Get Road Trip Ready
The dog days of summer are here. Now is the time to fit in all your summer plans before the the days get cooler and the kids go back to school.
If you are planning a road trip it’s important to make sure that your vehicle is road trip ready.
What is ‘road trip ready’?
Getting road trip ready means ensuring that your vehicle is fully inspected so that you won’t run into problems on your adventure.
Here are some of the most important areas to inspect:
Check your tires.
Are they properly inflated? Is the tread worn down? Are they showing uneven tire wear?
✦ You may require inflation, alignment, or even new tires.
Check your oil.
Is your oil topped up? When was the last time the filter was changed?
✦ You may require an oil change to ensure proper engine function.
Check your fluids.
How low or dirty is your brake fluid, your transmission fluid, your coolant, your power-steering fluid, and your windshield wiper fluid?
✦ You may require top-ups to ensure that your vehicle is operating safely.
Check your gas.
It seems obvious, but how many times have you coasted into a gas station on empty? This isn’t a great idea on a road trip when gas stations can be far and few between.
✦ You may need to fill up.
Check your wiper blades.
Are your wiper blades actually clearing your whole front window, or are they streaky and not connecting with the glass?
✦ You may need to replace your wiper blades.
Check your lights.
Are all your lights operating correctly? What about your brake lights? And your reverse lights? Don’t head out on your trip to discover you cannot see well during night driving — and it’s also an offence in the province of Ontario to have a non-functioning headlight.
✦ You may need a new bulb(s).
Check your belts.
Is your fan belt working properly? What about your drive belts? Or your v-belts? Or your timing belts? There are a lot of different belts in your engine, and a faulty belt can stop you in your tracks.
✦ You many need to replace, or adjust, one or more of your belts.
The list of areas of the vehicle that should be checked before you begin your journey is quite long, and not all of these areas are easy to access or fix. It is worth bringing your vehicle to the professionals and have them give it a once over.
Vehicle inspection and service
At Heffner’s, we take your safety seriously and we are happy to provide you with a complimentary peace of mind inspection. We’ll give your vehicle a look-over and let you know if there are any issues that should be addressed before you get out on the road.
We are not in the business of finding things to fix. We are focused on providing our customers with an honest and helpful review. We will ensure that our service professionals examine your vehicle and suggest only those items that require fixing.
Servicing made easy
The Heffner Toyota Service Departments aims to provide you with the most convenient service and customer care possible. From a comfortable waiting area with complimentary coffee, newspapers, magazines and a television, to desks with telephones — the goal is to make your wait as comfortable as possible. If you’d rather not, or cannot, wait for your service to be completed, our complimentary shuttle will provide you with transportation to and from your requested destination.
We know you have a million things to do before your trip, but Heffner makes it easy to fit in your vehicle inspection with our extended service hours.
Heffner Toyota’s service departments are open until 9:00pm on Fridays and until midnight every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!
Our trained technicians will review and service any make or model of vehicle in our 20 service bays. We also offer an Express Lube, and we are an Accredited Drive Clean Facility.
Click here to easily arrange for an appointment that fits your schedule.