Why should I check my car if it is not due for service?

As car service intervals lengthen and visits to the dealership for car servicing become infrequent, cars are more and more at risk of enduring a costly breakdown in between services.

It might be nothing more than a blown tyre or it could be a seized engine. While having your vehicle maintenance handled by professionals is really important, visually inspecting your car between services is also vital.

Vehicle owners, even those without any mechanical aptitude or experience, can still ensure that the car is safe and reliable between services by regularly checking those items that a service department would also inspect.

How often should you assess the car's condition? It varies, but once a month is probably enough for the easy jobs. Your brakes should be fine for a six-monthly check between services.

If your oil level keeps dropping below minimum or your tyres need reinflating more often than once a month, you need to take the car to a dealer or workshop and have a mechanic sort the problem.

Most of this advice also relates to electric cars, too, although you won’t have to check as many fluids. See our separate story on ‘What needs servicing on electric cars?’ for more details.

Monitor these points in between your car's services:
• Tyre pressures when filling up at the local service station
• All lights – that's headlights, tail-lights, indicators, etc
• Fluids – engine oil, transmission, coolant, brake, steering and clutch fluid
• Brake pads and shoes
• Windscreen wipers and refill washer bottle
• Underneath for any leaks
• A walk-around looking for body damage – corrosion, paint, loose trim, etc

Ask someone with 'know-how' to show you the ropes. With the exception of the brake pads and shoes, your vehicle inspection should take no more than five minutes in total (plus five minutes driving to the nearest service station to use the tyre gauge/pump – and you would have to do that to fill the tank anyway).

This is the surest way to prolong tyre life, reduce fuel consumption and maintain ride comfort. Keep in mind that cold pressures will change with the seasons, so don't worry too much if the tyre pressure is lower during the colder months – but do reinflate the tyres at that time to match the specified pressures.

Have someone press the brake pedal with the car's ignition switched to 'On' and/or the engine running. Walk around the back of the car; ask the 'driver' to lift off the pedal and reapply pressure to determine that the brake lights are operational on both sides.

Turn parking lights on and walk around the car, making sure that each corner is lit.

Turn on headlights and ensure lights are operational on both sides (both low- and high-beam operation).

Check indicator operation on both sides, front and rear, plus reversing lights and fog lights where fitted (could be rear fog light as well as front lights).

Here's the scary bit: lifting the bonnet and finding the major service points.

Don't bother checking fluids unless the car is parked levelly and the engine is cold.

The lever to unlock the bonnet is usually located under the dash, at the top of the kickpad on the right of the driver's footwell. If you can't find it there, and your car is European, chances are it's located on the left side of the car, in the mirrored position.

After unlocking the bonnet, unlatch it from the front (or at the rear if it tips forward to open, as in the case of Saabs). Once the bonnet is unlatched (the latch either pulls up or sideways to release the bonnet), lift the bonnet and support it with the prop rod that pivots into position from the front or side of the engine bay, or down from the bonnet itself.

Lock the prop rod into place to support the bonnet properly. Note that some bonnets feature gas struts and older cars will have counterweighted bonnets with coil springs to support them.

To check the oil level, keep a rag or tissue handy to wipe the dipstick, which has to be withdrawn from its sleeve at the engine. In modern cars, the dipstick can be identified by a brightly-coloured finger pull (usually yellow).

Pull out the dipstick, wipe it clean and re-insert it. Withdraw the dipstick again and it should be coated at its base with a layer of oil. If the oil reaches a point between the striations marking the minimum and maximum levels, there is enough oil in the engine.

The transmission fluid dipstick is accessible with the bonnet open too. It's usually found closer to the firewall at the rear of the engine bay. As with the engine oil, the transmission dipstick is withdrawn, wiped, dipped into the sleeve again and withdrawn a second time to determine the level of the transmission fluid relative to the 'minimum' and 'maximum' striations on the dipstick.

Connected to the radiator itself is a plastic overflow tank by the side of the engine bay. The tank is translucent, showing the level of the coolant in the tank as a dark pool in the base of the tank without needing to open the cap at the top.

If the surface of the coolant is above the minimum level marking on the side of the tank, there is no need to add coolant. Don't confuse this with the washer bottle.

The brake fluid reservoir is on the same side of the car as the steering wheel. That's your left as you look at the car from the front. Carefully unscrew the cap and peek inside to check the level.

The clutch fluid reservoir is frequently bolted to the firewall. Unscrew the cap and look inside to check the level. For cars with hydraulically assisted steering, a small reservoir is often located near the drive belt that powers the pump. Unscrew the cap at the top of the reservoir and peer inside to check the level.

This is another plastic tank, like the engine coolant overflow tank. The water inside should be visible through the plastic as a dark pool at the base of the tank. Unclip the cap at the top and fill, if required.

This is one task that you can skip, provided you are scrupulous about having your car maintained in accordance with the logbook. If not, perhaps check twice a year, and provided you have the necessary tools – and space in the garage.

With the car chocked, raised and supported on jack stands (not the standard jack that came with the car or a hydraulic jack), remove each wheel and look through the inspection aperture in the callipers (for disc brakes). The bonded friction material on the pad either side of the large disc rotor should be at least 3mm in depth.

If it's no thicker than two credit cards placed together the pads should be changed at the earliest opportunity.

Drum brakes are still common in light cars and commercial vehicles. To inspect the shoes inside the drums, raise the rear of the vehicle, support it with jack stands and chock the front wheels. Leave the parking brake off.

Remove the wheel. Once a small screw (typically a Phillips-head type) is unscrewed the drum can be removed for inspection of the shoes inside. It may be necessary to use a hammer to loosen the drum from the mounting plate behind and the shoes, where they make contact.

Tap the drum lightly around the edges at the back to loosen it. Only tap on the drum itself, which should spin freely, not the mounting plate, which is fixed in place.

Conduct a visual inspection of the shoes. If the friction material, viewed from the sides, is 3mm in depth (or less), the shoes should be replaced.

Typically, shoes wear slower than the front disc pads, which need replacement twice as often for the same distance travelled. This is not because shoes inherently last longer and wear slower, but because they're usually located at the rear. Up to 80 per cent of braking is done by the front brakes.

Failure to replace pads and shoes will result sooner or later in the metal backing plates making contact with the disc rotors or drums and scoring those components, reducing braking efficiency.

Finally, check the rotors and the drums for gouge marks in the event that worn pads and shoes have damaged them.

Don't forget to check each windscreen wiper (including the wiper at the rear of the car) for effective operation as part of your car maintenance regime.

An occasional car wash will make you familiar with any damage to the paintwork (from bird droppings, for instance) or any corrosion (rust) in the body.

Look underneath to check for any leak from the powertrain, which includes the transmission and differential.

If you hear worrying noises while driving, see if you can track them down for yourself. A clunk while cornering will likely be steering related, a noise over a speed hump could point to a problem with the suspension and, obviously, squealing and screeching under brakes may indicate worn pads and shoes.

Anything that is cause for concern, you should refer immediately to a professional mechanic.