Cold Weather Car Care Can Pay Off When You Sell Your Car
Depending on where you live, your car takes a beating each winter. There’s no avoiding it – snowy conditions; salt and sand-treated roads; icy fender benders, and more. For all of the trouble that winter can be for drivers, there are a few winter car care tips that make cold weather car care worth the time.
The best part is that just a few preventative steps can help preserve the resale value of your car.
Oh, and in addition to taking care of your car in the winter, you should also never – ever – drive like this:
Preventative car care in the winter is crucial, but pretty simple
Most of the things you should do to keep your car clean, safe and healthy during the winter are obvious to even the lesser attentive car owners. You just have to make sure these cold weather car care tips don’t slip through the cracks. You’ll be glad you took the time for proper winter car care when it comes time to sell your car.
The best way to look at winter car care is a general check-up of your car – inside and out. Here’s a basic list of winter car care tips:
- Tune Up – A no-brainer – tune-ups should be part of your regular maintenance, anyway. For better performance and gas mileage – as well as a smoother winter ride – a comprehensive tune-up is the right move.
- Check car battery – Car batteries and winter weather do not get along well. Try to check your battery in the late summer or early fall to see if it needs attention or replacement. That way, you’re not stuck in your driveway or parking spot at 8:30 a.m. on a frigid winter morning trying to get your hands to stop shaking enough to clamp jumper cables onto your battery. A healthy, functional battery will help insure your car starts in the morning and you can avoid taxing other systems in your vehicle (like the starter).
- Check, monitor antifreeze – The name pretty much says it all – antifreeze. It keeps your engine cool while running and won’t freeze in the delivery lines or radiator in the extreme cold weather. Check levels in the coolant reservoir while the engine is cold, so the antifreeze isn’t still circulating through the engine.
- Oil Filter; Belts and Hoses – This might normally fall under tune-up, but it’s incredibly important to make sure your oil is high quality and clean; your filters are clean; and make sure your belts and hoses aren’t cracked or otherwise compromised. All of these aspects of your vehicle are more stressed in winter given the extreme temperatures.
- Tires; Wipers and Windshield – If you drive in the winter, especially in the Northeast, you will inevitably have to drive on snow, ice, sleet, or a mixture of all three. Tire tread, as well as tire pressure, are important to keep traction in those dangerous conditions. Also, make sure your wipers are in good condition and act to create optimum visibility in bad weather.
- Paint – The exterior and undercarriage of your car takes a severe beating over the winter months, thanks to salt, sand and other mixtures that are used to clear or de-ice the roads. These elements end up all over your car and encrusting the undercarriage of your vehicle. A heavy coat of wax at the beginning of the season should offer some protection and getting to the car wash as needed will keep the salt and sand from slowly eating away at your exterior paint, as well as the body of the car itself.
All of these cold weather car care tips mean more cash for your car
It’s a simple maxim – the better you care for your car, the more you are likely to get for it when you sell it. A winter of rough travel in an unprepared vehicle can cause lasting damage. Even if you have no plans to sell your car in the near future, it’s best to heed these few winter car care tips in the event that you could sell your car someday.
If that day is soon, take a look at how we buy used cars at Big Bucks Auto and other factors that affect car resale values.
Related Posts:
- » Spring Car Care Makes For Smoother Warm Weather Driving
- » Massive Toyota Recall Reverberates Through Used Car Industry
- » 2010 Used Car Resale Values
- » Car Storage Tips For The Uninitiated
- » Those Cool Car Modifications Might Ruin the Resale Value of Your Vehicle
Tags: cold weather car care, winter car care, winter car care tips
