5 Things Your Kids Can Do With Your Car

Our clients (male and female) often tell us is that they don't know their way around cars. Generally-speaking, fewer families are spending their weekends in the driveway tinkering with cars together.

If you're not mechanically savvy and don't want your kids to feel lost around cars, give them a head start and dust off that owner's manual. Here are some things you can do together to get them familiar with cars.Your owner's manual will take you step-by-step through these easy do-it-yourself items.

And the best part is after your kids learn how to do these, you can put it on their to-do chores and voilà... basic auto maintenance taken care of!

Check Tire Pressure

Remember to put in the correct tire pressure for your car. Don't follow the pressure markings on the tire, that's a general number and doesn't apply to your specific vehicle. The correct tire pressure can be found in your owner's manual, on the vehicle's door placard or in some cases inside the fuel door.

Instrument Panel

Seek and find the symbols in your owner's manual on the instrument panel, and learn what the symbols mean. Common symbols are generally used is useful as most manufacturer's symbols are generic (e.g. engine oil pressure, battery light, etc.). Have your child identify them on another family member's car.

Under The Hood

Find fluid locations under the hood. Again, these symbols (e.g. brake fluid, engine oil, etc.) are usually the same across manufacturers. Have your child identify them on another family member's car.

Check Fluid Reservoir Levels

Sometimes the reservoir levels are tricky to see because they're not always very transparent. Grab your permanent marker and watch this webisode for a tip to make those reservoirs easier to read. Read your owner's manual—not all fluids should be automatically topped up without having a technician check your car first!