Owning a car can be expensive and many of us put certain things off such as services because they can be costly. Unlike an MOT, a service is not mandatory so if you are short of money it may be the thing that you decide not to do. The problem with this is that by not having your car services on time, you may find that problems start to develop. During a service oil and filters are changed, engine levels such as coolant, washer fluid and brake fluid are checked and topped up if needed. They also do checks of some of the major components of the vehicle abs advise you of any wear or damage. Some of these parts may be checked in an MOT whereas others may not....

Automatic cars have been around for some time now and they have many advantages. For some people, they are their only way of being able to drive as if they have a medical condition that means they cannot drive a manual vehicle, then being able to drive an automatic give them back some freedom. There are many pros and cons of an automatic vehicle. They can be great in crawling traffic where you do not need to keep switching gears. In the drive position they constantly pull forward so you only need to put your foot on and off the break to move at a slow pace. If you experience a breakdown then having an automatic vehicle can make everything a little more complicated. You will not be able to...

At this time of the year as winter really takes hold some car owners begin to find a problem starting their car especially on cold, damp mornings. This may be because there is an issue with the car battery and can easily be resolved by replacing the battery with a new one. A battery that has started to deteriorate can be recharged but it is unlikely to be reliable in the future and so it is better to change it if possible. Many garages will check whether the problem is with the battery or whether it is an issue with the charging system of the vehicle. There are a range of different batteries on the market and it is important to get the correct one for your vehicle. Most car...

If you are purchasing a caravan or trailer you may find that your car does not have a tow bar fitted and so you will need to factor this into the costs. Most new cars do not come with a tow bar fitted as standard so unless you can source a used car which has a tow bar already fixed in place you will need to fit one but how easy is it to fit one yourself or is it a job that should be left up to the professionals? It is obviously going to be cheaper to fit the tow bar yourself, but it is not an easy task and certainly should not be attempted unless you have some mechanical and electrical knowledge. The forces involved in towing a...

Owning and running a car is expensive and the last thing any car owner wants to hear is that they have gear box problems. Often gear box problems cost well over a thousand pounds to fix and it usually means you have to fork out for a new or reconditioned gear box, not to mention the hours of labour to remove and refit it. The first sign that you may have issues with your gear box is that you struggle to get it to go in to certain gears. It may be that over the next few weeks, more and more gears become stiffer. Ideally you need to get the car checked out on the first sign of any issues as this gives you the best chance of picking it...