Do you abuse your car?

Motorists are often their own worst enemies when it comes to looking after their cars. We asked the AA's Rebecca Hadley for the commonest ways we unknowingly harm our cars. She helped us compile this simple questionnaire to see if  you treat your car the way it would like to be treated:

1. Do you sometimes hit the kerb? Or scrub against it when parking?

Every town parker has done this at some time but beware: hitting a raised kerb can seriously damage the wall of a tyre, leading to a sudden high-speed blow out. Even very hard fast cornering can cause damage to tyres that aren't meant for performance driving. And hard cornering will increase the wear on your tyres making them less effective. If you do hit the kerb, check your tyres afterwards or get a tyre specialist to do it for you.

2. Do you give your car a good hefty revving up each morning to warm it up?

An old wives tale, I'm afraid. Heavy revving during a cold start uses more petrol, increases engine wear, and causes more emission and noise pollution. 
The oil that lubricates and protects your engine needs a chance to warm up. Cold it is thick and viscous, hot it is smooth and runny. Use your temperature gauge if you have one. Wait until normal temperature is reached before driving at high speeds or revving hard.
AA figures show that 400 one-mile journeys use about twice as much petrol as one 400-mile journey, because the engine is so inefficient when it is cold.
Even when the engine is warm, pull away smoothly for safe grip, passenger comfort and minimum tyre wear. Experts recommend you use no more than twice the idle speed of the engine to pull away, that's less than 2000 if you've got a rev counter. Constantly try to improve your starting technique to eliminate jerks and jolts.

3. Well, what about  a good old blip on the throttle at the end of every journey to charge up the battery?

At best this is useless... at worst it can damage a some types of engine, which require a short period to calm down after a long hard drive and before you switch off.

4. Do you park front end-first when you get home tired at the end of a journey?

Not only is it more dangerous to back out of a parking space the next time you need the car, but doing all your low speed manoeuvres when the engine is warm will save on engine wear and tear. Reversing and manoeuvring when the car is cold will use up lots more fuel, and more wear and tear generally.

5. Do you ever find you are driving close behind lorries?

It is always dangerous to drive too close: remember the rule of one metre for every mile per hour as a safe distance. But driving behind lorries car will damage your car, even if there isn't an accident. Lorries throw up stone chips and they are more likely to hit and damage your paintwork the close you are. For the same reason avoid driving too fast or close on newly-redressed road surfaces.

6. Do you drive with your foot resting on the clutch?

Advanced drivers are taught to treat the clutch as an on-off switch. It should either be completely in for changing gear, or completely out for normal driving. Slipping it reduces your control of the car and increases wear on the clutch.

7. Do you leave your car parked in direct sunlight?

Bright sun can dull paintwork over time. Note how the paint under your bonnet always looks brighter than the slightly oxidised finish that is open to the elements. But be careful also of parking under some types of trees: dripping sap or bird droppings can have a corrosive effect on paint work. A garage is the best place to keep a car.

8. Is your boot always full of stuff?

Carrying unnecessary loads in your car increases fuel consumption and pollution. Heavy loads can cause dangerous handling abnormalities, for example, if a heavy bag suddenly shifted to one side during cornering. Carrying loads also increases the wear and tear on your tyres. If the load is all at the back or one side it can cause dangerously uneven tyre wear.

9. Do you drive along with all your electrical appliances operating at once?

A well-serviced warmed-up car can support all its electrical demands, like wipers, radio, fan, heated rear window and lights. But overloading one that is in need of a service or that is constantly used for short journeys could damage or drain the battery.

10. Do you leave the regular checks on your car until you've got a long journey to make?

Regular checks like tyres, oil and lights should be made every week. And the AA recommends a quick visual check of your tyres for odd bulges or nails every day. And don't forget to top up the washer bottle too.

11. Do you sit with the car engine idling while, say, waiting to pick someone up?

Save money on fuel, save the pollution to the environment and save your engine unnecessary wear by turning off the engine whenever you can. Long periods of idling are not good for a car and can cause overheating.

12. When you are parking do you turn the wheel in the direction you want to go before you move?

It's better to do you steering on the move, however slowly. Tyres particularly suffer high wear if you keep turning them on the road surface and much greater strain is put on steering components and wheel bearings.

13. Do you keep to your car's recommended service intervals?

The easiest way to avoid breakdowns is to have your car serviced regularly, no matter how old it is. It also adds to the resale value if you can show a prospective buyer a full service history to show the car has been properly looked after.

14. Is you car left unused for a week at a time?

If you can't use your car for a few days make sure that it is still started up regularly. If you can't do it yourself, ask a friend. It will keep the battery recharged and the car in use. The engine should turn over for at least five minutes every two days.

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AA's top ten most common reasons 
for breaking down

The Automobile Association's patrols attend 4.8 million breakdowns a year - almost 55 per cent were due to electrical faults in the member's car. The full list of the top ten causes of breakdown from the AA is (with percentage of total plus number of calls for each):

1. Faulty battery   8.84% 424,000
2. Carburation (fuel supply) 6.1% 293,000
3. Flat battery due to driver error 6.04% 290,000
4. Distributor 4.35% 209,000
5. Wet electrics 3.41% 164,000
6. Starter motor/solenoid 3.35% 161,000
7.Wheel change 3.33% 160,000
8. Keys locked in car 3.05% 146,500
9. Alternator/regulator 3.01% 144,500
10. Electrical fault (other) 2.94% 141,000

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