Winter Car Care Tips

Winter can play havoc with your car. Unpleasant weather conditions, more grit on the road and chillier temperatures have a negative effect on your car - but if you’d like to get behind the wheel of a new vehicle to tackle this winter’s weather then check out our current range today at Eden Motor Group.

However, how do you look after your car during winter and make sure that it gets to spring unscathed? In this article, we’re going to be taking you through some of the key areas to check and maintain your car.

Servicing

Servicing is a key way of making sure that your car is as best prepared for winter weather as it can be. A good service will check over a multitude of areas of your vehicle and can help to avoid some nasty surprises further down the line by identifying issues before they turn into something worse.

Here at Eden, we offer several servicing plans, bringing extra reassurance when it’s time to get your car looked over. If you become a service plan holder you’ll get a range of extra benefits, including free puncture repair, free bulb and wiper fitting and free safety checks to ensure that your car is always in tip-top shape. Get in touch with a member of the team today if you’d like to discuss service plans today.

Cleaning

When it’s dark, windy and rainy outside the last thing most people feel like is cleaning their car. However, with an increase of grit and grime on the roads it’s actually even more important to keep on top of car cleaning than it is during the summertime.

You don’t have to go overboard, of course, but a quick scrub down with some car-approved shampoo - don’t use dish soap as it can damage the car’s paint - and a jet wash can help to keep the worst of the grime at bay. Focus on the headlights and taillights, too, so that you can be sure they’re working as effectively as possible.

Tyres

Winter is a time when you rely on your tyres more than ever. That’s why we’d suggest giving them a visual inspection from time to time, looking out for cuts or bulges in the sidewalls which could lead to a blowout later on. If you spot one, get it checked out by a trained technician and replace the tyre if required.

Check how tread they’ve got, too - the legal limit in the UK is 1.6mm - and ensure that they’ve been correctly inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended levels. Plus, if you live in particularly cold or snow-prone areas, you may want to consider swapping to winter tyres for extra grip in lower temperatures.

Windscreen

Your car’s windscreen takes a real beating during the wintertime. Grit and grime can have a big impact and with plenty of loose gravel around, the possibility of picking up a stone-related chip or crack is high. Winter care for your car involves making sure your windscreen is in tip-top shape, as a result.

If you notice a chip in your windscreen, it’s a good idea to get it repaired straight away. Doing so will avoid it getting any worse - particularly when the temperatures go sub-zero - and having a professional inject the area with resin is much cheaper than having to replace the entire windscreen. However, if there is a large crack in the windscreen - particularly ahead of the driver - the most likely outcome is that you’ll need to change out the windscreen for a new one. Some insurance policies cover this, however, so double-check beforehand.

Fluids

Various fluids in your car ensure that it keeps running as smoothly as possible. During an Eden service, we’ll take a look at the fluid levels in your car but, in the meantime, you can check them at home. Firstly, make sure that your car has enough windscreen washer fluid in the reservoir and, if low, top it up. Don’t be tempted to use water alone, too, as when things get cold this can freeze and cause damage to the system.

Check the car’s oil levels with the dipstick - removing it, cleaning it off and replacing it within the engine to find the level on the dipstick itself - and make sure that there’s a good amount of coolant, too. Again, though you can do this at home, if you’d rather a professional take a look for you instead then get in touch.

Battery

Cold temperatures put extra strain on your car’s battery. When conditions get colder, the battery requires more energy to get a car started and if it’s running low on charge then you’ll struggle to get your vehicle going. You may have noticed this happening already; when temperatures fall, if your car has difficulty starting then the battery may be on the way out.

Trained technicians can often test a battery to see how much remaining charge it has to offer, though most of the time any starting issues will require a change of battery. You can do this yourself at home, but if you have any concerns then always get a professional to sort it for you - get in touch with Eden today if you have any reservations about this kind of repair work.

There are lots of ways you can look after your car this winter but if you have any questions - or fancy swapping into a new car - then visit the Eden website today and get in touch.