Winter is coming and with it the slow decline of the flowers in bloom, the falling of leaves from the trees and cold weather slowly permeating its way through, using Autumn as a buffer. In these circumstances, it’s important to understand exactly how to keep our cars maintained, so we maximise safety for ourselves and our families while driving in the difficult conditions.
These checks will help you preemptively make sure everything in your car is functioning as you need it. If nothing else, this guide should serve as a useful way to educate yourself, even if you have zero knowledge about your car or how it operates. You never know, reading these words might save you hundreds in emergency car repair.
Car Battery
You need to ensure that your car battery is full and always well maintained. Unfortunately, cold and damp weather has an adverse effect on your battery, sometimes rendering it unable to transmit its power or simply turn on. Couple this with the fact that headlights are often consistently used during the dark nights, it can drain much faster than in the summer. You can test the battery yourself if you have the correct equipment, but it can be much easier to ask someone who knows what they are doing. Luckily, if your battery has seen better days, getting a new one installed can be relatively cheap depending on the model of car you have.
It’s always worthwhile keeping a set of jump leads just in case you become stranded on the highway. If you’re selling your car, make sure that the battery is intact, because you can use your car as collateral and get a car title loan at the best rates – securing you a car more suited to the pesky winter conditions. Winter is largely always considered the best time to purchase a car, because it means you will be purchasing with the harshest conditions in mind, and the vehicle will always be prepared for those as a consequence. Always make sure you read the manual to your car before the winter begins, even if you’ve read it from cover from cover previously. You’ll never know what you have missed in the past, and a quick refresh of your knowledge could help you out of a tricky spot when it comes to installations as fundamentally important as the car battery.
Tyres
Now is the time to make sure your tyres are compatible with the encroaching weather demands of the winter. Of course, black ice is the arch enemy of any safe driver, so it’s wise to be as equipped as possible beforehand by installing specialist winter tyres. Luckily, these aren’t too expensive either, and the grip they provide will be completely worth the cost. This is doubly true if you live in a rural environment in which road maintenance and/or ice gritting isn’t a feasible option for your local authority. It’s likely that certain models of car, such as 4×4’s might have deals offered by the manufacturer when it comes time to replace them. It’s worth looking online at your manufacturer’s website or having a specialist check the proper channels for you.
Emergency Car Equipment
If the worst happens, and you are stranded in an awkward circumstance, you will rely on your pre-made ‘winter car kit’ to help you out of the tricky spot. This should include some items. When it comes to being trapped in the cold, there is no preparation too large. First, you’ll want to pack some form of charging station for mobile phones so you can contact people. You will also need visibility vests, some form of medical aid like a first aid repository and a torch. In order to stay warm, you will need to bring extra warm clothes and blankets just in case a night in the car is your only option. For that reason, some ready to eat and storable food is worthwhile keeping in the car, as well as a large tub of drinkable water. In the event of an escape, you might need a tow rope to help your car out of a tough spot.
While the likelihood of you needing all of these objects is very low at best, depending on where you live it might be more than worthwhile stocking all of these items. Expecting the unexpected is a solid strategy for any avenue of life, but when it comes to driving and potentially breaking down in dangerous conditions, it can be a lifesaver.
Over and above any of the following tips however, driving in winter conditions will require an absolute dedication to driving as safely as you have ever done. The difficulty that accumulates from limited driving visibility as well as slippy or otherwise difficult-to-maneuvre roads mean that you will have to kill your speed in areas where you might enjoy hitting the limit, as well as being super diligent around areas where schools or the elderly are.
These tips will help you make it through winter with the
Winter will be here before we know it. It is so important to have this maintenance done to our car. Thank you so much for sharing