By Lydia McAllister.
As summer heats up, road trip travels start to look even more enticing. Whether you’re gearing up for a cross-country trek with your family or just a quick trip with your partner, it’s important to ensure that your car is ready for the trip as much as you are.
Car trouble is not only a major inconvenience but can end up costing you both time and money that you’d likely rather spend on your trip. Some of the most common car maintenance issues can be avoided by doing a thorough inspection before you leave for your trip.
One way to do this is by going through a handy summer car maintenance checklist to ensure your vehicle is ready for the trek ahead.
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8 Car Maintenance Tips to Ensure Your Car Is Ready to Roll
No matter the age or make of your vehicle, it’s a good idea to inspect your car before you take off on a trip. In addition to being up-to-date on your oil changes and tire rotations, there are quite a few other car maintenance considerations to check out before you hit the road.
1. Check the AC
There’s nothing quite as miserable as being in a car on a hot day when your car’s AC decides to quit on you. If your car is only blowing out hot air, it may be a refrigerant (Freon) issue. Try adding refrigerant to your car. If that doesn’t work, a car mechanic should be able to diagnose and treat the problem.
2. Ensure Your Tires are Properly Aired Up
Driving on tires that are low on air pressure can be a recipe for disaster, especially if you’re heading off to a destination that’s off-the-grid. Most cars have a recommended tire pressure between 30 and 35 PSI, but you should reference your owner’s manual to learn the specifics about your car. Keeping an eye on your car’s tire pressure can prevent a flat tire or tire blowout. Having properly aired tires also helps maximize your gas mileage, which is always an added bonus.
While you’re on the road, you should also keep an eye on your tire pressure. Summer temperatures often fluctuate between excessively hot during the day and milder at night. These weather fluctuations can cause your tire pressure to fluctuate, making them more susceptible to getting worn and damaged.
This creates the perfect storm for a tire blowout. To prevent this, monitor your tire pressure at least once every week and ensure that the pressure readings and top off any tires that may be low on air pressure.
3. Top Off Engine Fluids
Low engine fluids can thin or even evaporate in hot temperatures. As summer rolls around, be sure to top off your transmission fluid, power steering fluid, coolant, and windshield wiper fluid. Coolant is especially important to check during the summer as this is what helps keep your car from overheating. You can check this yourself or if you’re more comfortable with a professional taking a look, you can take your car to your nearest mechanic for a peek under the hood.
4. Test the Brakes
No matter where you’re headed, it’s crucial that you ensure your brakes are in tip-top shape before setting off on your trip. Beyond the brakes being slow to work, you’ll want to listen for squealing or growling sounds when testing your brakes. You’ll also want to check for brake pulling, or if your vehicle pulls to one side when you press the brake pedal. If you notice any of these issues, be sure to take your car to your nearest mechanic for a professional inspection.
5. Pack an Emergency Car Kit
You probably have an emergency kit in the trunk of your car, but over the years you may have used and not replaced certain items. In addition to road trip essentials, make sure your kit is properly stocked by including these must-have items:
- Cell phone charger
- Extra engine coolant
- Basic repair tools
- A flashlight
- Jack for changing a tire
- First aid kit
- Duct tape
- Maps
- Spare tire
- Jumper cables
- Water
- Blankets
- Paper towels/rags
- Rain gear
- Hand sanitizer
- Small trash bags
- Battery-powered radio
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6. Replace Windshield Wipers
Winter tends to do some damage to a car’s windshield wipers. To ensure your safety as you run into summer storms while driving, it’s important to replace tattered windshield wipers with new ones.
7. Keep Your Car Cool When It’s Not in Use
Whether you’re headed for a day on the beach or off to hike a new trail, parking your car in the shade can help keep your car cool and prolong its life. If you can’t find shade where you’re parking, bring along window shades to put in your windshield to block the rays and keep your car cool on hot days.
8. Check Your Car Battery
Winter isn’t the only time you should be checking your car’s battery. Your car’s battery has to work harder to keep your car engine and other car accessories cool in the summertime. If there’s any type of malfunction in any of the battery’s components, it reduces its efficiency.
Check to make sure that the plastic components aren’t obstructing the flow of air over your battery. Also, ensure that all parts of your battery are in tip-top shape. A slow engine start could be a sign that it might be time to replace your battery.
