Students take advantage of free car care clinic

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Hoping that students and community members would become more aware of their car care needs, the UVU automotive department hosted its third annual car care clinic Thursday Nov. 21.

Students, faculty and community member were invited to bring their cars to the Sparks automotive building to have their cars inspected.

“We do it to get people aware of things on their car, and it is a learning experience for the (automotive) students,” said instructor Todd Low.

The automotive students do not fix anything that is wrong with the cars.

“They are there to provide the car owners with information. We are not in the position to fix the problems with the car,” said Low.

“The object was to find small problems that could lead to expensive problems,” said automotive student Chris Williams.

“Last year about 40 cars came through, and this year it was around 20; hopefully we will have more next time,” said Low.

The automotive students used a checklist that looked at both the exterior and under the hood for things such as seatbelt function, solid break pedal, tire wear, motor and transmission oil, break fluid and a few others.

“It felt good to help out people. Most people had problems with their air filters in between the engine and the air the engine was getting,” said Williams.

One of the car owners was Nicole Hill, who has brought her car in every year to be checked.

“I think it is a great resource for the community,” said Hill. “I told my whole office and my husband. He told his family.”

“This service was provided for free by the automotive department usually the Thursday before Thanksgiving because people are going to be driving their cars a lot for the holiday,” said Low.

“I will be driving mostly in Utah County,” said Hill. “I trust them, and I know their teachers also check.”

The department plans to hold another car clinic in the spring.