We are firm believers that if you maintain your car properly, there’s no reason why you’re car shouldn’t literally, run forever.

Every so often you’ll hear of that fabled ‘Million Miler’ as if it’s some mythical beast that shouldn’t still be alive but has somehow managed to defy the odds and continues to run on in to astronomical figures. Back in 2002, a gentleman named Irv Gordon clocked up 2 Million miles in his 1966 Volvo P1800 and was, as a result, catapulted into the Guinness World Records for owning the car with the ‘Highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service.’ Since then he has successfully clocked over 3 Million miles in the very same car.

Obviously, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be doing such high mileages in a single vehicle, but some vital lessons regarding car maintenance  can be learnt from the man that does. After all, a well maintained car will deliver much more in terms of fuel economy and lower repair bills.

Here’s some of the best top tips regarding car maintenance from Lancashire’s Premier Garage:

1) Have Your Oil And Filter Changed Regularly 

By doing this in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations, you are utilizing the cheapest and most effective way of keeping the car running. This will vary vehicle to vehicle so check your owners manual for the official manufacturers recommendations and abide by these where possible.

2) Only Use Genuine Parts

Always use genuine parts where possible. The manufacturers will likely have spent countless hours ensuring that the parts work exactly as they should in conjunction with the rest of the vehicle.

3) Use One Brand Of Oil

Finding an oil you are happy with and sticking with it brings uniformity and is a great way of avoiding nasty surprises along with allowing your engine to work at its optimum efficiency. Oils come in many different grades and once again it is best to refer to your owners manual with regards to making your selection.

4) Fill Up At Reputable Stations

Using high quality fuels such as Shell V-Power Nitro+ helps your car to run more efficiently and helps to prolong engine life through smooth running, more efficient burning and better cleaning properties. This is all down to the refinement process in which the fuel is made being more advanced than in lesser fuels such as those found on supermarket forecourts. Also, where possible, try to fill up at stations with a high fuel turnover so you can be sure that the fuel is fresh and crud-free.

5) Build A Relationship With A Reputable Mechanic You Can Trust

Finding a trustworthy mechanic with the most up to date equipment and wealth of experience on cars of all types and ages is of paramount importance to any vehicle owner, especially those considering doing high mileages in a single vehicle.

Here at Alan Price Auto Services we take pride in offering the most trustworthy, reliable service in Lancashire. Our technicians boast years of experience working on all cars from 50 year old classics, to exotic supercars, to the latest premium models and superminis. We also offer out high quality loan cars totally FREE of charge. Whatever it is, we’ll most likely have it covered. Tel: 01254 679937 to arrange an appointment or even just for some friendly advice!

Many drivers on the roads today don’t realize the sheer importance of properly aligned wheels. Whether this is down to blissful ignorance or just motorists generally being in denial about the subject, we’re not sure, but we’re going to educate you regardless. 

Having the wheel alignment on your car checked and adjusted accordingly is of grave importance. So much so that some experts say it should be checked every time we have our cars serviced. By performing a wheel alignment job, we ensure that the wheels on your car are perpendicular to the road’s surface, and that they’re parallel to one another.

There are many benefits to having accurately aligned wheels. Saving fuel is a big one, especially in today’s world when fuel prices are through the roof! The thing is, when you’re driving along with misaligned wheels, the is uneven pressure being placed on the tyres. Because of this, your car will have to work much harder to move forward due to uneven friction causing far more resistance from the surface of the road and hence burning more fuel as a result. Properly aligned wheels experience much less resistance from the road surface. Therefore you will experience a smoother drive, and noticeable savings on your fuel bills.

The tyres on your car are proven to last much longer when fitted to properly aligned wheels. Generally speaking, poor wheel alignment leads to quickly and unevenly worn-out tyres. Having the alignment of your vehicle corrected is a much cheaper and more beneficial fix then constantly changing your tyres at regular intervals. Its can also be incredibly dangerous driving on uneven tyres and whilst many of you will probably think this’ll be covered in your manufacturers warranty, it’s probably best you read the fine print, as no warranty we have ever come across is extended if the tyres of the vehicles have been poorly maintained.

Badly aligned wheels are also likely to be the cause of your car pulling to one side all the time. Driving a car like this is a completely unnecessary risk that no driver should be taking in today’s day and age, especially now we’re entering that time of year when the conditions are becoming more challenging again. It’s just not worth causing an accident over.

One of the most concerning aspects of having poorly aligned wheels is the knock on effects it has on other vital parts of the car. Everybody fears uneven braking, but this problem can be a very real phenomenon in cars with poorly aligned wheels. This is both dangerous and easily rectifiable. The suspension can also be affected, and this is made up of thoroughly complicated and delicately balanced parts. Basically, this is likely to be an expensive fix if it goes wrong.

To conclude, if you find yourself travelling along a straight, flat, road and your car feels to be veering right or left, this is a clear giveaway that your car is in need of its wheels aligning. Also, check your tyre wear regularly. If you notice one tyre is worn considerably more than on the opposite side, it’s also time to get your vehicle booked in. Beside the obvious signs, as a general rule of thumb you should be getting your wheels aligned roughly every 6000 miles. If you have hit something large enough to cause alignment issues, or you travel on bumpy/broken roads a lot, it may also be a good idea to get your alignment checked by professionals.

Here at Alan Price Auto Services, we have the all the latest laser guided wheel-alignment technology and our experienced technicians are always happy to help and offer advice. Tel: 01254 679937

Price: From £32

It’s that time of year again. The roads are becoming darker, wetter and generally slippier. Before you know it the roads will be plagued with black ice and you’ll be slipping and sliding all over the place. However, with the continuous development of Winter Tyres, need this be an issue?

