Winter Car Care Tips: How To Protect Your Car From Winter Rust and Damage

How harsh is the winter in India? You know it just right. The winter this year has turned out to be extra chilly as it approaches this year and it’s not good for us and our car itself. The cold weather brings damage to our vehicles like ice freezing in your engine, the wet and dirty slush or snow on the wheels and underbody, etc. How can you protect your car from these? Don’t mention the fluffy coats or so. Preventing your car from damage and rust during the winter requires extra meticulous care. Here, IndianAuto brings some useful car care tips for the owners to help their beloved cars ‘survive’ through the severe winter season.

1. Replace Windshield Wiper Blades

First of all, you must be sure that the wiper blades of your car are in good condition. The wiper blades are extremely important in case of snow and rain. They should be clean and heavy-duty to wipe out the ice and sleet, by all ways to provide clear visibility for the driver. Replace the old windshield wipers with the new one. If your car is a hatchback or SUV, the necessity of having a rear wiper is decent too. Sedans don’t need a rear wiper while hatchbacks and SUV do.

2. Regular Car Washes

It’s not only a matter of season that your car needs regular washes. However, in the winter, the salt on roads might stick to the wheels and underside of the vehicle that can cause serious corrosion to your car. Therefore, never forget to wash your car regularly to prevent the salt from doing any harm.

3. Ceramic Coating

Something that’s directly exposed to the harsh weather condition is the car’s paint. Therefore, it’s necessary to protect the car’s paint as a shield for your vehicle. In fact, there are multiple ways by which you can protect the paint of the car like wax or ceramic coating. While wax has been an old-school method, many car owners today opt for the ceramic-coating to protect the car’s paint from the severe attackers like rain, snow, dust and rust. Also, you should add a layer of anti-rust underbody coating to the lower parts which are the most vulnerable to the rainwater, slush, dirt and salt from the roads. Remember, as long as the metals are protected from these harmful elements, they will stay in good shape.

4. Monitor the Tyres

During the winter, driving in slippery conditions like rain and snow might be dangerous. One should monitor the tyres regularly before the drive to make sure they have adequate tread with no cuts and at the same time, are inflated appropriately. Do note that the improper tyre pressure can raise the chance of skidding when you are moving on the wet or slippery roads. If possible, you can take some winter-spec tyres or snow tyres into consideration to make a safer drive.

5. Service the Brakes

The car’s brakes are the essential component that should be always in the best conditions, or else, you will fall into trouble for sure. Check the brakes and have them serviced periodically, keep them clean and replace the brake pads if required and grease the callipers if needed are the to-do list for you to protect your car from winter rust.

6. Check the Engine, Battery

Needless to say, no one wants to be stuck in the middle of the roads under the cold weather. Hence, before stepping on your car to go outside, you’d better check the car battery’s health which can be affected by the low temperature. Since cold weather can reduce the ability to accept charge when you start the engine, it’s advised to have the battery inspected by a qualified mechanic. Check the engine oil, refill the coolant if required because the low temperature can gum up fluids some time.

7. All-weather Mats

Not just the exterior but the interior of the car should be also well-protected during the cold winter season. The interior must be prevented from moisture, snow or salt that can bring in as you open the doors. At some certain points, the floor of the vehicle can get rusted, then comes the weak chassis. To avoid these harmful contents, all you should do is to buy all-weather mats.

8. Emergency Kits For Winter Driving

You will never know how long it takes you to reach home when your car gets into trouble on the winter driving. From time to time, there’s no escaping a sudden breakdown in bad weather. It’s always recommended to have some essentials with you in case of the worst happens.

For many people, the winter season brings in joy with so many important events like Christmas and New Year Eve to celebrate. However, for some like the car’s owner, it may not be the happiest season. Indianauto.com hopes the aforementioned winter car care tips can be useful enough to help you protect your car from the winter rust and damage, thereby lengthening the life span of your vehicle.