Winter weather car maintenance: What you need to know

The winter weather can be hard on vehicles. 

It’s always a good idea to get your car checked out before going on any out of town trips for the holidays.

Jeff Williams is the service manager at Honda of Lincoln.

He says the changing of the season never fails to bring in a large crowd.

“We usually see a big fluctuation, or a lot of customers coming in right when the weather gets cold.”

The cold weather is hard on car tires and batteries, especially if the vehicle sits outside overnight.

For every 8 degrees the temperature drops, you lose a pound of air pressure in your tires.

“What you want to be really conscious of is you want to make sure that the battery and the tires are in great shape. We always tell our customers; batteries, tires and brakes, and then you should be ready to head into winter,” said Williams.

A longtime theory of winter driving is the potential impact of salt and brine on your car and the increase chances of rusting.

Jeff says there is a simple solution to make sure your car won’t be affected.

“Make sure you wash it when you can, as far as the brine goes. I don’t believe that would be an issue with rust on the car,” said Williams.

It’s important year round to make sure wiper fluids are full and the oil is changed at regular intervals.

The winter difference, is an added emphasis to a few areas of your vehicle.

“Just maintain the vehicle pretty much like you would during the spring, summer and fall months, but with more emphasis on making sure that you have the proper tread depth on the tires, your brakes are in good working order, your wipers are okay and your batteries is good, then your car should be fine,” said Williams.

For those who are interested, Honda of Lincoln offers complimentary vehicle inspections to make sure your ride is running smoothly this winter season.