4 Top Tips for How to Avoid a Vehicle Breakdown

If you’ve ever experienced a breakdown with your vehicle, you know how annoying it is to be stuck on the hard shoulder or a layby waiting for vehicle recovery or breakdown provider’s to arrive. Especially when you have places to be or it happens at the most inconvenient of times. Thankfully, you can avoid having to be stuck in those situations by following our top tips on avoiding a vehicle breakdown.

1. Keep your engine oil topped up

There are many benefits to ensuring your engine oil is topped up. For a start it stops heat and friction from building up in your engine and lubricates all of the moving parts within it to ensure they function properly. Not doing so can cause overheating or the components of your engine to grind against each other, causing friction. One of the reasons it’s so important to notice of your engine warning light coming on is that your car may have a problem that causes long-term damage to the engine, which is much worse than the short-term inconvenience of taking it to the garage. In most scenarios, there is usually an easy fix, but it’s not worth taking the chance.

2. Don’t miss a Service or MOT

No one likes going for a service to find out there are a lot more unexpected problems that need to be forked out for. Ultimately though, car mechanics are to cars what doctors are to you. Ensuring your car’s health is in top condition to prevent further costly repairs, or worst case scenario a breakdown or accident is what we are here to help with. Sometimes, we may even recommend that repairing your car may not be the most cost effective action and at the end of the day, we are affected by the cost of living too. We would never missell you parts that you do not need. At the end of the day, unless you are a mechanic your car’s health can only be diagnosed by a certified professional and bringing your vehicle in for a regular service and annual MOT can keep your costs in the long term down, as well as providing some much needed peace of mind. We often get asked what the differences are between an MOT and service. The easiest way to think about it is that an MOT is a legal requirement that checks the roadworthiness and safety elements of your vehicle, whereas a service is a more thorough check of your car’s health, and prolongs the lifespan and future value of the vehicle.

3. Drive responsibly

Also think about your driving habits, wait until your car has warmed up before revving the engine too high and try to minimise hard stops and starts to preserve the life of your brakes and clutch. Unless you really need to try and minimise what you keep in your car as the extra weight can bear down on your brakes and suspension systems. Lastly, don’t ignore the advisories from your MOT or service. If we advise you your brake pads are worn low, think about having them replaced before they damage the brake discs and add further costs to the repair. Driving properly can ensure you keep your service and MOT fees to an absolute minimum, as well as saving you money at the pump!

4. Trust your intuition

Ultimately, you know your car or vehicle better than anyone else. If you start hearing strange noises, new smells or your car isn’t driving as smoothly as it has done previously, always seek the help of an expert. It’s always better to call in and for a checkover than leave your car or vehicle to develop into a larger problem. Quite often we can diagnose a problem within minutes of looking at a car, and similarly, if there’s nothing wrong with it we will always tell you.

If you have any concerns about your car or vehicle you can contact us or book yourself in for an MOT or service by clicking here.