Britain, especially up north, is notorious for its harsh winters and with the 2015/2016 season set to be no exception, Winter Tyres start to appear like a more attractive proposition than ever before. Winter Tyres, or ‘Cold Weather Tyres’ as they are sometimes known are constructed from a softer compound. This allows the tyre to produce more grip and inspire more confidence in conditions colder weather conditions.

The tread patterns vary considerably from those of ‘Normal’ or ‘Summer Tyres’ and feature incredibly fine grooves cut into each tread block, designed to grip in snow, rain and general cold weather much more convincingly than the equivilent standard offering. One thing many people don’t realise is that Winter Tyres grip far better than Summer Tyres, even when the road is clear, due to the softer compound that they are constructed from. As soon as the temperature drops below around 7 degrees, cars fitted with good quality Winter Tyres should stop much faster and be far less prone to slipping, making your journeys safer as a result.

Most respectable brands sell a selection of good quality Winter Tyres such as Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Nokian, Kumho, Vredestein, Yokohama, Toyo and Pirelli. We at Alan Price Autos strongly recommend that any tyres purchased for use on the road should be from a highly respectable brand such as one of the aformentioned. These tyres will last longer, grip more, offer better economy and performance, and feature less road noise.

Give us a call on 01254 679937 and get a highly competetive quote from Alan Price Autos with regards to good quality Winter Tyres (fitting included) for your vehicle.

Is the increasing amount of fog on the roads making you nervous during your morning commute? Here’s a little guide to help you stay safe in one of Britain’s most diverse weather conditions.

 In accordance with the highway code, it is essential to use the headlights equipped to your vehicle when visibility is greatly reduced. One way to think of it is that if you can’t see clearly ahead of you for roughly the length of a football pitch, it’s time to switch on. When fog moves in, it has a tendency to move in thick and fast so it is essential that you drive with extra care and attention and leave a wide berth between yourself and the car in front.

One common misconception is that using fog lights is essential in adverse weather conditions. This is certainly not the case as not every car on the road is equipped with fog lights. However, if your car does have the luxury of having fog lights equipped, it’s highly recommended you use these when appropriate. Just make sure you remember to turn them off again once the fog has cleared as this could pose a hazard to other motorists.

Alan Price Advice:

Don’t rely on daytime running lights in order to provide adequate visibility for both yourself and other road users. It is essential to use your vehicles dipped beam headlights at all times, along with your wipers and demisters during heavy fog. This allows maximum visibility whilst not posing a threat to other road users.

In the UK today, most standard fuels feature a Research Octane Number (RON) of 95. However, you may have noticed whilst filling up at the pumps that many forecourts offer a second ‘premium’ option featuring a higher RON usually of around 98. These premium fuels normally cost around 10p more per litre than their standard counterparts. But the big question is, is it worth it? Well first lets look at the basics.

How do Premium Fuels differentiate from Standard Fuels?

Fuel suppliers claim that using a premium fuel with a higher octane rating has multiple benefits for both the vehicle and the driver. These benefits supposedly include increased performance and increased fuel economy, attractive propositions for many motorists at the expense of a few more pounds and the pumps. The major fuel companies also claim that their premium offerings offer greater engine protection, ensuring the longetivity of your precious motor.

Fact or Fiction?

Many people instantly write off premium fuels as being a gimmick in order for forecourts to charge more for what is essentially a product that does the same job. After being in the motor industry for well over 25 years, we can thankfully shed some light on what is a ‘grey area’ for many discerning motorists.

Does using Premium Fuels improve economy?

First of all, the fuels containing a higher octane level should burn more efficiently. In turn, this means that more power should be delivered from less fuel being burned. Obviously this depends on how you drive your car and what vehicle you have, although from our experience, all drivers regardless of vehicle should at the very least notice a minor increase in economy. However on many of the cars we encounter, in particular cars offering higher levels of performance, the difference can be quite noticeable.

But what about Performance?

In a similar vein to economy, the difference premium fuels will make to performance will largely vary depending on the type of car in question. For example, due to higher compression ratios and engine temperatures, cars fitted with turbocharged and/or supercharged engines are likely to benefit more from the useage of higher octane fuels. From our experience, cars with more performance biased engines tend to produce noticeable improvements in performance throughout the rev range and also in the smoothness and tractability of the unit. Owners of cars with more economy biased engines will likely see negligible improvements in performance.

Do Premium Fuels help prolong engine life?

Yes. In all our years within the industry we can safely confirm that using poor quality fuel over prolonged periods can lead to issues such as worn engine components, engine knock and blocked injectors to name a few. For example, Esso use twice the amount of detergent addatives in their premium grade fuel and most other providers offer a similar increase in their higher grade offerings.

To Conclude…

In short, we’d always recommend using premium fuels where available. However, this doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with standard offerings, but we would recommend filling up with petrol or diesel from a trusted brand (Texaco, Shell, BP, Esso etc) rather than marginally cheaper offerings from supermarket forecourts as the quality of the branded fuels generally speaking far surpass their supermarket counterparts and have been refined to a higher standard. The choice is yours, but our professional opinion is to always use the best quality fuel you can afford.

2009 09, 1000cc, 14500 miles, 2 owners, FSH, Black with grey black interior, electric windows, central locking, paddle shift, ECO stop/start, radio/CD, remote central door locking and remote boot opener, ABS/ESP, A/C, 2 keys, 15inch alloy wheels, very clean through out £3995 01254 679937 or 07866 770074

SOLD

We’re delighted to be launching our new website this week.  We’d love to know your feedback so get in touch and let us know what you think!