Tips for DIY maintenance

How to use these tips

These are general tips for maintenance that many drivers do themselves. They do not apply to every car: the owner's manual of your car always comes first.

Draft and not professional advice. These tips have not been checked by a mechanic or by the manufacturer. If in doubt about safety, have a garage do the work.

Checks you can usually do safely yourself

• Check tyre pressure with cold tyres, to the value in the owner's manual or on the sticker in the car.
• Look at the tread and sidewalls of the tyres for wear, cracks or bulges.
• Check engine oil and coolant level on level ground with the engine off.
• Top up the washer fluid and check the wiper blades.
• Check all lights: dipped beam, main beam, brake lights, indicators and fog lights.
• Check that the battery clamps are tight and clean.

If a warning light is on, look up what it means before you drive on.

Work better left to a garage

With some parts a mistake can be dangerous at once for you and for others. Prefer a professional for this work, unless you have the right training, tools and a safe place to work.

• Brakes: pads, discs, brake lines and brake fluid.
• Steering and suspension.
• Airbags and seat belt systems.
• The fuel system.
• The high-voltage system of an electric or hybrid car: do not touch orange cables.
• Work that needs you to lie under a car that is only held by a jack.

Buying a part yourself

1. Find the exact part number, for example on the old part, in the owner's manual or from the manufacturer.
2. Check that the part fits your car by plate, year and engine. A part that looks the same does not always fit.
3. Compare the total price including delivery and VAT, and read the return terms.
4. Ask a garage in advance whether they will fit parts you supply and what the warranty then covers. Not every garage does.

Whether a part fits your car has not been checked here. You must confirm that with the seller or manufacturer.

Keep a record of what you do

Write down the date, mileage and what you did, and keep receipts for parts. This helps with the service record, with a garage visit and when you sell the car.