Auto Talk 101: Emergency Kit for Your Car

Auto Talk 101: Emergency Kit for Your Car - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Emergency Kit for your car There are a number of things that it is not a bad idea to have in the trunk of your car when you're traveling. Of course the kind of car you have, the time of year; winter or summer, and the kind of traveling you are doing, make a great deal of difference on what those might be, but some basic things always a good idea to have with you. Number 1 is your cell phone, uh and preferably the phone number for some sort of an emergency road service. There are a wide variety of those available, um but having that number programmed into your cell phone ready to go is always a good idea. It never hurts to have an extra quart of the proper kind of oil for your vehicle, that way if you get a little low, you don't have to worry about finding the correct kind, or finding a gas station that sells oil, you always have a quart in your trunk. A flashlight is a great idea. Whether it is a car emergency or something else it's always a great idea to have a flashlight of course that works, batteries are helpful, um just in case whatever you're up against happens in the dark at night. Paper towels is a good idea you can use this ah, to check your fluids if you need to check your oil, you can use it to clean up your hands if you've had to change a flat tire for example, you can use it to clean up other kinds of messes you might run into in a car. So a roll of paper towels is always a great idea to have in your trunk. You might want to carry particularly in the summer, a bottle of water or anti freeze. Um, you can get an empty bottle of anti freeze from your mechanic undoubtedly, and just fill it up with water and keep it in the trunk. That way if you have an overheat situation and you need a little water you have got it readily at hand. In the winter you don't want water in your trunk cause it can freeze. But that's a great thing, particularly in the summer to keep some water in your trunk. If you keep clean water, like a bottle of distilled water then it can also double for drinking purposes if you get stranded. Obviously we're not going to drink out of an antifreeze bottle. Knowing that you have a good spare is very important, that your spare tire is holding air, that you have a jack that works, that your tire iron actually fits your lug nuts. Um, sometimes someone loses a lug nut or gets replaced with an odd size, and you'll find that you can take three of your lug nuts off but not four, that's a problem with you have a flat tire. So always important to make sure you have the correct size tire iron to fit your lug nuts.