This post aims to document some of the basics of car maintenance based on my own experience. No doubt there are other things that are great to check, but I’ve listed what I believe to be the key items for regular maintenance.

THE BASICS

1. Check your Tyre tread

The legal minimum in the UK is 1.6mm (at the time of writing). Tyres come with a raised section in the middle groove which is designed to sit at the minimum tread depth. This acts as a good indicator, though isn’t that accurate. I would highly recommend buying a cheap tyre tread checker (no need for a digital checker),a basic manual measure will be fine to show you when your tread is running low. Low tread is much more dangerous in winter than summer, so consider changing your tyres at 2.0mm in winter.

Thinking about rotating your tyres: Tyres have only got a fixed life… I’d recommend keeping a tyre for no longer than 4 years. So consider moving tyres from your non-drive wheels (e.g. rear wheels on a front wheel drive car) to your drive wheels. This ensres you don’tend up with any old tyres on your car that are at risk of perishing (and therefore more at risk of blowouts).

If in doubt, seek advice from a nationwide tyre chain like ATS Euromaster (note: ATS is generally cheaper online, arrange an appointment online if you know what work needs doing) or Kwik Fit, these companies are often happy to do a free inspection of your car to see if any work is needed.

2. Check your Tyre pressure

There is enough press about the efficiency loss that comes with a small drop in tyre pressure. Topup your tyres when in the petrol station once a fortnight for a couple of weeks, and work out how regularly it is worth a topup. I try to do mine once a month.

Another cheap purchase is a tyre pressure checker. I have a little manual one in the car. This means you can check your tyre pressure at your leisure.

3. Are your wiper blades up to it?

I’ve heard people quote loads of different timescales for the life of a wiper blade. It obviously varies considerably based on your mileage, and the conditions you drive in. I personally expect to change mine twice a year.

Ensure you clean the wiper blades when washing your car, or wipe a kichen towel (tissue) over the blade once every couple of weeks. If you dampen the tissue with vinegar, this will help remove dirt, and improve the life of the blade.

I would recommend Halfords or WiperBlades.co.uk for blade purchases.

4. Top-up your screenwash

A lack of screenwash could risk poor visibility for no good reason. Buy some screenwash, water it down per the instructions, and keep it topped up well. Don’t try and scrimp on the screenwash. Watering it down more will simply mean you tire your wiper blades quicker.

I personally use Halfords screenwash. I find this to be more better than cheap brands, and is in-expensive itself.

5. Check your lights work

Ever noticed people driving past you with one or more bulbs blown? This can land you in trouble with the Police, and put your safety at risk. It’s simple to check too. Turn your lights on, and check them all… dipped, full beam, fog lights, indicators etc… don’t forget your brake lights… you may need a friend to help with this, or you can reverse close to a wall to check in your rear view mirror.

I’ve found eBay, and Amazon better priced for car light bulbs than car parts stores, even when buying quality bulb brands.

6. Check your oil levels

Guide: See Peugeot 206 Oil check guide

Low oil, or too much oil, can damage the oil. It’s easy to maintain, and just requires keeping an eye on.

The guide above can give you an example of maintaining your oil. Always ensure you check oil on a cold engine, and that the car is on a flat surface!

I recommend buying oil from a car parts store like Halfords or EuroCarParts. They will help ensure you buy an appropriate oil for your car.

KEY OTHER CHECKERS

7. Check your engine coolant level

Look around your engine for the symbol to the left. This is where you add engine coolant… engine coolant is water and anti-freeze.

NEVER open the coolant unless the engine is totally cold. Coolant extracts the engine heat and will be VERY hot. It WILL burn you if the engine has been running recently.

Your car manual will tell you which engine coolant you need, and the right mix of water and anti-freeze to use. NEVER add just water.

8. Check your engine air filter

These become clogged over time, and reduce the efficiency of the engine. They’re generaly cheap and easy to replace (get replacement parts from good car parts stores like Halfords or EuroCarParts, or from online sites like eBay and Amazon). You can chek your air filter and shake out large debris regularly. When it gets blackened with dirt, think about replacing it.

