There’s a secret about car maintenance that I am about to tell you – and unlike other secrets, you should tell literally everyone you know. The reason this is secret? Nobody really knows about it! But you will, and even though we can’t give you a cool pin or badge or anything to signify that you’re in the Club, you have a gold star on your heart forever. What is the secret, you ask?

You should check your tire pressure at least once a week. And the tread. I know, it’s not that exciting of a secret, but I wanted to hype it up a bit because it’s actually really important. You need a tire pressure gauge, which is a cheap thing you can get at any auto parts store, and you need to just make sure that your tire pressure is where it should be pretty regularly – especially in this cold weather we’ve been having. How do you know what the pressure in your tires should be? It’ll be in three places: your owner’s manual, the sticker on the inside of the driver’s side door jamb, and even on the tires themselves.

Checking your tread is similarly easy. All you need is a penny, and you just need to put the penny with Lincoln’s head facing directly down into the tread of your tire. If you can see the top of his head, then that means you really need to get new tires, like ASAP. If you can’t see the top of his head, then that means you’re good for a while. The closer you are to being able to see the top of Abe’s noggin, the closer you are to needing new tires.

At least check your tread every time you remember to do it. It’ll become a great habit, and you’ll always know that you can rely on your tires. Isn’t that great?