Waze, Google Maps, and Apple Maps are essential companions when it comes to road trips across the country or in-town. But what other apps are out there for long-distance travel? When you’re planning your next road trip, check out these apps to help keep you entertained, fueled, and educated about your surroundings for a truly outstanding vacation. Here are the 5 best road trip apps for your next trip.
1. Spotify
Music is a must-have on any road trip. Instead of packing a binder of CD’s, download Spotify. This app offers millions of songs and podcasts to keep you and your road trip companions entertained whether your trip is three-hundred or three-thousand miles long.
You can even download your entertainment for offline listening so you don’t rack up the phone charges for the month.
2. REI Co-Op National Parks Guide
Are you a spontaneous traveler? The REI Co-Op National Parks Guide might be your new best friend. This free app contains maps and sightseeing information about many of the country’s National Parks with new park information updated regularly.
Best of all? This app doesn’t require cell data, so you don’t need to worry about your map vanishing when you’re in the middle of a backcountry hike.
REI Co-Op National Parks Guide on Google»
REI Co-Op National Parks Guide on Apple»
3. Audubon Bird Guide
Audubon’s Bird Guide app is the perfect, palm-sized field guide for anyone who wants to try bird watching on their next road trip. The app makes it easy to explore what kind of birds are nearby so that you know what to look out for.
Spot a bird that you don’t recognize? No problem! The app lets you enter in a description of what you saw and provides the best matches so you can know for certain what kind of owl you just saw.
The Audubon Bird Guide on Android»
The Audubon Bird Guide on Apple»
4. TripIt
TripIt is the ideal travel companion for hardcore planners. This app creates an all-in-one itinerary for you to make your trip as smooth as possible. All you need to do is forward your travel information – that includes hotels, travel, and even restaurants – to their dedicated submission line, and TripIt does the rest.
From there, you can easily share your compiled information with your traveling companions so you can skip the worry of juggling a dozen confirmation emails or printouts.
5. GasBuddy
Unless you own an electric car, GasBuddy is a road trip essential. With this app, all you need to do is enter in your location and it does the rest, finding the closest gas stations to where you are as well as prices. That way, you don’t have to be uncertain about where the next gas station is or be surprised by prices.
Prepare Your Car for Your Road Trip with T3 Atlanta
Planning a road trip? Now that you’ve got your entertainment sorted with the best road trip apps for your trip, make sure your car is in top condition before you take to the road. Save the time and hassle of getting stranded on the highway and enjoy your trip to its fullest with a car that’s in top condition.
T3 Atlanta services Infiniti, Toyota, Lexus, and Nissan vehicles. With two convenient metro area locations in Smyrna and Decatur, we make it easy to stop in for all your car care needs. We’ll inspect your vehicle and recommend any important maintenance items you may have so that you can embark on your road trip with confidence. Give us a call today and we’ll help ensure that your car gets you from point A to B without a hitch.
Whether or not you adhere to the advice of changing your oil every 3,000 miles, keeping up with how much you drive and how often you change your oil can prolong the life of your engine. Fresh oil lubricates the engine’s interior parts and keeps them from seizing up or wearing excessively against each other. Older oil isn’t as effective at providing a cushion between metal parts, leading to premature wear and tear that leads to expensive repair bills.
In Atlanta’s heat, you’ve no doubt made good use of your vehicle’s air conditioning system all summer. It may seem like the warm weather will continue for months to come, but the cold is approaching quickly. Test your car’s heater before the thermostat dips so that you don’t have to drive to work or school in the cold.
Your tires are easy to forget about, but the truth is that they undergo a remarkable amount of wear and tear even on a short grocery trip run. Having an adequate amount of tread will keep you on the road in wet and slick conditions, helping ensure that you and the drivers around you get where you’re going safely. Similarly, although Atlanta doesn’t typically get snowy weather, we do tend to get ice during the winter. Having tires with enough tread will help you keep traction during these wintry conditions.
Ideally, you should check your transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and all other essential fluids at the start of the fall. If you don’t have the capabilities to do so, don’t fret. Call T3 Atlanta and we’ll take care of this quick check for you.
Unlike your engine or other electrical components in your car, there isn’t an ‘air conditioning service’ light on your dashboard. As a result, your car’s air conditioning is one of those service items that you may not think about until it isn’t working like it should.
