Checks and maintenance

Your daily check

Before you drive, you are responsible for the car being in roadworthy condition. You do not need to do a full technical check every day, but a quick, fixed routine reveals the most common faults before they become dangerous. It takes less than a minute once it is second nature.

Around the car and inside the car

• Tyres: look for visibly low tyres, cuts or damage.
• Lights and mirrors: intact, clean and correctly adjusted. Preferably get someone to check that the brake lights and indicators work.
• Windows: clean, intact and free of ice and snow.
• Securing: adjust the seat, head restraint and mirrors before driving, and fasten your seat belt.
• Warning lights: look over the instrument panel when you start – lights that stay on mean a fault you should check.

Adjust the seat first, then the mirrors. A correct driving position gives you control over the pedals and the wheel, and makes the head restraint actually protect you in a rear-end collision.

• Seat: your knee should be slightly bent when the pedal is pressed fully down.
• Backrest: back against the seat, and the arm slightly bent with the wrist on top of the wheel.
• Head restraint: its top edge should reach the top of your head.
• Mirrors: set them after the seat, not before.

Set the mirrors after the seat, so the fields just meet. What is left beside you is the blind spot – you must turn your head to see it.

Look, listen and feel while driving

The car tells you a lot if you pay attention. Unusual sounds, a smell of burning or petrol, vibrations in the steering wheel, the car pulling to the side, or the brake pedal feeling different – all these are signals you should take seriously.

The car often warns you through sound, smell or feel before any lamp comes on. Take the signal seriously straight away.

A fixed round of the car

The safety check is also something you can be asked to show and explain on the practical test. The point is not to memorise a list, but to have an order that means nothing gets skipped.

The warning lights on the instrument panel

When you switch on the ignition, most warning lights come on for a moment while the car tests itself, then go out. A light that stays on – or comes on while you are driving – is the car telling you something. The colour tells you how urgent it is.

• Red oil can: oil pressure too low. Stop the engine at once – it can be ruined in minutes.
• Red battery symbol: charging has failed. The car is running on the battery alone and will stop after a while.
• Red temperature light: the engine is overheating. Stop and let it cool before you open anything.
• Red exclamation mark in a circle: a fault in the braking system – or simply the parking brake left on.
• Yellow engine light: a fault in the engine management or emission control. The car can be driven, but must be checked.
• Yellow ABS light: ABS is out of action. You still have ordinary brakes, but the wheels can lock under hard braking.
• Yellow tyre-pressure light: the pressure is too low in at least one tyre.

Roadworthy condition: That the car is safe to use: brakes, steering, tyres, lights and visibility work as they should, and the car has no faults that make it dangerous in traffic.

Fluids and wear parts

A car needs several fluids to work, and some parts gradually wear. Keeping an eye on these is part of owning and using a car safely. You can check much of it yourself; the rest belongs in a garage.

Fluids you should know about

The level must sit between MIN and MAX. Too little oil wears the engine – too much is not good either.

Parts that wear

• Brake pads and discs wear every time you brake and must be replaced at regular intervals.
• Windscreen wipers become stiff and leave streaks – replace them before they fail in rain.
• Tyres wear unevenly if pressure or wheel alignment is incorrect.
• Bulbs and fuses blow now and then – carry spare bulbs if the car uses them.

When the friction lining is gone, metal meets disc. You then have both weaker braking and a costlier repair.

Electrics, battery and fuses

• The 12-volt battery runs the starter, lights and electronics. It is charged by the alternator while the engine runs, and it is weakened both by age and by cold.
• If the car has a battery you can open, the fluid level should be between the marks. Top up only with distilled water. Most newer batteries are maintenance-free and should be replaced when they fail.
• Battery acid is corrosive. Use gloves and eye protection, and keep sparks and flames away.
• Fuses protect the electrical system against overload. If one single thing stops working - an indicator or the wipers, say - a blown fuse is a common cause. The handbook shows where the fuse box is and which fuse belongs to what.
• If the same fuse blows again, there is a fault in the circuit. Never fit a heavier fuse to make the problem go away.

Brake fluid: The fluid that transfers force from the brake pedal to the wheel brakes. Absorbs moisture over time and must be replaced according to the manufacturer's schedule.

EU control, registration certificate and approval

For a car to be legal to use, it must be registered, approved and insured, and it must regularly go through an official inspection. This ensures that vehicles on the road maintain a safe technical standard.

EU control (periodic technical inspection)

The EU control is a mandatory technical inspection of brakes, steering, lights, chassis, exhaust emissions and more. You receive notice of the deadline, and the car must be approved by the deadline to be used legally.

The inspection looks at the points that decide whether the car is safe for others, not whether it is well kept.

• An ordinary passenger car is inspected for the first time no later than 4 years after it was registered.
• After that it must be inspected every 2 years.
• You are responsible for the inspection being done by the deadline – if it is not approved in time, the right to use it may be suspended.

First inspection no later than four years after registration, then every two years. The deadline is yours to keep.

Registration certificate and registration

The vehicle registration certificate is the car's identity document. In it you find, among other things, permitted gross weight, how many people may sit in the car, and how heavy a trailer the car may tow. These figures determine what you can legally do with the car.

It is the figures in your own registration certificate that decide how many you may carry and how heavy a trailer you may tow.

• Registration number and number plates link the car to an owner.
• The car must have third-party motor insurance to be used.
• If you make a significant change to the car, it may need new approval.

Vehicle registration certificate: The car's official document with technical data such as permitted gross weight, number of seats and maximum permitted trailer weight.