Back-To-School Check List Should Include Car Maintenance

AUSTIN, TX — In the back-to-school rush — the mad dash to the store for supplies, the endless wardrobe fittings, the trips to the shoe store, the hunt for calculators — one of the most important elements is overlooked: The car. Officials at Firestone have launched a full-court press to remind people of the importance of maintenance to ensure a seamless return to school.

Firestone offers its Complete Auto Care store for a ‘refresher course’ on road safety, that includes:

• Tire 101: How to determine if your tires have enough tread and proper inflation
• Signals & Lights: Are they flashing?
• Oil & Fluids: How to check and how much is enough
• Roadside Emergency Preparation: The best offense is a good defense!

"I think it's overlooked a lot," Trey Good, area manager for Firestone in Round Rock, said during a telephone interview with Patch. Back-to-school activities, after all, are chaotic scenes: "The moms trying to get the kids to school, the older kids with their own vehicles, college kids with their vehicles," Good said. "School hits fast, and we miss the maintenance on our vehicles. The maintenance part of it is overlooked."

Unfortunately, that automotive neglect makes itself known in the midst of back-to-school transport. To avoid having the vehicle break down en route to and from school, Good offered a number of tips covering various parts of the car:

• Tires. Good starts off with something of an automotive mantra in describing the importance of having tires checked: "Inflate, rotate and evaluate." Good stressed the importance of having tires inflated to the correct pressure, but urges car owners to go by the information available in the owner's manual or the placard located on the edge inside the passenger door frame for the right amount of pressure the car requires — not whatever is written on the tire.

"The air pressure on the side of the tire is maximum inflation," Good said.

Any Firestone dealer will inflate tires free of charge, and will check the tire tread depth for good measure, Good noted. Those comfortable with doing it themselves can also check the tire pressure with the aid of a tire gauge widely available at stores.

• Tire tread depth. Often, people check how worn their tires are with the "penny check," inserting the coin into the groove of the tire to check for wear and tear. This is when one takes penny, inserts it in the tread groove with Lincoln's head upside down facing the person and hopes not to see all of the former president's head as this means the tire needs to be replaced.

But the tire thread coin check needs to be done three times, something most people don't realize. The check should be conducted on the outside of the tire, inside and center for optimal effect. "With today's suspensions, the vehicle is designed to be very stable compared to thirty, forty years ago," Good said. "Tires are bigger, wider. The way tires are positioned in vehicles, it tends to wear out the inside of the tires first."

• Tire rotation. "The other thing to do is rotate every five thousand miles and do an alignment once a year," Good said. While it may be an added expense, it's well worth the investment as neglecting this step could have a domino effect affecting other parts of the car, Good agreed. "Vehicles are not thrown together as 'one size fits all' anymore," he said. "They're designed for that size wheel."
• Fluids. It's important to have the oil, transmission fluids and coolant changed when needed. While most vehicles come with a light alerting to the need for fluid changes, it's up to the consumer to ensure regular monitoring is performed, Good said. This is true especially of cars with exceeded mileage, which causes the viscosity to break down faster. "If you're missing oil changes, you're asking for trouble," Good said.

Most of the information needed to upkeep one's vehicle is found in the owner's manual. But judging from his 20 years in automotive experience, Good said he'd estimate that less than 10 percent of owners actually refer to the guides.

"Nowadays, a lot of people think the car is just going to go," he said. "The biggest thing is to take the five to ten minutes to make sure it's okay. It's worth it in the long run."

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