manufacturers recommend changing your tyres when they get down to 3mm.

Lights

Broken lights are one of the main reasons why a car fails its MOT, it’s also one of the things that’s most likely to get your pulled over by the police.

Make sure you check all your lights – including headlights, brake lights, hazard/indicator lights, reverse lights and fog lights.

If any of the lights are broken you need to replace them immediately. If you are having difficulty finding the right bulb or fitting a replacement, one of our experienced fitters would be glad to do it for you.

Screen wash

It is a legal requirement to have a functioning screen wash system.

Make sure you keep your windscreen washer bottle fully topped up, using the right concentration of screen wash additive so that it clears away grime and doesn’t freeze.

If it is extremely cold outside, you can use the concentrated screen wash additive without adding any water.

You should also monitor the condition of your windscreen, looking out for chips and scratches and getting them repaired as soon as possible.

Coolant

You should check your engine coolant level and fan every week or so to make sure it is in good working condition.

Most modern cars have a sealed cooling system, so they shouldn’t need topping up unless they have sprung a leak.

Check the coolant when the engine is cold using a dipstick to check it is between the min and max levels.

If the coolant level has dropped significantly, make sure you get it checked out at a garage as it could be a warning sign of more significant problems to come.

If you have any questions about preventative maintenance, feel free to speak to a member of the Duffy Motors team today. Call: 0161 834 4168.