I have 2 house cats (they don’t go outside at all), and I used the standard FrontLine spot-on to minimise the risk of fleas (albeit, with the vets advice, applying 25% less frequently than for outdoor cats). I still got this issue though. Below are the steps I found to be critical to killing off the fleas… I hope this helps anyone out there having similar pain.

Cleaning the house

I’d like to think that I’m actually a very clean person, but with fleas in the house, this called for a slightly obsessive level of cleaning, particularly vacuuming, and changing bed sheets etc..

Vacuuming

I tried to do this daily, pulling items out where possible to clean under them, vacuuming right up to the walls (using a tool to get the power right up to the edges) and vacuuming the sofa surfaces too. Many places suggested cutting up a flea collar and placing it in the vacuum to ensure any fleas vacuumed up were dead. I must admit I just went for emptying the vacuum outside, though obviously this carries with it a risk of taking them back into the house!

Surfaces

Next the obsession moved towards surfaces my cats liked, cat beds, throws, bed sheets, the whole lot went for a good hot wash.

De-fleaing my pets

Flea Treatments

After several failed attempts with a range of products the vet was happy to recommend and sell to me (one of which I would definitely not recommend… the spray on versions… my boys (cats) HATED it, and spraying them all over and rubbing it over their face etc.. made me very unpopular, and wasn’t easy to do!)… I came across a product called FrontLine Combo (NOT to be confused with standard FrontLine) which was sold by prescription only, but that my vet was happy to recommend. This stuff worked miracles!

Basically, FrontLine Combo (and no doubt competitors sell similar upgraded versions of their standard flea prevention products) uses Fipronil, and prevents the development of flea eggs, such that you don’t have to wait for them to hatch to kill them off! The way it was described to me, this product protected the environment around the cat, and not just the cat. From what I could tell, this was true, as this appeared to be the final straw for the fleas. I would highly recommend this product, having tried the standard FrontLine product with no real impact to this issue. I do in-fact use it now as standard rather than the standard FrontLine product, and the vet, and FrontLine, seem happy to say this is correct usage of the product (i.e. you don’t have to have fleas to use this Combo product).

Combing

I’m not sure if this was important, but having a flea comb and combing through the boys fur was, if nothing else, an easy way to measure the success of what I was doing. The thought of fleas makes humans itch, so you can’t really trust your senses to tell you how you are doing! In-case you lift out any live fleas, ensure you have a pot/jar/saucer of water with a single drop of washing up liquid in it… dip the comb in it regularly, the oil of the soap helps grab the fleas, and prevent them jumping away (as they can from water) so they end up drowning. I found the fleas liked the spot at the end of the spine, just at the base of the tail most. But comb all over to rid your pet of these, and particularly to lift out eggs, and flea droppings, as these irritate the skin, and can cause skin issues/irritation for your pet.

Feel free to comment if you have any other ideas/methods that have worked for you.

The Error

I was getting an “Unknown Error Reported” error message everytime I clicked “Synchronize” or “Backup” in the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. My BlackBerry WAS connecting to the laptop fine, but there appeared to be an issue in the communication to perform these tasks. Restarting the machine and connection made no difference at all.

The Fix

Initially I tried Resetting the Syncronization settings using the “Reset configuration” button in the Desktop Manager, under the Configure->Syncronization section of the Syncronization screen… this is worth doing, as it is the official BlackBerry function for fixing such issues… but it didn’t work for me!

I then decided to attempt to reset the configuration for the connection myself.. this DID work!!
1. Disconnect your BlackBerry from your PC first.. as you’re about to reset the connection settings!
2. Click the OPTIONS menu, and then DATA FOLDER OPTIONS
3. If you are using the DEFAULT location, click on USE THIS SPECIFIED FOLDER. This is purely to make it easier to copy the folder path easily. Copy the path, and click CANCEL, so you don’t actually change any settings here.
4. Now in Windows Explorer, paste the path into the ADDRESS bar at the top, and hit the return key. This should take you to your data folder for BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
5. You should see an INTELLISYNC folder. Delete it. This contains all the configuration for the Syncronization function, which appears to be used for backups too!
6. Now reconnect your BlackBerry and syncronize your BlackBerry… it should work beautifully!

Hope that helps you if you have a similar error!

