LexTechs – Fall Car Care Tips

“We can’t avoid the stress some of you will face at the holiday dinner table with family, but we can certainly help you get to that table with minimal stress.” 

With Fall almost upon us and cold weather on the way, it’s time to prepare for something most people probably don’t think much about – your car! Colder temperatures and possible weather changes that come along with the season do have an effect on multiple aspects of an automobile. So, we have prepared our version of the most important things to check to make sure your vehicle is ready for the season. We can’t avoid the stress some of you will face at the holiday dinner table with family, but we can certainly help you get to that table with minimal stress.

1. Check Tire Pressure – It’s always important to check this before and after that colder weather gets here. As the temperatures drop, so does the PSI in our tires. When tire pressure is too low, it can be a safety hazard, and can also cause improper tire wear, thus reducing the life span of the tire. How many people do you have to see stranded on I-285 in rush hour with tire issues to get the point?

2. Check Battery – Colder weather can be tough on a car battery, but checking to make sure your battery and charging system are up for the job can help. If you have a battery more than a few years old it might be smart to go ahead and get it replaced, as there will not be a warning for a failing battery. No one wants to be stuck in the cold with a dead car. Let’s not add that situation to the masses of people stuck on the highway for “Snowpocalypse 2020”.

3. Wiper Blades – This might not seem that important until you’ve been stuck in some bad weather with some worn out wipers. With the sun setting earlier added to increased chances of inclement weather, seeing the road can get a little tougher. Other than getting your eyes checked, a clean windshield and fresh wiper blades are the best way to keep your sight clear.

4. Check the Heater – Maybe this is an obvious one, but the most common time to find out you have no heat is when you need it. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of getting it checked out, it is recommended to at least check to make sure it works before the cold really hits. Maybe check on a nice fall morning, before the heat is really needed, just to make sure it works. Go ahead and have that one miserably hot drive to the store. I mean, we’ve been sweating since last year, it seems, with the 2019 summer that never ends. One more day won’t kill you. You’ll be happy you did when it’s 20 degrees out.

5. Coolant – Coolant, also called antifreeze, does exactly what you might think. It prevents freezing by lowering the freeze point of the water. If the coolant levels are low or the ratio of water to coolant is not where it needs to be, then unwanted freezing could occur. It is recommended to change the radiator fluid once every couple years and to make sure it’s full, especially before the colder months.

Preventative maintenance is generally cheaper than repairs, and avoiding the hassle a broken car can put us through is key. A sick car can be as bad as the repair bill itself. Our goal at LexTechs is to help you prevent these unneeded repairs and keep you on the road. This is why we also work hard to provide you with dealer quality scheduled maintenance from highly skilled certified technicians.

by LexTechs