Now that you’re armed with all the summer car maintenance tips you need to ensure your trusty four-wheeled steed is ready for whatever road trips you have planned this summer, you’re ready to get to the fun part of trip planning — the actual travel part!
But before you do, our friends at The Zebra, a car insurance company, have created this helpful summertime car maintenance checklist for you to go through before you set off on your next adventure. We hope this guide will help you avoid any road trip mishaps to ensure your trip is filled with only the good kind of memories. Happy trails!
Lydia McAllister is a content creator who develops helpful and compelling stories. Her passion for digital marketing and creative writing has led her to cover unique topics ranging from business to lifestyle. She calls Texas home and enjoys reading, crossword-puzzling and traveling in her spare time.
Great list! I also add to that list of knowing where the gas stations are along the way and making sure my cell phone charger is with me. Running out of gas is not fun and can put you at a safety risk.
This is one thing that some do not take into priority. This is important especially during summer
These are really very helpful tips. These tips will benefit people who are travelling in summer
Regular services! Seriously. Just had mine done after 18 months of little to no use but the brakes were funky and starter motor needed replacing.
Really good tips and stuff we need to keep in mind, especially when we are planning long road trips. Most of us don’t even remember to check things. The car AC especially, in this heat, is required to be checked. Imagine being on a long road trip with your car AC busted!
very useful to me. We rarely use a car so not everything comes that easy especially in the summer heat.
An absolutely amazing post! I think in the speed of life we some times forget how important a good car maintained can be. A great checklist and very helpful x
Just this past weekend a friend of mine got a flat tyre right outside my home and unfortunately, he did not have a spare tyre. The hassle involved in fixing a car problem when you are not prepared is just annoying.
As summer is fast arriving, these are some great tips, right on time. Scorching heat and if the AC doesn’t work it is definitely hell! It is super necessary to check on that! I’m always a bit scared of driving through those off-grid places in the USA. If the vehicle has some issues, it would impossible to even get the AAA on call. Rechecking everything right now is necessary – fluids, wipers, engine, oils, everything.
Thanks for all the tips. Admittedly, as a woman, these are things that I neglect to check even when I was taking long drives. A scary thought now, had I experienced car trouble in the middle of nowhere.
For a woman, you seem to know a lot about cars! I leave everything to my husband. Hehehe.
Though I’m not into cars, I have to say that these are great tips. Number 7 is so important otherwise one’s butt is gonna be on fire!!! Especially if the seats are leather seats! Damn!
These are such smart tips! I always try to park my car in the shade because it’s never fun to get into a hot seat. I do need to remember to check my tires next time – good idea!
I love that #1 is Check the AC. Twice in our car right as it started warming up our AC went out. Also right before we were planning to take a road trip. I’m glad that we got it fixed before we left.
These are all such great tips to maintain cars. I agree that the cars require good maintenance during summers and checking for tires and AC must surely be done all the time. I also keep an emergency kit in my car usually so I am prepared for any situation.
These are all great tips. That reminds me I need to check my tyre pressure I think one is lower than it should be. It’s important to keep an eye on these.
These are such helpful tips, I just got my first car. These tips will me a lot.
Perfect timing I’m going on a road trip tomorrow and checked the weather and it going to be hot. I’m going to check the AC right away and grab a windshield shade. I’m also going to grab a flashlight and an extra phone charger.
These are such great tips! Thanks for sharing them.
These are useful tips because I do these regularly, especially when we need to go on a long drive outside the city.
thank you for this. i definitely need to learn and be more aware of what needs to be done with the car..
This is such a great list. I always forget about the windshield wipers.
We have had a number of car mishaps when road tripping. So we have “Car Check Up” on our travel prep list. I must admit though that we do not have a car emergency kit with near enough things in it. Great to use a checklist like this before summer travel.
These are definitely the important things that we should do or check with our vehicles. I will also share this with others, thank you!
Great tips for summer car road trips. Before every car trip, I check if tires are properly aired up. I also think that it is crucial to ensure if brakes are in tip-top shape before a trip. And I always pack Emergency Car Kit. I think it’s essential for even a short weekend trip.