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Car checklist before a long road trip

Check the tyres, including the spare, before every long trip. Tyres are the only part of the car that touches the road, and a worn or under-inflated tyre on a hot road at 120 km/h is one of the commonest causes of serious crashes on holiday routes.

Two or three weeks before: service

If a service is due soon, or will fall due during the trip, have it done before you leave. Book early, so that there is time to get parts. Ask the workshop to check:

• brakes: pads, discs and fluid;
• tyres and wheel alignment;
• the cooling system, because overheating is common on long climbs in summer;
• the battery;
• belts, lights, wipers and shock absorbers;
• any noise, vibration or leak that you have noticed.

A noise that "has been there for months" is more likely to become a breakdown 1 000 km from home on a Sunday.

A few days before: tyres

Check every tyre when it is cold.

• Pressure: use a gauge and the pressures on the sticker inside the driver's door. Many cars give a higher pressure for a full load. Use it.
• Tread: the legal minimum is 1 mm, but grip in the wet falls long before that. If the tread is near the wear indicators, replace the tyre.
• Damage: cuts, nails, cracks, or a bulge on the sidewall. A tyre with a bulge must be replaced.
• The spare: pressure, tread and condition. A narrow space-saver wheel is only for short distances at low speed.

Check that the jack, wheel spanner, locking-nut key and warning triangle are in the car. Practise changing a wheel at home once.

A day or two before: the walk-around

• Lights: headlights, tail lights, brake lights, indicators and hazards.
• Windscreen and wipers: no large cracks in the driver's view, good blades and full washer fluid.
• Fluids, on a cold engine: oil, coolant and brake fluid.
• Under the car: fresh drips.
• Inside: every seatbelt works, and no warning light stays on.
• Licence disc: valid for the whole trip.

Documents to carry

Keep them in one pouch, out of sight:

• the driving licence of everyone who will drive;
• a copy of the vehicle's registration certificate, and the original if you will cross a border;
• insurance details and the roadside assistance number;
• booking confirmations;
• medical aid cards and prescriptions;
• some cash, kept apart from your cards.

Emergency items

• warning triangle and reflective vest;
• torch;
• first aid kit;
• several litres of water, and food that keeps;
• a phone charger for the car;
• a tyre gauge and, if you can, a small compressor.

Load the car safely

• Do not overload. The manual gives the payload for people and luggage together. A family of four with two weeks of luggage can come close to it.
• Heavy things low and forward, on the boot floor against the rear seat.
• Nothing loose in the cabin. In hard braking, a cooler box or a laptop becomes a missile.
• Keep the rear view clear.
• Roof racks and boxes must stay within the roof's load limit. They raise fuel use and make the car more sensitive to side wind.
• Keep handy the water, snacks, first aid kit, jackets and the documents pouch.

If you hire a car

• Read the agreement: the excess, what the insurance leaves out (often tyres, windscreens and the underside), the kilometre limit and whether the car may cross a border.
• Photograph every scratch and dent, the fuel gauge and the odometer before you drive away.
• Check the tyres, the spare and the jack.
• Return it full, on time, and get a signed return slip.

This guide is based on Chapter 3 of Road Trips in South Africa, which includes a full pre-trip checklist.