Moving To A Colder Climate? How To Get Your Car Ready For The Change

16 May 2017
 Categories: , Blog


If you're in the process of moving, and you're taking your warm-weather car to a cold-weather region, it might be up to the challenge. This is particularly true if your car is going to be subjected to winter snow and ice. If your car has spent all its time in a sunny location, it's going to require some additional preparation if it's going to survive its first winter. Here are four steps you should take to get your warm-weather car ready for its first freezing winter.

Get an Oil Change

When it comes to moving from warm weather to cold weather, the oil change is the most important step you can take. If your car has spent all its winters in warm weather, it probably has a higher viscosity, meaning it's thicker. Thicker oil is safer for your car if it's driven in warmer temperatures. However, now that your car is going to be operating under freezing conditions, it's going to need a lower viscosity oil, meaning it will need to be thinner. The thinner oil will allow it to flow through your engine easier.

Switch the Tires

Those warm weather tires aren't going to do you any good in a snow or ice storm. In fact, you might find yourself slipping and sliding all over the road if you try to keep your original tires in your car. Now that you'll be driving your car in snow and ice, you'll need to change to snow tires – or install snow chains each time the roads get treacherous.

Apply Undercoating

You might not have ever given undercarriage damage a second thought while you were living in a sunny climate. However, now that you'll be living in a colder climate, you should start thinking about it. The rock salt that's used on the roadways, to melt snow and ice, can wreak havoc on the undercarriage of your car. Before you move, you should have a protective vehicle undercoating applied to your car. This will protect the undercarriage and prevent rust.

Replace the Battery

It's going to take a lot more power to start your car on those cold winter mornings, now that you'll be dealing with snow. The battery you have now might not be prepared for the additional work. To make sure you're not left out in the cold, replace your battery with one that's created for cold-weather use.

If you're going to be moving to a colder climate, the tips provided here will get your car ready for the changes it's about to face this winter. 


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