How often should I have my car serviced?

How often you should get your car serviced depends on how often you drive your car. As a rule to live by, you should have your car serviced every 12 months. If you drive your car many miles every day – even if these are motorway miles – your car will benefit from interim services every 6 months. If you manage to cover 12,000 miles before the 12 months is up, you should then get your car serviced, too. This many miles is more than enough for your oil to become old and potentially sludgy, as well as your coolants…

Preparing Your Car for Winter: Maintenance Tips

Tis the season to pack your winter emergency kit and place it in the boot, ready for any long delays during the winter weather. Along with your emergency winter kit, here at Universal Tyres we recommend you thoroughly prepare your car for the harsh winter ahead. Here’s a few suggestions from our experienced mechanics. Have your car serviced A professional mechanic is qualified to inspect every major component of your car and check it for damage and wear. Not only that, they can monitor every fluid level and replace or top up fluids as required. A professional service is therefore…

Treading carefully: Staying safe on wet roads

It’s November, you’re stuck in traffic and the driving rain is driving harder than your car, which is going nowhere. A gap in the traffic suddenly opens. To make up for lost time, you floor the accelerator. Then, as you make a bid for freedom from the droves of standing vehicles you feel your own steering go light and the car is out of control. Aquaplaning This scary situation happens all too often in winter, when there is likely to be far more hazards on the roads. Ice, sleet and standing water are all problems caused by plummeting temperatures and…

Young drivers and tyre safety: What you need to know

Ditching learner plates is a proud moment for every teen driver. The freedom of the road beckons, and with it – though they don’t realise it – are all the problems that come with car ownership. Turns out, tyres are a subject that young drivers don’t find all that gripping. How much do young drivers know about tyre safety? Let’s start with some statistics. One survey found that of the UK’s young drivers: 85% underestimated the fine for each illegal tyre 62% underestimated the legal tyre tread depth 57% didn’t know that the driver is responsible for road legal tyres…

Tyresafe: New air pressure campaign

October marks the launch of a new campaign from TyreSafe, who are asking: are you having a good or bad air day? It’s an odd question, but here’s why they are asking it. Research conducted by TyreSafe in 2016 revealed that 57% of vehicles on UK roads are travelling with tyres inflated below recommended pressures. This equates to motorists spending up to £600 million on wasted fuel every year. A more pressing issue is that all these underinflated tyres increase the risk of skidding, blowouts and many other automotive hazards. October is the tyre safety charity’s official Tyre Safety Month…

Don’t be caught out by the £2500 MOT fine!

Take your car for its MOT before the expiry date written on the current certificate and you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re doing yourself and other motorists a favour. However, you’d be wrong. Many UK motorists are feeling the full force of the law and being caught out with fines costing up to £2,500 because they don’t know a simple rule regarding their MOT certificate. The Law If you take your car for an early MOT test and it fails, you could be risking prosecution by taking the car back out on the road as it is immediately deemed unroadworthy.…

Staying Cool This Summer: Important Air Con Checks

Year on year the highest temperatures of summer increase and this can be frustrating for motorists who haven’t had their air conditioning properly maintained. Fortunately, ‘recharging’, ‘refilling’ or ‘regassing’ your auto’s air con is simple for a qualified mechanic to perform and is well worth it for summer and winter driving. Let’s take a look at why your air con is probably due for a tune up. Why Air Con Stops Working Air conditioning uses refrigerant, otherwise known as ‘gas’, to cool your car effectively. When in use, the gas shifts in state from gas to liquid and back to…

London Rat Race & Ellenor charity update

At Universal Tyres, we’re no strangers to getting involved with charity events and raising money for some fantastic causes. Earlier this month, a team from Universal Tyres took part in the London Rat Race, supporting the Ellenor charity. On Saturday 12th of August, 2017, our team took on the 10km challenge which was filled with physically demanding, wet and wacky stages. Stages included crawling through foam-filled washing machines and quick rope climbs. We raised a whopping £3k for Ellenor, a charity which helps families who are facing terminal illness. This brilliant organisation helps people and their families to make the…

Car Checks for Summer

When you’re motorway-bound and heading to the beach for the summer, the last thing you want is your car to breakdown. With higher temperatures, increased traffic and therefore congested roads, the chances of engine failure increase significantly during the summer holidays. That’s why this month we’re giving you a rundown of the basic car maintenance checks you can do quickly and easily to keep your car running smooth all the way to the seaside. Battery If you turn the ignition key and your car has a tough time starting, it may be time to have a professional mechanic look at…

Dashboard warning lights: Do you know what they mean?

The cars of today are impressively kitted out with the latest engine management technology, including your vehicle’s warning lights. Every modern car uses these and they’re the most effective tool for keeping your motor running reliably all year round. It’s therefore important to get familiar with what a warning light means, should one illuminate on your dashboard. In all cases it’s recommended to pull over as soon as possible and take the necessary action to fix the problem. In this way, you’ll avoid a complete system failure or serious breakdown. Afterall, solving simple engine issues saves motorists hundreds of pounds…