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The top 5 most common Car problems Car not starting The single most common car problem is the car not starting and that has series of things to check and troubleshoot before calling a recovery and sending for detail diagnose. Low on fuel: If car is extremely low on fuel and fuel pump is weak and/or old it will not build enough pressure to start the car as fuel delivery is very less. To counter this, always keep fuel more than 1 quarter of a tank. Dead Battery: If battery health indicator turn white, it means its dead. Green is good, empty means that battery is fully discharge and can be recharge by jump starting the car and then driving the car for more than 20 minutes to start the charge cycle. If car interior lights and headlights are dimmed then it’s a sign of weak battery that stop retaining the charge for certain cranking amps and failing to start and changing the battery is required. Choked Air filter: Check the air filter and it should look clean and free from dust and practically in a white or lighter color (depends on brand). If it’s fully clogged, choked and turn to darker color then remove it out and tap it on the floor gently couple of times to remove the dust as much as possible or use compressed air to blow the dust away. If car starts, then change the air filter asap as it’s not good to suffocate the car air delivery passage, that will burn more fuel and have difficulty in start up again very shortly. Car wobbling or pulling on one side Car majorly wobble due to unbalance wheels. No matter how good they were balanced in the past this problem can still occur, by simply hitting or scrubbing the pavement that removed the wheel balancing small metal strip accidentally. While balancing the wheel it is important to see Zero | Zero on both left and right side of the wheel to make sure it is 100% balance. In off-road cars, little bit of sand can get in the tire that makes similar wobbling as that sand keep rotating inside the tire. So get the tire open and remove all the sand from inside and then balance the wheels. Last but not least this can also happen if all 4 tires are inflated at different PSI level. Always inflate the tires as per OEM specification sticker placed on the driver door side (when open). In some cases (not so common) car can also wobble while having a drive-train issue, axle issue or faulty suspension. These all require professional diagnose and repair accordingly. Reason for car pulling on one side is the wheel alignment and that is totally different than balancing. Alignment is much quicker than getting all wheel balance and done faster and cheaper. Alignment will keep your car steering straight on road and also save your tire from uneven wear. Check engine light This one is the big Pandora box that can get on for so many minor to major reason that to list all of them here will require a separate book for each brand. However, in general “Check engine Light” comes for below most common reasons: Car is due for service. Fuel cap is not closed properly. Crank sensor, Cam shaft sensor need replacement. Faulty spark plug, HT lead (plug wire) or faulty ignition coil. Engine oil level depletes due to leak or internal combustion. Air filter is not set properly, or air flow meter on air filter housing got loose. Issues with emission control and some of the emission component need change. Engine Overheating Most dangerous and often neglected that result in huge repair bills. Always keep an eye on Engine temperature gauge inside the car dashboard. STOP the car immediately if it rises even slightly and inspect the below items immediately: Check the level of coolant in reservoir bottle, if low top-up immediately. Check the level of coolant in the radiator (when car is cold), if low top-up immediately. Check radiator fan is working in two speed: low (normal) and high (when car is hot). Check if there is no leak in the radiator and neighboring big black water hoses. AC fan works, when you switch on AC and shuts off when you switch off AC. If you pay attention to above 5 points, you will save over 75% chances of your car getting overheat and save your engine. Hope you know if car engine overheat to the max ONCE, it has over 90% chances that you need either new engine or rebuild old engine that cost almost 60%-70% of the engine cost. So make sure your eyes are always glued to the engine water/coolant temperature gauge and you notice the rise in time and stop to diagnose. If in doubt, do not drive if car is overheating in idle. Period. Screeching noise while braking In simple words, if you hear screeching noise while braking then change the brake pad shortly as they are going to screech even more in next few days to remind you for the required maintenance. While changing brake pads, front set of pads get consumed 3 times faster than the rear ones as over 70% of the time car only uses front brake and not rear. It’s only when car is under full load or high speed hard braking engage all 4 brakes together to stop your car faster. While at it you also should pay attention to brake disc condition, and should always get the brake disc skimmed if your brake pad change was delayed and constant metal scratching caused the serious scratches on the brake disc surface. Secondly, brake disc has certain minimum thickness and if it’s lower than the threshold thickness (mm) then it is highly advisable to change it ASAP for safe braking. Check your car repair manual or speak to service adviser to find out the minimum thickness of brake disc for your car model. Headlight or Taillight not working First thing to doubt when the headlight or tail light fails is the electric fuse, which is simple do-it-yourself job and replace any blown out fuses. If fuse were fine then you can check the lamp placed inside the tail light or head light and see if that is blown out, just like our house bulb it also breaks the filament after certain age. These two above steps can be simply performed by reading your car owner manual instructions. Beyond this point to check the switches, wiring, distribution points you will need a professional assistance to carry out a thorough check with a certified car electrician.