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Summer Motoring Tips
Stay on the road this summer with a few basic tips for survival!
Modern cars are more reliable than they have ever been, and this is down to the fact that many of the working parts have been simplified and in many cases, require no adjustment during their lifetime. This reduces the problems to us, their owners. But despite this happy state of affairs, there are still risks where just a small of attention could help us avoid problems or even breakdowns during the summer.
The reason there are summer breakdowns is often due to the fact that it is on the holidays when we do our highest mileage. We also might be carrying more luggage than at other times. Two variables when we push our cars to the limit.
When heavily loading a car, say four passengers and some luggage. the obvious thing to do at this point is to check the tyre pressures. A heavily loaded car driving on the motorway will quickly wear down tyres if they are not inflated properly and will risk skidding in wet weather. It would be particularly upsetting when unloading the cheap beer and wine from France, only to find that all four tyres needed replacing because they had not been properly inflated!
Tyre tread is also important here. Those wishing to get ?just a few more miles out of their tyres during the summer are taking a bigger risk thatn they might have thought. During the summer, roads are not washed by the rain as foten, and the surface collects rubber and oil over time. The result is when it rains after a long dry spell, the roads become unusually slippery, and good tyre grip is essential at this time.
Motorway driving brings on that enemy of the windscreen, the dead flies. Over time they begin to restrict your vision, so the answer on the move is to use the windscreen washer. This means ensuring it is full before you begin the journey, but it also means a check on the wipers. Wipers have their hardest job in the summer rather than the winter. Regular winter rain keeps the wipes in good repair, but in summer, they are worn by cleaning dirty, sticky and fly strewn windows can very quickly make a windscreen difficult to see through.
Take advantage of the free Screen wash offer in this newsletter to ensure your screen wash tank is full.
The long journey in the summer is also when your car runs at its highest speeds for the longest number of hours. If you have a leaking exhaust, this is when it will deteriorate. Some exhausts can suffer from leaking joints for a year or to without a problem, but how can you be sure? Call in at any Challenger depot and get a free exhaust check. We can quickly tell you how much life is left in the exhaust. If you have to make a long journey and you are worried about a leak, we will be able to just repair that leak, so there is no worry of a failure on the long journey.
Finally, the small checks made before the long summer holiday are the most important ones. Check the oil! Long motorway journeys push the engine to high operating speeds, and this is the time when many will use oil. If the oil level is not correct when you set off, there could be trouble before you reach your destination. An engine that uses almost no oil during the working week when driving on normal roads, could multiply its use at high speeds. The price of forgetting this crucial check could be a breakdown or even a new engine.
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