With the summer holidays come and gone, it’s time to prepare your car for the year to come. It’s back to school for the little ones, so your ride must be ready to face the rigours that modern-day parenting entails: lugging around bulky sports gear, picking up someone else’s grubby kids, and doing endless school zone drop-offs enroute to the office.
Is your car up to the challenge? Check out our top tips for getting your vehicle back-to-school ready.
Freshen Up the Inside
Your interior is going to take a battering during the school year, so we don’t suggest investing in brand new upholstery. However, you can do a few simple things to keep the bad smells and stains at bay. Prevention is better than cure, after all.
If you’re not willing to fork out for a professional clean, you might be surprised to learn how easy it is to freshen up the interior yourself. Feather dusters and keyboard cleaners are superb at lifting dirt and debris from those hard to reach places, and an absorbent paper towel will grab anything you miss. As for the smells, keep things fresh by installing a car air freshener to spray aromatic mist into the cabin.
Throw Modern Technology into the Mix
Carpooling lets you share the burdensome task of chaperoning your kids between an endless array of social and extra-curricular activities. With the additional time the practice affords (and with the kids temporarily out of the picture), you may even get a few precious moments all to yourself. .
You may not be aware, but the calendar apps that come pre-installed on your phone allow you to sync and schedule dates, times, and tasks with other users in a flash. Allocating carpools becomes a breeze and double-checking whose turn it is a thing of the past. You can even set notifications to alert you an hour before it’s your turn to drive to ensure you don’t forget.
Another top carpooling tip is to create a group chat on your communication platforms to streamline communication. Stuck in traffic and running late? Just drop a GPS pin to let everyone know exactly where you are.
Prepare For Emergencies
Nothing on earth is as precious as your children, so it’s prudent to prepare for any curveballs that may come your way. And with a vehicle, that means supplying a fully-stocked first aid kit, a pair of jumper cables, a warm blanket, and a small supply of emergency food and water. Assuming you know how to install one, a spare tire also wouldn’t go astray.
If you’ve got younger ones or kids prone to carsickness, you should prepare yourself to respond to a bio-fluid emergency as well. Pack a small tote bag with wet wipes, a change of clothes, spray-on deodorant, and a plastic bag for when those unexpected little incidents arise.
Service Your Ride
Nobody wants to get stuck in a broken-down car full of screaming kids for hours on end. And the best way to avoid such an ungodly scenario is to service your car regularly.
Is the engine light on? Then it’s time to take it to a mechanic. If not, you should still check your operator’s manual to find out when the next recommended maintenance schedule is due. It may cost a little upfront, but it’ll be drastically cheaper than forking out for a tow truck and emergency repairs when your ride conks out.
And though it may be tough to admit, we all like to look stylish and successful in the eyes of our children’s friends parents. If you’ve recently been in an accident or have suffered a beating from a recent hail damage, opt for a paintless dent removal in Melbourne to buffer out any dents and look shmick for the school year.
If you’ve had a serious prang, you’ll need to get your ride up to speed in record time. Contact Brighton Panel Works today for paintless dent removal services or smash repairs in Melbourne. The experienced and professional team will get your car back to perfect condition in no time.