1. Use plenty of water. If possible, rinse the car down with a hose first (low pressure so as to wash off grit etc.. without scratching the paintwork).
2. Use a car specific soap (NOT washing up liquid). I use Triplewax Car Shampoo (available from Amazon or eBay, if you don’t have a good local car parts store). This is cheap, but effective. Enure to soak tough dirt (bird poo, tar marks etc..) rather than rubbing them too heavily.
3. Soak the windscreen particularly, to ensure all dirt is removed. Clean wiper blades with the same mix after windows and paintwork are complete. Wipers perform much better when clean!

General Exterior – Wax

A decent wax can make a real difference to your cars appearance, with a very satisfying shine! I use Meguiar’s wax products, though I accept this takes a good amount of time to apply and buff up. Auto Glym is a quicker product to apply and buff in my experience, though doesn’t seem to last as long for me.

Scratch Remover

T-Cut, Colour Cut, and GS-27 are all designed to remove very light scratches. Don’t expect any miracles, but if you have very light scratches, they maybe able to make them a lot less visible, by softening the edges.

Glass

Glass cleaner is a must, particularly on the windscreen. I used to simply wash the windscreen and windows while washing down the paintwork. But a quick wipe down of windows, and screen, after your normal wash, will make for a smoother wipe in the rain, reducing smears and glare.

This said, ensure your glass cleaner is ammonia-free as ammonia shouldn’t be inhaled (and certainly not used in a confined area like a car). Ammonia also dries leather and rubber, so will damage seals.

Hubcaps/Wheels

Brake dust gets baked onto hubcaps or wheels, and can be extremely difficult to remove. I found Auto Glym’s wheel cleaning product to be the best for removal, though all wheel cleaning products are very corrosive (to my knowledge), and therefore need to be removed thoroughly and quickly from the hubcap/wheel to prevent them doing damage themselves. This said, I recommend in-frequent use of a wheel cleaning product, say every 6-8 weeks.

Tyre Rubber

I used to spray a tyre blackening agent/lubricating product onto my tyre walls after they had dried from a wash. I convinced myself that this extended the life of the tyres, and improved their look. In reality, given I drive 100 miles each day, the effect was short lasting, and my tyres have never been at risk of aging before I’d worn the tred through!! The only real benefit here was that overspraying onto the wheel would coat it with a layer that would reduce the ability for brake dust to stick. I don’t believe there is any real benefit of these products for those simply seeking to clean their car!

If you do choose to use such a product, be very careful not to cover ANY of the contact area of the tyre, as these products add a coating to the rubber, and will therefore reduce stopping distance if applied to the contact area of the tyre. Only therefore ever apply to the wall of the tyre (the vertical element – the side of the tyre!)

Exterior Trim

When in a car parts store, I bought some “Back to Black” one day (many other black-out products exist). I was amazed when I applied it. I just hadn’t realised how much my “black” exterior trim had lightened. A simply application of “Back to Black” made a huge difference on my silver car, increasing the contrast, and making the trim look almost new. I would warn to wear gloves and old clothing when applying, as the colour will heavily stain your hands or clothing. It will however wipe straight off your paintwork, so I must admit, I don’t worry about being too accurate, I prefer to get into all the gaps and corners, and then wipe it off the paintwork when dry.

Interior Trim

I find a damp microfibre cloth works like magic on interior trim. No soaps or chemicals required. These can be bought very cheaply, and used in the house too (I must admit I keep car cleaning ones separate, as they tend to pickup oils/grease).

What does Pet Insurance cover?

Each policy will be different, but you can expect to find policies covering some (or all) of the following:

Vet Fees
The most commonly thought of area of cover. You can expect to find cover for Veterinary bills varying from cover for operations alone, through to covering almost all vet fees.

Third Party Liability
As a pet owner, you are liable for the acts of your pet. This means you are liable to pay compensation and damages to anyone negatively affected by the acts of your pet. This can cover everything from damage to someone’s property, bites and even vehicle accidents caused by your pets behaviour. Most policies will now cover any such costs. Dogs are the highest risk generally in this area.

