Essential Car Maintenance for Summer Driving

With summer upon us, it’s a perfect time to look at some basics of car care. Of course, you can take your car to a service centre or mechanic, but you also have the option to do some things at home.

The logical starting points are the tyres and the engine. Let’s take a look at these two areas.

Tyre Maintenance

A crucial point is tyre pressure. Why? Having an under or overinflated tyre causes excessive tread wear, can cause sidewall damage, limits the size of contact on the road, and can affect the performance of your braking system.

The sidewall of the tyre will have the maximum pressure recommended for the tyres on your car.

The tyres themselves will be a certain size in diameter, width, and sidewall height. Again, you will also find this information on the sidewall. This is important as certain sized tyres should be fitted to your car and therefore, the pressure for them will vary.

Somewhere inside your car should be a placard with the right tyre pressures for your particular tyres and car.

Engine Maintenance

The most common thing to take care of as far as engine maintenance is changing the oil.  Fresh oil lessens interior engine wear nd will help in fuel consumption.

Keep in mind, however, safety is paramount, so pick up some good thick gloves and eye protection if you’re doing this at home.

Start with a good drive to warm up the current oil, which will make it easier to drain. Then jack up the car, loosen the sump plug, and slide in an appropriate holder. Carefully remove the plug. Remember the oil will be hot.

Using an oil filter remover, swap the old filter for a new one once the oil has finished draining.

Wait for the engine to cool and after reinserting the sump plug, pour fresh oil into the top of the engine. Refer to the car manual for information on the appropriate engine oil.

Other Maintenance Tasks

Another task you may wish to tackle is changing the spark plugs. Providing you set the gap at the end of the plug correctly, these will aid fuel efficiency by burning the fuel more effectively, reducing emissions, and improving driveability. Check what types of spark plugs your car needs before making any changes.

Next up, your air-conditioning system may need a regas. This is one task you should take to a licensed service centre where they can check for leaks from potentially corroded connections or cracked pipes.

Then there’s windscreen wipers. Being rubber, they suffer from UV exposure, and if not cleaned regularly, can trap and scratch windscreens from embedded particles. While you’re at it, check the level of wiper fluid, and if it needs topping up, head to your local auto retailer.

Last but not least, the radiator is important. Radiator fluid may fail to be efficient over time. Check your car manual to see how much, and what type of radiator fluid your car needs. Depending on the car you have, there will be a drain plug at the base of the radiator. Only drain the radiator when it is completely cold. Once drained, flush the system with water and follow the directions in regards to refilling.

Automotive Finance Tips for Private & Commercial Buyers

In the market for a new car? Buying for yourself or your business? In most cases, you’ll have to get a loan of some kind to finance it. Though it may be exciting to look at utes and cars to buy, saving money on finance can make all the difference to the bottom line. Here are some tips to finance your car, whether you’re a private or business buyer.

Setting a budget

You’ll need a clear idea of the sort of vehicle you’ll require for the job—or one that you want—as well as your budget. List your top priorities, including things like towing capability, safety features, fuel efficiency, and storage capacity.

You may now narrow down your selection of vehicles and determine how much you’ll need. This can also help when you’re looking for finance – knowing answers to your broker’s questions can be favourable.

New or used?

Buying new can actually mean lower interest rates due to the lower risk of the vehicle breaking down. Though it depreciates quickly, you can claim this back if you’re a business buyer. Used cars have lower prices but higher ongoing costs, such as maintenance and servicing.

Commercial finance – chattel mortgages

If you’re looking to get finance for a new work vehicle, a chattel mortgage (or hire purchase, which is similar) is the usual choice. A chattel mortgage is a business-oriented loan with tax perks and funding choices, suitable for financing your new car. For example, you can claim the GST, interest, and depreciation back.

Flexibility is its main virtue. A chattel mortgage might have a 12-month to 7-year loan period, or seasonal repayments as the case may be.

Next, you can finance more than the car’s value. Chattel mortgages let you to borrow additional money to pay for service, registration, insurance, and other expenses over time. This improves cash flow instead of paying for various on-road charges up front and using operational capital.

Chattel mortgages might have balloon payments, which reduces your repayments but requires a lump sum payment at the end of the loan.

More documentation may mean lower rates

If you can provide more documentation to support your application, brokers and lenders may pass on lower rates. This means demonstrating you’re a low risk – and lower risk means more competitive rates in kind. It may be worth gathering tax returns and profit and loss statements (or payslips) just for this purpose.

Loan pre-approval – your bargaining chip

You should also look into getting pre-approved for a car loan. This is the same as putting your car loan on hold until you find the right vehicle. Most brokers give you a month or two to find a car before you have to decide. It also gives you a price cap, which gives you an advantage with dealers or private sellers.

If you’re going to buy a used vehicle, it shows sellers you’re ready to buy (not just a tyre kicker.) With dealers, if you approach them right, you can get a car for your pre-approval amount – you can’t spend any more, so they have to meet your price. Dealers have to make sales – so use this to your advantage.

