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How to Get Your Vehicle Ready for Winter

A technician changing the tiresDriving in winter is challenging and often harmful to your vehicle due to slippery road conditions, winter salt accumulation and slushy surfaces. While you must prepare ahead to deal with extreme winter surfaces, it’s significant to understand whether your vehicle is currently up for the challenge, and, if not, how to get it there. Winter can freeze your car’s doors and windows, affect engine functionality and off-road performance. Follow the below tips, curated by the expert technicians at the Budds’ Chevrolet Buick GMC service department, to get your vehicle ready for the upcoming winter. 

READ MORE: When is the Best Time to Put on Winter Tires in Ontario?

Top Tips to Prepare Your Car for Winter 

Winter is a challenging time for all Canadian drivers, so we’ve come up with a few tips for you to keep in mind to stay ahead of the difficult times.

Schedule Pre-Season Maintenance

Routine car maintenance before the winter season is a necessity, which can feature anything including checking the battery, engine and components, electrical components and other performance attributes to ensure they’re ready for the winter season.

A technician performing routine car maintenance tasks

Switching to Winter Tires 

You can’t step into winter without changing your summer or all-season tires with reliable and high-performing snow tires. Though many believe that all-season tires offer the necessary traction and stability to tackle slippery winter roads, it’s not the case when you live in Ontario, which experiences heavy snowfall throughout the winter. 

Clean and Protect Your Battery Terminals 

In winter, the battery terminals become susceptible to corrosion due to heavy moisture buildup.

Though it’s part of routine car maintenance, make sure you take good care of the battery terminals by cleaning and protecting them with battery cleaning tools,  a wire brush and battery terminal protectants. 

Lube Your Door Locks, Latches and Windows

Take some time to lubricate your car’s doors, window seals, latches and windshield wipers, because when the temperature starts to get below the freezing range, the chances of all these components getting frozen become higher. Opt for a silicone-based lubricant compound that works best on rubber and mechanical components. 

Stay Ready with a Winter Survival Kit 

Predicting what may come your way while driving across unsafe or challenging winter terrains is not always possible. But what’s possible is to prepare a winter survival kit with all the important tools and accessories you may need, such as battery jump cables, tire chains, windshield scraper, a wheel wrench, windshield washer fluid and more, which all may help until assistance comes your way. 

Book a service appointment at Budds’ Chevrolet Buick GMC, or visit our service department to learn more ways to prepare your vehicle before the upcoming winter season.