Cars are some of the most cherished things in our society. However, like all material things, cars deteriorate if not properly taken care of.

The autoshop classes are trying to remedy this by offering free car checkups to the student body. Students and staff must talk to autoshop teacher Greg Ely to set up an appointment to bring their car in. when a time has been set and the necessary paperwork has been completed, the car is taken to the autoshop room and the keys are given to Ely.

The checkup program was originally designed for the staff, but has now been extended to students. The main purpose for offering free checkups was to make sure that the cars are safe to drive to school. A preventative maintenance inspection can now be done to make sure the car is safe when rain and cold weather strikes. This opportunity lasts up through December.

“You can look for things that might be a potential problem in the future,” Ely said. “Winter is coming up, and many problems come up at the wrong time, especially when many people go on live drives for vacations.”

The depth of the free car checkup is very extensive and not only limited to the basics.

“We do a lot of things,” Ely said. “We look at things from lights, tires, fluids and safety belts.”

According to Ely, the American Automobile Association (AAA) offers a checkup similar to the one the autoshop classes provide. The classes try to give the best quality service they can supply for free.

One helpful service that autoshop classes provide in their inspection is that the extra labor is free. If serious problems are found, the owner will be contacted and can choose to buy parts that the autoshop classes will then install or replace them for free.

Inspections will be done during the school day and returned to the owner by the end of school, a convenient and stress-free system for all. This way, the owner will not have to be inconvenienced by not having a car for a few days, a nuisance common to many dealerships and professional car service departments.

A drawback that might scare away customers is the fact that the cars are fixed by young students who are still learning; however, this should not get in the way of getting the checkup.

“I understand that they are students,” social studies teacher April Fritz said. “I feel safe because there’s a teacher guiding them. The only way to get better is application.”

According to Monica Placheta, an autoshop student who takes appointments and works on cars, the effort that the students put into the checkups affects their performance in the class.

Autoshop students really enjoy the experience of working with different cars.

“The service we offer is nice because it gives me something interesting to do every day,” senior Austin Kuo said. “It’s interesting and fun to work with different cars all the time.”

The preventative maintenance program provides a variety of car applications for the students to work with.

“What I like about the service is that all the cars and the problems that we encounter are different,” Monica said. “We don’t work on just one type of car. It just makes it more interesting to be in that class.”