Blog

Autumn is here, and that means motorists young and old are setting aside a
weekend to roam the foothills of New England’s to see the beautiful foliage. But
before you set out on that color­filled journey, let us at Vesas Automotive give you
a helping hand in the form of a road­trip checklist for your vehicle. After all, the
last thing you’d want to do on a day of sight­seeing is spend hours on the side of
the road waiting for a tow truck!

1.)   Fluid Check
This is something that’s just good car maintenance, but checking your fluids
before you leave on a lengthy car ride is a simple but effective way to prep your
vehicle for the road. Check the oil, engine coolant, wiper and break fluid, and if
you want to be thorough take a look at the transmission and power steering fluid
levels as well.

2.)   Belt Check
You might have heard a story or two from grandpa about the time his car lost a
belt on the road, and he made an emergency repair with the belt around his waist.
Those days are long gone though, so it’s important to give your belts a once­over
to check for cracks, fraying, missing pieces or other signs that a belt could fail.
Otherwise prepare to spend a not­so­fun time at the repair shop.

3.)   Tire Check
Ah, a flat tire: the automotive world’s common cold. To keep your car healthy,
check the tires on your vehicle to make sure that they’re properly inflated, have
good tread left, and have no cracks or gouges in the tire walls that could spell
disaster. And just in case you need it, check on that spare. A long time in the
trunk can cause your spare tire to corrode or lose air so make sure it’s ready to
go, and make sure that your jack and tire iron are easily accessible too.

4.)   Electric Check
One last thing before you’re off to see the leaves: check your car’s electrical
system. Make sure your headlights, reverse lights, license plate bulbs and turning
signals are all working, and check the battery for sings of excessive corrosion.
Just to be on the safe side, make sure you have a pair of jumper cables, a
flashlight, and an air compressor handy as well.

The whole process shouldn’t take more than a half­hour, and we hope that
everything checks out fine and you’re free to have a happy weekend of picturetaking and conversation. In the event that you do find something wrong though,
call us at Vesas Automotive today and we’ll schedule your car for a repair as soon
as possible. We want out customers to be safe AND satisfied, after all! Happy
driving!