Christmas Road Trip: 8 Car Checks Before You Travel

The Christmas period is one of the busiest times of year on UK roads. The RAC and AA consistently report their highest call-out volumes in the week before Christmas, when millions of households embark on family visits, holiday travel, and end-of-year journeys. A breakdown on the M6 on Christmas Eve — or worse, an accident on a fog-bound A-road in rural Wales — is a scenario entirely worth avoiding with a simple pre-departure routine. These eight Christmas road trip car checks take under an hour and could save your holiday.

1. Check Your MOT Is Valid

It sounds obvious, but a surprising number of drivers set off on long journeys in vehicles with an expired MOT. Driving without a valid MOT — except to a pre-booked test — is illegal, carries a fine of up to £1,000, and will invalidate your insurance in the event of an accident.

Run a quick MOT check on your registration plate right now. The check is free and takes seconds. If your MOT expires before or during your planned travel dates, book a test immediately — garages get very busy in December and slots fill quickly. If you're buying or borrowing a vehicle for the trip, run the check on that vehicle too.

2. Inspect All Four Tyres

Tyres are the single component most likely to let you down on a long winter journey. Before any Christmas road trip, carry out a full visual and physical inspection:

• Tread depth: Minimum 1.6 mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre. Aim for at least 3 mm for winter driving safety.
• Pressure: Check cold, against your vehicle handbook. Don't forget to check the spare — a flat spare is useless when you need it most.
• Condition: Look for bulges, cuts, cracking, or any embedded debris such as nails or screws. A nail in the tread may be holding pressure for now but will deflate on the motorway.

If you're driving a fully loaded car — boot full of presents, five passengers — increase tyre pressure to the laden specification in your handbook. Under-inflated tyres in a laden vehicle generate excessive heat and can delaminate at motorway speeds.

3. Test Your Lights

Christmas journeys often begin or end in the dark, and December daylight hours in the UK are at their shortest. Faulty lights are dangerous and will land you with a Fixed Penalty Notice if spotted by police. Walk around the car and check:

• Both headlights on dipped and main beam
• Front and rear fog lights — essential in the low-visibility conditions common in December
• Brake lights (ask a passenger to help or reverse towards a reflective surface)
• Indicators — all four corners plus the hazard warning function
• Number plate lights
• Reversing lights

Keep a spare bulb kit in the car if your vehicle uses standard halogen bulbs (LED vehicles require workshop replacement in most cases). Bulb kits cost under £10 from any motor factor and can be a roadside lifesaver.

4. Top Up Engine Fluids

A ten-minute check under the bonnet before a long run can prevent a breakdown that costs hours. Check and top up as required:

• Engine oil: Between MIN and MAX on the dipstick. Use the grade specified in your handbook — mixing grades can cause damage.
• Coolant: Between MIN and MAX in the expansion tank. Never open the cap when the engine is hot.
• Windscreen washer fluid: Fill to the brim with a correctly diluted winter screenwash rated to at least -15°C. Winter motorways coated in salt spray make through a litre of screenwash surprisingly quickly.
• Brake fluid: Should sit between MIN and MAX. If it's below MIN, have the brakes inspected before travelling — low brake fluid often indicates worn pads, not just evaporation.

5. Check the Brakes

Brakes work harder on long runs through hills and in stop-start motorway traffic. Before your Christmas road trip car checks are complete, take the car on a short local run specifically to test the brakes. Apply them firmly at 30 mph on a quiet road. The car should stop in a straight line with no pulling, grinding, squealing, or sponginess in the pedal.

If the pedal feels soft or travels too far before the car slows, there may be air in the hydraulic system or brake fluid is very low. Both require immediate professional attention. A grinding or metal-on-metal sound indicates pads have worn to the backing plate — these are dangerous and must be replaced before the journey.

6. Inspect Wiper Blades and Windscreen

UK December weather means your wipers will be running almost constantly. A wiper blade that smears or skips creates dangerous visibility gaps and is an MOT failure point. Lift each blade and inspect the rubber edge — if it's split, cracked, or deformed, replace it before your trip. A new set of wiper blades is a £15–£25 investment that dramatically improves safety in heavy rain and spray from motorway lorries.

While inspecting the windscreen, look for chips or cracks. A chip in the driver's line of sight can obscure vision and is an MOT failure. More urgently, a chip subjected to a temperature shock — such as hot air from the demister on a frozen screen — can spread into a full crack very quickly. Chips can usually be repaired same-day at a specialist for free under comprehensive insurance.

7. Battery Health Check

Cold temperatures reduce battery output, and December is the month most likely to deliver a flat battery scenario. The AA consistently lists flat batteries as their number one call-out reason in winter. If your battery is over three years old, have it load-tested at a garage or tyre centre — many do this free. A battery that tests weak should be replaced before a long journey rather than after a breakdown on the hard shoulder.

Carry jump leads in the boot regardless of battery age. They weigh almost nothing, take up minimal space, and make you a good Samaritan to another stranded driver as well as a self-sufficient traveller.

8. Review Your MOT History and Check for Advisories

The final — and most forensic — of the Christmas road trip car checks is to pull up your vehicle's full MOT history and review any advisories from recent tests. Advisories are noted defects that didn't quite reach failure level on test day but represent genuine wear that has been progressing ever since. An advisory about tyre wear from eight months ago, or a note about a corroded brake pipe, may have crossed into failure territory by December.

Use our MOT history check to view every advisory and failure noted against your vehicle. Cross-reference against the seven checks above and you have a complete pre-departure picture. Our common MOT failures guide explains what each advisory type means in plain English so you can make an informed decision about what needs attention before you set off.

A thorough pre-departure routine transforms Christmas road trip car checks from a chore into a genuine investment in a safe, stress-free holiday. Start with a free car check on your registration, work through the list above, and enjoy the journey knowing your vehicle is as ready as it can be for whatever December throws at it.