Although a car battery can last for at least five years (when properly cared for), it will usually become worn and inefficient within three years. This reduced lifespan is due to external factors like cold, wet weather - a normal occurrence in the UK. Commuting in congested urban traffic also contributes to decreased battery performance. Much like your smartphone or computer's battery, your car's battery deteriorates with each "charge" / engine boost. Not replacing your car battery within the three-year mark often leads to unreliable performance and frequent stalling - which is often a major inconvenience.

It’s easy to take car brakes for granted. We all know pressing the brake pedal slows the vehicle down, yet few people understand the combination of valves, hoses and calipers responsible for transforming light pedal pressure into effective braking. Even fewer people could explain how anti lock brakes contribute to this process, even though ABS has saved countless lives since Chrysler launched it in 1971.

The seasons seem to be taking almost as big a shift as Christmas. Where Christmas hits the shops earlier and earlier each year, only to be packed up and put away as close to Boxing Day as possible (as our exhaustion from the stretched-out season and hangovers allow), our winters seem to be arriving later.

Too often we assume that because our car is fitted with an integrated alarm, central locking, and an immobiliser, that our pride and joy is safe from thieves and joyriders.