Looking after your car – Page 2

Should I service my car?

Here at Maitland Motors, we understand that sometimes you have to priorities where and when you spend your money. Often, the family vehicle is near the bottom of those priorities; a birthday, new school shoes or an unexpected bill often needs paying first. However, keeping your vehicle maintained is a proactive way to prevent unexpected garage bills and can help the funds you do spend go further.

Following your manufacturer’s service schedule is an easy and effective way to get the most from your vehicle. (You’ll find this in your vehicle’s manual or your dash might pop up with a reminder.)

Why should I service my car?
Regular servicing ensures that essential parts (brakes, suspension, etc) are running efficiently and to your needs and requirements. The more miles you drive, the more you should expect parts to deteriorate due to wear and tear. It can also give our technicians the chance to spot and nip potential problems in the bud before they develop into an expensive, lengthy repair that otherwise could have been avoided. Regular servicing also helps the vehicle maintain its value price if you decide to resale.

My car passed its MOT, does it still need a service?
Your MOT is a legal requirement set out by the DVLA that checks the roadworthiness of a vehicle. To pass, it only needs to meet the minimum road safety and environmental standards. Some MOT checks will overlap with a service, however, not everything is checked such as testing the condition of your oil and filters. The main difference is your MOT ensures your car is safe at the time of testing, services are a maintenance measure to help prolong its lifespan, improve efficiency and lower economic costs.

Meaning if you want to save money in the long run, we would always recommend servicing your vehicle. Like we say here in the workshop, prevention is always better than cure. Especially, when it comes to cars!!
To help spread the cost of your service we also offer Payment Assist where you can spread the cost of your bill over 4 monthly payments, fee and interest-free. (Please ask for more details.)

To book a service here at Maitland Motors drop us an email or call our office. We always use OE quality parts on all services such as Millers Oil and Mann Filters. Your vehicle is also given a Free Health Check as standard, breaking down our findings & costs involved.

#TIPTHURSDAY Do you know your vehicle’s preferred oil?

Did you know that each make and model of vehicle has a preferred oil as per the manufactures specifications?

Due to each make/ model being designed differently with individual stresses and strains to deal with on engine components. Manufacturers have designed the vehicle to work with oil of a certain grade and viscosity to help your engine cope.

It is vitally important that the correct engine oils are used, especially in modern engines to ensure engine longevity, better emissions, and prevent internal carbon build-up. Using the incorrect oil results in poor lubrication, affecting the performance of your engine, and incurring costly repairs.

Here at Maitland Motors, we are proud to work with leading industry expert, Miller Oils. They have a very handy search tool on their website where you can check which oil your vehicle is designed to take. (Click here to check now.) You just pop in your reg and it provides you with which product is best to use.

Otherwise, we are always more than happy to check and supply the correct oil for you and your vehicle.

Please share this post with friends and family or if you have any further questions just get in touch.

#tipthursday Check your Discs & Pads

It’s essential to keep your brakes well maintained and in good working order to help ensure your vehicle is safe to dive. Discs and Pads are integral parts of your vehicle’s braking system and can last anywhere between 25,000 – 60,000 miles depending on driving style and the vehicle. (More info for your make & model can be found in your owner manual.)

New vs old brake pads, showing just how worn out they can get.

If you hear any noises while braking such as squealing, your vehicle is pulling to one side or any dash warnings come on, it may be time to get your Discs & Pads changed.

The good news is that Maitland Motors are a Pagid/IMI Professionally Accredited Brake Specialist and checking the condition of your brakes is something we do for FREE during our Vehicle Health Checks.

We are proud to work with industry experts, Pagid and only fit their brake Pads and Discs that come with a 25-month/25-thousand-mile guarantee.

If you have any questions about your breaks, call or email the office and we’d be happy to chat you through any solutions.

#tipthursday What is wheel alignment and should I get it done?

Wheel alignment (also known as tracking) ensures that your wheels are sitting at the correct angles as per the manufacturer’s specifications for your vehicle. Over time, general use and wear & tear of your vehicle mean your wheels can become misaligned and inefficient. Every make & model has a slightly different alignment set up with manufacturers recommending that alignment is carried out every 8000 miles or every other year.

A sign of poor alignment is uneven tyre wear that can impact the handling, maintenance costs and most importantly, vehicle safety. Pulling to one side while driving is also another warning sign to look out for.

