A Guide To Servicing Your Car

We all have a different attitude towards cars, for some they get us from A to B with the minimum amount of fuss, for others they are make a personal statement. Whatever your attitude is towards cars, they all require some good love and attention.

So, you have a car, you put some fuel in it and drive around from place to place. You then take it for a service every 6 months, then for its annual MOT. Your year passes by without a hitch and the whole process starts over again.

This does not happen!

Cars can be seen as very gender specific, whether that is curves on a KA or the brute force that a Maserati can kick out, but this shouldn’t be the case. Most cars that are built are not really engineered for a certain gender. If you love a particular car, for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman, as long as the car is loved.

The car needs love, just like people do. It requires fuel, maintenance and most of all, it requires attention. If you love your car, your car will love you back.

A large number of breakdowns are unavoidable, simple because if the cars owner had shown the car some attention, maintained it and loved it, the car would have been fine, and not embarrassed you by breaking down half way up the M6.

There are a few things that you can do to stop any preventable breakdowns.

Get to know your Car

Take a look at the manual, all cars come with one, and familiarise yourself with how the car works, and where you can find warning lights and other functions and features. Get to know the oil type the car uses, the correct tyre pressure and what those warning lights actually refer to. You can even pick up some affordable spares online at places like 247spares.

Service Every 6 Months

If you are not mechanically minded, you should book your car in for a service every 6 months. This is like giving your car a health check, and your car will appreciate it.

A Monthly Check Up

You should take a look at a few things every month, this may uncover a potential problem. The positive thing to take away here is, that it is just a potential problem and these are much easier and cheaper to fix than actual problems.

Take an hour out of your day each month and check the following things:

Oil level

Brake fluid

Radiator coolant level

Water in wiper

Transmission fluid for automatic cars

Look under your car (for any recent, wet drips as this could be a sign of something serious such as an oil leak)

Your manual should detail where you can find these things to check and if you do find anything book your car in at the garage.

Weekly tasks

Tyres

Wash windows

Clean interior

If you love your car, it will love you back. So don’t neglect it.

Guest post by Jon Dunn who writes for 237Spares- The leading UK supplier of car parts, engines and Audi engines.