DIY MECHANICS DWINDLING ?

A survey by a vehicle leasing firm has highlighted the lack of basic mechanical knowledge that today’s drivers have.

Flexed.co.uk found that:

• 49% of drivers did not know how to change a wheel

• while 63% were  unaware of how to check a vehicles oil level

suggesting that many break downs are caused by the owner’s ignorance of basic vehicle checks.

The company asked 3,000 drivers if they knew how to carry out basic maintenance tasks. Other findings included:

•  31 % didn’t know how to check tyre pressures

• 29% couldn’t fill up the washer bottle

• and most surprisingly 1% of respondents didn’t know how to fill up with fuel

A Flexed spokesman said: “The fact that the major breakdown organizations now have specialist patrols to help people who have run out of fuel just goes to prove how little people know about their own cars. Ever older vehicles have bells and whistles to tell you your fuel is low, so how come people still manage to run dry?”

Another survey also suggesting that motorists are not taking care of their vehicles comes from the NFDA which revealed that:

• 62% of drivers are unaware of the legal minimum tyre tread depth

• while 12% haven’t checked their tyres in the last 12 months.

According to figures released by the DVLA, more than 2.2 million cars failed their MOT test last year due to the condition of their lyres. Whilst figures released by the Department for Transport showed that more than 958 UK road casualties in 2013 were caused because of illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres.