If the chill in the air hasn’t already alerted you, winter is well and truly here and with that comes a whole suite of car maintenance tasks you can be doing to keep your car in tip top shape in the colder weather. We’ve put together a list of things you need to do this winter to keep you safe whilst winter driving and ensure your car performs as it should.
Protect the paint
There are a number of things that can damage your paintwork during the colder months. A build up of snow, dirt, icy conditions or salt can affect the paintwork causing it to peel or corrode. To prevent this from happening, make sure you treat your car’s exterior with wax or cream coats to protect it from the elements.
Watch your windscreen
Everyone knows a chip in your windscreen is bad news but, did you know they’re even worse in the winter months? Cold conditions can worsen a chip and cause it to crack much easier than in warmer weather, so it's important to check your windscreen as part of your winter car maintenance routine.
We advise drivers to be extra cautious when driving this winter and not to delay in getting a chip repaired, as cold weather can worsen the damage. Luckily for 123.ie customers, windscreen damage is covered in your comprehensive insurance and won’t affect your no claims bonus!
Keep the car clean
This as much applies to the exterior as much as the interior. As we mentioned above, there are a number of things that will damage the paint on your car like snow, ice, dirt and salt. Salt is also corrosive to the underside of your car and can cause expensive damage if left too long. While handwashing your car in freezing temperatures may not seem like the most tempting thing to do at the weekends, it sure beats a hefty garage bill!
Likewise with the interior of your car, a tidy car is less attractive to opportunistic thieves – especially at this time of year when cold temperatures make people less alert.
Watch your window wipers
With the weather colder and wetter than usual, it’s likely that your window wipers are getting used more frequently. Remember you should replace your wipers every 6 months or when they start squeaking. Damaged window wipers can lead to a damaged windscreen – we know which we’d rather replace!
Anti-Freeze
It may be easy to forget, but don’t forget to add anti-freeze to the top of your shopping list for the winter season to keep your car working as it should. Replace the coolant with 50% water and 50% anti-freeze for optimum engine health.
Mechanical Health Check
Just like we need a health check from time to time, so too does your car. A mechanic will check important areas like brakes, tyre pressure, oil, lights, heating and your battery to make sure your car is running smoothly. The sooner this is done, the better you’ll feel about winter driving. But don’t worry, if worse comes to worst, 24/7 breakdown assistance comes as standard on all of our policies.