Accidental/Illness related death
Some policies now provide a lump sum payout in cases of your pets’ accidental or illness related death. Policies will usually not payout for death brought on simply by “old-age”.

Holiday Cancellation
If your cat/dog gets ill at the wrong time, it can have a huge impact on you and your family. Going on holiday with the family pet ill just isn’t an option. This is an area now being covered by many Pet Insurance providers, providing cover for the costs of cancelling holiday due to your pet’s illness.

Lost/Stolen Reward
Many policies now cover expenses relating to trying to find your lost or stolen cat/dog. This includes advertising costs and even a reward.

Accidental Damage
This is a more rare element of cover, but a very usual one to help cover the repair or replacement of items you own that are damaged by your pet.

Comparing Policies – Things to look out for

As with any type of insurance, it’s a competitive market and you’ll find everybody trying to undercut each other, and although that sounds great, you need to be careful not to lose out on cover.

Shopping around is definitely vital, but keep an eye on the areas covered by your insurance. Here are a few things we recommend you watch out for:

Pay-out Limits
You’re likely to find you’re faced with a limit to how much you can claim on the policy. This is usually limited either per condition, or per year…or by both. Be sure to compare any limits between policies.

I found only PetPlan to offer long running cover for long term illnesses. This means other insurers would stop paying for conditions like diabetes and arthritis after 12 months (or after a payment limit had been reached).

Excesses
Excesses are an easy way to bring down the policy cost, but be careful to set this at a reasonable level. Remember, you may have to make multiple claims on the policy (and therefore pay the excess more than once), so don’t set the excess at the very highest you could afford!

Pet Insurance Advice Sites

Here are some sites which can help with further pet insurance advice:

http://www.petinsuranceadvice.com
http://www.insureyourpet.co.uk
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk
http://www.petinsuranceinfo.co.uk

Pet Insurance Providers

Pet Insurance brokers are a great way to get a good quote. We’ve all heard the adverts, and it’s true, they’ll do the leg work for you.
Note: It’s important though to check the details of the exact policy they recommend. This is because sometimes (and only sometimes) brokers offer a slightly scaled down version of the insurance providers standard policy, so check the policy being offered covers everything you want it to…and everything the others you’re comparing it to, offer.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com
http://www.gocompare.com

Pet Insurance Providers

http://uk.virginmoney.com
http://www.petplan.co.uk
http://www.tescofinance.com
http://www.directline.com
http://www.morethan.com
http://www.asdafinance.com
http://www.stonewaysinsurance.co.uk
http://www.endsleigh.co.uk
http://www.mrlinsurance.co.uk
http://www.eandl.co.uk
http://www.marksandspencer.com
http://www.churchill.com
http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk

The trouble is that you have to continue paying for insurance with them (this seems reasonable), but the cost goes up each year, and they don’t tell you the amount it will be until renewal time. This can make it difficult to decide whether this type of insurance is right for your pet.

To help give others a view of the cost of PetPlan, I’ve gone back over my PetPlan invoices, and provide below a table of the last 5 years of renewal costs as an example of the change year on year with PetPlan. This was for 2 cats, and is a real life example. I don’t work for PetPlan, and I have no way of knowing whether yours will rise the same, but hopefully this will give a real life example to those seeking to consider Pet Insurance, and wondering how much it is likely to go up each year for the age of the pet, and general inflation.

Note: The above costs are for 2 cats, and include a £24 per annum (£2 per month) multipet discount. So 1 cat for the period is likely to have cost from £13 to £19 per month.

Personal experience with Pet Plan update: 17th May 2009

One of my cats had an issue with his teeth when he last visited the vets. They recommended he be put under anesthetic so they could look a little closer, and do any necessary work… I obviously obliged.

Work done, and a couple of teeth down, I’ve put a claim into Pet Plan and its been initially rejected despite my discussions with them on the phone before submitting the claim. Another phone call later, and they’ve asked for the vet to call them as they have an exclusion on this cat for gingivitis… round the loop another time, and the vet has been told the exclusion covers the whole of the mouth, so they don’t want to speak with him!

Painful an exercise as this is, I did know there was an exclusion in place that may cause the claim to be a bit of a pain, even though its not gingivitis (according to my vet) that caused this issue.

I still recommend Pet Plan, as they seem to be more willing to discuss things rather than many companies who say “our decision was final”. The thing to remember with Insurance companies is that they are businesses. You’ll speak to customer service, who are there to be nice and polite, but your claim will go to the insurers, whose job it is to save the business money by rejecting claims where there is grounds for it. Over the years, Pet Plan have been very good to me, but if you have an exclusion, you will find that they question any pet claim that could in any way be related. Sometimes the link they make is very slight, but it’s fair that they question, afterall, you’d have to pay more if they let more claims through!

Update: 22nd Feb 2012

Having checked with PetPlan this week, they’ve confirmed that the exclusion was put in place for 2 years, so can now be disputed. I’m taking the cats down to the vet this week for booster injections, so will be asking for full medical history so that I can dispute the exclusion going forward for one of my cats. Fingers crossed that will get him fully insured, in-case of an issue in the future!

Update: April 2012

Sent the full medical history to PetPlan, and I must admit, they responded by letter REMOVING the exclusion! I really wasn’t expecting that after all this time and trouble. It does however show that they are prepared to remove exclusions once 2 years has elapsed with no sign at all of a related issue, and proof in the medical history that the pet has been look over every 12 months to check for any signs of the problem reoccurring. Good job PetPlan! My cats are no fully insured with NO exclusions again!

I’ve remained subscribed to the enhanced podcast for years, but have found that I needed to Alt-Tab back to iTunes at times when I thought the image might add to the amusement of the podcast… and only today actually found an option that means these can stay on the screen over the top of other windows, such that I can enjoy all the images throughout the podcast whilst surfing the web etc…

This post aims to share this, so others can better enjoy their favourite podcasts!

How to force enhanced podcast images to remain visible while you do other things

To force images to stay on top of other windows, you simply go the preferences window in iTunes (Edit -> Preferences). Then select the Advanced tab, and tick the “Keep film window on top of all other windows”. Then click OK to set the option active. You should now find the images stay on-top. You can drag the corners of the window to change the size, and drag it around your screen so it is in the most convenient place for your use. Moving over the image, you can also pause and control where you are in the podcast… very handy!

Enjoy!

This guide aims to give you a simple step by step guide to topping up your engine oil, and is based on the Peugeot 206.

Source your Engine Oil

I’ve bought mine from EuroCarParts in the past, but you can get engine oil in petrol stations, or any car parts store (e.g. Halfords). Car parts stores will be able to tell you the right oil for your vehicle, your car manual will also show this. The key details you need is the viscosity (e.g. “10W40″) and the type (e.g. “Synthetic”).

It is vital to get the correct oil for your engine. A shop may recommend a slightly different oil to the manual… this isn’t an issue, the point is that it will be similar to that recommended. I use a 10W40 Synthetic oil for my Peugeot 206. For awareness, the viscosity is the thickness of the oil, the two numbers represent the thickness of the oil at low and high temperatures.

Topping up your engine oil on a Peugeot 206

It is generally recommended to topup oil on a warm engine (having used the car, but having left it for 10 mins to cool a little). This said, I topup on a cold engine sometimes, but I don’t go for a complete fill if the engine is cool, as I believe the oil may expand in a warm engine).

Having just expired in the last month, I thought I’d call them to give it a go. I explained I was saving up for a specific item under their scheme and that I had noticed a couple had expired, was this an issue?… err, yes it is Sir.

This all said, the chap explained that expired vouchers can be reissued IF they are still on the system, but that they disappear from the system quickly. I couldn’t see them in my online account, but he could! So I’ve been told to destroy the vouchers, and he has arranged so I will get new ones in the New Year to replace them!

Worth checking your vouchers folks and ringing Tesco if they’ve expired. I’d recommend you explain that you were saving them for one of their clubcard deals, as Tesco make money on them, so they’re probably more likely to be nice to you that way!!

Worth mentioning you can get in-date vouchers reissued anytime, so if you are saving up for something and getting close on date for the vouchers, get them to reissue them so you have another 2 years without the risk of expiry!

Once they’ve dropped off the Tesco system, they’re worthless, so check your vouchers today… it’s use it, or lose it!