Once teen reaches the legal driving age, excitement is over the moon. The thought of fancy road trips or dropping themselves at the college serves to stir up eagerness further.
In their wild imaginations, teens may not be aware of the excellent care and upkeep that comes with being in charge of a set of wheels. As a parent, it is one of your essential duties to introduce your teens to the fundamentals of car maintenance, some of which include the following:
Changing a Flat, Damaged, or Low-Pressure Tires
Probably, one of the issues that your teens will encounter in their ride will be tires. It is, therefore, advisable to take them through the essentials of changing a flat tire. Be keen to provide your teens with towing company’s phone number or an insurance company offering roadside assistance.
This is important, significantly when more than a tire is damaged, or the teen is incapacitated or uncomfortable changing the tire. While on it, make sure to guide your teens on checking the pressure and ensuring the proper inflation when need be.
Talk About Changing of Automotive Fluids
There are several automotive fluids in a car. First, explain to the teens about engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluids, and power-steering fluid. While each fluid contributes to the overall vehicular system efficiency by checking the engine oil levels and top up, it is below the recommended levels.
With transmission fluids, it is recommended that check-ups be monthly. You may introduce them to the car’s manual regarding the right color and smell of a quality transmission fluid. This will position them to know the right time to change the fluid.
Teach Them about Mechanical Soundness of the Car
A mechanically sound car is beneficial in numerous ways. First, it significantly reduces the chances of accidents. It also reduces instances of expensive repairs. It is essential to take your teens through some diagnostic basics, prompting a call to the mechanic. For example, slow or unresponsive brakes, unusually stiff brakes, or rattling sounds.
There are a wide of mechanical hitches that you can take your teens through. If a mechanical glitch in your door panels or bumpers, talk to them about companies specializing in low volume injection molding. Companies like RCO Engineering can manufacture and create identical products in large quantities with injection molding concepts while adhering to universal quality standards.
While the likes of RCO Engineering take pride in turnkey automotive solutions, the company’s niche is in the following areas. A leader in car seating design and engineering, structure design, modifications, plastic components, and testing for concept validation.
Educate Your Teens on the Importance of Keeping the Car Clean
While many may ignore this as an obvious concept, the car’s cleanliness is vital to its optimal efficiency, especially around movable parts. For instance, regular cleaning and washing of the vehicle ensure that knobs are working well while clogging of vents is absent. Also, packing compartments easily lock for hence ensure ultimate safety. Ensuring the car’s exterior is clean helps closely monitor your vehicle’s condition and determine whether repainting is necessary.
Take your teens through battery or Air Filter Issues
When it comes to battery, illustrate to them that a battery should not be covered with dirt. This has the potential to drain the battery’s power, thus affecting the car’s power distribution.
Likewise, the air filter is regularly checked or replaced significantly if you drive through dusty roads or heavily congested areas. Filters help to keep your car’s engine system from dust and dirt. While the information on the air filter may be available on the car’s manual, take them practically on how to locate it, removing its outer cover and cleaning it, and eventually fixing the new filter to prevent the likely contamination of the engine by dirt.
While cars are necessary for our convenience, including that of our teens, it is crucial to take good care of them. Car care may be basic or mechanically complex. Nonetheless, the latter may be averted by ensuring the proper basic care like cleaning or changing the automotive fluids. Teach your teens these ABCs of car care, and you will avoid costly repairs to your family or teen’s car.
