After scanning the internet for a few days looking for my next car, I was surprised to see how many were being sold with little or no MOT. Anything under about 5-6 months is always a bigger risk as there has been plenty of time since the last MOT for things to start going wrong. If a car states that it has little or no MOT but shouldn’t need much to get it through, then again be wary. If the owner really thought it didn’t need that much work to pass the MOT then surely a large percentage of people would MOT it first, making it easier to sell and allowing them to obtain... Read More
Preparing the car for an MOT
Having a MOT carried out on your vehicle can be a nerve wrecking time for any car owner. It may be that it is the first MOT that it has undergone since you owned it so you may have no idea what it may pass or fail on. When booking your car in for a MOT make sure that you book it in in advance as once the MOT has expired you will not be able to drive it around unless taking it for the retest / repairs. There are things that you can do at home to try and ensure it does not fail on anything small and obvious. Tyres are checked during the MOT so make sure that they are above... Read More
Using a car wash
A car wash is a great way to get your car cleaned quickly without having to get dirty yourself. In recent years we have seen a massive increase in hand car washes (where your car is washed by a person rather than a machine). This can cost as little as three pounds and they often can reach places a machine simply cannot. When using an automatic carwash, ensure that you have removed you aerial and that you do not have any loose trim as they can easily be ripped off in the process. Some people say that car washes scratch your paint work, so always be careful which on you use... Read More
Vauxhall lighting system
After owning my Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 2005 model car for just over 6 months, I noticed a light appear on the dash. The light was a warning light telling me that one of my blubs had failed and needed replacing. Most modern cars have this warning light system on them but often it does not tell you which blub it is that has blown. After spending many hours investigating to find out which blub needed replacing and carrying out a visual check of all the lights around the car, I was confused to see that they all appeared to be working. Next time my car went in to the garage to... Read More
Is it worth paying the extra for premium fuel?
When you go to many car garages you have the option to use their regular fuel or premium fuel. The premium fuel can be quite a bit extra, recently I paid an extra 10p per litre for it so I could compare the difference. Although I do seem to have had slightly more miles to the gallon, it still did not quite cover the additional cost I paid for the fuel. The fuel is also supposed to be better for the engine components such as the fuel filter, meaning it could save you money on repairs / breakdowns but this is very hard to measure. The only way to test it really is to put a... Read More