When January comes around it gives us a chance to make a fresh start. Between busy daily schedules, it’s easy to neglect your car and not give it the treatment it needs. It’s easy to make resolutions, but whether we stick to them is another matter… however, we have a few resolutions that’ll be easy for you to keep.

Give your vehicle a good clean

Between running a home, work and all the things in between, it’s easy to forget about your car. We often say, ‘I’ll do that at the weekend’ and then it turns into the following weekend. To keep your car clean and tidy, inside and out, dedicate a date every month to set aside time.

Keeping on top of the maintenance will help keep your vehicle looking good as new.

Check your tyres regularly

It’s so important to keep an eye on your tyres regularly as they affect your vehicle’s performance. Recognising the warning signs that your tyres need replacing will help avoid unnecessary expenditure and most importantly, accidents.

Make sure that they remain at the correct tyre pressure and top up when necessary. You can adapt how often you check this depending on how much you use your vehicle.

Schedule two check ups during the year

Booking in both a minor and major service during the year will help save you any nasty MOT surprises. They say prevention is better than cure and that certainly is the case when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Spread them through the year strategically so your car is ready for its MOT during the year.

You’ll be surprised how much money you could possibly save and it’ll benefit the upkeep of your vehicle.

Address minor car problems quickly

Whether it’s a cracked wing mirror or a broken bulb, don’t leave it, get it fixed as soon as you can. Fixing the problem quickly will stop it from worsening, which could potentially save you money. It’s better to spend less money now than more later because you left it.

Drive smarter

Bad driving habits can age your car quicker than you think! For example, if you’re hard on your brakes, they’re going to wear down a lot quicker. Driving differently can have many positive effects on your vehicle, including fuel costs and prolonging engine life.

Try and keep these in mind starting from January 1…

• Don’t brake too harshly
• Try not to accelerate too quickly
• An obvious one, but don’t speed
• Let your car warm up properly
• Drive lighter and take out any unnecessary baggage

We hope this has inspired you to take on a few New Year’s resolutions for your vehicle and we’d love to know if you keep to them! You can expect more blogs like this next year, so if you’d like to see any particular topics, please let us know.