Part of the very basic level of car maintenance is checking your oil level regularly, it is recommended that you check your oil once a month and before a long journey.

The purpose of the oil in your car is to keep the moving parts cool and lubricated to stop grinding damage and dirt build up within the car’s engine. As soon as the levels start to drop you need to top up the oil with the recommend type stated in your cars manual, if you are unsure which oil to use you could always check at your local garage to be sure.

Along with keeping the oil level up in your car it’s also important to have the oil changed frequently, as each car is different and needs oil changes at varying frequencies it’s not a good idea to follow the old rule of ‘change every 3000 miles’ it’s vital that you check the manual. Most car services will check and change your oil and filters if needed but if in doubt just ask when you get your car booked in. Better safe than sorry!

All cars over three years old need to have a valid MOT certificate. An MOT is an inspection that is carried out on the vehicle by a certified garage. All MOT testing centres have a tick sheet of items that need to be checked during an MOT and they will report back any findings that they come across in regards to items that do not meet the standards or are close to not meeting the standards. These items are then put on to the MOT report which will show if that car has passed or failed. If the car fails on any of the MOT checklist items it will instantly fail and these issues will need to be rectified before a valid MOT can be issued. If they are close to failing then they will be put on an advisory list.

All MOT’s are now stored on a central Government system which the police and other authorities have access to. You are not allowed to drive a car on the road without a valid MOT unless you are driving it to a MOT testing station and have booked it in.

With the price of fuel rising rapidly over the past ten years, we all want to try and find ways to cut down on our running costs. Most cars require a service every year or ten thousand miles, which ever comes sooner. Some models now have what called long life is servicing meaning they can go twenty or even thirty thousand miles before the service light will pop up on your dash.

Chances are if you own a new car you will keep up to date with the services, so as not to void the warranty if nothing else. But for those of us with second hand cars it is often easy to put it off. Research has proven that timely servicing will reduce your fuel costs. During a routine service particular filters will be replaced and these are one of the items that can cause a car to use more fuel than it needs to.