Ask Joe Mechanic: Check Your Vehicle Before You Hit the Road!

It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking about or already have planned a road trip with our family to a favorite summer vacation destination.  Along with the packing list for necessary items for the trip, should be a pre-road trip checklist for your vehicle as well.  We all know that one of the worst ways to interrupt a relaxing vacation is with a broken-down vehicle.  By verifying the operational condition of a few key items on your vehicle before you depart, you can greatly decrease the likelihood of an inconvenient, and possibly expensive roadside assistance call to AAA. 

Here are a few items to check on before you hit the road:

·       Read your owner’s manual for the “how to’s” – how to properly tow a trailer, change your tires or a light bulb, jumpstarting a dead battery and more.

·       Lift the hood and verify that all fluids and belts look to be in good shape.  Top off the fluids that are low (paying extra special attention to coolant, transmission fluid and engine oil), and while you’re at it, check for fluid leaks.

·       Give your battery a once over.  Does it have clean terminals and appear to be in good working order?  If not, consider replacing it before you depart.

·       Are the tires in good shape?  Check the tread, wear and pressure.  If any of this appears questionable, take the necessary steps to replace, rotate or fill them with the needed air.

·       What about the electrical items?  Are your lights, horn and wipers working the way they’re intended?  If you’re of the knowhow to replace and/or tinker with these items yourself, then do so, if not, take them to your mechanic for replacement and repair.

·       Check the trunk.  Make sure your emergency car care kit is well stocked, your spare tire and accompanying tools are in shipshape and you readily know where your wheel key lock is, if you have a wheel lock on your vehicle.

·       What’s the deal with the GPS?  If you have an in-vehicle navigation system, be sure its mapping software has been recently updated.  If you rely on a window or dash-mounted unit, be sure you have its power cable close-at-hand.  If you use a smartphone-based GPS, consider getting a mount for the device so you can keep your hands free for driving.

·       One final note, if you’re considering a particularly long-haul trip, it might be a good idea to have your mechanic or garage give the underside of your vehicle a once over.  It’s better to be safe then sorry when it comes to axels, brakes, shocks, drive train and the other major operational items of your vehicle when your planning to put hundreds or thousands of miles on your automobile during a vacation.

Road tripping doesn’t need to be a hassle.  Taking care of your vehicle before you depart for summer vacation with these simple checklist items can definitely help reduce pre-trip jitters!  We hope you and your family have a great time traveling the highways of America as you vacation this summer!

Information for this article was sourced from AAA.com and Wikipedia.org.