The world is, once again, balancing on the edge of economic chaos, and prices of everyday items are shooting up. With the added burden on our incomes to pay more for energy, food, and essentials, it can be tempting to wonder whether your car really does need that service after all. It’s running fine, no problems – what could go wrong? Motorists who are frequently driving in major cities like London, definitely require regular car servicing.
Let us take a look.
Table of Contents
Services Save Money
First of all, far from being an unnecessary expense, your car service will almost certainly save you money in the long run. The purpose of servicing is to replace any of the consumable car parts that need changing (oil and air filters amongst them) but also to spot any potential signs of future problems. Spark plugs can be cleaned and re-sited; small cracks and chips in the windscreen can be sealed, and your tyres can be checked carefully for signs of impending failure. Any one of these issues can turn into a major, and expensive, headache for you if left unchecked. These savings are usually invisible though, as you are never inconvenienced by the breakdown, or faced with a huge invoice, so it can be very easy to dismiss the pound value benefits of a regular service.
Services Save Lives
Much in the same vein as the above point, by finding and repairing vehicle issues while they are still small and manageable, your mechanic is preventing high-speed failures which can turn into catastrophic accidents in the blink of an eye. Again, this work is invisible: it is only in fiction that one can ever contemplate the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘might-have-beens’ of the road not chosen.
Your Car Might Insist
Modern cars are largely computerized and car manufacturers have come to understand that drivers are busy, forgetful and occasionally excessively frugal. This means that the day may well soon arrive when your car will insist on being serviced within the next six weeks or so, refusing to work after that date! It is easy to forget exactly when a service is due, so this feature, while almost certainly annoying to some drivers, will be a boon to others, who will happily accept their vehicle’s advice and book it in for a service within the allotted time frame. You can find out about your car manufacturer’s service availability and you can also avail car servicing in London at DAT Tyres.
Midway to MOT
The average UK driver covers about 7,000 miles per year. Service is required, according to mechanics and vehicle manufacturers, every 12,000 miles or 12 months. This puts most UK drivers firmly into the one-service-per-year category; while those who tip the balance towards the top end of the scale will probably be looking at two services per year. Whichever camp you fall into, having your service done six months before and after your MOT is a handy way to make sure that your car is still in a good, roadworthy condition. Then, if your car is getting older or more temperamental, you can book a mini-service to be performed at the same time as your MOT, ensuring that the mechanic will pick up and repair any potential MOT fails before the inspector begins the test.
Services Cover You
Should you be involved in an accident or breakdown and find yourself in a tricky legal situation: accused of parking poorly, of not having your lights on appropriately, or some other ‘you-say-they-say’ situation, then a good verifiable service record could tip the balance in favor of the truth: that your car was in perfect working order as of the date of that service. It can also help you to get good insurance cover for a reasonable price, as people who attend to the small details of car ownership are more likely to be careful and responsible drivers than those who play fast and loose with the rules.
So, should you get your car serviced in 2022, despite the rising cost of living? The UK enjoys vastly improved road safety since the introduction of the MOT test, and many current drivers simply do not know just how bad things were before the government stepped in to insist on vehicles on public roads being in the best possible condition. So the answer is, yes, you should get your car serviced in 2022: for your sake and that of everyone else on the road.
