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If you’ve never dreamed of becoming a mechanic, there are still some basic car maintenance skills you should have in your repertoire if you own your own vehicle or drive someone else’s. These handy skills won’t keep you from requiring the services of a professional mechanic. But they can help you take better care of your car or even assist you with roadside troubles.

Let’s take a look at 5 important things you should know how to do to ensure driving safety or to help protect your investment.

Basic Car Maintenance Skills Every Vehicle Owner Should Have

#1: Learn how to check your oil.

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a way to help autonomous vehicles create "memories" of previous experiences and use them in future navigation, especially during adverse weather conditions when the car cannot safely rely on its sensors.

Cars using artificial neural networks have no memory of the past and are in a constant state of seeing the world for the first time -- no matter how many times they've driven down a particular road before.

The researchers have produced three concurrent papers with the goal of overcoming this limitation. Two are being presented at the Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR 2022), being held June 19-24 in New Orleans.

Like most drivers, you probably don’t think about your car’s brakes until you have to use them. When it comes to hot and cold weather, however, it’s essential to consider how weather can impact your vehicle’s braking system. Here are a few things you should know:

What are brakes?
If you’ve ever driven a car, you know how important brakes are. Brakes are mechanical devices that slow, stop, or reverse a vehicle. They’re a vital component of the braking system and work with other parts to stop your car safely when needed. The braking system uses friction to slow or stop your vehicle as quickly as possible so you can avoid accidents on the road.

The importance of brakes to safety.
Brakes are the most critical safety feature of your vehicle. They keep you from crashing, help you to stop quickly, and allow you to come to a full stop after starting downhill. If your car or truck brakes aren’t working correctly, it could be dangerous for you and those around you.

ORLANDO, Fla. (Jul 26, 2022) – A coalition of the nation’s leading experts in automobiles and auto safety—AAA, Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, National Safety Council, PAVE, and SAE International—today released a set of expanded and updated recommendations for universal terms for advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features.

The six overarching categories on the list are collision warning, collision intervention, driving control assistance, parking assistance, driver monitoring, and other driver assistance systems. Driver monitoring is the newest category, added this year. A virtual briefing for press and key industry stakeholders on the latest recommendations will be held on Tuesday, July 26 at 2 pm EDT.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2022) — Pump prices declined again, falling another 12 cents since last week to $4.67. The dip in the national average for a gallon of gas occurred despite a slight rise in demand, likely due to robust July 4th holiday automobile travel. AAA forecasted that 42 million people would hit the roads for the holiday weekend, a new record.

“Usually, more people buying gas would lead to higher pump prices,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “But the price for oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has fallen and is hovering around $100 a barrel. Less expensive oil usually means less expensive gas.”

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.92 million b/d to 9.41 million b/d ahead of the 4th of July holiday, while total domestic gas stocks decreased by 2.5 million bbl. Typically, these supply/demand trends would put upward pressure on pump prices; however, falling oil prices have contributed to lower pump prices.

Why is it critical to change the engine oil at the correct intervals? The most crucial vehicle maintenance is oil change; scheduled motor oil changes are essential in maintaining the smoothness of your car. An oil change service is an excellent way to have other car components inspected also.

Regular oil change services are something you cannot ignore whether you have a brand-new vehicle or are driving a car you can depend on. Take your vehicle to our auto repair shop at Virginia Automotive in Phoenix, AZ. Our synthetic blend oil change will help your engine reach its potential! Full synthetic oil or synthetic blend is a specially formulated motor oil to provide maximum protection and performance for an utmost sense of security.

Motor Oil Change Keeps Your Engine Clean
When oil from other sources enters the engine, dirt and other particles increase within it. Sludge will pile up in your engine if you do not change your oil at the appropriate intervals. Those who live in denser, dustier areas may have even more unwanted particles passing through. Changing your engine oil and replacing the oil filter regularly will remove any hazardous bits of dirt and debris before they cause any further engine damage.

While the dates on the calendar indicate it’s still officially spring, hot summer-like weather is already here. And, that has us thinking about summer preventative maintenance for your vehicle.

Preventative maintenance any time of year is something you should pay attention to as a savvy car owner. That’s because taking your car to your local auto repair shop for routine maintenance is one of the best things you can do to protect your investment and keep it running smoothly. Small problems can be discovered and fixed before they become bigger, more expensive problems down the road.

As we head into the summer months, though, maintenance for your vehicle becomes even more important if you live here in Arizona. That’s because our extreme summer temperatures can have a significant effect on many vehicle parts and systems. Do yourself and your vehicle a favor by starting on summer preventative maintenance now. Let’s take a look at a few things that should be inspected or addressed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 6, 2022) — The cost of a barrel of oil is nearing $120, nearly double from last August, as increased oil demand outpaces the tight global supply. Meanwhile, domestic gasoline demand rose last week in the wake of a robust Memorial Day weekend of travel. As a result, the national average for a gallon of gas surged 25 cents in one week to hit $4.86.

“People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.”

ORLANDO, Fla. (May 17, 2022) – The unofficial start to summer will be a busy one this year as AAA predicts 39.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend. This is an increase of 8.3% over 2021, bringing travel volumes almost in line with those in 2017. Air travel continues to rebound, up 25% over last year, the second-largest increase since 2010. With volumes closing in on pre-pandemic levels, AAA urges travelers to book now and remember flexibility is key this Memorial Day weekend.

“Memorial Day is always a good predictor of what’s to come for summer travel,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. “Based on our projections, summer travel isn’t just heating up, it will be on fire. People are overdue for a vacation and they are looking to catch up on some much-needed R&R in the coming months.”

Displaying the highway death toll on message boards is a common awareness campaign, but new research from the University of Toronto and University of Minnesota shows this tactic actually leads to more crashes.

A new study in Science by University of Toronto Assistant Professor Jonathan D. Hall and U of M Carlson School of Management Assistant Professor Joshua Madsen evaluated the effect of displaying crash death totals on highway message boards (e.g., "1669 deaths this year on Texas roads"). Versions of highway fatality messages have been displayed in at least 27 US states.

Their study focuses on Texas, where officials chose to display these messages only one week each month. The researchers compared crash data from before the campaign (Jan. 2010 -- July 2012) to after it started (Aug. 2012 -- Dec. 2017) as well as examined the weekly differences within each month during the campaign. They found: