Driving Into Autumn & Fall Car Care Tips

With Autumn comes a significant change in weather. Gone are the blue skies and hot temperatures. Instead, start expecting cold mornings and stormy weather.

So, what do you need to do to get your car ready for fall?

With almost guaranteed sunny weather gone, now is the time to check on the things that keep you connected with the road — your tires.

Checking your tires’ tread should be apart of your general car care checklist, but before fall it’s especially important. Same goes for your tires’ air pressure.

Just had full tires, but notice they look less inflated on the crisp fall mornings. Don’t automatically assume you have a leak. As temperatures drop, so do your tire’s psi. Stop by to top your tires off again as temperatures continue dropping into fall and winter.

If you want the best grip in wet, less than ideal road conditions tires with full tread and proper air pressure will help.

With fall comes increasing changes of darkness, earlier. You may even begin going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark depending on where you live.

Because of this change in daylight hours, checking your car lights is a crucial part of Fall car care.

One evening, take a walk around your vehicle. Check that your headlights are both working and bright. Have someone verify that your brake lights are in working order as well as your blinkers and fog lights.

The cold doesn’t just affect your tire pressure; it can affect your battery’s ability to get you going in the morning.

The lower temperatures cause delayed reactions and less current to be produced. If your battery is already wearing down, it could potentially not have enough juice to get your engine up and running.

One simple solution for finding this out before you are stranded and late for work? Stop by your local Auto Parts store where they will check your battery free of charge.

The worst time to find out your heater and defroster doesn’t work? When you need them.

Luckily for many parts of Texas, those are necessary items until the dead of winter. But, it’s better to plan ahead, checking them now before you need them and find you can’t schedule a repair until two weeks from now. And testing is as easy as cranking the heat up — so why wouldn’t you give them a try?

Summer wreaks havoc on your car’s components — especially the dry heat of Texas. One of the first things to start cracking? Your wiper blades.

Just like the heater, don’t wait until you need them only then finding out that they aren’t working. When the fall rains hit, it’s going to be hard to see (especially with the darker skies earlier thing) if you can’t get the rain off your windshield.

And for those of you North of Texas, same goes for those early season snow storms.

Getting your car ready for Autumn doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. In fact, all of our Fall car care tips are all about planning ahead, setting you up for when you find yourself depending on your car’s components this season.

Need to schedule a repair to start to this Fall off right? Contact Northwest Auto Center of Houston today and schedule an appointment.