With beautiful weather and a long holiday weekend ahead, many of us are heading out of town to celebrate the start of the summer season. But there’s nothing like car trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt.

While you can’t always avoid problems, you can take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined during your travels. The most important step is a pre-trip inspection to prepare your vehicle for your big adventure. A lot of our clients prefer to go through this exercise with their Star Auto Authority service advisor to make sure they haven’t left anything out. But if you prefer to go it on your own, here’s a pre-trip checklist for you:

• Tires: A great place to start is with the tires. Inspect them for tread wear and proper inflation. Is it time to rotate your tires? Replace them? Are they up to the job?
• Shocks and Struts: also play a major role in both driving comfort and safety. If they need to be replaced, you’ll really be glad you did once you hit the road. Is it time for a wheel alignment? Fighting a car that’s pulling to one side all day can be tiring and dangerous. (As we all know, winter wreaks havoc on Chicago roads, and one run-in with deep pothole can knock out your alignment or even damage a shock or strut. Here are 11 ways to know if your car has sustained pothole damage.)
• Brakes: Any strange noises, grabbing, soft or hard pedal feel? If there is any doubt, we highly recommend a brake inspection before you leave.
• Belts and Hoses: Moving under the hood, have your belts and hoses inspected. If something is excessively worn or near failure, the stress of a long road trip might just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
• Air Filter: Your engine air filter will also be important. For every gallon of gas you burn, your car will filter and use 12,000 gallons of air. If the filter needs to be changed, you’ll notice the fuel savings (or loss) on your trip.
• Preventive Maintenance: How close are you to your next oil change? Will you be able to complete your trip before it’s due? If not, have it taken care of before you go. A full service oil change is a great idea because we will top off all your fluids and check to see if any other maintenance items are due, such as transmission or cooling system service. (At Star Auto Authority, we’ll also inspect most of the items on this checklist during an oil change.) Also, be sure to test your wiper blades. Are they worn or working well? They’re an easy item to forget until you’re driving down a dark road on a rainy night. Headlamps are also easy to overlook. Make sure your high and low beams work, as well as your turn signals and brake lamps.
• Warning Signs: Do you notice any unusual odors in your vehicle? If so, it could as harmless as a dirty cabin air filter. But if it’s an exhaust leak it could be fatal on a long trip. Of course you’ll want to be comfortable, so consider A/C diagnostics or service if your system was not outputting cold air at the end of last summer.

All the items mentioned in this checklist are part of any good maintenance plan, and we will always advise you of your upcoming maintenance and repair needs. But if you haven’t been to see us for more than three months or 3,000 miles, consider scheduling a pre-trip inspection this week for added peace of mind as you embark on your trip. Happy trails!

This will come as really bad news to one client, whose 2002 BMW 325 recently required $5,800 in repairs after it struck a pothole near Irving Park Road and I-90/I-94 in the city. The pothole jarred the vehicle so abruptly and severely that the car suffered extensive damage:

• The passenger side head airbag deployed, and replacing it took several hours because we had to remove the headliner and several dashboard trim pieces. (The photos to the right show the deployed airbag.)
• The airbag control module (computer) needed to be replaced, along with the right side impact sensor for the airbag.
• The steering rack was bent and had to be replaced. (This isn’t a component you can repair.)
• The pothole destroyed a wheel and two tires. And not surprisingly, the wheel alignment was knocked out of whack. To return it to specified limits, we had to modify the strut mounts on both sides of the car.

Fortunately, the client’s insurance company paid a substantial portion of the repair bill. And while this is a highly unusual case, we urge you to be on the alert for potholes eager to dish out a dose of damage.