Free garage checks for women drivers

How well do you look after your car? To be more specific, when did you last check the condition of your tyres, oil pressure levels or take your car for a thorough garage check?

At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, we all know we should look after our cars because a poorly-maintained one will be less safe, less reliable, less environmentally-friendly and more expensive to run than it would be otherwise. Add to this two self-fulfilling prophesies; that a neglected car will repay you with expensive bills and that a car with a regular servicing history is a more appealing buy than one without.

Yet many drivers admit that they don't visit their local garage as often as they might or take good enough care of their cars in between these occasions.

Steph Savill, who runs FOXY Lady Drivers Club, explains that many motorists put off garage visits for a combination of reasons which are often linked to today's hectic lifestyle.

“Many women find they are constantly juggling home, family and career responsibilities whilst their leisure time gets whittled away. Much further down their priority list, the poor car can come in for the same scant attention as a kitchen appliance. We all like our prized possessions to look good, to reflect our lifestyle perhaps and we expect them to be fit for purpose. But there are big differences between a trendy toaster and our car, in that we can probably afford to throw away the toaster when it breaks, but we need to protect the resale value of our cars after the big investment we've made in them. Men and women alike, this usually means setting aside our limited spare time to look after our cars on a more regular basis. Another consequence of neglecting our car's basic needs, compared to a fridge or a Dyson, is that we might end up compromising other people's road safety, as well as our own, in the event of a road accident.”

To reassure their busy members, FOXY Lady Drivers Club has come up with a new package of support garage services for women, worth £55 and called FOXY Mondays, included in its membership benefits. In exchange for FOXY's annual subscription of just £30, women can now claim a free annual safety inspection (worth £15) and four free maintenance checks a year (each worth £10) on Mondays, from participating garages and dealerships. This means that professionals can double-check that the vehicle is safe and properly looked after, on a regular basis.

“Of course we should all check our tyres, oil and water levels in between these inspections, but by getting the professionals to do this for us on a quarterly basis, as a minimum, they are likely to spot any important concerns we might miss before we compromise our safety or land up with unnecessarily expensive bills. We also remind all our members to visit their local FOXY garage on an annual basis – it's easy to forget, thinking that our MOT test is good enough or when our annual mileage is very low” adds Steph.

For further information, visit foxyladydrivers.com.