Author: Timmy

Make sure that you check your car is ok to drive

Most of us go out and hop into our cars to drive off without really considering if everything is ok with the vehicle. It is extremely important to give the car a good once over every so often and do some basic checks before you set off on any journey. Simply just looking at the tyres every morning may be enough to avoid an accident happening or finding that you have a flat when you have left your home.

All cars over the age of three years have to undergo an MOT examination to check certain components on the vehicle but this is only done every 12 months and therefore issues could arise in between MOT’s. You should always carry out checks on your car yourself ideally on a daily or weekly basis to ensure that optimum safety is met.

Checking your fluid levels again is an easy check to do and may help look after your engine and ensure you have screen wash to clear the screen should you need to. This doesn’t need to be checked every journey but ideally every couple of weeks. Lights are another item to check. You may find it hard to check some lights on your own so you will either need to get someone to help you or reverse right up to a garage door for example so you can see in your mirrors if your brake lights and indicators are working.

Gear box problems

Although luckily not many of us have to experience gear box issues it is one of those repairs that we all dread. You may not realise that there is a problem with your gearbox until it is too late or you may of noticed that it struggles to get in to gear a little bit but put it down to the clutch instead. Gearbox problems can be hard to diagnose yourself so you may need to take it to a specialist garage for them to have a look for you. You should not really have to replace a gearbox on a vehicle unless it has done a large number of mile but like any component on a vehicle, things can go wrong well before their time. A gearbox needs oil to run and if there is a slow leak you may not even realise until its to late. If the gearbox runs out of oil it will often be damaged beyond repair and will either need to be refurbished or replaced for a new one.

If you are considering buying a second hand gear box you should try and get at least a 12 months warranty with it as you do not want to have to be forking out for the same thing again a few months down the line. Gearbox replacements or repairs often cost in excess of £1000 so you want to try and avoid it at all costs.