How to Prep Your Honda for a Washington Winter

As anyone who lives along the north end of the United States can tell you, winter is a phenomenon that’s hard to explain to someone who thinks “January” just means “too cold to swim.” They don’t know what it’s like to watch the temperature drop far enough to freeze a lake so hard you can drive a truck on it or fall to the point that the hairs in your nose freeze every time you breathe in. Washington State may be infamous for its rain, but we still have to prepare our vehicles for times when it snows instead.

Install Snow Tires

These are tires with extra gripping surface to keep your Honda stable and on the road. The best time to switch over is just before you expect any snow or freezing rain to start falling. If you don’t have snow tires, you should at least make sure the treads on your current tires aren’t wearing too thin. You should also keep track of your tire air pressure, which can vary based on the outside air pressure.

Check Your Brakes

Tires with better grip won’t mean much if you can’t stop in time. Virtually every new vehicle for the past several years has come with anti-lock brakes that prevent your tires from slipping, but at the same time, every braking systems does eventually wear out. When you go in for fall maintenance, make sure you have a professional look at your brakes, just in case.

Check and Replace Your Fluids

You should clean and flush your antifreeze at least once every two years, and just before winter is probably the best time to do it. At the same time, you should make sure your oil is winter-ready when you get it changed every 3 months, and your wiper fluid should be winter-rated so that you can use it even after the temperature drops below freezing.

Check Your Battery

Batteries are particularly bad at holding a charge when it’s cold out, which means that unless your vehicle has a heated battery tray, you’ll need to make sure your battery is in good working order. Making too many short trips in a row can wear it out, especially in winter. Failing that, you should at least make sure you have a good set of jumper cables for when you inevitably need them.

Wash and Wax Your Car

Road salt not only melts snow, but also corrodes paint and eventually the metal beneath. Washing and waxing your car as late in the year as you can will help keep the salt away. Then be sure you head back to the car wash as soon as the weather turns nice again in spring.

Just as you should winterize your home and pull out your winter clothes when November turns cold, your car needs some attention before the snow starts to fall. There are a lot of things that can go wrong without proper maintenance even in the best of times, and Old Man Winter is not someone you want to catch you with your pants down.