Getting your car ready for winter is not something every one tends to do. However, with the extreme weather we’ve faced in the UK in recent months, it’s something everyone should be looking to do. In order to help you on your way, we’ve compiled the top 5 tips for getting your car ready this winter. These range from the simple things, right up to jobs you may need a mechanic in Liverpool to complete for you.
Why Do You Need to Get Your Car Ready for Winter?
When posed this question in our MOT garage, we have the same response to everyone. Quite simply, if your car is not ready for winter then it could let you down at any moment. Once it does, you’ll be clambering around looking for a recovery wagon and a mechanic to to fix your car. It doesn’t matter if you have an MOT on your vehicle, that only covers the road worthiness of your vehicle not the overall condition for the harsh cold months. So here are our top 5 times for getting your car ready for winter.
1. Check Your Battery
We cannot stress how important this is. It’s top of our list because although everyone in Liverpool seems to know your battery is more vulnerable in the winter, no one seems to get it tested. As the cold and frost sets in, it can destroy the inner cores of your battery. What will generally happy is, without warning, your car will refuse to start. It’s too late at that point, you’ll need a new battery and you’ll potentially be stranded somewhere, maybe at the worst possible point. Probably down the local Asda with the kids in tow and a boot full of frozen food. GET IT CHECKED. You can get it checked at any garage, 99% carry tools to check your battery life. It takes only a few minutes but saves you a lot of potential problems in the long run.
2. Top Up Your Fluids (Screenwash & Anti Freeze)
Although we can’t say exactly how low the temperatures may fall, we do know that if you haven’t done anything with these all summer, it could be time to take a look at them. If you buy your screenwash from the supermarket, the likelihood is, that it will only cover you within a certain temperature range. Quite often, that only falls to freezing point or even ABOVE it. So as soon as you have a cold night, the water will freeze. The next day, you’ll come to use them, nothing will happen and you could burn the motors. Checking the temperature cover is easy, your bottle should say so on it. We recommend going for an option that covers -5oC or even lower if you can get it. ***TOP TIP: Screenwash can melt the ice on your screen helping to melt a frosted windscreen faster***Your anti-freeze works on the same principle. If you don’t have the correct amount, or the right mixture, then your engine will not be able to cool down as the coolant will have frozen. However, this may be a little more difficult for the average person. We do recommend this being done by a professional garage as it’s possible to overfill this and cause more damage to your car.
3. Check Your Windscreen
Your windscreen, although it keeps your face out the wind, also has a very important job. It’s part of the structural integrity of your vehicle. That’s why it’s tested on an MOT for cracks and chips of certain sizes, not to mention, they can restrict the drivers view of the road.
When it get’s cold, the water in the air that penetrates even the smallest chip can freeze. Once that’s in there, the windscreen becomes extremely week and is likely to spread and turn into a crack. Especially when you’re heating the windscreen up in the morning attempting to clear it. You will spend all winter blowing warm air on the screen while the cold air batters it from the outside. We’ve all seen what happens when you put a hot plate in cold water, it will break. Although it’s built to withstand that, chips and cracks change strength.Have a serious thorough check of every inch of the screen. If there are any chips, no matter the size, you should get these looked at. The first port of call should be your insurance company, as they may repair the chips for you for FREE! Check them today before you end up needing a full replacement windscreen at over £200 for most vehicles.
4. Check Your Tyres
The only point at which your car touches the road is via your tyres. Or at least it should be! There is a legal minimum tread depth in the UK and that’s 1.6mm across 3/4 of the tyres. That’s very low, however, that’s what the law states. In winter, we recommend looking for tyres with at least 3mm across the tread. Snow, ice, slush and rain can often cause problems for tyres that are extremely low. So ensuring they’re ready to grip when you need them is an absolute must. Stopping, steering and general vehicle control all comes right down to your tyres.Not only the tread depth, but you should also visually inspect the tyre walls. The summer months may have cracked the outside edge, or you may an egg or other defects that could be ready to cause you a problem. If you’re unsure about anything on your tyre, get it checked professionally. Any tyre garage such as ourselves will check your tyre for FREE!
5. Get a Winter Service in Liverpool
Now this is the easiest of our top 5 tips to get your car ready for winter. Basically, because it’s likely to cover all of the previous parts.
However, that’s not all, a winter service will do a lot more for you! You’ll get everything in 1-4 however, you’ll also get your engine oil changed and vital parts lubricated. Not only that, your winter service will go in-depth and check your brakes, exhaust and other vital engine parts that often fail during the colder months.
If you get booked in with our Liverpool mechanic today, our team will give your car the most thorough winter service you can imagine. This should set you perfectly to have the most reliable car you can have this winter.
