Keeping Your Ride in Top Shape
Preventive maintenance
During our New Driver Vehicle Orientation class, as well as Driver’s Ed, the importance of vehicle maintenance is reviewed in detail. Keeping your ride in tip top shape is not only key to its health, preventing expensive repairs and embarrassing breakdowns, but also for safety of you and others.
Faulty brakes, steering and suspension components, tire blow outs and burned out lights all combine in causing crashes on today’s roads. Even a cracked windshield can have a negative impact.
There’s no argument that today’s cars and trucks are safer than ever before, but one must keep in mind that in the end it’s a machine, and machines tend to break. The saying goes that prevention is cheaper than repair, and we’re here to tell you it’s true. At 2020 Driving School, we have more than a dozen cars in our fleet. Keeping this many on the road and in good condition is time consuming and expensive. But along the way, we’ve learned that if the basics are kept up with, the likelihood of problems is minimal. So yes, we’ve verified that the adage about prevention is true!
Oil changes, tire rotations, replacing lights and wipers, all may seem like costly distractions, but for drivers, especially those that are new, they must be kept up with. Here in Virginia, with the annual safety inspection, in some cases you don’t really have a choice when it comes to spending money on your car (plus, who wants to drive around with that embarrassing pink sticker on their windshield when they fail?).
It's more than must "gas and go"
When working with new drivers, we like to remind them of the costs of owning and/or operating a vehicle. Gas and insurance are common answers when we ask students what they think will be an expense for them when they receive their driver’s license. Both of these are correct, and we remind them of the maintenance aspect, too. In most cases, basic car maintenance isn’t free, even when your car has a warranty.
Properly budgeting out these costs and staying up-to-date with needed service should always be remembered. We tip our hat to the parents of teenagers that make their son or daughter bear these costs, as it’s a great life lesson on money and organizational skills.
Get a good start
We encourage all new drivers, regardless of age, to attend our vehicle orientation class, which dives deeper into understanding modern cars and their maintenance needs. You can learn more about this course here.
