Cartagena de Indias
Before leaving Cartagena for Barranquilla, Santa Marta, or Coveñas: oil, coolant, tires, lights, wiper blades, and the roadside kit required by law.
First, because it's what leaves you stranded on the Vía al Mar in 35°C (95°F) heat. Check the oil level with the engine cold and the car on level ground: the Logan and Sandero manual says it word for word, "in any case, before setting out on a long trip." If it's near the minimum or the date has already passed, get the oil change before you leave, not after.
Then the coolant, in the expansion tank and with the engine cold. A low level on a three-hour drive at a steady speed under the sun is an overheated engine waiting to happen. Also check that there are no stains under the car where it's usually parked.
Pressure in all four per the label on the driver's door, and in the spare, which is the one everyone forgets until they need it. Check the wear and make sure there are no cuts in the sidewalls: on the road to Santa Marta there are long stretches with nowhere to pull over.
Make sure the jack and the lug wrench are in the car and that the wrench fits your lug nuts. It seems obvious until the rims get changed.
For the brakes, what can be seen without taking anything apart: the fluid level in its reservoir, and that the pedal doesn't feel spongy or sink to the floor. If any of that fails, the trip waits: that's a job for a shop with a lift, not for mobile maintenance.
Lights: all four parking lights, low beams, high beams, turn signals, brake lights, and reverse lights. A burnt-out bulb on the highway at night is a traffic fine and a risk. Wiper blades: on the coast it rains suddenly and hard; a blade that leaves streaks when dry won't be any use in a downpour in Palmar de Varela. Replacing them takes five minutes.
Article 30 of the National Traffic Code (Law 769 of 2002) says no vehicle may be driven without this minimum equipment: a jack capable of lifting the vehicle, a lug wrench, two reflective triangle warning signs with a stand (or flashing yellow lights), a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher, two wheel chocks to block the vehicle, a basic tool kit (pliers, screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, and open-end wrenches), a spare tire and a flashlight.
On the extinguisher, check the expiration date and that the gauge is in the green. If it's expired, we bring you one with the service. And while you're at it: a valid SOAT and technical inspection (tecnomecánica), because they ask for them at the Gambote checkpoint. If you're not sure when yours is due, see how much the technical inspection (tecnomecánica) costs and how it works.
The pre-trip check is exactly what you get with our mobile preventive maintenance: fluid levels, filters, belts, hoses, tires, lights, wiper blades, and extinguisher, wherever the car is, the day before you leave. Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturdays until 2:00 p.m.; if you're leaving early on a Sunday, book for Saturday.
Checking terminals, cabin filter, wiper blades and fluid levels needs no lift and no workshop: it's done wherever you have the car parked, in Cartagena and nearby.
The list of mandatory roadside equipment is taken verbatim from Article 30 of Law 769 of 2002, consulted in the Régimen Legal de Bogotá (the underlined text on rigid bumpers in the paragraph was declared unconstitutional by Ruling C-529 of 2003 and is not cited). The guideline to check the oil level before a long trip comes from the Renault X52 Phase 2 manual (Colombia). The rest is the general checklist for a road trip; NO tire pressures or temperatures are published.
