Hot temperatures and heat can put strain on your engine, it’s important to properly maintain your car to prevent unexpected part replacements and breakdowns. If you are taking long summer drives to your favourite beaches or a road trip over the holiday season, then listen up – here are a few summer car care tips to follow
Keep an eye on your cooling system
In hot weather your engine’s cooling system has to work a lot harder to keep the engine from overheating. The coolant liquid should be changed as part of your regular service however it’s good to always keep an eye on if there is a leak – if you notice any puddles under your car, your car may be leaking coolant.
Check your tyre pressure
In hotter conditions, the air pressure in your tyres should be checked and kept within the manufacturers recommended level. Just remember to check the air pressure when the tyres are cold – as heat will cause the pressure to rise.
Check your oil level
It’s important to check your oil level every so often. Ensuring the correct oil level, you can prevent potential lubrication problems caused by the heat.
Maintain your wiper blades
Extreme heat can quickly turn to torrential downpour – don’t get caught with cracked windscreen wipers that are unable to work as they should.
Give your car a regular wash
Salt air doesn’t cause too many issues in the short term but it’s important to make sure you wash, polish and wax your car after a seaside trip to prevent any damage to the paint.
GVM, tare mass and GCM are just a few of the terms and acronyms that you will find in your owners manual – do you know what they all mean?
There are many terms that refer to the weight or load that your car is designed to carry or tow. It’s crucial as the driver to know these weights as well as to stick within them for safety.
Tare Mass
Tare weight or mass is the weight of the empty car with all of its fluids – but only 10 litres of fuel in the tank.
Kerb Mass
Kerb Mass is the weight of the empty car with all of its fluids – but with a fuel tank and without any accessories fitted, such as bull bars or tow bars.
Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM)
Gross Vehicle Mass is the maximum your car can weigh when fully loaded. This is specified by your car’s manufacturer and is found on the owners manual. This weight includes Kerb Mass plus all accessories as well as the payload weight.
Payload
The payload is the maximum load or weight your car can carry as stated by your car’s manufacturer. The payload weight includes all passengers and their luggage.
Gross Vehicle Axle Mass
Gross Vehicle Axle Mass is the maximum weight that your car’s axles can carry.
If you are ever worried about your car’s load then be sure to visit your nearest public weighbridge.
If you’ve bought a car recently then it’s likely you have hill-start assist, but have you taken a moment to learn more about it?
Rolling backwards on a hill can be dangerous and potentially quite embarrassing – hill-start assist can really make this a thing of the past. Hill-start assist is actually a safety feature – and forms part of a wider drive to make cars safer for drivers and pedestrians.
Mechanical hill-holders have actually been around in some form since the 1930s. hill-holder or hill-start assist mechanisms use the digital diversity that the modern car provides – it reads the angle of the road, the pedal position and then applies the brakes of your car while on a slope – independent of the driver when the car has come to a stop.
Hill-start assistance usually keeps hold for two-to-three seconds after coming to a stop – it’s best to hold down the brake manually if you have stopped for longer than that amount of time.
These systems are most useful in manual cars – but they’ve also become the norm in automatic and dual-clutch transmission cars as well.
With hill-start assistance in place, you don’t need to worry about using the handbrake – allowing you to have both hands on the wheel and your attention focused.
Buying a new car can be overwhelming! All the features that are available, and all of the options between models. There has been an incredible advancement in technology over the past decade, leading to tough choices, pricey options and multiple acronyms for features that you aren’t even sure you will need.
Here’s a list of must-have car features
Seats are often overlooked as a feature as they aren’t the showcase – and seat comfort varies from car to car and person and person – but it’s important to properly test drive a car and assess the seat comfort. You wouldn’t want to buy a car with uncomfortable seats, especially with the amount of time you spend driving around!
AEB will initiate braking for you if you don’t react in time in the event of a potential collision. AEB has the benefit of forward-collision warning and could potentially prevent a collision.
A backup camera is a great feature for reversing large cars – helping you to see any obstructions that may be behind you and reducing the risk of reversing over something.
Bluetooth connectivity lets you link up your phone to the cars sound system, allowing you the ability to answer your phone hands-free. A great safety feature if you are on your phone a lot while driving.
Automation is handy for wipers and headlights – two fewer things for you to worry about when navigating around town.
