While we shudder to think what would happen if leopards, hyenas and hippos wander our city streets, our cars are patiently waiting to take us back to the rat race. However, did you know that you cannot assume your vehicle will start for the first time weeks after it was last used?

During the lockdown, Eqstra Fleet Management’s 24/7/365 roadside and accident assistance teams have assisted an average 30 customers a day. These are mostly customers performing an essential service, such as transporting patients or distributing food, blood and medical equipment, but also include normal passenger vehicles. Even if your vehicle is just there to take you to buy essentials, having a reliable vehicle is important and should not be taken for granted. If you are leaving your vehicle unused for a long period, it will still require some maintenance.

Here are some things to keep in mind during lockdown.

1. Battery health: Run the car once a day for at least five minutes. This should be done in a ventilated area, preferably outside. One of us recently found this out. In fact, both family members found themselves stranded when their vehicles would not start. Luckily the vehicle belonged to Eqstra so the roadside assistance team came to the rescue.

2. Disinfect your car. After surfing the world on your couch, emptying the fridge or watching all the movies on DSTV and Netflix twice, be brave and experience the great outdoors. You may have disinfected everything including the kitchen sink, but what about the interior of your car for when you return to work? Listen to the first seven minutes of this 702 podcast by clicking here.

Tip: if you don’t normally wear make-up, you may want to get permission from a person who does: did you know that makeup remover is better for leather interiors and bumpers than bleach and Jik?

According to Jason Germishuys from Eqstra’s Accident Management department now would be a good time to clean the places you never even think about, such as the inside of the petrol cap, the lever where you adjust the seat, the cubby hole (including the service book) and the entire seat belt.

And while you are at it, why not sweep the garage? According to Calorielab.com, you burn approximately 204 calories / 854 kilojoules if the sweeping takes you an hour. That’s burning the contents of that small packet of chips you just ate plus more to spare. PLUS 270 calories from washing the car for an hour, and you can go back to the couch. 

3. Check the spare wheel. It’s all there, right? Just go check. Consider the situation where our roadside assistance team had a call-out earlier this week for a flat tyre because the driver found the key to the boot broken off in the lock. So go check the condition of the spare wheel, and whether the wheel jack, wheel spanner and emergency triangle are present. While you probably will not be able to fix the situation now, you will at least not get a nasty surprise in an emergency.

4. Keep the vehicle under covers. Park your vehicle under a roof or use a car cover. Consider the fleet of seven emergency response vehicles just hit by a severe hailstorm. You cannot be a hero with a vehicle looking like an egg carton.

5. Scheduled servicing will have to wait. If your vehicle is due for a service during the lockdown, you will not be able to send it in for a service. However, most car manufacturers will be forgiving after the lockdown; try to limit travel to less than 1,000 km during this period.

6. If you are driving a pool vehicle during the lockdown, do not take the keys home. Instead, arrange with the depot/fleet manager to drop off the keys before you leave for home. We know you are a hero, but even heroes would not like to be woken up by people in emergency uniform banging on their door. The alternative would be for our roadside assistance team to break into the vehicle, remove the ignition component, and get a locksmith out to make a spare key. Your fleet manager might not thank you for this.

7. If your vehicle gets damaged while on the road, immediately call us at 0861 377 872. Even if trees fall on you. We know you are doing fantastic work, but give other heroes the chance to shine as well.