Snow and Ice: How to Protect and Winterize Your Car
While almost everyone loves driving a car on a warm summer day, cars really prove their worth when the mercury in the thermometer goes south for the winter. That's when you realize the full worth of having a reliable car with a good heater. Heated seats don't hurt, either.
However, winter is hard on cars. Below-freezing weather beats up your car's battery, road salt eats away at a car's undercarriage, and car tires will constantly be put to the test on icy roads.
While there's no way to avoid the abuse that cold winters will dish out—except maybe move to Miami—a car owner can take steps to prepare their car against the worst elements of winter. Even better, you can provide some of these items to your customers as car wash supplies and generate even more sales in the fall and winter months.
Keep Your Fluids Topped Up
One of the best ways to keep cars running smoothly in freezing cold weather is to make sure all the fluids are topped up. An oil change in the fall is almost always a good idea, but so is making sure your car's antifreeze doesn't need to be changed and that you have enough brake fluid. You'll even want to make sure your windshield wiper fluid is full, preferably with some formula meant for clearing ice off the windshield.
You can capitalize on this by having lots of windshield wiper fluid at the ready since people go through it at an amazing rate in the dead of winter. You can also make sure you have a water-removing gas additive available, just in case.
Check Your Wiper Blades
One of the most elementary rules of driving safely in the winter is that you need to be able to see the road in front of you. This means making sure your windshield wipers are able to do their job. Otherwise, the combination of bad vision and reduced control over your car could lead to an accident.
If your local oil change service doesn't check your windshield wiper blades, you can do a quick spot check by spraying some windshield wiper fluid onto your windshield and seeing how the wiper blades perform. You should also listen to your wipers—if you hear the wiper blades scraping across your windshield, replace them immediately.
Since most people will be testing their car's windshield wipers at a car wash, you can take advantage of this by offering a selection of windshield wipers for your customers.
Check Your Tires
After you've gotten your fluids checked, get your tires checked as well. Make sure they're properly inflated, especially since your car's tire air pressure drops 1 psi for every 10-degree drop in temperature.If you live in a place known for rough winters, you might also want to consider buying a set of snow tires. Unlike all-season tires, they're made of softer rubber so they remain flexible in severe cold. They also feature special tread patterns designed to get a better grip on snow and ice.
You can offer several wheel and tire cleaners for your customers at a car wash that will help keep their tires in prime condition during the winter. Consider stocking up on wheel coating and tire gel for your customers, as well as good old-fashioned tire pressure gauges.
Charge Your Battery
You probably already know that cold weather is rough on a car battery, but you might not know this is because the chemical reactions that generate power in a car battery slow down when the temperature gets very cold. At five degrees Fahrenheit, for instance, your standard car battery has only half of its rated amp-hour capacity. Combine that with the act that your engine needs more power to get started during cold weather, and you have a recipe for a car that won't start in the morning.
You can guard against this possibility by having your mechanic test your battery to see if you need to replace it. Even if the battery doesn't need to be replaced, your mechanic will make sure your battery connections are corrosion-free. You should also have your mechanic make sure your car's battery is filled with distilled water in order to make sure it's performing at full capacity.
Get Regular Car Washes
Nothing eats at a car like road salt. If you want to make sure that road salt won't turn your car into Swiss cheese, the best solution is to get your car washed often—maybe even twice a week. For best results, get a car wash that also sprays the undercarriage.
Getting a car wash can also help to remove snow and ice from the wheels and the wheel wells, helping to make sure the car's handling doesn't suffer and keeping the tires safe from wear and tear.
Needless to say, this is a car wash owner's dream come true. You really don't need to do anything other than perhaps make people aware that they really should wash their cars more often during winter. However, you might want to help educate people about any fears they might have about potential problems that come with washing their cars in winter—namely, making sure the water doesn't freeze and lock people out of their trunks, gas caps, or hoods.
Fortunately, there's a simple solution for car owners. All they have to do is lubricate their gas caps, trunks, and hoods with WD-40 so the water can't penetrate. An enterprising car owner might also take the opportunity to stock some cans of WD-40 so their customers can use it before they send their car through the car wash.
It's also worth pointing out that in the better automatic car washes this isn't a problem, thanks to the air blowers at the end of an automatic car wash that make sure a car is pretty dry before it leaves. Car wash owners may also want to let their customers know that the more they spend, the more thorough a wash they'll get, which means there's a better chance for salt and dirt to get flushed from hard-to-reach areas like under the bumpers, in the wheel wells, and in the rocker panels.
Always Carry an Ice Scraper and Snow Brush
One of the most elementary ways to prepare your car for winter is to always carry an ice scraper and snow brush in your car. If you don't, you may get an unpleasant surprise when you come out to your car and discover a sudden snowstorm has just covered your car's windows. If you've never had the experience of wiping snow off windows with your hands, soaking your gloves in the process, you only have to do it once before you promise you will never be caught without an ice scraper or snow brush ever again.
The problem with snow brushes and ice scrapers, though, is that they eventually wear out or break—usually when they're most needed. You can stock up on snow brushes and ice scrapers to provide much-needed assistance to motorists who come by your car wash and realize they could really use either item, but many of your customers will also be in a snow-brush-and-ice-scraper-buying mood just before and just after winter, too.
Pack an Emergency Kit
When your car won't start in spring, summer, or fall, it's an inconvenience. When your car won't start in -20 degrees below Fahrenheit, it could be a matter of life or death.
Make sure you have an emergency kit in your car. Among the items you should keep in it are:- Jumper cables
- Flashlight
- Roadside flares
- First aid kit
- Tow strap
- Portable air compressor
- LifeHammer
- MREs
- Warm blankets
- Folding shovel
- Candles
- Matches
Get the Winterizing Supplies Your Customers Need at Superior Car Wash Supply
If you want to stock your car wash with products that will help your customers winterize their cars, start by visiting Superior Car Wash Supply.
Superior Car Wash Supply also carries several other popular car wash cleaning supplies. Stock your car wash with protective seat covers and steering wheel covers or browse the car floor mats in the Interior Access section. No matter what accessory you need for your car wash, it's a good bet that Superior Car Wash Supply will carry it.
Call Superior Car Wash today at 800-554-9274 to talk with one of their experts about which winterizing supplies would be best for your business.