Cold weather presents some of the most challenging driving conditions. Read on for our winter car maintenance checklist
Cold weather, damp, snow, ice and rain. They all make driving tricky, and can quickly expose mechanical faults. That's why it's essential you carry out some pre-winter checks to ensure your car remains fault-free throughout the winter.
Below you’ll find some quick checks that you can make yourself, along with some recommended purchases to help your car make short work of the winter weather.
Winter car maintenance checklist
The good news is that winter car checks aren’t too different from checks you should make at any other time of the year, but there are some you should pay extra attention to.
Check your car battery
Cold and damp weather is a battery killer. There’s little worse than the mechanical groan when you turn the key caused by a dying car battery. If your battery is struggling to start your car, the chances are it's on its way out.
You can test the battery yourself if you have the correct equipment, but it’s far easier to ask a specialist. Assuming you can start the car, you can drive to your local main dealer or car spares shop to buy a new one. Most car battery stockists will even fit it for you.
Car battery prices vary, and can cost from around £120 fitted, although models fitted with stop-start systems can cost more than £180, depending on the size, type and the electrical current produced. There are dozens of combinations, so make sure you get the correct one.
If you can’t start your car, you can use a set of jump leads, or remove the battery and charge it indoors. This can be complex, not least because car batteries are heavy. You should always refer to the owner’s manual.
Check antifreeze
Antifreeze, as its name suggests, stops the water in the engine’s cooling system from freezing. To test the effectiveness of your antifreeze, you’ll need an antifreeze tester, which cost about £5. To use it, unscrew the coolant reservoir cap under the bonnet, after checking the engine is cold.
Lower the tube into the coolant and squeeze the rubber bulb on the end to suck some antifreeze inside the tester. You can then read the freezing point of the antifreeze using the scale inside the tester. Replace the antifreeze in the car’s system and replace the cap.
Check screen wash
Wintery weather is frequently wet, meaning you’ll spend lots of time using your windscreen wipers. There’s a high risk of them smearing grime across the windscreen if your screen wash bottle is empty.
To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, open the windscreen washer bottle under the bonnet, and fill it with screen wash. You can buy ready mixed or concentrated screen wash, which you’ll need to mix with water.
Screen wash has a lower freezing temperature than water alone, meaning you shouldn’t end up with frozen washer jets.
Professional winter car checks
If you’ve not got the time to prepare your car for winter, then you can ask an expert to do it for you. Many main dealers and high street car spares shops can do this, and shouldn’t cost more than a few pounds. Some even offer free winter car checks.
Winter tyres
If you drive frequently in winter, then consider buying a set of winter tyres. They offer exceptional grip when the temperature drops below seven degrees, and in snow and ice. They’re not cheap, but well worth the investment for the additional safety they bring.
Winter car equipment
Carrying an emergency kit with you at all times through the winter might seem a bit extreme – but if you ever find yourself stranded you’ll be glad of it. We recommend:
- • A mobile phone and charger
- • A hazard warning triangle
- • Hi-visibility vest
- • A first aid kit
- • De-icer and a scraper
- • A shovel
- • A tow rope
- • Wellington boots
- • A torch
- • Warm clothes
- • Food and drink
And a decent set of car mats will not only protect your car’s carpets from wet or muddy feet, but can be wedged under the driven wheels to get you moving should you get really stuck in the snow.
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