Road Trip Vehicle Maintenance

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With just over a month left of school left and summer around the corner vacation plans are being made. My family has been talking about all of the possible road trips we could take. Being a large family road trips in our SUV are our preferred method of vacation travel. It is the most cost effective way for all 6 of us to travel. An added plus is we can usually bring our dogs too! Taking our cars does mean a little bit of extra work to get ready for vacation. We have to make sure vehicle maintenance is done. Nobody wants something to happen to their car while away from home. To save money this is something that we do ourselves. Road trip vehicle maintenance is pretty easy to do, seriously, even I can do it! I have even come up with a printable checklist to help you do it yourself too!

First things first, I am not a car person, I typically leave all car maintenance to my husband and my oldest son. They can talk about all things cars for hours. They do the majority of maintenance on our cars, they even completely rebuilt my son’s Jeep! While I have never had any real desire to do my own car maintenance or help out when they are working on the cars, I did learn the basics as a college student trying to save money. One of the first things I learned was how to change my car’s air filter.  When your car has a dirty air filter it restricts airflow, which can contribute to decreased acceleration, horsepower, and reduced overall performance. I know I want my car running as smooth as it possibly can, so checking the air filter as recommended is a must!

Replacing my air filter starts with a trip to Walmart to buy a new Fram Extra Guard Air Filter. I know looking at all of the different filters they have in stock can be overwhelming but don’t worry! There is a specific filter for your vehicle that you can look up online or in the store.

Once you have your new filter grab a screwdriver and in less than 5 minutes you will have the new air filter installed!

The first step in changing your air filter is locating where your air filter is in your engine. Once located take your screw driver and take out the the screws to the cover. Remember to set the screws in a safe place.

Next lift or remove the cover exposing the old air filter.

Remove the old air filter. Mine wasn’t horrible.

but was ready to be replaced.

Then add your new air filter.

All that is then left to do is to put the cover back on and replace the screws. Then in under 5 minutes you have a brand new air filter and your car’s road trip vehicle maintenance is under way!

So what other maintenance should you do to your car before a road trip? I have a full list for you that you can download and use for all of your road trip maintenance needs. It covers everything from getting an oil change (if you are due or will be due) to windshield wipers and checking all of your fluid levels. It will help have your car ready for your road trip in no time at all.

What do you do to get your car ready for a road trip? Check out FRAM and see how they can help your road trip go smoothly!

Get my printable Road Trip Vehicle Maintenance Checklist HERE: