Getting to know your car and performing minor car-care tasks between services is a great way to ensure your vehicle runs at optimum performance and may serve to prevent major repairs due to general wear-and-tear. It can also be fun as well as useful to learn as much as possible about the way your car works.

Read the manual

The car’s manual is a good place to start for instructions on the working mechanics of the car. It will contain some simple car maintenance tasks you can do yourself at home.

Easy maintenance

Firstly, check and top up your windscreen washer fluid and clean your windscreen regularly. A clean windscreen makes all the difference to driving safety and enjoyment. Learn how to replace your wiper blades to prevent scratching your windscreen. Check your coolant and oil levels and top up where necessary. Many an overheated engine has been caused by neglecting this simple checklist. Check the water levels in your battery (if applicable) and top up if necessary. Clean the battery terminals to prevent a flat battery. Take the car to the service station and check the air pressure in tyres matches the recommendation in the manual. Some vehicles also have a guide to tyre pressure inside the driver’s door.

Challenge yourself

You can also familiarise yourself with fan belts, replace bulbs in headlights and interior lights, do a test run of changing a car tyre, including working the jack. Make sure the spare tyre is in good working order with correct pressure, and have a go at rotating tyres. Do a stocktake of your car’s tool kit and make a list of additional tools that might also be handy.

Simple maintenance tasks performed between services will help to make your mechanic’s job easier and save you money. Contact your local auto repairs and services outlet or a local mechanic for your car’s regular service.