5 Vehicle Checks you Can Do Yourself

Getting the best from your vehicle in the long run tends to mean being pro-active about maintenance. In many cases, a quick procedure performed regularly can extend the life of your car, and save you from a hefty repair bill.

Let’s take a look at five checks that you can perform yourself.

Check the tyre pressure and tread

Tyres serve an incredibly important function. They’re there to act as a cushion between you and the road. This means a little bit of shock-absorption, but it also means superior grip on the road. You’ll want to ensure that your tyres are properly inflated ahead of every trip.

Equally important is the depth of the tread. You’ll want to make sure that there’s enough there to channel standing water away from the tyre. The legal minimum tread depth is 1.6mm, but ideally you’ll want to replace your tyres before you approach this limit. Look for a reputable manufacturer when you’re shopping for replacements. Bridgestone tyres enjoy an excellent reputation.

Engine coolant

While it might seem a bit intimidating to lift up the bonnet, the fact is that there are several user-servicable components under there. By familiarising yourself with the engine and the brakes, you’ll be able to check them – thereby saving you the trouble of visiting the mechanic. 

Your coolant should be kept in a transparent resevoir, and you’ll need to keep the level between the minimum and maximum lines. Keeping a stock of coolant to hand can be especially useful in preventing engine trouble.

The Battery

You’ll want to periodically clean the battery to make sure that particulates aren’t building up around the terminals. If you’re only driving your car every so often, it might also be a good idea to keep it on a trickle charge so that the battery doesn’t run flat.

Check the lights

If you’re only going out in your car during daylight hours, then you might conceivably go for months or even years before you notice that one of the headlights has failed. This applies especially to your fog-lights, which might get even less use. Replacing the bulbs will almost always solve the problem, and this is something that you can do yourself.

Check the dashboard

Your dashboard is where your car’s onboard computer will display warnings about the condition of your car. Even if there isn’t any obvious problem with performance, you should still pay attention to these warnings, as they will give you a clue about future points of failure.