There are so many great features out there today – what are your non-negotiables when buying a new car?
Have you ever wondered what a crossover is? Is it an SUV or a high-riding wagon – or a four-wheel drive? It is two – or possibly more – all in one.
Sports utility vehicles or SUVs originally brought the crossover category into the automotive industry – from the Subaru Outback and the Volvo Cross Country, the earliest SUVs were considered as crossing over from one category to another.
Today, a variety of vehicles fall into the crossover category – ranging between the SUV and the family sedan.
Crossovers have a variety of benefits that have seen this category grow quickly – these include:
Fuel economy
Crossovers provide a lighter frame, compared to SUVs, meaning better fuel economy.
Passenger capacity
Crossovers are starting to compete directly with SUVs when it comes to passenger capacity – with some varieties offering optional seven-passenger seating.
Cargo room
While each car will differ in their cargo space – and can even become confusing – crossovers normally offer the ability to fold down rear seats or change the interior configuration.
Crossovers do come with a few downsides – when compared to SUVs, they do not provide heavy duty towing and cargo capabilities. Rugged off-roading is one of the compromises you will be making when buying a crossover.
Crossovers are right for you if you’d like a car that higher ground clearance than sedans, or if you’d like more cargo space. If you are looking for a perfect way to access those out of the way picnic or fishing spots – that a normal passenger car or sedan can't reach – then a crossover is for you.
Selling a car can be stressful but did you know that there are certain responsibilities for the buyer.
As the seller of a car, you are required to provide the buyer with a proof of your entitlement to register the vehicle.
Here are some of the documents that you as the seller can provide the buyer during the sale
It’s also the responsibility of the seller to notify the NSW Roads and Maritime Services when a car is sold in order for them to update their records to the new owner’s details. This can be done by lodging a Notice of Disposal form with your details (as the seller) and signature, the car’s registration number, date of sale and the details of the new owner. There is no fee when lodging a Notice of Disposal form.
There are other actions that you as a seller need to be aware of.
Did you know that if your car is older than five years, it must undergo an annual safety inspection to show that the car is roadworthy.
But probably the most stressful part of selling a car is finding the right buyer and selling for the car for the right price – Carbiz takes the hassle out of buying and selling your car, contact us today to find out more.
While there is a lot of car maintenance that you should leave to the professionals, there are a few things that you can easily do at home – without too much trouble.
Before doing any of these things, be sure to check your owner’s manual.
Windscreen wiper blades
Wiper blades can deteriorate due to sun or just perish over time. Wiper blades vary between cars, so be sure to check which wiper blades you need before purchasing them. They are usually very easy to change – and if you have any questions, there are many resources online to help you along!
Replacing globes
Headlight or taillight globes or even interior lights are relatively simple to replace. Replacing them yourself can save you both money and hassle – but be sure to buy the correct parts! The most important thing to research is how to access the old globe – which you should be able to find in your owner’s manual.
Oil and oil filters
While the change of oil and oil filters should be done at your annual service, it’s always a good idea to keep a check on your oil levels and oil quality. Be sure to do this check when your engine and oil are cool and if you do change your oil, be sure to follow your manufacturer's recommendation for grade and type of oil to use.
While general car maintenance is normally taken care of in your annual car’s service, tyres are often neglected or overlooked. From the tyre tread to the inflation pressure, there are many things to consider when maintaining your tyres.
Tyre maintenance checklist
Check the tread wear
Tread is vitally important in creating grip to the road. Without tread, the tyre’s ability to grip a wet road is severely limited. Tyres have a tread wear indicators which are moulded into the tread grooves to indicate when a tyre is worn to it’s a limit of safety. The minimum legal tread depth is 1.5mm across the width of the tread.
Ensure your tyres are inflated correctly
Tyre pressure is one of the most important things to maintain. An under-inflated tyre will wear differently on the edges, while an overinflated tyre will wear more along the centre of the tyre.
Set tyre rotation reminders
Your tyres will wear at different rates depending on their position on the car. On a Rear-wheel drive car, the back tyres will wear faster than the front tyres. Tyre rotation will help wear out all the tyres evenly. Regular tyre rotation should be done every 5000km’s – so be sure to set a reminder to not forget!
Check your spare wheel
The spare wheel is almost always forgotten – when last did you check your spare tyre? It’s important to check the tyre’s pressure regularly.