Toothpaste and kerosene: your car's best friends

We have scoured the internet for some weird and wacky car tips. Read on if you want to find out why you should turn off your radio when driving over a pot hole or why you have to brush up on body language when buying a used car.

What is the easiest way to protect your car's appearance and its price? Simply give your car a wash each week. This includes attending to bird droppings as soon as you spot them - the stuff in them can seriously damage your paint job.

Also, if you want to be really pedantic, get under the car and clean the chassis of all the grease and grime that's built up from filthy roads. The best way to do it? Kerosene. Sure, it's stinky and you'd better hope no one lights a match while you're doing it, but it does the best job.

And if kerosene wasn't strange enough as a car cleaning product, did you know that some people put toothpaste on their alloy wheels? The ingredients in the old Colgate are said to be one of the most effective cleaning products for alloys.

These days everyone is looking for ways to save on petrol and the best way to do that is to make sure you take good care of the engine because a well tuned engine means lower fuel consumption. Also, avoid those jackrabbit style starts because not only do they make the car use more petrol, but they are bad for the tyres as well.

Gone to pick up a friend and they are not quite ready? Turn off your engine while you wait. One minute of idling uses more fuel than restarting your vehicle again.

If you're buying a privately-owned car. brush up on your understanding of sellers' body language.

When you discuss the service history, chances are the owner will not always be truthful. But you can pick the porkies from the truth because fibbers tend to touch their ears or cover their mouth, according to behavioral psychologists.

If you're buying a new car and wondering wether to go for Arabian Black or Caledonian Blue, remember this - white is the most durable paint colour, the easiest to touch up and the easiest to clean. It also reflects heat and your air-conditioner doesn't have to work so hard, so you save fuel.

Finally, why should you turn off your radio before you hit a pothole? When a suspension arm cracks it produces a low pitch sound. You won't hear it if you're singing along to the Top 40.