Maintaining your car

Expert advice: the importance of car servicing

Importance of car servicing

Having your car serviced regularly will ensure it runs reliably (Picture © IMI)

The importance of car servicing should never be underestimated. There have been various surveys suggesting that at the height of the recession, increasing numbers of drivers were trying to save money by cutting back on scheduled car maintenance. In Green Flag’s experience at the roadside, it’s evident that many of the breakdowns our technicians attend are the result of cars not being properly looked after. Here’s all you need to know about the importance of sticking to your car manufacturer’s recommended servicing intervals.  Continue reading →

Mike Shaw 9 Comments

i-sapping is a threat to our cars’ health

i-sapping

Using a sat nav app such as Tom Tom on tablets can be a marriage saver (Picture © Fiat)

You may not have heard the term ‘i-sapping’ before, but the majority of drivers suffer from it. I-sapping is when mobile electronic devices are plugged into a car and charged from the vehicle’s battery. However, devices such as satellite navigation systems, smart phones and tablets can leave batteries drained if the cells aren’t in tip top shape.  Continue reading →

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Expert advice: what you should know about checking engine oil

Checking engine oil

Wearing a ball gown to inspect your oil in a field might be taking things a bit far… But it’s still important to check it regularly. (Picture © Mobil 1)

If the engine is the heart of your car, the oil is its blood, but checking engine oil is a lot simpler than major surgery! Without oil your engine can’t function as the oil lubricates all the moving parts and ensures your engine leads a long, healthy and happy life. It’s a worry that surveys show the majority of drivers can’t and don’t check the oil level in their cars because if the lubricant level gets too low, an engine will literally grind to a halt.  Continue reading →

Mike Shaw 3 Comments

How to clean and care for your car in winter weather

Clean and care for your car this winter

Give your car a good clean and work off the Christmas excess while you’re at it. (Picture © Autoglym)

Many drivers rarely give their car a second glance, but our motors do need a bit of TLC. So here are half a dozen ways you can clean and care for your car in the harsh winter weather Continue reading →

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Perfect Christmas gifts for car fans

Perfect Christmas gifts for car fans

Track days where you drive your own car can be a brilliant present (Picture © Guild of Motoring Writers)

The perfect Christmas gifts for car fans can vary from something they’ll use on their car to something about their car or something to do with their car. It may even be their first car, if they’re very young. Or it could be an item of retro clothing that helps them turn back the years. Here are five ideas for the perfect Christmas gifts for the car enthusiast in your life.  Continue reading →

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How to get your car ready for cold weather

How to get your car ready for cold weather

You don’t need four-wheel drive to stay safe in snow – but it helps. And there are other ways to get your car ready for cold weather. (Picture © Ford)

With temperatures set to plunge this week, new research reveals how unprepared many drivers are for the onset of freezing weather. With the Met Office predicting snow in some parts of the country, along with the thermometer dropping to -5 degrees Celsius in rural areas, Green Flag shows how to get your car ready for cold weather.  Continue reading →

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Expert tips: how to put screen wash in your car

Screen wash helps ensure you can see in low winter sun

Topping up your screen wash helps ensure you can see in low winter sun. (Picture © Prestone)

Car maintenance such as topping up screen wash isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. But there are some things drivers really should be able to do to ensure their cars are as roadworthy as possible. It’s quite a worry that a new survey shows that two thirds of drivers can’t check the oil level in their cars; 31 per cent don’t know how to check tyre pressures; and nearly a third don’t know how to fill their screen wash bottle.  Continue reading →

Mike Shaw 14 Comments

How fixed price servicing compares with pay-as-you-go

More car makers than ever are offering fixed price servicing

More car makers than ever are offering fixed price servicing. (Picture © Skoda)

Keeping a modern motor maintained can be surprisingly expensive. Car valuation expert CAP Automotive says even a Volkswagen up!, the car it says has the cheapest running costs on Britain’s roads, will cost £848 over the first three years of its life. Fixed price servicing aims to ensure you know what you’re going to pay well in advance so you’re not hit with a huge garage bill out of the blue. But do such schemes make sense, or are they just another way of extracting more cash from drivers?  Continue reading →

James Foxall 1 Comment

How to choose the best tyres for your car

It pays to fit good quality tyre brands

Buying a new set of tyres for a car is an expensive business that nearly every driver grumbles about. And with over 30 million new replacement tyres sold each year, that’s a lot of grumbling.

