It’s bad enough when you have car trouble in your local neighborhood – or even in your own driveway. However, nothing could put a damper on those travel plans like having your car break down hundreds of miles from home. Vacations are supposed to be a time for fun and relaxation, but the difference between pleasure and misery often lies in whether or not you took the proper steps to get your car ready for that long trip.

Before you leave home, there are several simple steps you can take to protect your vehicle, your trip and your loves ones.

First, in case anything does go wrong with your vehicle, make sure you give a trip plan to someone trustworthy. Now, you can go to work on that car of yours.

You can tackle each of these quickly before you hit the road:

• Change oil and filter
• Begin your trip with a clean car, both inside and out. It will help you find your map when you need it, etc.
• Try not to put luggage over the car. It creates air friction and slows you down – bringing more gas. If it is unavoidable, cover with strong sheet and tie them very well.
• Keep a small garbage bag inside the car.
• Change air filter.
• Check cabin air filter because you don’t want a musty odor coming from your vents.
• Cover headlights and front of the car with a protective sheet to prevent bug clogs or other damage.
• Get an extra set of car belts.
• Change spark plugs.
• Make certain your tire iron and jack are in the car.
• Check your spare tire.
• Pack a fire extinguisher.
• Bring towels for cleaning dirty windshields, spills, etc.
• Get a spare key for the car and keep it in your wallet or elsewhere on your person in case you lock your keys in the car.
• Fix sun protectors for side windows and front windshield.
• Make sure you have your podcast downloaded (You may lose service), music library up to date. Or your favorite CD’s if you’re old fashioned.
• Don’t forget any of those necessary cables; Car charger for your phone, auxiliary cable if applicable, USB cables, camera chargers, Go Pro chargers, drone chargers, etc.
• If you’re taking photographs or videos, don’t forget those tiny, yet vitally important memory cards
• Sunglasses
• Bring a plastic funnel to add water or other fluids. Bring a water bucket in case you need to use a river or lake for emergency coolant.
• Always fill your gas tank when it is half full. Don’t wait too long.
• Make sure your owner’s manual is handy.

In addition, you should make a checklist of items to pack in a car survival kit. These can include:

• A chain or thick towing rope
• Electric charger wire
• Flashlight
• Screw drivers and wrenches of different sizes
• Bungee cords
• Pliers
• Hammer

Before pack up, make one final check of the following:

• Tires condition.
• Check tires tread and look for signs of strain, bulges, or other damage.
• Tire pressure, don’t over inflate.
• Wipers and wiper fluid. When the rain falls, you don’t want to discover your wipers are useless. In addition, bug hits can really mess a windshield, so you’ll need a full fluid reservoir.
• Coolant.
• Flush radiator, if you haven’t done so in a while.
• Fuses and Horn.
• High and low beam headlights.
• Oil, power steering, and brake fluid.
• Loose cables heater and air conditioner, if making a seasonal trip.

New additions because of the Covid-19 pandemic:

• Hand sanitizer
• Disposable gloves
• Your handy dandy mask
• Clorox wipes

Once your car passes muster, there are some tips for effective driving. After all, you may not be a part of your car, but if you’re not functioning properly, your car’s condition really doesn’t matter. Don’t forget to engage with the driver. Talking can help keep the driver, engaged, motivated and awake as the hours add up.

Know your limits and plan your trip around them. If the longest drive you have ever taken is 300 miles in a day, don’t plan a trip with a string of endless 500-mile days. Whether you are capable of riding 500 miles per day, or 1,000, the ability to make miles tends to decrease as the length of the trip increases.

Forget about high speeds. A steady driver can book more miles, enjoy more mountain vistas and drive more twisty miles than someone bent on making the best times across a mountain pass. You’ll also save on gas over the long haul.

Leave the Red Bull and coffee at home. If you get tired, pull over and rest. If it’s midway through the day, try a nap of about 30 minutes. If it’s getting dark, hole up in a motel. It’s not worth risking your safety if your body is telling you it needs rest.

Learn to avoid boredom. Long drives usually mean moving across areas that you might not consider prime spots, which have no views or excitement to them. For times like these, having your favorite podcast, standup comedy, audio book, or up-beat music can really prove to be invaluable, by making those long miles go by a little faster.

Finally, stay away from trucks on the open road. Truck drivers hate having anyone follow them. When you are behind a truck, you become a liability to them. Never tailgate. Instead of paying attention to the road, a trucker will start worrying about the people on their tailgate. After that, it doesn’t take much for disaster to follow.

With proper preparation before a trip, and a good attitude during a journey, you can make sure you not only survive a long trip – but also enjoy it. Bring your car into one of seven locations and have a pre-trip check up performed on your vehicle by one of our ASE master technicians. Here is what you will receive in one of our pre-trip check ups:

• Full service standard oil change and filter (synthetic oil and special oil filters will be extra)
• Tire rotation
• Transmission fluid inspection
• Coolant fluid inspection
• Brake fluid inspection
• Power steering fluid inspection
• Battery fluid inspection
• Fuel & air intake inspection
• Belts & hoses inspection
• Air, fuel, cabin filters inspection
• 100% Peace of Mind!