Whether you take your vehicle to a local car wash or pull out your handheld vacuum cleaner, vacuuming your car once a week can go a long way towards the air quality in your car. Crumbs in the seats and dirt and debris on the floor mats contribute to building odors. Getting rid of these culprits regularly helps prevent odors from building up over time.
If the smell in your car is unbearable, it may be time to do a deep clean. Some car washes offer deep cleans, but you can also make an interior car wash an afternoon project. Just make sure it’s a sunny day!
There are a few different ways to deodorize your car naturally. These options absorb the smells and may take time to fully get rid of the unwanted odor.
This tip ultimately comes down to a personal preference. Slip-ons and sandals are ideal for long drives, but some people live in their sneakers. Whatever your footwear of choice might be, you’ll ideally want to avoid shoes that constrict or cut into your skin to help make your drive as comfortable as possible.
By keeping snacks and other trip essentials within reach, you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle when, two hours into your trip, you realize that you need a charging cable for your phone or GPS.
Stopping and stretching helps keep you alert, which is important when it comes to late-night or even overnight drives. When you push yourself past your limits on a marathon drive, your reaction time and alertness decrease, which can be a dangerous combination for yourself and other drivers on the road. Stay safe and rest when you need to; that’s what rest stops are for.
Unfortunately, a VIN check doesn’t always tell you if a car has been water damaged. The previous owner could be deliberately hiding the damage or may not know that the vehicle ever experienced water damage. In addition, water damage that was not reported to the insurance company may not show up on a VIN check.
4. You Notice Rust or Corrosion on the Vehicle
The short answer about whether car airbags can be replaced is that it depends. Some vehicles have curtain or side airbags which further complicate the question. Some newer cars even have knee or rear airbags to reduce your chances of injury during a collision.
Newer vehicles are equipped with airbags that do not expire, or at least, not quite. The airbags are designed to last for the life of the vehicle.
Older vehicles generally feature airbags that work on a different system – if they have airbags at all. The first airbags appeared in the 1970’s. With the technology being so new, manufacturers at the time were uncertain how long airbags could last and still be effective.
Buying a car is an investment, so it’s important that you do your research before you buy. The more informed you are, the better equipped you are to spot problems with candidates.
In addition to these more general research points, you should also take an in-depth look at the specific vehicle you plan to purchase. A car that has a lot of repairs, especially if they appear to be for the same thing, is at an increased chance at being a potential lemon.
While you may not be able to identify mechanical problems on your own, a visual inspection can still tell you a lot about the car. Check the inside and outside of the car to look for engine, structural, and water damage that can cause long-term problems. Of these, water damage is by far the worst from a long-term cost standpoint. After all, water and mechanical parts don’t mix!
After-market accessories like mufflers, electronics, speakers, or other electrical system add-ons might sound attractive, but there are a lot of hidden dangers with these neat extras.
There’s nothing like the excitement of new car ownership crashing to a stop because of an unexpected repair bill. T3 Atlanta recommends that you have any vehicle that you are strongly considering inspected before you buy. If the dealer you’re planning to shop with refuses to let the vehicle be inspected by an independent mechanic, that’s a red flag you should not ignore.
A sun screen is an affordable and easy way to not only keep the temperature inside your vehicle cooler but prevent damage to your dashboard and electronics caused by regular exposure to heat and UV rays.
Just like keeping your car’s window open for your dog can help keep Fido cooler while you’re at the store for a few minutes, keeping your windows cracked can help keep your vehicle’s electronics from getting damaged.
While this may not always be a possibility, parking in the shade can help keep the temperature in your car cool. When combined with a sun screen or keeping your windows open a crack, your car will be a comfortable temperature when you’re ready to go.
Ethanol, also known as bioethanol, is a type of alcohol produced by certain crops. Corn, sugar beets, barley, potatoes, sunflower, grains, wheat, and many other types of crops can all be converted into ethanol.
That means manufacturers can offer consumers a cleaner-burning, cheaper fuel that doesn’t sacrifice power. However, ethanol does reduce fuel efficiency in cars that are not optimized to run on ethanol. Vehicles that are designed to run on fuel that contains ethanol will have a smaller margin of decreased fuel economy.
You may that certain gas stations also feature a standalone pump that, much like diesel, advertises its own selection of fuel. Flex fuel contains up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline and can only be run by certain types of vehicles.
