When it comes to cleaning your car there are tons of myths that drift around, detailing what the best and worst tactics are when you’re washing your car.

Cleaning your car or van not only helps it to look good, but also cares for it too. Dirt from the road, such as salt once the roads have been gritted, can cause the underneath of a car to corrode if it isn’t cleaned away. When your car gets a thorough clean inside and out it gives it a sense of being ‘new’ again, and might even give you a whole new appreciation for your pride and joy.

So, with so many myths around, we thought we would debunk some of them so you don’t end up damaging your car, or wasting your time when cleaning it.

Cleaning items are expensive

Well yes, they can be, but they don’t have to be. It’s easy to be taken in by the brightly coloured packaging and wonderful marketing ploys that companies put in place, but please don’t be fooled.

A toothbrush and paintbrushes are great ways to get into those tiny spaces that need cleaning, just as much as those brushes specifically designed for that job – but they cost half the price.

A pressure washer may make it easier to get rid of dirt, but a garden hose or water in a bucket can do the same job. And the same goes for the fancy cleaning cloths designed for cars; they do the exact same as the microfibre cloths you can get hold of, but at a much higher price.

Are car shampoos worth the hype?

YES! They are specifically designed to be used on cars and their paintwork, to get rid of the tough dirt and grime attached to your car. A car’s paintwork can be irritated and breakdown if non specific car shampoo is used, causing the deterioration of your paintwork to happen quicker. They also provide a thorough and better clean than any other shampoo substance that you may use.

Don’t wash the car until it is really filthy

This is quite possibly the worst way to think about cleaning your car. The moment you get bird droppings, tree sap, grit and dead bugs on your car, these will start eating away and breaking down your paint – which is never good. It is recommended to wash your car every one to two weeks to prevent any dirt from damaging your car’s’ paint and overall finish.

It can be hard to find the time to clean and wash your car weekly, but it really is crucial and beneficial to do so. After all, you don’t let the dirt build up at home, so why should you in and on your car? Dirty interiors can harbour many germs and cold virus’ too, as well as many other nasty things you wouldn’t want to sit amongst on your daily commute. However, because its your car and you don’t really see yourself as “living in it” you probably think, like most car users, that it doesn’t matter, but it really does. It is just as important as cleaning your home.

It’s shiny, so it must be clean?

Nope, not necessarily. It may look shiny and streak free but if you run your hand over it, and it doesn’t feel smooth or as though you are touching glass, then, sadly, it is still dirty.

For a car to be truly clean you don’t want to feel any roughness on the car once it has dried.

Clay bars are a great way to remove all the dirt from your car, plus they’re easy to get hold off, with many available in car stores.

Not sure where to start with giving your pride and joy a spring clean? We can help. Book in for one of our detailing treatments and give your car the TLC it deserves. Get in touch with our team for more information.

Air con – what would we do without it? With summer here and the temperature outside creeping up, many of us will find ourselves asking this exact question. But thanks to Packard, an American luxury automobile company, who were the first automobile company in 1939 to offer an air conditioning unit in its cars, we will never need to find out the answer.

What is air con and how does it work?

Air conditioning, often referred to as A/C, is pretty universal these days, with most regular cars featuring an air con system. But how does it work?

Unlike many of us would think, it does not create cold air. In fact, it actually takes the heat and moisture out of the air, leaving behind cool air.

A car air conditioning system is made up of several components: a compressor, condenser, an evaporator, thermal expansion valve and a drier/accumulator. All of which contribute to a fully functioning air conditioning system.

Here’s how they work:

Compressor:

The compressor takes the refrigerant (the gas) and creates pressure. It compresses the gas and raises its temperature so that it changes into a high pressure gas; the high pressure then forces it through to the condenser.

Condenser:

The condenser is a radiator-like component that the gas moves through once it has been heated. Inside of the condenser, the heat is removed from the gas, turning it into a liquid.

Evaporator:

As the liquid passes through the evaporator tubes, the air is forced through, becoming really cold – right before it hits your face.

Thermal Expansion Valve:

Although it may be super warm outside, you don’t necessarily want to be freezing your toes off! For this reason, the air conditioning system has a valve that controls the flow of the cold refrigerant to the evaporator – meaning you can control how cold the air blowing out gets.

Drier or Accumulator:

There is always the chance that some liquid could make it to the end of the process, which is where the drier comes into play. The drier catches the rogue liquid before it can damage the compressor.

Without the drier, the unit could end up forming ice crystals, which, as you can imagine, could damage the air conditioning unit.

How to keep your air con running efficiently

Buy a bacterial cleaner

Available online or at many online and physical car stores, a bacterial cleaner works to dissolve the dirt build up in your air conditioning system.

Usually sold in an aerosol can form; you must startup your car and put the A/C on full. With the air con blowing full, the aerosol can is placed in the middle of the car. Press down the nozzle on the can, unlike normal aerosol cans the nozzle stays pressed down when you let go, close the car door and allow to run until the can runs out.

You should allow the air to circulate for about 10 minutes before opening the doors to allow to vent.

The aerosol cans can come as single use or rechargeable.

Have it serviced regularly

You should have your air conditioning system serviced every 18 months to 2 years. If you let the system run low on refrigerant, the compressor will have to work twice as hard, which will cause it to wear out quicker.

If you have any further questions about your car air conditioning system, or want to know more about the new and used cars currently available at JCB, get in contact with us today.

PCP stands for personal contract purchases, and is an increasingly popular method of car payment. It allows “buyers” to pay a fixed monthly rate for a new car, usually in contracts of around 3 years. According to the published statistics by the Finance & Leasing Association, last year 78.1% of new cars were purchased by private owners using credit, a majority of which were PCP purchases.

In short, leasing a car allows you to pay for a new car by covering the costs of depreciation over the course of the contract, plus a little extra for the contract provider. It is easy to see why PCP is an inviting concept for drivers. You can put down generally affordable monthly sums and drive away cars that you may not necessarily be able to afford otherwise.

The following is a made up scenario to explain, in the simplest form, how PCP works.

Example:

A new Ford Focus costs £10,000 when the contract is started, and is expected to depreciate to a cost of around £5000 after the three years. That means that the driver will have to pay the £5000 over the three years, including extra fees for the leasing company. In this example, total costs for the three years are £6500. After putting down a deposit of £3000, the driver would then have to pay £194 every month for the three years. At the end of the contract, the driver could then pay the remaining £5000 to buy the car if they wished.

In a bit more detail, once the contract is up you’ll have three options open to you. The first is to simply return the vehicle. You can then decide to take up a new PCP contract on another car or simply walk away, it is up to you. The second and third option that you could entertain is to either purchase the car at its depreciated, end of contract price, or put any equity towards a new contract.

The most obvious downside of the usual PCP contract is that you don’t own the car at the end, though there is still the option of purchasing the vehicle by paying the remaining value.

Less obvious is the quality of the contract itself. It is difficult to work out the best deal with leasing cars, as the depreciated value is largely estimated. Plus, somewhat counter intuitively, it is generally best to find a more popular car which will depreciate less, to make the most of your deal.

Make sure you fully plan out a budget for PCP contracts as some more inviting deals, offering leasing costs as low as £99-per month, may not be the best deals. These could involve ramping up the price through deposits, additional company takings or restricted mileage.

In summary, PCP leasing offers an intriguing payment model for those looking for a new car. However, it’s important to remember the need to research your budget for your chosen plan in order to make sure you get the best deal. Find out more about the car finance options we offer.