This blog has been written by Claire Jones-Hughes of BrightonMums.com.

“On a drive back from a meeting in Maidstone home to Brighton, my Peugeot 308 started to lose power.

There were some rumblings in the engine, it didn’t stall, just restricted the speed to around 55mph with limited ability to accelerate.

Now I do know enough about my car to look after it, get it serviced (which I do regularly) and fixed but I had a worrying suspicion this might be the turbo and feared the worst for the bank balance.

I made it home safely and messaged a diesel-driving (male) friend for advice. It could be a turbo pipeline blockage; it could be the whole thing that has failed. And even visiting my reliable, female-friendly local garage M J B Motors, I was still looking at a pretty packet. And it did need replacing. Ouch!

Could this turbo expense have been avoided?

Although it’s not unusual for turbos to need replacing after a while, especially on cars over 7-years old or after a certain mileage, I now realise there are things I could have done to defer this expense.

Now, I’m not one for making resolutions but in an effort to sort out family finances during 2017, I am embarking on a ‘buy nothing’ or ‘minimalism’ lifestyle to make a difference. This means looking at what we spend your money on and finding ways to cut back, cut things out, mend and repair rather than replace or find stuff you need second-hand or free.

I need the car for work and family errands (visiting my 94-year old grandmother regularly for example), so it has to stay. However, when I read Steph’s earlier motoring resolutions at this blog, it inspired me to make my own in order to use the car more effectively.

So here are some of my commitments for 2017.

1. Don’t run the tank down empty. This most certainly has an impact on the engine and how much residual dirt my 2009 Peugeot pulls through from it’s old tank. This is one of my worse habits as a ‘juggle-mama’.

2. Clean the car inside and out. Shamefully I rarely do. As a business-owner and mum-of-two, this always gets shelved and it’s a luxury to pay someone to do this. Taking care of the paintwork will help prevent corrosion. Taking care of the inside upholstery means if we ever sell the car, it’s likely to be more desirable to buy but also comfortable for us to use. It’s already in fairly good condition but now is the time to start better cleaning habits.

3. Check oil and tyres regularly. During Tyre Safety Month 2016, Steph showed me the 20p check, so there’s no excuse not to check the tread. Especially as we don’t use the car as much as when I was commuting 35 miles a day. Making sure there is enough and regularly clean oil simply helps the engine live happily for longer…

4. Routinely check my mirrors, windows and headlamps for dirt before I set off on journeys. Especially during the winter months, these can get dirty, potentially obscuring vision. Usually I notice this 300 yards down the road, pull over and wipe. What a faff!

5. Re-introduce the eco-driving practices I learned on the Energy Savings Trust course years ago. Especially as I’m stuck with a now controversial diesel car, this is more important than ever until we can afford to buy a new car run on cleaner energy. The last time I did this consistently, I increased the fuel economy by an extra 5 miles to the gallon. Doesn’t sound like a lot but it helps!

What could you do different to drive more economically, eco-friendly or cost-effectively this year?”
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FOXY Footnote:

Thank you Claire. As you explain so well, most of us have learned the wisdom of regular car maintenance and servicing the hard way.

And now we know better, it’s amazing to hear how many motorists still don’t know how to look after their car and why this affects its reliability and their family safety.

We can only hope that when Club members need to buy a used car in future they can find one that’s been owned by a responsible motorist like you that knows the drill rather than one that evidently doesn’t care. In our experience, if a car has been neglected it’ll return that favour in big bills – we call this carma-nomics haha…