Remember, this advice is general in nature. Consult a financial adviser before taking on a loan of any kind.

What to Do if You Have Squeaky Windscreen Wipers?

There are certain noises in life that raise the hairs on the back of the neck.

Fingernails down a blackboard, the sound of screeching tyres behind you, for some it is even the chewing of a loved one…

However, when you’re driving, there is another one that takes the cake. And it gets a whole lot worse if you head out knowing it is already going to rain. What is it? Well, have you ever flicked the windscreen wiper switch and heard that loud squeak? Yes, we have too…with every back and forth, it is like teeth being pulled.

So if you find yourself in this position, what should you do?

It’s potentially a combination of factors, but happily, it’s a short list. There are only two, three depending on how you look at it, things that are involved. One is the windscreen itself. The second and potentially third are one or both of the wiper blades.

Given the most likely source of the squeaking is the blade/s, these would be the first port of call for a visual inspection. Lift the wiper arms up from the windscreen. Detach the blades from the arms and, using a good torch, inspect the blades themselves. Feel the blades with your fingers. Do they feel soft, malleable, easy to flick back and forth? Or are they dry, cracked, and brittle?

If any signs of a failing blade or blades are noticed, then a visit to your local auto parts retailer is in order to source new wiper blades.

Once new blades are fitted and lowered, get the hose and give the windscreen a good squirt. Activate the wipers and listen. Still noisy? Then having eliminated one part of the equation, the other has to be the windscreen itself.

Specific window cleaning products do a fantastic job, but the condition of the glass is critical.

Again, eyeball the window. One method is to get that torch onto it at night and shine across the window. Look for a straight beam of light bouncing off it. If the reflection looks scattered, it’s likely the same reason we polish cars. The windscreen is likely to be pitted, scratched, and this form of damage will grab onto a wiper like a child to a lollypop. Hence the squeaking that follows.

Depending on the condition of the glass, it may be useful to apply a treatment of IPA (iso-propyl alcohol) to further remove dirt and grime that may have become embedded and not removed by previous cleaning. IPA may also be used, gently, to clean blades that are dirty but fine otherwise.   Professional services can offer a polishing of the glass and this does need to be professionally applied.

Unfortunately, the worst case scenario, but one that dramatically lifts the safety factor, is a windscreen replacement. Not only will new and smooth glass reduce friction and allow rainwater to run off easier, forward vision is far less likely to be reduced thanks to light scattering from the tiny scratches.

Auto parts websites have plenty of information about the right replacement blades to suit your car, and this is also one of the most common DIY auto repairs. So if you’re in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask for help.

The 2021 World Car Of The Year Is…

Volkswagen’s ID.4. The electric SUV is the German brand’s fifth WCOTY after: 2013 World Car of the Year – Volkswagen Golf, 2012 World Car of the Year – Volkswagen UP!, 2010 World Car of the Year – Volkswagen Polo, 2009 World Car of the Year – Volkswagen Golf VI.

It’s still unclear as to whether it will make its way to Australia. What will be unavailable is a 77kWh battery, offering a range of up to 520 kilometres. Power is rated as 150kW and torque at 309Nm providing a 0-100kph time of 8.5 seconds. The rear is where the engine is located. Battery charge from a 120kW DC source can provide 320 kilometres of range in a half hour, and the 11kW charger built in can provide 53 kilometres in an hour.

It’s expected that a dual-motor version will be released with power bumped to around 225kW. Chassis wise, it’s a bespoke EV design, and on a length of 4,580mm, it sits neatly between VW’s Tiguan at 4,486mm and the Tiguan Allspace, a seven seater and 4,701mm in length. Crucially, it will offer cargo space of 543L (rear seats up) to 1,575L (seats folded), offset against the Tiguan’s 615L/1,775L and the Allspace’s 230L and 1,655L. Up front is a cargo area of sorts, with the cargo being the 12V battery for the ID.4’s ancilliaries and accessories, plus the various cooling system equipment parts.

ID.4 will be built across three continents and in five factories, highlighting the still “Dieselgate” beleaguered company’s move to a stronger EV presence in a market that is growing worldwide.

Ralf Brandstätter is the CEO of Volkswagen, and he firmly believes in positioning this EV as a mainstream model “with the potential for significant volumes.” Those volumes, he says, are in in Europe, China, and North America. The ID.4 will also “play host” to a range of related brand vehicles from Skoda, Audi, and Cupra.

Future versions of the ID.4 are said to include all-wheel drive and a choice of both batteries and engines. These include a 109kW, 125kW, 129kW or 150kW rear-mounted electric motor with a 52kWh battery the power source for the first two, and a 77kWh battery for the latter. This battery

will also be the source for two all-wheel drive versions, with either 195kW or a mooted GTX packing the 225kW engine.