Friday 24 February 2012

Five Easy Car Maintenance Steps That Will Save You Money

Once again, Jools the golden Peugeot is trying to either kill me or bankrupt me! A simple Google of his symptoms led me to discover he was leaking brake fluid, so it was off to the garage AGAIN! It only cost £64 to repair, but since I've just used the last of my car fund to buy road tax, it came out of my dwindling emergency fund!

Cars are expensive! Fortunately there are a lot of checks that we can make to ensure the safety and longevity of our cars. Here is a checklist of basic car maintenance, simple enough that even I can do it! (In fact, I hereby challenge myself to complete this checklist this weekend!)

PLEASE remember to check the manual for your car before doing any of this maintenance to ensure you are using the correct materials and methods. I'M A BIOLOGIST, NOT A MECHANIC!

1. Checking Your Tyres
There are two easy checks you can do on tyres. Firstly, check they are properly inflated. This website gives you a good guide to what the proper pressure is for your vehicle, but if you have specialist tyres then you should check the manufacturer's instructions. If your tyres are too inflated, you run the risk that they will burst. If they are not inflated enough, your car will use more fuel and will be harder to steer. If the pressure gets really low you risk damaging your wheels.

Secondly, check the tread. Your car will fail its MOT if the tread is less than 1.6mm deep. It will not grip the road as well and might not stop when you want it to! An excellent tip for checking tyre tread depth, which I saw on Channel 4's Superscrimpers, is to slot a 20p piece into the tread. If the border of the coin is visible above the tread, the tyre needs replacing. Check this before you send your car for an MOT to avoid failing and having to re-test!

2. Checking and Topping Up Engine Oil
When your car is completely cool (several hours after driving) and parked on flat ground, open your bonnet and pull out your oil dipstick. It usually has a loop at the top to hook it out of the engine. Wipe off the excess oil from the end, reinsert it into the slot it came out of then pull it back out. The oil level should be between the minimum and maximum marks, usually denoted by a hatched region on the metal.

If your oil level is too low, find the picture of an oil canister (see this image). Remove this cover and you can pour oil in to top it up. You must check what kind of oil is required for your car, because different cars require different oils. You can find this information online or in your car's handbook. Check your oil level again afterwards to make sure it is now correct.

3. Radiator/Engine Coolant
Caution: do NOT do this when your car is hot, because the steam will scald you.

If your car is water-cooled (most cars are), then you will have a radiator filled with engine coolant. It is an essentially sealed system, with the coolant absorbing the heat from the engine then returning to the radiator to disperse the heat out of the car. However, the level will run down over time. You do NOT want to be driving your car with no engine coolant – it will overheat and could receive irreparable damage.

The cap for the radiator is usually marked as “ENGINE COOLANT”, so it's not hard to find the right tank and have a look. If it needs topping up, you'll need a 50/50 solution of water and antifreeze, which will either be ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. Check which one you need in your manual.

4. Cleaning and Changing Windscreen Wipers
As the video below shows, you can clean your windscreen wipers using alcohol to condition the rubber and extend the lifetime of the blade. If the rubber is cracked and the blades need replacing, the video shows you how to do it yourself easily. Don't pay a garage through the nose to do this simple job for you!


5. Keep Your Car Clean
If you live near the sea, the salt in the air will cause your car to rust prematurely and slowly fall to bits. My main problem is that there are dairy farms at either end of my lane. This means there's always a lot of mud (and worse!) on the road, splattering the underneath of the car and up the sides of the body! This promotes rust too.

It can be really disheartening to clean because you know it's just going to get muddy again the next time you use it, but I need to start keeping Jools cleaner to stop him rusting!

Over to you
Do you have any simple checks or maintenance tasks you perform to save you from costly garage fees? Also, does anyone use that premium fuel? How does it compare to regular?

26 comments:

Spankthemagicmonkey said...

