5 Tips to Prepare Your Car for Winter


Air up your tires to the maximum recommended pressure. One of the most common breakdowns, particularly in early winter, is a flat tire, but it's one that can be particularly nasty on a very cold day. Changing a tire on a cold day either means a miserable experience or an expensive call to a car repair place.

Get your oil changed. If you live in a cold climate, this is a good time to get your oil changed, as different oil works better in the winter months than in the summer months. If you're anywhere close to your regular oil change, get it done on the dot, if not a little early.

Get your car washed, waxed and undercoated (and repeat it regularly during the winter). During winter months, transportation departments put some pretty nasty things on the road to keep them clear. Ash, sand and salt are all used and none of them are particularly good for the exterior or the undercarriage of your car. They can corrode the metal, bringing on rust with surprising speed

Put weight in the trunk of a rear-wheel drive car. If your car has rear-wheel drive, it can run into some real problems if it gets stuck in a big pile of snow. When trying to escape from being stuck in winter weather, real-wheel cars may have their front ends swing around wildly, endangering the car's passengers and those on the roadway. This is because most of the weight of the car is in the front (the engine block) while the actual propulsion of the car is in the rear.

Put a "winter supply" box or bag in your car. This can potentially save your life in extreme weather conditions, so to say it's important is an understatement.