Does your car have a dipstick?

Take it to the garage and get it fixed. Catastrophic leak - tow it to the garage.

Don't you trust your fuel gauge?
How would you know how much oil it's lost and whether to drive it or tow it ?

Yes I trust my fuel gauge, but there's a way around it if it fails.
 
How would you know how much oil it's lost and whether to drive it or tow it ?
Look at the puddle? Go into the cars' service protocols and look?

A car will happily run low on oil. Rarely do they dump the lot. If they did, you'd know. Low oil and low oil pressure warnings occur way before it becomes dangerously low. Blind morons should not drive cars.
 
Look at the puddle? Go into the cars' service protocols and look?

A car will happily run low on oil. Rarely do they dump the lot. If they did, you'd know. Low oil and low oil pressure warnings occur way before it becomes dangerously low. Blind morons should not drive cars.
Wrong. Often too late.

You might not be aware, but a lot of cars with dashboard oil level readings, actually still have a place for a dipstick to be used (at the garage).

How much cost is saved by not actually fitting 1, in addition to the sensor? Enough to make the car " too dear" ?
 
You need to educate your customers. It aint rocket.
I need to tell them to bring the car to me to check the level because their gauge might be faulty ?

When do you suggest I do any actual work ?

That tool I quoted, can be used to calibrate the dash reading. Does that suggest to you that they might have inaccurate readings? Dipstick for an accurate check seems sensible to me
 
Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick :) but don't you always need to remove stick, wipe then put back in for a true reading? Obviously making sure the engine hasn't been reun recently to allow all oil to return to the sump before testing?

I do my checks, in my garage, before I start the car. That way the oil level on the stick, is much better defined, no need to wipe the stick, the car is perfectly level and I am checking it in the same circumstances every time - so a change is noticeable. When I change the oil, I also always refill it precisely to the Full mark, when cold, which can take several days of adjustment, after the refill.

Apparently, 17 percent of women and 6 percent of men don't even know how to open the bonnet o the car

I know how to unlock it in the car, but I do always struggle to find the safety catch - It's tucked back, under the rim of the bonnet, difficult to find, unless you know where to feel for it. You need long fingers and a slim hand to find it easy, to find.
 
Do you honestly think that the "Full" mark is so accurate, that your days of faffing (to hit it, spot on) make any material difference?

No great faff involved. Bonnet could well be left open, car perhaps not needed for those days, takes just a second to check, add a little - and once on max - It avoids me having to make a mental note on what the level was set to, as a reference, to decide if an engine is using oil or not.
 
The point of an MOT is to check a cars condition, at that moment.
Your car could fail the MOT 1 hour later.

It is totally incumbent on the driver, to regularly check the cars condition throughout the year.
Like most things in life, this will vary quite dramatically from person to person. One end you'll have those who carry out various checks at least weekly, other end those who do diddly squat. I suspect (although I could be wrong) the majority will be more towards the latter end of the spectrum.

Not sure what the outcome is (maybe still under consideration) however the government posed the question should the first MOT remain at 3 years or be increased to 4 or 5. Their preference is 4 years. They also asked if thereafter it should remain an annual check or become biennial.

For a number of reasons, regardless of advancements in tech (maybe because of them), I think the annual MOT check should remain.

 
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