Car checkup prior to road trip

amother

Babypink

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 11:38 am

We're planning a 24 hour road trip with our very old, but functioning, small car.

I'd like to have it checked out before we head out. Which functions and parts would you put on your checklist? Brakes? Wipers? A/c? Battery?

amother

Wheat

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 11:52 am

Tires, brakes-very important! Steering wheel, air conditioning. I would do an oil change as well. Make sure the head & rear lights & blinkers are working.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 12:01 pm

amother wrote:

Tires, brakes-very important! Steering wheel, air conditioning. I would do an oil change as well. Make sure the head & rear lights & blinkers are working.

Check all fluids

Oil change if needed soon

Change air filter

Check tire wear and tire pressure

Check all signals and lights

Check safety equipment, especially your spare tire

amother

Babypink

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:29 pm

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I hadn't thought of a spare tire. It's important to have one?

amother

Babypink

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:30 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

Check safety equipment, especially your spare tire

Other than a spare tire, are there additional safety equipment I should take along?

amother

Wheat

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:31 pm

Yes op, a when going on a road trip a spare tires is very important. You have to prepare thinking anything can happen. Rather be safe than sorry.
Also very important to keep a first aid-emergency kit in the car.

amother

Babypink

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:39 pm

amother wrote:

I grew up without a car and we got this car donated to us a few months ago. It's a 1996 small Ford. I grew up in chasidish milieu and am clueless about cars in general.

The more specific suggestions you can offer, the more useful it is to me.
Thanks!

SixOfWands

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:56 pm

amother wrote:

Other than a spare tire, are there additional safety equipment I should take along?

Make sure you have the jack and a tire iron. Jumper cables. Tire pressure gauge. Fix a flat if you can't change your own tire. A roll of duct tape. I usually have a spare bulb, but you may not need that. Flashlight.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 1:58 pm

amother wrote:

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I hadn't thought of a spare tire. It's important to have one?

This actually scared me. Yes, you must have a spare tire. Your car almost certainly came with one, but make sure its OK. Its probably a "mickey mouse" spare, not full size, but that's OK. You really don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and need a flat bed tow because you don't have a spare tire.

southernbubby

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 3:18 pm

My car is old and has to be checked out for every road trip and our mechanic knows just what to do. The car flunked the last test a few weeks ago because of a worn out caliper and break pad on one of the wheels. $300 later, it was road worthy.

amother

Babypink

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 3:49 pm

southernbubby wrote:

Your comment is encouraging. Thanks!

seeker

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 11:49 pm

OP, IMHO all these messages are just going to confuse you. Do what I do - find out who your friends/neighbors trust with their cars and say to him "I have this old car. I want to use it for a really long road trip. Can you check it out and make sure it's safe and ready to go?"

And sign up for AAA. That way if you C"V end up with a flat tire somewhere random and didn't see the imamother line about having a jack and whatever, you can call for roadside assistance which might take a while but the point is that you don't need to worry that if you haven't taken all the auto-care imamother course prerequisites then your road trip is doomed.