If you follow me on social media, then you'll no doubt be aware that we're somewhat cursed when it comes to the luck we have with our car and traveling long distances.
It seems that every trip we go on, we end up either breaking down halfway there or our car dies a death the day before we're due to travel!
This year, Suzie (Our affectionate nickname for our car...please tell me we're not the only ones who name the car?!) managed to splutter to a complete halt in February when we were halfway to London the evening before we were due to drive to Disneyland Paris - meaning we ended up paying out for last minute flights to get us there instead! And then she managed to die again the day before our last trip there in October, too! Meaning we had to get a hire car to get us there instead. Impressive!
Despite the hassle we have with Suzie though, we're the kind of people who prefer to stick to used older cars because the thought of paying out crazy sums of money for anything newer just does not appeal. But with older cars, you do need to be extra conscientious about doing regular checks on a vehicle to make sure everything is in good working order.
One thing that's really important is making sure the tyres are looked after, which actually involves far more knowledge than I myself thought.
Kwik Fit have just released a Tyre Challenge quiz to test the general public's knowledge on looking after their car tyres, and I'm embarrassed to say - I failed it pretty miserably! I scored 3 out of 10...yikes! Although to be fair to myself, I'm not the driver in the family and haven't actually taken my driving test yet...I would hope that my other half would score far more highly!
You can take the quiz yourself here to see how your tire knowledge compares to mine (hopefully it's much better!).
It's well worth brushing up on your knowledge around tire safety as failure to comply with regulations can result in a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points for each illegal tire. Not to mention the potentially life threatening impact it could have on the safety of your vehicle.
As for our old Suzie, I'm crossing my fingers that after the recent repairs she's had we can get another year out of her - infact I'm just about to book an MOT online as it's about to expire - but I think it'll soon be time to replace her, so if you have any tips on buying second hand cars let me know!
*This is a collaborative post
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