Checking your car over prior to driving?.

[ZOLLAR]

Before I get in the car I check the car over before every journey.
Now i don't mean oil, brake fluid etc I just check the tyres aren't flat, number plate is visible and so on.
Checked with a couple of friends and the told me they never check!.
So does anyone else here give their car a quick "road worthy" check or do you just jump in and drive off?.

[Defcon5]

Mainly just make sure the tyres are all pumped up tbh, do fluid/tyre checks weekly

[Truckosaurus]

At home I approach the car (when it is in its normal position) from the passenger side so can give it a wheel check every time. When at work I don't bother. I suspect because my colleagues are less likely than my neighbours to let the air out of the tyres or nick the wheels etc.

[kambites]

I don't check the tyre pressures in the Elise - it's obvious by the time I reach the end of the road if they're out by more than a few PSI. I glance at the coolant level every time I open the boot (it is a K-series, after all); check the oil before long trips; and that's about it aside from annual servicing.

[The Wookie]

I usually walk around my car when it's been parked up for a cursory glance, mainly to see if anyone has bashed it but I do give a quick look round to make sure all is well.

If I'm driving someone else's car or a rental then I give a proper check of tread depth and general condition

[Y282]

cursory glance along both sides, get in, start and warm slightly, lights on (can see against garage if they work) then reverse across culdesac, check stop/tail/reverse in doors on opposite side of road, then drive off.

oil every couple of weeks, same coolant (never used a drop of either)and i have a freakish ability to detect even the slightest drop in tyre pressure. also, there's a lot to be said for regular thorough cleaning of the car, especially for tyre/wheel checking.

bmw m3, btw.

[marcosgt]

Owning an RX8 I check the oil level every couple of weeks (When I first had the car I listened to the doom-mongers and religiously checked it every Saturday morning, but found I was only topping it up, at most, every other week and often only one in 4), but beyond that it's jump in and go.

If I was going a really long way I'd check the washer reservoir levels, but that's it for a modern car.

Everything has a warning light these days

M.

[thinfourth2]

Is it raining?

If not i will have a quick glance

If it is by the time i reach the end of the track it will be very ovious if something isn't quite right

[ZOLLAR]

Quite surprised 22% don't check!.

[marcosgt]

ZOLLAR said:

Quite surprised 22% don't check!.

Pretty amazed 22% do

M.

[Urban Sports]

Don't check a thing, just jump in and rag off.

If anything goes wrong I'm sure it'll tell me.

[RobM77]

It's an interesting question, but sadly hard to design a poll to cover it.

Personally, I always give any car a quick glance before I get in it; namely the tyres to check they're up and nothing else looks odd, but that's not something I make an effort to do, it's just somewhere to look when I'm walking towards the car. Also, when I drive off I normally pay particular attention to things like brakes and how the steering and suspension feel, and of course to some extent whilst driving it.

If it's a car I haven't driven for a while (e.g. my Elise after a week or two in my BMW), then I'll check all four tyre pressures with a gauge and pay extra attention as I start to drive the car.

Finally, before any long journey in any car (over two or three hours) I usually check the oil, tyre pressures and fluid levels on any car. If it's a car I've never driven (hire car), then I always do this. Avis and previous hirers do all sorts of crazy things like checking tyre pressures in garages when the tyres are hot, setting them all to 32psi regardless, or putting plain water in the windscreen washer reservoir.