Good blog post this week! Far too many people forget to do the most basic things to their cars. I’ve used that premium petrol once or twice just to see if it did make any difference. Also heard its good to clean out the fuel system a bit. To be honest I didn’t feel any difference in the performance of the car at all, which is a shame considering the extortionate price of it.

Good advice for anyone with a car, and I admit this may sound like a bit of a plug, but hey, GET A HAYNES MANUAL. Not only does it show you how to do some pretty hefty stuff to your car but also covers the basics such as changing the oil, brake pads ect. This kind of stuff can be simple to do and save you £££. Also to the rear of the book is an M.O.T test checklist linked to the relevant pages for checking / repair. Used it like a bible for a few years now and my car has never failed an M.O.T. For £20.00 it’s unbeatable.

Question for anyone in the comments. I’ve noticed there are a number of different types of oil’s out there you can use for your car. Not specific to each engine either. More of a range per engine type based on performance against longevity. Due to the different properties of each one some boast they can save you fuel which seems worthwhile considering how long it is between oil changes. Has anyone tried different ones and noticed any difference?

Pamela said...

These are great tips. Keeping your car clean, getting the oil changed regularly, and performing basic maintenance go a long way in increasing a car's life. I hope Jools has no more issues for a long, long time. He's a cute car. ;)

Used Cars Baton Rouge said...

It's easy to maintain your car nowadays because many sites offer step by step tutorials with pics for just about every procedure. Plus you can go to brand specific forums and ask for help if you get stuck.

Unknown said...

I agree maintaining a car in this age is easy due to the availability of learning material available online. I came to know about this systematic process when i was searching about how much does it cost to ship a car.

Stelle said...

Knowing what needs to be done when it comes to maintenance, like these simple but great tips, will surely help your car to last for a long time. Taking care of your car doesn't have to be expensive, you just have to know the basics of maintenance.

-Stelle Courney

Bellevue Auto Service said...

Nice tips. My favorite way to save money on car repairs is to push out my oil changes. The last several times I’ve been to the oil change place I’ve sort of interviewed the guys working there on how often you should change your oil. That saves me a lot.

Tyra Shortino said...

I agree with you: cars can present you unexpected expenses for repairs and other stuff. But we can avoid that through proper maintenance, especially in keeping the car clean. By keeping your car clean and organized, it also gives off the impression that you are worthy enough to be its owner. :)

Regards,
Tyra

Caroline Whitt said...

Great post, more people should yearn to live frugally like yourself. You should check out easywheels.co.uk to find the cheapest tyres, I noticed yours was being done by breakdown service; very expensive in comparison!

Unknown said...

One of the things needed to know on car maintenance is in how to replace break pads. It's more affordable to do it yourself sometimes.

Michelina Douglass said...

As for me, I also pay attention to the bodywork of my car. The car’s frame is its first line of defense, thus it needs proper attention. For example, whenever I find bird poop on my car, I instantly wash the dirt off because it might harm the car’s paint job.

Bryallen said...

Actually, bird poo is quite acidic I believe, so it's definitely a good job to get that off your car ASAP!

I have a little paint-pen that I've used to touch up the scrapes that come with having a second hand car. Cars rust very easily in the southwest of the UK, with the sea air combined with lots of rain, so it's a good idea to keep on top of it!

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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Running out of fuel is a simple mistake, but it's such a hassle if this happens miles away from the nearest gas station. Teach your kids not to procrastinate when it comes to getting fuel. As much as possible, keep at least a quarter tank of gas or diesel, especially when driving over long distances.


Steve@Tocowarranty

Unknown said...

Thnx for this interesting knowledge. Please like car trapped in flood

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The Maintenance steps is very clear and so much detail, mostly understanding the ways that keeps on helping us.

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Cath Brookes said...

While long to read, doing all of this should be quick once you get the hang of it. It will also help you feel good about the general state of your car and help you preserve it for the long run.

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Stephany J said...
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Stephany J said...

Just stumble upon the article while searching for car moving service Most of the people don't know about all these Things, even It was also unaware of few above-mentioned tips.