Getting Your Car Ready for Summer
Most people understand the importance of getting your car
for winter. However, most people do not
realize that it is equally important to prepare your vehicle for summer. Here are a few things you can do to make sure
your car is properly equipped for this coming summer.
Clean it Up
The first thing to do after a long and dreary winter is to
clean the outside of the car up. Due to
harsh winter conditions, the outside of your car will take a beating
aesthetically. Now that its summer and
the weather is nicer, you will want to show off how gorgeous your car can be
when it’s not being rained/snowed on all day.
You can start by washing the body of the car. A simple car was will go a long way, but to
really get rid of the extra dirt and grime it may require a deep hand
wash. This is also a good time to clean
up the rims. This will all be somewhat
labor intensive, but when the natural shine of your car’s paintjob and rims
starts to come through it will make it all worth it.
It is important to protect all your hard work by going the
extra mile and waxing your car as well.
Doing so at the beginning of the season will ensure that your car is
protected all summer long. If you do not
have a garage to park in, parking in shaded areas during the summer will help
protect your car against sun damage.
While you have the hose out, it would be wise to make sure
to wash the undercarriage of the car as well.
The reason for this is that the salt that is used to make the roads
safer during winter can accumulate on the bottom of your vehicle and cause
rusting. Simply washing the bottom of
the car with a hose or sprinkler will be very helpful in protecting it against
corrosion.
Change/Inspect Tires
One of the more obvious things to do is getting rid of your
winter tires. While this is obvious, it
does not mean people always do it immediately.
It is important to do this as soon as possible because winter tires are
more vulnerable to the dry hot pavements encountered during summer.
Even if you have all-season tires which do not require
changing, it is still important to check their tread. This is because tires may be worn down from
trying to stop in harsh winter driving conditions or damaged from driving on
snow removing salt.
Check Fluids, Battery
and Radiator
Another thing to do when preparing your vehicle for summer
is to check the levels of all fluids. It
is especially important to check the level of coolant as this will be needed to
run the air conditioner (which usually comes in handy in the summer).
You will also want to take a look at your battery. Although many people believe it is winter and
the cold that kills your battery, the extreme heats of summer are what will
shorten battery life. To help protect
your battery against this you can make sure it is clean (by using baking soda
and warm water) and free of corrosion.
It is also a good idea to clean the terminals using a wire brush.
Last but certainly not least, you will want to check your
radiator. The radiator (along with the
afore-mentioned coolant) is responsible for cooling your car down. As you can imagine, this is particularly
important during hot summer months. Make
sure to check the radiator for any leaks or broken hoses as these issues can
lead to disaster during the heat of summer.
These are just a few of the basic steps you can take to
ensure that your vehicle is prepared for the upcoming summer. The extreme heats that can occur during
summer months can have damaging effects on your car. While the importance of preparing your car
for winter is more widely known, the steps necessary to prepare your car for
summer are equally important
