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Madbrad200 @sh.itjust.works

I bought my first car! Any tips?

2008 Peugeot 107 (aka Toyota Aygo/Citreon C1). Around 70.5k miles.

I need to replace the wheel trims because they're peeling a bit but otherwise seems to be in decent condition. I bought a vaccuum, tread depth gauge, some gloves, leather cleaner, cloths, and antifreeze tester.

Anyone have any tips on how best to maintain it/take care of it?

Cheers :)

8 comments

  • Congratulations, changes your life, driving does.

    1. Change all your fluids, Oil + filter, flush the radiator, do a 4x drain and fill on the transmission. So, drain the pan, fill with new fluid equivalent to what's come out. Take her for a spin, get it warmed up. Drain and fill again. By the time you do this 4 times, you should have basically all brand new fluid in it.
    2. Replace the cabin and engine air filters.
    3. Buy a floor jack, always have a scissor jack in the back along with the spare. But keep a floor jack and a set of stands at home for when you need to work at home.
    4. Do easy jobs yourself, firstly gaskets and seals as well. Valve cover gasket replacement kit is an easy job. You'll get a look at the valves then and you can see if you need to do a little engine flush. PCV valve can make a big difference too and that's usually very simple to get to.
    5. Get someone who isn't mechanic looking to make a few quid about the state of your brakes. Pads and rotors are easy peasy stuff.
    6. Buy a code reader, a decent one, or any bluetooth one that will let you read live data from the ecu. You probably won't need it now, but as you learn more your car and common issues, you'll want one to be able to give you a clue about why something is happening.
    7. Get underneath and check the bushings on suspension parts, lower control arms, trailing arms. That stuff just goes one day. But, if you see a bushing is starting to tear, or seize. you can find the replacement part and avoid being stranded.
    8. Because you're in the UK, get a few rebuild kits for alternators and a/c compressors. They are BIG TICKET items and they will fail on a 20 year old car. You can follow a guide to rebuilding them, replace brushes and seals and you'll save yourself £££££.
    9. Look up community formus (not reddit) for your car specifically. They can be a big help in finding common issues and answering questions about maintenance and upgrades.
    10. Check out Chris Fix's youtube channel, he's got very comprehensive guides from beginner stuff up to replacing internal engine components. Would recommend as someone who learned how to fix their car using Youtube.

  • First tip is to clean that giant piece of bubble gum off the front

  • Replace the cabin filter (10 minute job) with a carbon activated one. I find it makes a big difference on longer drives, otherwise my nose/throat are awful.
    Don't worry about the ticking sound the engine makes when it's cold, that's normal.
    Check what the tyres are like (age from the DOT code, and tread).
    When you're feeling flush, I recommend getting all-season tyres, Goodyear Vector 4 have served me well.
    Upgrading the speakers is not difficult, and makes a big difference. (At least under 50mph, lol). The door speakers need to be under a certain depth, or the windows won't go down.
    If you want CarPlay/Android auto, the fitting kit for a standard 2-din unit is about £25, and a half-decent unit is about £200 (Sony xav-3250).

    Imo, it's well worth getting some good cleaning supplies.
    A good shampoo to get it clean (I like megiuars gold class), then a sealant to keep it clean longer (meguiars ultimate sealant wax, comes with applicators too).
    Wash with the two bucket method, and a couple of microfibre mitts.

    Get a dashcam as soon as you can reasonably afford one, and set it up.
    I like the Viofo A129 duo, it's basically invisible behind the mirror.
    Halfords have this one on special if you don't want to spend that much:

    On the actual driving side, once you've had a bit of time getting used to driving, buy yourself a copy of Roadcraft, and have a good read through of the advanced techniques, particularly IPSGA, the Car Control system, and limit points.
    Learn to drive defensively, and you'll avoid a lot of sticky situations entirely, rather than having to suddenly do things.
    Sometimes, you just have to let dickhead drivers be dickheads: You may be in the right, but if you crash you're both in an accident.

  • Don’t turn it into your mobile trash can

8 comments