One of my favorite sayings is, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure.” This means the little things you do today may save you from a lot of headaches later on. In this case, it’s making sure to winterize your car before the snow starts to fall.
Now, we’ve provided some tips for winterizing autos in the past. But today, we’re going to expand a bit and offer a few more than can keep you and your family safe this winter.
1. Keep the Car Clean
A build-up of slush, ice, mud, and road debris can wreak havoc on your car. Not only can it damage the paint, but it can also lead to rust if not properly cleaned.
This is especially true in areas that utilize a lot of salt or magnesium chloride to melt icy roads. Prolonged exposure could ultimately damage the vehicle.
2. Winterize Your Car with Snow Tires
Keeping an eye on air pressure is helpful. But switching to snow tires can make a world of difference in severe weather. The tread on these tires is such that it improves traction, which reduces your risks of losing control.
If you don’t use snow tires, at least check the tread gap of your tires to ensure they’re still in good condition.
3. Check the Brakes on the Car
It’s bad enough that you can potentially slide through an icy intersection, but losing control because of bad breaks can make the situation far worse.
Having the brakes inspected now could save you a lot of hassle later on should the brakes fail during a snow storm.
4. Winterize by Using De-Icer for Your Car
De-icer fluid can come in a variety of packages. You’ll see a lot of de-icing windshield fluids as well as sprays for your door’s lock. In any case, methods to help de-ice your car shouldn’t be underestimated.
You could go as far as using anti-fog sprays on the inside of your windshield to prevent the glass from fogging up in the mornings. It’s the same spray that motorcyclists and skiers use on their helmets and visors, and it works wonders!
The anti-fog sprays not only help winterize your car, but they can do so much more for other outdoor activities. It’s worthwhile having a bottle on hand.
5. Have an Emergency Kit on Hand
You should always have an emergency kit in your car regardless of the weather. In the event of winter, though, it should include gloves, blankets, drinking water, and non-perishable edibles, such as nuts and/or other sealed goods.
Think of it this way; if you were to slide off the road somewhere, could you survive below-zero temperatures for several days with what you have in your car right now?
Sure, it’s a very rare occurrence this could happen. Yet, hundreds were stranded in eastern Virginia at the beginning of 2022, forced to stay the night in their vehicles.
6. Be Mindful of Driving Abilities
The way you drive in the winter is vastly different from how you drive in the summer. Obviously, there are greater threats to consider. Mostly, how you handle black ice and dense snow storms.
Practicing your driving skills in poor weather conditions can vastly improve your chances of avoiding accidents. In fact, a lot of businesses offer winter driving schools for this very reason.
Winterize Your Car with the Best Insurance Plans
Every year, roughly 39% of all weather-related auto accidents happen on roads experiencing everything from regular snowfall to icy pavement. Regardless of how much preparedness you commit to, there’s always a chance you’ll be involved in an accident yourself.
At Vargas & Vargas Insurance, we’ll help you find the best policies regardless of the weather. Contact us today to see what we can do for you this winter.
Just make sure you take steps to winterize your car before the weather gets too bad.
