As we move into fall and then winter, it’s important to know basic cold weather car maintenance. The colder weather can affect your car in a lot of ways, so you need to be prepared. Stock your car with the correct emergency supplies as well as cold weather supplies. Always be careful to plan your route carefully when traveling during the colder months to make sure you aren’t heading into rough weather. It’s a good idea to do an overall vehicle health check before the temperature drops too far. And finally, you need to make sure that your tires are in good health and invest in snow tires if you plan to drive in icy conditions. Hopefully, we will have a mild winter this year, but if not you’ll be prepared to handle anything.
Cold Weather Car Maintenance: Stay Safe as the Temperature Drops
Stock Your Car
It’s important to stock your car as part of your cold-weather car maintenance. Make sure that you have all the things you need to tackle different conditions. For example, if snow is in the forecast, make sure that you have an ice scraper in your car. It’s always a good idea to have emergency supplies as well in case you get in trouble. Keep a flashlight, reflective triangle, food, blanket, water,
jack, spare tire, and anything else you might need in an emergency.
Plan Your Route Carefully
Another part of your cold-weather car maintenance is to check your route carefully. You need to make sure that you aren’t driving into poor weather conditions. For example, heavy rain, snow, or ice. There are many
apps you can check to make sure that the weather is looking decent along your route.
Vehicle Health Check
It’s important to check your overall vehicle health as part of your cold weather car maintenance. It’s best to take it into a professional car care center. There, they can check your oil and battery health. They can also give your breaks a thorough inspection which is very important. As we move into weather that could cause ice, you need to make sure that your breaks are in top shape.
Tire Safety
Finally, tire safety is a big part of cold weather vehicle maintenance. Tires can lose pressure in colder weather, so you’ll want to do a visual check each morning to make sure that your tires aren’t low. In addition, make sure that your tread is in good shape so that you have as much grip as possible on the road. And finally, consider investing in snow tires or snow chains if you expect to encounter icy conditions.
Cold weather car maintenance is very important this time of year as the temperatures begin to drop. It’s best to go ahead and do all of these things now so that you’re prepared for early cold fronts. Stock your car with anything you’ll need in cold weather, like ice scrapers and emergency supplies. Check your route carefully before you leave to make sure that you aren’t driving into bad weather or icy conditions. Do an overall vehicle health check to make sure that your battery, engine, and brakes are all in great shape. And finally, check your tires each day and consider investing in snow tires. Hopefully, you’ll be able to keep yourself and other drivers as safe as possible out on the roads this winter by preparing your vehicle early for cold weather.
