Try to recognise these 5 signs your car is giving you

It’s easy to take our cars for granted. You get in, turn the key in the ignition, and drive off to your destination. That’s what cars do: they drive. Except when they break down, for example because of an engine problem. But if you pay attention to these five simple signs, you might just save yourself from getting stuck by the side of the road with a broken down vehicle.

If you pay attention to these five signs, your car will last much longer.

1. General maintenance

Every minute your car is on the move, its parts wear a little more. The owner manual that came with your car – you know, the one that’s probably gathering dust in the glove compartment – will tell you when to replace all the different kinds of fluids, like the motor oil. The manual also tells you when it’s time to replace your tyres. If your car hasn’t had a check-up in a while, it might be best to get it to a garage.

2. The tyre tread is low

This works pretty much the same as with your shoes: when you’ve walked around on them a lot, they will lose tread and can’t grip properly anymore. And what happens then? You slip. The same happens with car tyres. You can very easily check your car tyres’ tread with a simple and effective test. All you need is a coin. Find out how this trick works in this article.

3. You’re running low on oil

If you take your car to the garage regularly, you’re not really going to have to worry about this. Do you have a tendency to neglect your car’s maintenance? Then it’s important to at least add this to your agenda. Your car’s engine oil needs to be checked every couple of months.

Need a refresher on how to check your oil? No problem!

• Make sure you’ve parked your car on a flat surface and you’ve turned it off completely (although it can help to run it for a couple of minutes so the fluids can start moving a little). Open the hood.
• Get out the dipstick and wipe it clean with a paper towel or a rag. Push it all the way back in and pull it out again.
• If all is right, the oil residue has gotten somewhere between the final two marks close to the bottom.
• If you’re running low, you can top up the oil with a litre or two. You do want to make sure you’re using the right oil, though, so refer to the manual for that.

Go to the next page to read about the last two innocent signs you need to be able to recognise in case your car is about to break down!

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