If you start to notice that your car seems to be consuming a lot of oil or that when you drive off you can see a puddle of oil left behind on the road, then you probably have an oil leak. Oil leaks can happen for a number of reasons and can often not be diagnosed without putting the car up on a ramp and inspecting it from underneath. Even if a leak is found they may have to strip components off the vehicle to access where the oil is coming from as there is often potentially a lot of places oil can leak from. It may be a simple case of replacing one of the seals.

Before you take your car to your local garage have a shop around for prices. Many independent garages will need you to call up to get a quote for work and often with leaks they will not be able to tell you exactly how much it will cost until they find out where the leak is coming from.

There are now some websites online that allow you to compare prices for common work such as services, MOT’s replacing brake pads and discs etc. Be sure to check what parts are going to be used on your vehicle and that any work you have done will not invalidate a warranty should you have one.