Vermonters are experts when it comes to winter.
We know how to stay warm and dry with products made right in our home state from ‘Darn Tough Socks‘ to ‘Vermont Castings Wood Stoves‘. You’ll find sap buckets filled with rock salt waiting to be sprinkled on our pathways and shovels are lined up ready to do heavy lifting.
Vermonters are not always so proactive when it comes to their cars. Please remember that cold weather tests the limits of your car’s mechanical abilities and the consequences can be dire. It’s beneficial to heed Ben Franklin’s advice when it comes to taking care of our car in the winter; “An ounce of pr evention is worth a pound of cure.”
To keep your car going the extra mile during the harshest conditions,
add these to your TO DO list before snow graces our gulches:
- Take your car to your automotive service center and have them check the heater, defroster, antifreeze level, thermostat, brakes and battery. If your auto technician recommends a new battery, bite the bullet and get it! Batteries lose power as the temperature drops and a dead battery means you are stranded out in the cold!
- Make sure your windshield wiper fluid is full at all times. When a big truck sprays slush and mush all over your windshield, you will need the washer fluid to remove the salt that has been sprayed onto your field of vision.
- Ever find your wipers are stuck to the windshield first thing in the morning? Not fun. Don’t be yanking them away or hitting them with your snow brush. This will damage the wiper blades and they won’t work so well. To prevent this turn on the defrost and give it a minute to thaw the blades before you start scraping.
- Make sure you put snow tires on your car for the winter. A set of snow tires such as Nokian Hakkapeliitta or Cooper Weather Masters have treads that provide the traction needed to handle extreme winter driving conditions.
- One often forgotten item is tire pressure. Tire pressure drops by about one pound per ten degrees of temperature. If your tire pressure is too low your car’s handling will be jeopardized. Many newer vehicles have tire pressure monitors, which alert you to dangerous changes in tire pressure. If it comes on this could indicate a problem with the air pressure of your tire, or it could indicate a problem with the sensor.
- Very important to make sure all the lights on your cars are working. Don’t forget to check the flashing hazard lights. and the dome lights inside the car.
- The road crews have no choice but to dump a ton of ‘Road Salt’ on our roads for the next five months. Not only does the salt damage your car’s paint, but it causes the under-body of your car to rust away. If you get your car washed on a regular basis all winter long, this will go a long way in preventing the dreaded rust and keep your vehicle looking like new.
Tune in for more tips and tricks on winter driving…
