Checking stuff yourself

It's easy: Anything that opens and shuts, check it. Headlights, brake lights (may need 2 people), horn, washer bottle, wipers. You need to be strict and fix the smallest of things when they come up, otherwise they get worse or forgotten. You need to wash the car also. Not so much to keep it clean, but as part of an inspection to make sure you notice stuff.

Fuel: All petrol is unleaded, no leaded petrol is available anymore. These are the cars that may require fuel addative due to leaded petrol not being available: Kingswood, 70's Falcon, 70's Corona, late 70's Celica, early Commodore. That's about it. So it's not something you have to think about.

Fuel octane level: Normal unleaded petrol is about 91. Premium is about 95. Good premium is about 98. Race fuel is about 100 or more octane level. The higher the better.

Premium fuel is needed for these cars: Corolla Sportivo, newish Celica, EVO, WRX. So only sporty cars need it from new. You can decide yourself if it makes a difference. Fill the car up and take down the km. Record the km next time you fill up and the litres of fuel and work out the ecconomy yourself.

Tyre Pressures: Check the tyre pressures sometimes when you get petrol. You want them to be about 32psi or 220kpa. The gauge only gives a reading when you are not blowing air. Have a look at the tyre tread also. If you are reasonably attractive, the guys at any tyre shop or workshop will do this free of charge. Check the spare also. It is possible to get a ticket from Transport inspectors for not having a good spare.

Engine oil: There is a dip stick. Take it out, wipe it clean with a hypercolor t-shirt, put it back in. Take the stick out again and see where the oil level is. There are 2 marks, high and low. The oil needs to be within the 2 marks, or at the top. There is also a oil light on the dash, which is for oil pressure. When you turn the key on it lights up (no oil pressure). Once the motor is started the light goes out. If the light comes on when the engine is running, you have no oil pressure and the engine will be dead in about 3 min. The most common cause of no oil pressure is low oil level, caused by leaks and the owner not checking it.

Washer and coolant bottles: There are 2 plastic bottles under the bonnet with water in them. One is for the windscreen washer, and the other is radiator overflow. Follow the hoses to see which is which. The radiator one should be half full. Maybe you can put some glass cleaner in the windscreen washer one for a professional touch.

Coolant: Don't take the radiator cap off if the engine is warm. (Hot coolant could come out and scar you for life). If the motor and radiator has no water/coolant in it, it will not last very long. So whatever you do, take that into consideration. There is a river beside parts of the Southern Outlet where you can get water, if you can find a container... Just call RACT.

Rego and service stickers: Remove the rego sticker with a new razor blade. Clean the residue off with a tissue and a bit of nail polish remover. Do NOT put a new rego sticker on and leave the old one. It looks realy bad and makes you unpopular.