By the way it feels outside today, summer is gone.  Fall is here and winter won’t be far behind. It’s best that we be ready for it.  Here are a few things to do to make our cars ready, and make winter driving less unpleasant.

Aside from your regular maintenance, you should do these things:

• Check your wiper blades and make sure your washer fluid is full. It’s a good idea to stock up on washer fluid if you have room to store it.  
• Make sure your heater is working correctly.  You may not have used it all summer, and better to find a problem now than when it’s 17 degrees.  
• Take a look at your battery.  If it is more than 2 or 3 years old, it’s a good idea to have it tested.  A battery that works O.K. now may not start your car when the temperature is zero.  
• If you travel any distance, you should have an emergency kit with blankets, a shovel, and some sand to throw underneath your wheels if you get stuck.
• Perhaps most important is to take a look at your tires.  I personally prefer having dedicated studded tires mounted on wheels for winter use.  They relieve a lot of the stress of winter driving, and give you some traction even under the worst glare ice condition.  Regardless of what kind of tires you have, be sure they are in good condition and are properly inflated.

Hope you have a happy and safe winter.

By Joe Polowski