Calling a roadside repair specialist or pulling into a garage is an expensive way of keeping a car on the road, especially if it’s a job that could easily be carried out by the owner of the vehicle.
The skills associated with vehicle maintenance are a source of anxiety for some drivers and positively avoided by others; indeed, according to a Daily Mail report of this test carried out by LV=Road Rescue on 2,000 drivers, 79% couldn’t identify brake fluid, 54% couldn’t place their oil dipstick, and 12% were unable to open their bonnet.
These are presumably drivers who would love to get great deals on these new Fords but would then just leave the maintenance ‘to someone else’. Without care of the car, down the line they would try to ignore the red lights on their dashboard and the smoke rising from the engine, or the strange sounds emanating from the front, middle and bottom of the vehicle. They can’t ignore the bills that will follow though – unless they learn some easy skills and checks such as these:
1) Opening the bonnet
There’s no point in showing your teenager a beautiful diagram of the essential checks to be administered if they can’t even open the bonnet. Locate the switch inside the driver’s compartment, and make sure your offspring can do the same without your presence.
Also, show them how to lift the bonnet and attach the rod carefully, to prevent the door crashing down onto the back of their skull.
2) Tyre pressure/condition
Michelin advises checking the pressure of your tyres once a month, for multiple reasons. An incorrectly inflated tyre can be sluggish on the road and drink through your fuel, or positively dangerous as it increases your braking distance.
The simplest way to check is to find the correct pressure in your user manual, and go to your local garage with a few 20p pieces. Set the machine to the desired level using the up and down buttons, unscrew the caps on the tyres and plug in the pressure gauge – which only fits one way. It will blow up the tyres for you – job done.
Tyre tread depth must be at least 1.6mm, although the more tread the better – find out more about measuring tread here.
3) Oil level
Keeping an engine lubricated is crucial for the parts to move smoothly, and unless there’s a leak in a gasket or seal or it burns inside the engine the levels shouldn’t perish quickly – a monthly check should do.
Thankfully the dipstick – that curious looking loop that 54% of people didn’t recognise – is very easy to spot. A parent should show their children four things; where it is; how to take it out and replace it; how to read the oil levels; and the location of the oil cap where oil should be poured. It might be worth buying the correct oil for the car for your offspring the first time, for safety’s sake.
4) Engine coolant and screen wash
A similar story to the oil level, in that half the battle is identifying the location of the coolant reservoir tank – the scale is fairly obvious to read with a max and min scale. Make sure you warn your child never to open this when hot.
Similarly, the screen wash bottle, to be filled with an blend of actual wash liquid and water, is easy to locate and should be checked once a week.
5) Brake fluid
Since brake systems use an hydraulic system to exert pressure through the brake units, it doesn’t take a mechanics genius to work out that fluids are crucial in the process. Usually up towards the windscreen end of the bonnet, it’s also an easy system to understand but crucial to maintain.
A final tip: photocopy the sheet in the instruction manual with a diagram of the engine, and highlight the important parts with annotated notes. Place one version in the glove box, and ask your child to take a photograph and store it on their phone. It could save a lot of hassle and money.
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