Car maintenance 101: TWOCE

Whats up with sheeple and car maintenance? Like i get that BMW guy thinks its beneath him to open his own hood, much less touch anything under it. But why is it that normal people are so completely clueless? A few examples:

1. I bought new windshield wipers for my aunt. She drove for months with streaks big enough to hide a pieton in. I drove in her car for 20 minutes, and decided it was time to fix this problem. 20$ later she can actually see where she is driving. Like did she not realise the danger? I dont need to see to drive?
2. Same person drops me off last year with the low washer fluid light on. I say, "were gonna stop here and imma top you off". 3$, 4 liters of washer fluid and she can see again. That tank didnt suddenly run out. Seriously.
3. I ended up giving a boost to someone who had to borrow cables from a pharmacist 3 blocks over. Mine were reparable, but not serviceable. She had a baby in the car, in the dead of winter.
4. Try spending 10 minutes explaining to someone why they need to release the brakes right before impact on a pothole. It actually took that long...

Now i understand a lot of people arent capable of doing their own car maintenance. Having said that, the Japanese notion "if you wash your car by hand, youll notice the falling off bits of trim before they let go completely" holds true.

Here in my family we have a very simple routine anyone can follow. We even have an acronym: TWOCE

T-> Tires. Check that they all have enough tread left, check the pressure, look for sidewall damage like bare steel from the carcass.

W-> Washer fluid. Top it off. Regardless of what the dipstick says. just fill it up.

O-> Oil. this one is twofold; first, pull the dipstick, clean it, re-insert it, pull it and check your oil level. If its low fill it up. next, note the color and smell. It takes practice, but i can tell how close to an oil change we are by the smell. If your oil has sludge in it or smells badly burned, maybe its time for an oil change. Next, use an oil can to lube any exposed bolts rusting away (not on the exhaust system obviously). If you dont own an oil can, buy one. I rank it very high on the usefulness scale.

C-> Cooling system and fluids. check all fluids are in their normal regions, and visually inspect the hoses and clamps.

E-> empty. Take all the loose items you dont need out of your car. Not only does this de-junk and free up room, but its less items flying around in an accident.

This entire list is probably old news to most of us, but a lot of people have never heard of this sort of thing, and many more of us are unsure how to explain car maintenance to our non-prepper friends and relatives. And those same people will be on the lane next to you on the Metropolitan, and will be all around you during an evacuation. So spread the word, and help people show sheeple how to make sure their cars get them out of the disaster area as opposed to creating their own personal mini-shtf inside the shtf.