Personalising your new car

A new car takes a while to be broken in – not only does it look and feel new, but the way it handles will be strange for a little while. It will sound and feel different, take corners in a different gear, and we’ve all had that frantic moment of trying to find the wipers in a rainstorm when driving a strange car. And if this is your first car, switching from the car you learnt how to drive in to your car can be terrifying and make you feel like you can’t drive at all. But don’t worry, it just takes a little bit of adjustment time and everything will be fine.

So how do you make that new car feel like yours?

Drive it

It sounds obvious, and it is. You need to get used to your new car and the only way to do that is to drive it. Practise the basics with familiar roads and parking spots before trying something complicated. Some people will be able to switch between vehicles without a pause, and others will need a bit of time. But the more you use the car, the better it will feel. You will also come to know it’s quirks and kinks only through using the vehicle, so you won’t know if anything is wrong unless you have taken the time to get to know how it drives.

Weekly checks

You should be in a steady routine with your old car with checking your oil, water and tire pressure each week. And just because your car is new doesn’t mean that you should stop doing all of that. Get to know your cars needs and levels – because they are probably going to be different to your old car, and overtime you will get into your new filling up routine. If this is your first car, then this is a routine that you need to get into; make sure that you know how to check and top up your oil and water in your car, and that you know how to check and change the air pressure in your tires. You should also be checking the tread of your tires regularly to make sure that you change them before they get dangerous.

Accessories

For many people it’s the accessories in the car that make it feel like theirs. It might be something purely superficial like teddies, personalised number plates from primoregistrations.co.uk, or even stickers along the outside of the car. Or it might be practical things like a phone holder, charger and a dashcam. Either way, or a mix of both, get it done as soon as; surrounding yourself with familiar things is an easy way of making your car feel like yours.

Scent

That new car smell is amazing, but it can also be a reminder of how not yours it is. Get your favourite scent in there- whether that’s a particular air freshener, or a McDonald’s. And if you have brought your car second hand – you might need a valet service to get the lingering smell of the last owners out of there. Or you can simply get a ‘new car smell’ air freshener from amazon.co.uk and bypass the valet service.

** This is a collaborative post