Tips to get your car ready for winter
🥶 The Winter Prep Checklist: 7 Essential Steps to Winterize Your Car Now
Brisk temperatures, bare trees, and shorter days signal that winter is right around the corner. Harsh winter conditions—snow, ice, and extreme cold—can challenge even the most reliable vehicle. Don't wait for the first snow to discover a problem!
Winterizing your car now can prevent major headaches, keep you safe, and save you money. Here is your essential maintenance checklist to face the elements with confidence.
1. Power Up: Test Your Battery
Cold temperatures are your battery’s worst enemy. The chemicals inside slow down, drastically reducing the power available to start your engine. A weak battery that worked fine in summer might fail immediately on the first frigid morning.
Action: Have your battery tested by a professional (like AAA).
Safety Tip: If you had to jump-start your car recently, replacement is likely in your near future.
2. Guard the Engine: Check Antifreeze Levels
Antifreeze (or coolant) is essential to your engine's survival. Without it, water in the system will freeze and expand, potentially cracking the engine block.
Action: Check the coolant in the overflow tank when the engine is cold and off.
Maintenance: If the level is low, add a 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water. You can purchase an inexpensive tester at any auto parts store to ensure your protection level is adequate.
3. Maximize Visibility: Treat Your Windshield
Scraping ice is an arduous, chilly task. Adding a hydrophobic repellent to your windshield can make the job dramatically easier.
Action: Apply a product like Rain-X to a clean, dry windshield.
Safety Warning: Never pour hot water on an icy windshield! The rapid temperature change can cause the glass to crack.
4. Stay Gripped: Inspect Your Tires
As temperatures drop, so does tire pressure—typically by 1 PSI for every $10^\circ \text{F}$ drop. Low pressure and low tread depth are recipes for disaster on slick roads.
Action:
Check all four tire pressures (including the spare) and inflate them to the PSI found on the sticker inside the driver’s door jamb.
Examine tread depth. If your tread is less than $4/32"$, you will have significantly reduced traction in snow and wet conditions.
Pro Tip: In extreme climates, consider investing in a set of specialized winter tires (marked with a snowflake symbol) for superior performance on ice and snow.
5. Stop Safely: Inspect Your Brakes
The combination of snow, moisture, and road salt is a breeding ground for rust. You don't want to discover an issue with your braking ability on an icy patch.
Action: Have a professional look at your brakes before winter arrives.
Watch For: Strange noises, sticking brake pads, or reduced stopping ability—these are all symptoms of issues like excessive rust buildup on the rotors.
6. See and Be Seen: Check Headlights
With darker days and snowy conditions limiting visibility, clear and bright headlights are crucial for safety. Cloudy headlight lenses reduce your ability to see and be seen.
Action:
Make sure both high and low beams work at full brightness.
If lenses are cloudy, use a headlight restoration kit to restore the clarity (they range from $20–$40 at auto stores).
7. The Ultimate Lifeline: Prepare Your Emergency Kit
You could be stranded for an extended period waiting for rescue. An equipped winter emergency kit is your best defense against unexpected cold and delays.
Keep these items stocked in your trunk:
Traction & Tools: Bag of abrasive material (sand, salt, or cat litter), a small snow shovel, and jumper cables.
Visibility: Flashlight with extra batteries, window washer solvent, and warning devices (flares or triangles).
Warmth & Survival: Gloves, hats, blankets (enough for everyone), non-perishable snacks, and drinking water.
Communication: Your mobile phone and a compatible car charger.
Take the time to properly prepare your vehicle now so you can focus on safe driving all season long!