It’s getting toward that time of year once again, the nights close in from 5PM. You’re getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark…but look after your car so you don’t get stuck in the cold this winter.
Or...if you need a new car for winter, you could get a new one within 10 days through personal car leasing.
However, if you are happy with your current car, here are a few checks you need to make to keep yourself on the move.
Screenwash
Let’s start with the basics. I used to work selling car parts many moons ago, and the one thing that would happen around this time of year were blown washer fuses or blown washer motors.
This happens because the water/screenwash in the tank would freeze solid, people went to clear their windscreens of ice in the morning and blow either the fuse (if they were lucky) or the whole pump.
You need to put in a concentrated screenwash that will go down to at least -20 in the UK. Don’t bother buying ready mixed stuff, its nonsensical. Come winter time you need to be putting it in near enough neat. This will stop it freezing and also clear your screen of the road salt and muck much quicker.
Battery
Next up is your battery. If you have an older car and have never put a new battery on it, now may be the time to get that done. A car battery has a good, useable life of around 5 years, anything over that and you’re living on borrowed time.
The cold weather puts an extra load on car batteries, the temperature drops meaning the power output also dives. Even the smallest of things like an interior light can kill an ageing battery during winter.
If you’re the type of person that mainly does short journeys this can also turn your battery into a rather heavy paperweight far quicker in winter. You aren’t giving it enough time to charge up on those short trips. Couple that with the multiple starts and you end up hammering the battery.
You can get a trickle charger to keep your battery topped up in this scenario, you just need somewhere to plug it in.
Oh, and a pair of jump leads are always handy to keep in the boot of an older motor.
Antifreeze
The last main thing you need to check is the coolant in your car. You can buy an antifreeze tester for about a fiver, this will let you know if your antifreeze is good to go or needs renewing.
If the test fails you will probably have to get it booked in to a garage. A coolant chance can be done by yourself, but you will need to dispose of the old antifreeze as it’s pretty harmful stuff, it can also be a bit of a messy job.
If the freezing point isn’t low enough the exact same thing will happen with your coolant as the washer fluid. Frozen. Which isn’t what you want when trying to start your car.
Those are the three main things you need to check. The weekly things should be your lights and tyre pressures, which you do anyway…don’t you?
Yes, you can opt for winter tyres, these will grip better in the colder conditions and be pretty amazing in snow, but let’s face it…how often does it snow in the UK?!
So do the basics and keep yourself on the road this winter. If you are looking for a new car for the winter, one of the easiest ways to do that is to find the cheapest car leasing for your chosen vehicle and get it delivered in 10 days, just when winter is about to set in.
This will ensure you are prepared for the coming months.
Disclosure
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