How to Prepare Your Car for Winter

For many people, winter is their least favourite season. If only we could all sing “The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway.” In most cases, the cold can be a real pain to deal with.

Freezing temperatures are not just uncomfortable, and they’re cumbersome too. Especially when you own a car and your car happens to be parked outside in the elements. A common winter problem is engine freeze-ups, start failures, frozen doors, and windows.

A frozen car is the last thing you want to deal with when rushing in the morning. This is why you should have a handy checklist on how to prepare your car for winter. This checklist reminds you what to look out for during this freezing season.

Here is how to prepare your car for winter:

Check Car Battery Regularly

That sinking feeling of cranking your car’s engine only to find that it is not starting up is something we have all experienced at one time or another. Panic, frustration, or just sheer annoyance are some of the common emotions that run through our minds at the time.

Unfortunately, the lifespan of a car battery is limited. While you should be regularly checking on your battery anyway, it is even more crucial to get it done in winter. A computerized battery tester is a useful tool on hand during these chilly months. Use it to inspect your car’s battery, starter, and full charging system to ensure everything is in working order.

Check Your Car Tires

Your snow tires need all the grip strength they can get when the road is slick and slippery. Worn-out tires and winter driving make for an especially deadly combination. Driving around with poor tires is a bad idea because it lengthens your stopping distance and reduces your stability on wet roads.

Even though most states have a 2/32-inch minimum tread depth regulation, independent testing has proven that tire traction diminishes substantially if your tires degrade beyond 4/32-in. Bad tires are an accident waiting to happen. Yes, insurance will cover it, but why take that risk? Your life is far too precious for that.

Don’t forget to check on the air pressure of your tires too. Tires with low air pressure can be problematic on winter roads. You should regularly have your tire pressure checked and, if needed, get your tires filled. It’s quick and easy to do it yourself using a free tire air pump at your local gas station.

Keep Car Windows Lubricated

When you try to open a window, cold water from the chilly winter air outside might slip into the tracks and cause it to drag. While it may not seem like a big deal, you’d be surprised at what a costly affair this can be when it damages your window regulator.

There’s an easy way to avoid this, which is to keep your window tracks well lubricated. Spray silicone or dry Teflon spray lubricant to your window tracks during the winter months, and apply enough lube so that it drips down to the tracks and coats it well.

Check Car Brakes

The car brakes are important when you prepare the car for winter. Your brakes are your lifeline while you’re on the road, even more so when it’s winter. During the winter, your brakes are put under a lot more strain, more so than any other time of the year, especially if you live in an area where there’s snow.

With snow, you get a lot of wetness, and then you have salt to deal with too, which can cause rust spots on your rotors. This significantly reduces how effectively your brakes will operate.

Don’t forget about your brake fluids too. Brake fluid gets dirty fast in the winter and contains water molecules harmful to your car. So get your brake fluids checked and replaced as needed.

Check Car Heater

If you’re driving long distances, you want a working heater in your car to keep you warm and toasty. Short journeys aren’t too much of a hassle when you don’t have heat in your car, but think about what would happen if you were stranded in your car without heat for a lengthy amount of time. Get your heater checked well before winter hits so that you have ample time to fix anything that needs fixing.

Get New Car Wiper Blades

Finally, you should do everything you can to ensure your visibility on the road isn’t compromised. This means ensuring you can see clearly through your windscreen. To do that, you need to replace your wiper blades every winter. Since wiper blades are relatively inexpensive, getting them replaced every year before winter is a great idea.