Bedford garage owner offers advice to reduce this month’s 500,000 car breakdowns
Bedford garage owner Michael Barone from Nitro Autos is playing his part to help the UK’s 500,000 motorists, who Green Flag are forecasting will break down this month, to avoid the winter misery of the roadside call for help.
‘As the cold sets in, December is notorious for breakdowns,’ says Michael Barone, ‘but many of them are completely avoidable through going through some simple winter checks.’
His five ‘Must do at Home Checks’ are simple and quick, but could avoid being late for the Christmas lunch or even missing the child’s school nativity play completely.
• One squirt of WD40 into locks can keep them from seizing up for the season. Have a can handy.
• Make your windscreen your best friend. Use a good strong screen wash to avoid it freezing, and have a new can of spray ready to thaw out the frozen screen. Don’t rely on the bit left at the bottom of the can from last year! Check your wipers and replace them if they are worn.
• Mend the chip on the windscreen. It might not have bothered you in summer, but when you turn the demister on full on a cold morning it is quite likely to crack the whole windscreen.
• Clean your headlights. Not just once a week, but every time you get into the car. If you can’t see where you are going, you may well not get there.
• Keep your battery healthy. They hate the cold and if not looked after will leave you hating the cold too. If the car is not being used regularly, make sure you turn it over daily to keep it boosted. If it shows signs of struggling, get it changed. Don’t just hope it will be better next time. It most probably won’t.
Safety is at the top of the list too for Michael Barone. ‘There are some things that many drivers simply don’t know how to go about doing', he says. ‘Things like checking coolant levels, and brake fluid levels are often just not done at home by car owners. Which is why at Nitro Autos we offer a free ten point safety check, to cover these areas, together with tyre wear, engine oil levels and leaks, bulbs etc. Of the half a million motorists who are likely to break down this month, nine out of ten could avoid it by some quick simple checks. Don’t leave it until it’s too late’.
Notes to Editors:
Nitro Autos is a privately owned Bedford garage which focuses on quality car maintenance, MOTs and car safety.
Michael Barone is available for interview, contactable on 07710253515.