Painter Tim Maglico of the collision center at Baglier Buick GMC puts the finishing touches on the hood of a pickup.

With summer around the corner, many people are looking ahead to vacations or road trips they have planned. An important step in preparing for trips is checking for any necessary car maintenance that may have popped up during the colder months.

One common check this time of year is on the air conditioning system.

“A real big one come spring is the cabin air filter,” said Mark Iarrapino of Iarrapino Muffler & Brake Shop, 404 W. Cunningham St. “That filters the air coming in from the outside.”

Iarrapino said from time to time he gets a call from someone with allergies who will complain about sneezing or having watery eyes every time he or she gets in the car, and this is usually because the air filter needs to be replaced.

“I tell people to change them twice a year,” he said. “In the spring and then again in the fall.”

Iarrapino said other regular spring maintenance checks include checking oil, power steering fluids and pretty much “all the fluids under the hood.”

Thanks to the freeze-and-thaw cycles that seem to last all winter long, potholes are a fact of life and hitting these obstructions can harm the steering and suspension.

However, Iarrapino said the suspension might not need to be checked out “unless you're hearing any noises.”

“Some of the typical, pothole winter roads (and) beat up noises that you'll hear occasionally mean shocks and struts are broken,” he said.If your steering is pulling to one side, it could indicate that your vehicle is out of alignment or if your car is riding rough, it could point to suspension problems that should probably be checked out.Additionally, Iarrapino said doing an undercarriage wash in a car wash is the key to preventing further damage from salt roads.“As far as salt goes, you just pretty much want to get as much of it off as you can come spring,” he said.Working on the exterior can be equally important to the inner workings of a car, which is the specialty of Norm Nesbitt, manger of Baglier Buick GMC Collision Center on Pittsburgh Road.Dents and dings can add up. Snow and ice-covered roads can lead to minor accidents. There are collisions with deer. Even the weather can leave its mark.“The hail damage, we do offer paintless dent removal,” he said. Nesbitt said accidents involving deer are generally going to need some kind of repair and repainting.“We do get some people who have road rash or stone chips and different things like that, (that's) mostly what we see during the springtime,” Nesbitt said. “Collision business is generally an up and down kind of thing. With the weather and deer this time of year, it's been pretty busy.”

Norm Nesbitt, manager of Baglier's collision center, said this is a busy time of year for his shop.