5 Tips on How to Protect Your Car in Winter

5 Tips on How to Protect Your Car in Winter

With winter approaching, that means snow, ice, and a whole lot of salt on the roads. Protecting your car goes beyond just cleaning the snow off and letting it warm up before driving it. Learning a few small tips on how to protect your car in winter will keep it running well for a long time.

Park in a Garage or Carport

Keeping your car covered in a carport or garage during the winter months will protect it from the cold and snow. If you hate clearing your car off in the morning after a snowfall, parking it under cover will eliminate that annoying chore. Allowing snow to accumulate on your car adds weight, and that extra weight will make your engine work harder and negatively affect performance.

Wash your Car

The salt that is put down on roads to melt ice can tear up the finish on your car. Salt eats away at the finish slowly, so it’s important to wash it off weekly. The wheel wells and areas around the tires will start to show signs of rust first, because those areas take the brunt of the salt during winter driving.

Drive for Conditions

Snowy and icy roads are slick and make it harder to stop your car quickly in an emergency. Slow down when the conditions call for it. You never know when you will need to brake suddenly to avoid an accident. The best way to take care of your car is to not damage it, so avoid any hurry and slow down in bad conditions.

Get Winter Tires

Roads get icy and slippery in the wintertime. Try as they might, the road crews responsible for clearing the roads can’t remove all the ice; there will always be some left. A good set of winter tires will help improve your car or truck’s traction. Winter tires have superior tread patterns and are made from softer rubber. These two traits help the tire grab the road better whether there is snow or not.

Use Kitty Litter

This might seem weird, but it’s effective. If you’ve ever had your windows ice over on the inside, this trick will stop that from happening. Keep a sheer stocking or pantyhose full of kitty litter in the car. The litter keeps the moisture down in the car and prevents your windows from fogging up and icing over on the inside. The kitty litter can also help you if you get stuck. Spread the litter on the ground under your tires to provide traction on an icy patch.

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