This guide serves as a straight forward easy-read guide to compact car maintenance. The focus of this book is more on preventative maintenance even though troubleshooting methods are provided as well. The goal is to give you the right direction - we do not want you to do the hands on yourself. Instead, we want you to be able to tell (not guess) what may have gone wrong and then make the most appropriate decisions prior to approaching a mechanic. You retain control over what to do (the overall direction of maintenance and/or fixing) about the problem(s) at hand. When a car "overheats", there could be many different causes and reasons. A typical auto mechanic will examine EVERYTHING on the car for you and suggest a "solution" which may or may not guarantee a successful fix. The inspection bill alone can carry items costing you hundreds of dollars. And, the suggested fix may not be truly effective because there are things that simply cannot be thoroughly checked unless the entire engine is removed. In fact, if the car is operated properly it may never get into the overheat nightmare. Some early maintenance works may prevent troubles from coming up while you are on the road. We do NOT expect you to be a techie. Plain simple language is used throughout this guide to explain concepts and tech information in easy-to-understand manner. We use both a Nissan Micra and a Kia Picanto for photo demonstration here. Information presented is not make-specific though.