Unlike paying for insurance or even buying the car, precious few tyre retailers offer drivers the option to spread payments over a period of time, so there’s little choice but to stump up the cash before you can drive away with new, safe tyres.

I should know. Recently I began to research replacement tyres for our four-year old Mercedes E-Class estate. The difference between the cost of household name premium tyres and budget brands I’d never heard of was staggering. For four new tyres, the largest potential saving between premium and budget was £862.

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James Mills 4 Comments

Spare wheel: is it the end of the road?

End of the road for spare wheels?

Puncture repair kits are increasingly replacing spare wheels

For drivers it’s a modern dilemma: to have a spare wheel or not. On the one hand there’s the risk of being one of the 23,000 drivers Green Flag attended in 2013 who were stranded at the side of the road because they didn’t have a spare wheel. On the other there’s the fuel and therefore tax you might save by not carrying the extra weight of a spare wheel that you might never use.  Continue reading →

James Foxall 4 Comments

Now’s the time to check your tyres – and here’s how to do it

Defective tyres can cause crashes. (Picture © TyreSafe)

Defective tyres can cause crashes. (Picture © TyreSafe)

Latest official figures show that dangerous tyres were a factor in a third of the casualties caused by defective vehicles. Department for Transport statistics revealed that defective vehicles were responsible for 2855 casualties in 2013. Dangerous tyres contributed to 968 of those, or 34 per cent.  Continue reading →

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What diesel drivers need to know about their DPF

Here's what the DPF looks like (Picture © Vauxhall)

Here’s what the DPF looks like (Picture © Vauxhall)

Not many drivers know what a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) is – until it costs them serious money. And replacing one can cost £1000 or more. Green Flag attends a lot of cars that have broken down with DPF problems and they are caused by one primary factor: the DPF is clogged with soot because the driver has ignored the warning lamp. Here’s everything you need to know about the DPF dilemma.  Continue reading →

Mike Shaw 116 Comments

What kind of garage is best for the cheapest MOT test

Mechanic running MoTThe £54.85 MOT test is often seen as an annual expense drivers could do without, but it’s an important safety check that must not be ignored.

We’ve already shown how to cut the cost of the test by conducting your own pre-MOT inspection. Another way of ensuring you pay a minimum for your car’s yearly health check is to consider the many locations that can carry out an MOT test today. Here are the options drivers can choose from.

Franchised dealer

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How to perform simple tyre care

Child inspecting tyre© Falken

While the overall number of road accidents is falling, tyre-related crashes are on the up. Tyre industry experts agree that an important contributor is the lack of maintenance by drivers. Spot checks show the vast majority of tyres are under-inflated by around 15 to 20 per cent. According to tyre giant Continental, this can reduce a tyre’s life by a quarter and increase fuel consumption by 5 per cent. Yet tyre maintenance is remarkably simple and tyres that are correctly inflated are less susceptible to punctures and give improved handling and road holding. Here are some top tips from Steve Howat, general manager for technical services at Continental, on how to look after your car’s tyres.

Buy a tyre pressure gauge

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Performance ‘chips’ for cars: are they worth it?

Superchips performance graph© Superchips

Gone are the days of taking an engine to pieces and tinkering with oily bits of metal to extract more performance. Now a wide number of specialist companies can reprogram your engine’s Electronic Control Unit. It’s a process commonly known as ‘chipping’. And companies that do it frequently claim the procedure can result in improved performance, with as much as 30 per cent more power and 10 per cent more fuel economy. It typically costs around £200, but is it money well spent?

How it works

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James Foxall 1 Comment