Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Getting Your Car Ready for Summer

This month's blog is coming to you from our guest blogger, Daniel Harris. Check out all of his tips on getting your car ready for summer.


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