Who’s up for the winter wonderland up ahead? With fall in full swing at the moment, it’s the perfect time to look under the hood and give your car a good look for this season and the following wintry months.
This autumn’s best car upgrades don’t just enhance the performance of your car; they can boost its appearance as you snuggle into your knits and boots.
Fall Care for Your Car
It can be summed up to preventive maintenance, ensuring that your car’s safety and reliability are top-notch. After all, the harsher elements that winter brings can damage your car—the repairs thereafter are only troublesome.
Make the most of the fall months, especially with October dubbed as the Fall Car Care Month, to show your car the proper attention for the convenience it has brought to your life.
Do a big check on the big three:
- A dead battery leads nowhere. The cold weather pushes your battery to work harder as the engine requires more electricity to crank up and accessories like windshield wipers and heaters that are heavily used also latch on to the battery’s power.Ultimately, your car battery is spent, and your next trip is to the auto repair shop. While the age of the battery may or may not have anything to do with its chances of conking out, replacing your battery if it’s older may be a good call.
- Less fluidity in winter. Everything is freezing; your car’s fluids are no exception. A more viscous engine oil, for instance, means more energy to get the car moving, consuming more fuel in the process.Transmission fluid is also more prone to thickening during winter, which causes it to lock up, slip, or fail. Antifreeze is your antidote to a freezing engine, so be sure to have the right level and mix for it to work properly.
- Don’t be tired up. Tires are made to support your vehicle and carry a certain amount of air pressure that drops by as much as 1 psi for a 10°F drop during the colder months per the Consumer Reports. It’s because cool air molecules require less space, so they contract.
Notably, tires lose air pressure in the normal course of driving, so keeping them in check preserves their useful life and prevents punctures.
Best Car Upgrades for Autumn
Focusing on the practical aspects of car maintenance does not forgo looking into the aesthetics to spruce up your car for quiet drives and off-roading during the fall.
Flair for fenders.Your well-maintained tires may keep your SUV on the road but its body is a different matter. Fender flares can keep harmful objects or debris out of your vehicle’s way while driving off-road. This protects your car’s body and keeps its value – something that you’ll appreciate when you sell it. Choose from many fender flares, whether for your Ford Ranger, Dodge Ram, or Toyota Tundra, to fit your truck’s body and style.
Sights and lights. The weather makes for frost, and this makes it harder to see and drive. Use an ice scraper or an antifrost windshield washer fluid for a nice work done on your windshield and a nicer view outside too.
Driving with low beams is a common sight with little to no daylight and fogs on autumn days. Check your lights, and replace burned-out ones. With all the tips you’ve just read, you and your car should be autumn-ready by now, right?