Preparing Your Car for a Long Journey
Split the checks: the week before for anything needing parts, the morning of for five minutes. And set the tyre pressures for a loaded car, not a solo…
Guides
Straight answers on what’s wrong with your car, what it costs to fix, and whether it needs doing now.
Tyre Tread Depth: The Legal Minimum and How to Check
1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tread, around the whole circumference. Up to £2,500 and three penalty points per tyre — and why 3mm matters more.
Car Air Con Not Blowing Cold? Causes and Fixes
The pattern names the fault. Cold at speed but warm in traffic means one thing, weak airflow another — and a blocked cabin filter is the commonest cause.
How Long Does a Car Battery Last in the UK?
Four to six years typically, and less on short urban journeys. How to find out how old yours is, what the numbers mean, and why summer does the…
Why Your Car Won’t Start in Cold Weather
Cold squeezes from both ends at once: the battery delivers less while the engine gets harder to turn. Plus the causes that only affect diesels.
Winter Car Checks: 10 Things to Do Before It Gets Cold
Two of these are about safety and the rest are about not being stranded. The two nobody tests are antifreeze strength and screenwash concentration.
Power Steering Problems: Noises, Stiffness and Leaks
The same symptom means different things on hydraulic and electric steering. How to tell which you have in 30 seconds, then what each noise and stiffness means.
Alternator or Battery? How to Tell the Difference
The jump start test answers it in five minutes. The voltage figures that prove it, and why a stop-start car breaks the test everyone quotes.
Head Gasket Failure: Symptoms and What It Costs
No single symptom proves a head gasket — the cluster does. Which of the five failures you have, what each costs, and whether the car is worth repairing.
Turbo Failure Symptoms and Causes
Power loss, a new whine and blue smoke on overrun. But a split hose, a sensor or sticking vanes produce the same symptoms for a fraction of the…
Not sure what’s wrong?
Ring us and describe what the car is doing. We’ll tell you what it’s likely to be and roughly what it will cost before you bring it in.