How to Prepare Your Car for the Winter

To be safe and ready for the snowy and icy winter season, drivers need to prepare their
cars in order to prevent serious accidents and avoid unwanted surprises in the cold. This
requires only a little time and a couple of car care products you shouldn’t be without. For
instance, your checklist should include anti-freeze, glass cleaner, glass deicer fluid and
frost guard for tires and trim, door lock deicer and a couple of cleaning rugs.

It’s important to have good visibility throughout the winter. To keep your windshield
clean, make sure to always keep enough water in the tank. Also, remember in the freezing
cold, you’ll need to add some anti-freeze to your wiper fluid. This prevents the water in
the tank from freezing and the jets from getting clogged. The correct amount to use is on
the anti-freeze container.

Sometimes the wiper jets can get stopped up with dirt or even freeze over with ice. The
best remedy here is to take a needle or toothpick to poke the holes free. The door lock
should be sprayed on a regular basis with deicer not only something that helps right away
but also a good idea ahead of time to prevent any rude awakenings on a cold morning.

One good idea is spring the door trim to guard the rubber from freezing. It also helps to
protect and maintain it for a longer life. Window deicer also is great in an emergency and
on a regular basis to prevent the build up of ice. Let the anti-freeze soak in a couple of
seconds and then activate the wipers.

In the winter time, the heating and air conditioning systems are especially important since
they prevent the windshield from fogging up inside. Nonetheless, the window should still
be cleaned from time to time with a glass cleaner. Only a couple of steps are required to
maintain good visibility in the cold and icy season. Inclement weather is very often the
cause of traffic accidents, better clean the windows before you start driving than trying
frantically to rub open a spot to see through while driving.

And there are other good tricks for winter driving, your car is at the mercy of the
elements, rains, slits, snow, salt and road grime can take quite a toll on your pain. It’s a
good idea to take your car to a carwash on a regular basis. Don’t be penny wise and
pound foolish, better to pay for full service including wax and underbody wash for
optimum protection of damage to your car body.

After you wash your car, it’s the best time to check the lights on your car. Extreme winter
conditions not only mean lots of cold but also darkness. You can see that thorough and
regular carry is very important but again snow and ice on the road is not even the cleanest
windshield is any good if the car is riding on summer tires. Only those who put winter
tires on their cars have a chance against the slick and slippery conditions.

In Germany, winter tires are sometimes mandatory, meaning cars must be outfitted right
for certain weather conditions. Otherwise, a driver can even be penalized with points on
his license. Take simple precautions and you can avoid a whole lot of trouble and drive
safely through the winter.