Inspect Your Vehicle for Road Trip

Light the way

If you don’t often drive at night, you may not have noticed that your headlights are not as bright as they used to be. Any vehicle inspection should always include a check on the condition of the head light lenses, since the lenses become clouded and pitted over time. If your headlight lenses are in a less than perfect condition replace them, and have the focus adjusted to make sure you can see what’s ahead of at all times.

Keep the engine cool

As with head lights, a vehicle inspection must include a proper inspection of the engine cooling system. Cooling system problems are the second biggest cause of road side breakdowns, so make sure that the coolant contains fresh anti-freeze, that the coolant level is up to the mark, and that there are no fluid leaks anywhere in the cooling system. Repair all leaks well before departure to give you enough time to confirm that repairs had been successful.

Service now, rather than later

Schedule a multi-point vehicle inspection before you leave. This type of vehicle inspection can uncover multitude of defects, or issues that you may not have been aware of, and if you have the vehicle inspection done early enough, you can get all faults repaired in good time. Choose a vehicle inspection plan that includes checks on the following as a minimum;

  • suspension rubbers/bushings
  • condition of the shock absorbers
  • all hoses
  • all drive belts
  • wipers and windshield washer
  • battery/charging system
  • brakes- including the parking brake

If your vehicle is nearly due for and oil change, you may as well have it done during the vehicle inspection. There is no harm in changing the oil and oil filter a few hundred miles early; moreover, you will have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your engine is lubricated with fresh oil.

Check the electronics

Not all fault conditions will trigger a warning light on the first failure, which makes it very important that the vehicle inspection includes a thorough diagnostic check, since some fault conditions only become apparent after several fault cycles. In these cases, the fault may be stored as a pending code, which means that the fault can become active at any time. Be aware that some pending trouble codes can immobilize, or seriously affect the drivability of a vehicle when they become active, so schedule a diagnostic check-up for your vehicle to make sure that this does not happen to you.

Check the rubber

Of course, no vehicle inspection can be complete without a thorough inspection of the tires, including the spare tire. Just checking the outside of the tires is not good enough; have the wheels removed from the car to properly inspect the inside sidewalls for signs of damage like cuts, bulging, or tread separation on the shoulders.

Also, be sure to check the tread depth, but make sure that the tread is evenly worn over the entire width of all the tires. Uneven tire wear is a sure sign that something is out of alignment, bent, worn, or broken. Replace all tires that are not in perfect condition, and rotate the tires to make sure that all tires share the load equally.