Maintenance

For the uninitiated, the Riley Elf is basically a Mini with a slightly bigger boot, more chrome and a bit more “luxury”. But despite the upmarket extras, the Elf is often seen as the poorer cousin to the Mini despite its cute looks and Mini driving appeal. This fine looking example could be the affordable ticket to classic Mini ownership. Read on...

It’s a sight you see all over New Zealand – fields of old abandoned cars slowly returning to the earth in the form of ferric oxide. However, it’s not often that these fields contain anything more exotic than a Morris Minor van. But this American paddock contains nothing but exotics and it’s a bit distressing for petrolheads to look at.

When was the last time you changed a headlight bulb on your car? If your car is an older model then it was probably so easy that you can’t even remember. But if you car is newer it may be a task that will haunt you forever along with many other basic maintenance tasks you used to do so easily at home.

Yesterday I drove to Wellington from Napier and back again. On the way down the rain started in Featherston and never stopped until I got back to Napier. In Wellington it was torrential and the whole time, from the first wipe until the last, my wipers juddered noisily across the windscreen like a stick being dragged down a corrugated iron fence. With 150kms still to drive and with the sun below the horizon the rubber blades started to disintegrate leaving the metal parts to screech across the screen like a hyena with a guts ache. Could it be time for new blades?

Our cars are going to be one of the biggest investments we make in life yet we often treat them like they are worthless. I guess this is because they tend to lose money when we sell them and cost money when we drive them. And it’s true, they are a depreciating asset and they require even more money to run. But we need them and with a bit of effort they could hurt us financially a bit less.