We use a handly bit of kit called a Laser Wheel Alignment Gauge which uses lasers to show us how straight your wheels are sitting.

Benefits of having properly aligned wheels are,

reduced tyre wear (meaning they’ll be more efficient and need replacing less often)
a smoother and safer drive
reduced fuel consumption (as the vehicle doesn’t have to work as hard to power forward)

If you would like us to check your wheel alignment please don’t hesitate to get in touch by calling the office or sending an email.

Maitland Motors: DPF Doctor

We have big and exciting news to share with you all, Maitland Motors have joined forces with leading industry experts, The DPF Doctor. This means that we will soon be DPF cleaning and repair specialists (after some training over the coming weeks). This will be especially useful knowledge and product base for customers who drive diesel vehicles fitted with a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter).

A DPF helps to lower emissions by capturing and storing exhaust soot that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Legislation passed in 2009 made DPFs on diesel vehicles mandatory to help lower CO2 emissions. If your DPF is causing issues it may need further investigation, which is where the expertise from The DPF Doctor can save you time on the ramp and costly DPF repairs.

The DPF Doctor has more info on their own website about what we will be able to do when it comes to DPFs and have some great reviews from customers who have had issues resolved using their tried and tested specialist knowledge. Well known in the industry, we are very much looking forward to working with them and taking the garage into a more specialists area of vehicle repair and maintenance.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, just leave a comment below, call our office or send us an email.

July Training for Maitland Motors

Maitland Motors have been back in the classroom gaining essential vehicle maintenance knowledge. We are passionate about training, development and staying up to date with the ever-changing automotive industry. What does this mean for you and your vehicle? Less time spent on the ramp diagnosing faults/ issues, expert knowledge and advice for newer makes and models and fully trained, knowledgable technicians working on your car.

Pico Scope – Essential Training

Ross and Dale now understand the essential functions of the Picoscope. They can capture, save and analyse waveforms, as well as understand how to use these techniques during diagnosis. Picoscopes are a brilliant bit of kit which can help our technicians to identify small deviations on sensors signals, saved as fault codes. Knowing what these signals mean, helps to pinpoint where the issues are coming from quickly and efficiently.

Pico Scope – Advanced Training

Our technicians know how and when to apply advanced Pico Scope functions. They can use advanced tests and techniques for diagnostic scenarios where failures are intermittent or no fault codes are present. Additionally, the technicians will know how to capture and analyse waveforms using the Pico pressure transducer. Again, the guys now have the essential knowledge to get to the root of more complicated, in-depth issues.

Ross and Dale with the trainer and other students.

Ross is in his element, learning about in-depth waveforms.

Bosch Introduction to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

This course gave Ross and Dale a better understanding of the interconnectivity of modern safety systems and driver aids. With an overview of the various ADAS sensors and their application, they also learned about the KTS to carry out a comprehensive vehicle search of ADAS systems. They can use test equipment required for ADAS service tasks alongside the setup and calibration process of a modern ADAS sensor.

Well done guys, improvements can already be seen in the workshop and getting to the route cause of faults and repairs with your expert knowledge. If you have any questions or would like to know more how our trianing can help you, call our office, DM us or email us.

#tipthursday Book your service

Maitland Motors’ #tipthursday for this week: Book your service.

We recommend serving your car at least once a year depending on mileage, age and driving conditions. After the past few years, most of our vehicles have probably been stuck parked up or on driveways and, understandably, booking in for a service just hasn’t been a priority. With restrictions lifting and life getting “back to normal” a service will prepare your vehicle for the roads again, helping keep you safe, prolong the lifespan of your vehicle, and prevent further more costly repairs that lack of maintenance often cause. Pop on over to a recent post about the importance of servicing your vehicle here for more details. Having a full-service history also makes your vehicle more desirable and sellable if/when it comes to reselling.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, leave a comment below, email or call the office.

#tipthursday Follow Our Basic Vehicle Maintenance Schedule

Follow our basic vehicle maintenance to help get the best from your car.

Here at Maitland Motors, we believe that maintaining your car is the most effective way to get the most from it. Following our basic maintenance schedule will help keep your car performing at its best and more importantly, safe on the roads.

