For many drivers who lead busy lives, they often don’t think much about the mechanical systems of their cars other than filling it up with gas, an oil change or replacing the brakes every couple of years. While these tasks are very important for regular car maintenance, there’s a whole lot more going on under the hood that makes your car roll down the road.

Automobiles in the past 10-15 years have become incredibly complex machines and for most people, the days of the shade tree mechanic. Cars today (like many other products in our lives) are equipped with onboard computers that constantly monitor their performance and can actually make undetected adjustments to the vehicle as you happily drive down the road.

Another really beneficial aspect of having computers in cars today is their ability to alert you if the computer detects that a component in the car is not functioning normally. Most people are familiar with the “check engine” light that sometimes comes on during a journey. But the check engine light is not the only problem indicator that can let you know something is wrong. Other systems such as brakes (ABS) for example are monitored as well. These lights are the manufacturer’s way of telling you that the computer has detected an abnormal reading somewhere within the car that it could not correct itself.