Driving News - Car blog UK » Car maintenance

Maintaining your vehicle

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:28:45 +0000

Maintaining your vehicle

Maintaining your vehicle is essential to help ensure that it is roadworthy, safe to drive or ride, fuel efficient, less polluting and not a danger to passengers, pedestrians and other road users. Vehicle maintenance ranges from cleaning your vehicle and conducting weekly checks through to full servicing and repair.

New practical driving or riding test

The [...]

Jack of all trades

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:50:33 +0000

Hannah Pool has barely learned to drive a car, let alone carry out repairs. So how would she cope with a tutorial in basic maintenance … in the rain?

There are few things I know less about than cars. At 35, I have only just started taking driving lessons. And so it’s fairly safe to assume that [...]

Checklist: prepare your car for its MOT

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:47:01 +0000

Around a third of cars fail their MOT in Britain each year, follow this checklist and you may avoid some of the simple fails

Around one third of the 30m cars tested each year fail their MOT inspection. The majority of these are due to a small number of defects. Some problems you can fix before the [...]

Learn how to change a tyre

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:44:37 +0000

20 minutes Professional cost From £10 plus towing fee DIY cost Free

You may not be able to match the frenzied blur of a Formula One pitstop, but changing a wheel and tyre yourself is much easier than you think.

Before you start

Make sure you are on firm, level ground, your engine is off and the handbrake is on. If [...]

Learn to change your car’s oil

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:54:05 +0000

60 minutes Professional cost £90: For two oil and filter changes DIY cost £32.96 plus oil: Oil price varies depending on the car (from about £20). Cost includes £14.99 axel stands, £9.99 socket set, oil filter wrench £4.49 and oil filter £3.49

Jacking up the car

First, warm the engine for a few minutes: this will thin the oil, making [...]

Learn how to get rid of a dent in the bodywork

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:33:07 +0000

60 minutes Professional cost From £30: Depends on size and severity DIY cost £6.49-11.99: Price depends on size of glass sucker, from screwfix.com

We’ve all done it. Who put that gatepost there? Where did that tree come from? If you’ve got comprehensive insurance there’s no problem; if not, your self-inflicted damage could cost a packet.

The difficulty with dents is [...]

Get rid of a scratch in paintwork

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:29:54 +0000

30 minutes Professional cost From £10: Depends on the size and severity of the scratch DIY cost £7.48

Cars are easily scratched: supermarket trollies, bicycle handlebars or a bit of careless parking can all leave their mark. A scratch is annoying, but usually not worth a trip to the garage or the tiresome business of an insurance claim.

The older [...]

£200 to change a car headlamp bulb? It’s no joke

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:21:16 +0000

Modern vehicles are so complex that even seemingly trivial DIY repairs involve a trip to the garage and a minimum charge

How many pounds does it take to change a light bulb? This variation of the old joke is not at all funny: if the bulb in question is in your car, the punchline could be “£200 [...]