While some students may be dropped off at college by parents, others drive to school or stay close to campus. Regular maintenance and service are performed in the home or at a nearby location.
Reputable repair facilities are located close to campus.
Some collegians use a vehicle as a way to get home between semesters. Others use it more often for transportation to work, or to commute to campus. In either case, inconvenient or unsafe breakdowns can result from poor maintenance.
Infrequently driven vehicles are at greater risk of battery failures, water accumulating in gasoline lines, poor engine performance, and even fuel consumption. Vehicles used on short, frequent trips between campus and home are less likely to warm up and could be subject to premature exhaust system failures and engine deposits. This can lead to poor engine performance.
The Car Care Guide is now available to parents and students in simple, understandable language. It explains how to maintain your vehicle’s safety, dependability, value, and reliability. The Car Care Council’s free guide can be ordered by tech-savvy students directly from their Web site. www.carcare.org.
This guide can be kept in the glove box of your vehicle and explains common preventative maintenance and repairs that are needed to keep your vehicle running safely and reliably. The guide also contains a list with questions you can ask when the maintenance or repair procedures are being done at a shop.
To remind students who vehicle systems should be maintained and when they should be repaired or serviced, a Car Care Checklist has been included. The guide includes clear descriptions of 12 key vehicle parts and systems to help students become more familiar with their vehicles.
You can think of steering and suspension, fuel intake and air intake as examples, as well belts and hoses.
Students who rely on their uncles or fathers to care for their cars during summer and semesters will find the guide useful. The guide will provide information about warning systems, service lights and other symptoms that can be seen before the car breaks down.
The Car Care Council provides information about the “Be Car Care Aware”Consumer-education campaign to promote the benefits of vehicle maintenance, repair and regular vehicle care. Visit this site for more information. www.carcare.org.
