BRADENTON, Fla. — Taking good care of your car is essential to keeping down the cost of repairs and keeping you safe.
That's why 10News wanted to give you a checklist of the top five things to regularly check on your car or truck.
This list is especially good to know for college kids who might be driving a car far from home.
Bill Granger with Milex/Mr. Transmission in Bradenton says it's all about safety.
Tire Pressure: "Tires are the easiest to check. First thing you want to do is check the tire pressure. So what you do is you take your cap off, you insert it on top, hold it for one second, pull it up and it will give you your tire pressure."
Tire Tread: "This is called the Abe Lincoln test. Take a penny, you turn the head upside down, then you want to stick it into the tread. If you can see the very top of Lincoln's head. Then that means your tire tread is about 2/32nds. That means your tires are about ready to be changed."
Wiper Blades: "This is a new wiper blade. You'll see the blade is firm, flexible, but yet the edge is nice and firm. This is a good blade. When you start seeing the edges of your blades come apart on either ends or on the center. That's when you know it's time to replace your blades."
Lights: "What we're looking for here, is we're looking for any bulbs that might be out. You've got marker lights, turn signals, headlights and brake lights. At this point, what you want to have is you want to have somebody stand behind the vehicle and have somebody get inside of the vehicle and step on the brake pedal because you want to make sure that both of your brake lights are working. If you have a high mount brake light you want to make sure that is working as well."
Brakes: "The braking system is one of the most vital components of your car. It stops you from getting into accidents, so when you're driving a vehicle if you feel any weird pulsations, any squealing noises, any vibrations or any pulls when you step on that brake pedal, you have an issue that needs to be addressed."
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