Your Basic Car Maintenance Schedule by Maitland Motors

Full Service – 6 months prior MOT (This will depend on when you last had a full service, it may just need an interim. We can check beforehand and advise on the appropriate service required.)

Free Vehicle Health Check – 3 months prior to MOT

Pre-MOT 1 month before MOT

MOT (sign up for our reminder text service)

We recommend following this as a minimum depending on your mileage and how you drive. Most car manuals will have details of your make/model’s service schedule as per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

If you have any questions or would like to book in for a Service, Free Vehicle Health Check, Pre-MOT or MOT then call us in the office, email us or leave a comment below.

Maitland Motors, Here to Help

How we can help making maintaining your car easier

We understand here at Maitland Motors, that looking after your car can be an added hassle and stress. That’s why we’ve put in place a few processes to help make maintaining your car that little bit easier.

Payment Assist. Payment Assist is a easy way to spread the cost for your vehicle repair & maintenance bill. Payment is split over 4 monthly payments interest and fee free making any larger or unexpected repair bills a bit more manageable. For more details we have a recent post here. (T&Cs apply. Please let us know in advance of any works being carried out that you plan to pay via Payment Assist so we can get the process in place in time for collecting your car.)

Payment Assist with Maitland Motors — Spread the cost of your repair and maintenance bills with Payment Assist .

Courtesy Car. Sometimes its just not possible to be without your car what with work or school run commitments, especially if your car is in for a few days on big or unexpected repairs. Hiring our courtesy car can help at just £10 a day. (T&Cs apply, please ask for more details.)

Free Vehicle Health Check. Been a while since your car last saw a mechanic? Book in for a Free Vehicle Health Check where we’ll visually inspect the condition of your car, giving you peace of mind that its safe or making you aware of any repairs or issues.

A Free Vehicle Health Check will give you a no obligation overview of your car.

Pick Up & Drop Off Service. We offer a limited Pick Up and Drop Off Service where we come collect your vehicle from your home or place of work in the morning for repairs or services in the workshop, then drop it back with you the evening works have been completed. Saving you having to arrange getting your car to us and getting home again. (Due to the pandemic we unfortunately don’t have a waiting area for customers.)

Good Quality OE Parts and Oil. We believe prevention is better that cure here at Maitland Motors, and a big part of that is using good quality parts and oil. They will last you longer, perform better and often come with good guarantees, giving you better value for money. After years or experience in the trade, we use trusted brands such as Mann Filters, Pagid brakes, Varta Batteries and Forte engine treatments. Not to forget we are Pagid/IMI Professional Braking Specialist.

Proud to fit Pagid here at Maitland Motors — Pagid brakes come with a 25 months/ 25 thousand mile guarantee which many other manufactures don’t.

MOTs can be easy to forget, especially since the DVLA stopped sending reminders. Sign up to our text reminder service where we’ll remind you to get booked in and avoid missing your due date. We only need your reg and mobile number to set this up.

We hope that your experience here at Maitland Motors is as smooth and hassle free as possible but if there is anything further you feel we could put in place, then please just let us know. Customer feedback is really useful in helping us grow and improve our service. If you’d like to book in and use any of the services above, call our office, email us or leave a message below.

#tipthursday Book in for a Free Vehicle Health Check

With restrictions easing again, hopefully we’ll all be able to get out and about a bit more soon. Make sure your car is ready for venturing further a field by booking in for a Free Vehicle Health Chick.

Most cars probably haven’t moved much over the past few months/year which can mean seized parts, dead batteries or flat tyres. At a Vehicle Health Check we’ll get your car up on the ramp to visually check all areas of your car, giving you a better of its condition. Areas inc,

brakes,
levels,
tyres,
horn,
wipers & washers,
seat belts,
lights,
power steering,
battery,
antifreeze,
cooling system,
condition of the exhaust,
suspension,
& all safety components of your car.

After checks have been carried out we can advise you of the condition of your car and if there’s anything that is a cause concern. There is no obligation to have any further works carried out but its always good to be aware of any possible repairs that may need addressing sooner rather than later. Especially if your MOT is due or more importantly, they cause any safety concerns. We can arrange a quote for any works and take it from there.

Give yourself piece of mind that your car is ready for the roads again. For more information or to book in, call the office, send us an email or leave a comment below.