If you plan on going on any sort of journey in the near future which requires a lot of miles on your vehicle, there’s a good set of things that you should check before you head out. If you don’t already have some kind of checklist, you should borrow one from someone who has successfully gone on a car-based journey recently.


Some of the important tips in getting your vehicle ready for the road include making sure you have the right insurance coverage (check for comprehensive van insurance policy details, if you have a van), doing a fluid check, tuning up any parts or processes as needed, buying an emergency car kit, and doing a thorough tire inspection. If nothing else, going through those particular categories of maintenance will help ensure that you have a good and safe trip.

Do a Fluid Check

One of the worst things to happen to you when you’re driving on a long journey is to find out that you’re low on oil, find out that your transmission fluid is low, be trying to wash your windshield and find out you don’t have any cleaner, or finding out that you’re low on engine coolant. Any of those things can be a dealbreaker when it comes to having a good trip. That’s why no matter what, you need to do a fluid check before you head out in your car.

Tune Up As Needed

Especially if you have an older car, before you go on a big journey, it’s not a bad idea to replace vehicle parts that are old. There are plenty of different ways you can do this. You can go to an auto mechanic and have him do it. Or you can buy used and new auto parts from a dealer, whether they are at a physical location or through an online service. Depending on how much money you have spent, you want to make sure that your car is in the best possible shape within your budget before you take off.

Buy an Emergency Car Kit

Even if you’re going on a short journey, getting a car emergency kit and putting it in the back of your vehicle is a good idea. There are typically the common safety kit items in there, plus some extra stuff that is specific for cars. For instance, there might be some small flares in there so that if you get in some kind of situation at night there will be some way to direct traffic around you.

Do a Thorough Tire Inspection

And lots of people forget about the tires. You need to make sure that the rubber that is connecting you to the road is in good shape. Look for anything that looks out of place, be sure the treads aren’t worn down, and be sure that you have a spare that you bring along with just in case as well. The last thing you want is to have some sort of issue where you’re out of the road headed to vacation and you have a blowout in no way to fix it.