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Vehicle Maintenance

Car Safety and Pre-Drive Checks

A working owner's manual for checking the car before you drive it

Most roadside breakdowns and a meaningful share of avoidable collisions trace back to something the driver could have spotted before turning the key. This book is the working version of the owner's manual no one reads — short checks, in the order to do them, with the numbers that matter.

Contents

  1. Chapter 1 — The two-minute walk-around: POWDERS, in order

    7 min

    A short, repeatable pre-drive routine covering Petrol/charge, Oil, Water, Damage, Electrics, Rubber and Self.

  2. Chapter 2 — Tyres: pressures, tread, age and the spare

    5 min

    How to read a sidewall, when to replace before the legal minimum, the four-year rule on spares, and why mixing tyres on an axle is a fail.

  3. Chapter 3 — Brakes: pads, discs, fluid and the warning signs

    5 min

    Pad wear thresholds, the squeal of the wear indicator, what a long pedal means, and the brake fluid two-year rule.

  4. Chapter 4 — Lights, wipers and visibility

    4 min

    Headlamp restoration, wiper blade replacement intervals, washer jets and the demist routine that prevents fogged glass at junctions.

  5. Chapter 5 — Seasonal: winter and summer preparation

    5 min

    Battery testing in October, anti-freeze concentration, summer air-con regassing and the long-journey kit list.