If you are a car owner, there are quite a few different skills that you need to have. While you might think its fine to just rely on auto body repair shops when your insurance has you covered, youd just be fooling yourself. As a conscientious, contemporary car owner, there are several essential skills that you should know. Whether its looking under the hood to check your fluid levels or changing your cars tires, here is a list of the most basic skills that you should know.

1. Know The Meaning Of The Warning Lights

There are several warning or warning lights on the dashboard of your car. You should take some time to familiarize yourself with each of these lights and what they mean. Every car has a check engine light, which means that there is a malfunction with your engine. Theres also a low fuel light a fasten seatbelt light and a light to indicate that one of your car doors is still open.

You should also know how to check these lights to see that they are all still functional. This is an essential skill and is quite easily done. Turn your car ignition key to on, but do not start the engine. The lights will all come on. If one or two of them are not coming on, then they will probably need to be replaced.

At this point, you should also check your park lights, headlights, signal lights, as well as the inner lighting of your car and trunk. Check that both headlights, park lights and signal lights are functional. Finally, check that both the high and low settings of the headlights are functional. You could get fined if you drive with a malfunctioning headlight.

2. Checking Under The Hood

At the gas station, the attendants will usually offer to check the fluid levels under the hood of your car. This is a free, complimentary service. They will tell you if some of the fluid levels are low. You should also know how to check under the hood yourself. Check whether some of your fluid levels are low and know how to properly replenish these fluids by yourself.

Know how to check the thickness of your engine oil, the level of your brake fluid and power steering fluid, your coolant, and even your sprinkler fluid.

3. Checking The Batteries

There is really not much that you have to check with your car batteries. Just check the contacts. They might have a rubberized covering which you can easily flip off. Check that theres no corrosion between the contacts or any accumulation of foreign material. You can clean the contacts with an old toothbrush and some warm water. Some experts also recommend a mixture of baking soda and water. Rinse and dry off the battery before operating your car again.

4. Know How To Jumpstart The Vehicle

Always keep a set of high quality jumper cables inside of your car. If you ever need to jumpstart your vehicle, keep in mind that black stands for negative and red stands for positive. Never attempt a jumpstart unless you are sure of what you are doing.