Check Your Lights Regularly
The blog this week is about checking your lights regularly – this will help you avoid a possible fine and points on your license. Everyone is trying to save money at the moment, interest rates are rising, fuel bills are rising, food costs are soaring etc so when it comes to owning a car, we need all the help we can get to keep costs down. Read on to find out more:
How often do you check your light bulbs? You should do your check weekly to ensure that they all work – it takes five minutes, if that. If your headlight/brake lights don’t work you risk a fixed penalty notice of £100 and three points on your license. The police may give you a vehicle defect rectification notice. This will give you 14 days to get your Volvo or Toyota fixed. You will have to prove this has been done i.e. by showing a receipt from a garage for the work. If you do not comply with this the fine could be raised to £1000. If you use your fog lights when there is no need to use them you risk a £30 fine but no points on your license, know the law and don’t fall foul of it. So remember to switch them off once you are no longer driving in conditions requiring the use of fog lights. In some vehicles you may have a dashboard warning light to indicate a light failure – but do a weekly manual walk around to check all your lights work properly.
If one headlight is not working this is usually a burned-out bulb, if both your headlights don’t work it is uncommon for them to burn out together. You may have an issue like a fuse, relay or module. Wiring issues may also be the culprit in this circumstance. Take your Volvo or Toyota to your local independent garage for investigation. If one bulb fails to work in high or low beam it is more often than not a bulb issue, however if both fail in either low or high beam then this could be related to the relay or the high beam control switch. You are advised to take your Volvo or Toyota to your local independent garage for investigation by a fully trained mechanic. If your headlights work but the light seems dim to you, the problem could be either bulbs that are on the way out or you could have foggy headlight lenses. This is where the glass/plastic has started to become milky in colour rather than clear which then affects the amount of light coming through. You can usually polish and buff your headlight lenses to make them less foggy. Toothpaste has been known to work well at buffing the headlights. This you can do yourself and will save you quite a lot of money rather than buying new headlights. In more modern cars the headlights can be very expensive, so it makes sense to explore other avenues first. Don’t risk penalty points and a fine for the sake of a few minutes every week checking that your lights work properly on your Volvo or Toyota. Happy Safe Motoring Folks!
Here at ACC UK Ltd, Winners of The Motor Trader Independent Garage of The Year 2015, 2019 & 2020, The IGA Big Awards 2022, The Inspire Customer Service Excellence 2016 Award, The Eagle Radio Customer Focus 2017 Business Award, The Workshop Magazine Workshop Manager of the Year 2017 Award, The LiveWire Excellence In Vehicle Servicing 2019 Award and The Aftermarket Excellence Award for Best Website 2019, The Eagle Radio Biz Award – Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 & the SME News Magazine Most Trusted Car Servicing Provider 2020, we pride ourselves on offering an outstanding customer experience for a fraction of the cost of a dealership. Give us a call and let us quote you for your next service or repair on your Volvo or Toyota. We service all areas around Farnborough, Fleet, Aldershot, Farnham, Guildford, Frimley, Camberley, Hook, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Yateley, Hampshire and Surrey. We offer free collection and drop off services. We also have a fleet of courtesy cars to allow you to get on with your schedule whilst your Volvo or Toyota is with us. Happy Motoring from all at ACC UK Ltd – Independent Volvo & Toyota servicing, repair and MOT specialists based in the heart of Farnborough, Hampshire.
