Understanding question of the Week: What’s Your Pre-Winter Car Care Routine?—WINNER’S UPDATE
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
Happy Monday! We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
Our question was: What’s your pre-winter car care routine?
We stuck our head out the window, licked a finger, and held it to the wind as we read through your answers, which certainly varied depending on your location. This week, we’re handing the prize to the comment with the most likes (the People’s Choice!), which was left by BaT member @UGW:
“Growing up in the 60s and 70s in NW Pennsylvania, my Dad would put bacon grease on the chrome bumpers of his car (Buick something or other) to stop rust.
Did it work? No, but the local wildlife sure liked it. They would come out of the forest and lick the grease off.
Dad always had the cleanest bumpers, even in the dead of winter!”
Ha! We got a kick out of this one.
“Living in San Diego, I might put on some shoes to drive instead of flip flops. Shorts year round however….”
“Check the A/C is still as good as it was summertime…man, I hate Florida.”
Similar sentiments were felt by other fellow BaT folks down South.
@overlandish wrote in with a plot twist:
I take the best winter vehicle I have, which is a 1998 LX470…
– Fantastic 3-peak rated all-terrain tires.
– Amazing full-time 4WD system with a limited-slip in the rear and a center locking differential for the really deep stuff.
– Heated seats
– Great heat with a vent that is aimed right at your… well, it’s under the steering column.
– Amber auxiliary lighting to see through the snow in a whiteout.
…and then I put it in a garage far, far away from the Wisconsin road salt, and I drive an aluminum F-150.
“I moved to Alabama – that solved that issue.
In Vermont I would buy my ‘winter beater’ and store my nice car.”
Image: Car Question YouTube
Our Winter Beater QotW from 2023 is a fun thread to peruse for more.
@sludgo says:
I recall the Oldsmobile Man taking all of our rides down to Jerry’s Automotive every October to get them “winterized.” Even though I’m not really sure what that actually meant, they usually came back with fresh fluids and a good tune-up with new plugs and points and condensers and wipers and that kind of stuff. Oh yeah, and their snow-tires. Studs on the rear only, please. Then, of course, at the house, we’d load up their trunks with a couple (three or four) sandbags each. And a snow shovel and extra ice-scraper. And a bucket of road salt. And the Sterno-stove with a box of strike-anywhere waterproof matches in a baggie. And a gallon or two of frozen water in plastic jugs and some Hershey Bars and Pop-Tarts and Roasted Peanuts – the Oldsmobile Man’s favorite.
For forever, I carried on that family tradition because, except for the time I lived in LA, I lived in areas that had major-league winters. But these days? Last year in New Sludgoville, I had to shovel my walk twice, and both times it was only an inch or two of the white stuff that would’ve been gone from the sun by noon if I wasn’t so OCD. And the temp here in the darkest months of winter rarely gets below the thirties. So I guess I’m out of the running for this week’s prize, given that I don’t really do anything anymore to winterize my ride…
;^)
“Look at my framed flat bed tow bill just to remind myself that an Acura NSX, while the best road car I’ve ever owned, can’t get out of the Snow Bird, Utah Ski Area parking lot when the snow level reaches the rims! Just one more run down the fall line can cost a lot more than a day pass!!!”
“Applying silicone to the door weatherstripping.
It’s no fun when you can’t even get into your own car to start the engine because your doors are frozen shut from driving home in the rainy/wintry mix the day before. It’s not fun changing a door handle on a final-generation Park Avenue, either. Yep. Pulled on it just a little too much one sub-freezing morning.”
And we’ll wrap it up with a detailed prep guide from @bentwheel:
Tire air, washer fluid, oil change, transmission, differential oils, lights check, but most importantly, a tote box with a bag of kitty litter, a half gallon of bleach, extra road flares and a lighter, 24″ zip ties, a 6’x8′ canvas tarp, cable chains, a couple cans of soup, spoons, a couple chocolate bars, and two 3/4 jugs of water, Gloves and a rain poncho. Milwaukee tire inflator and my go everywhere tool bag that also has safety wire and hose clamps in it.
Bleach will work just as well as chains on ice, but only lasts for 75′ or so. Zip ties can be used to tie tree boughs to your tires if you need extra traction. Flares can be used to start a fire if you get caught in the woods, and a lighter in case the flares won’t ignite. Jugs of water 3/4 full to allow for freezing. I like the Simply Orange juice containers, and they are 1.6 Qt. They are squarish and don’t roll easily.
Some of that stuff stays in the vehicle year-round. Not the chocolate bars, though.
I have been caught for 8 hours on a mountain pass before. I like to be prepared for at least 8 hrs. And never travel a pass without a full tank of fuel and someone back home that knows where you’re going.
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week. Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations once again to our winner UGW! We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
Fall is officially here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and as temperatures and tire pressures drop we’re thinking about all the things we want/need to do now before winter weather really sets in. This is what inspired our question this week:
What’s your pre-winter car care routine?
For some of us, tucking away our cars begins, and so does performing any final maintenance items such as last-minute oil changes or topping off the fluids.
Image: Hagerty
For many of us, winter doesn’t mean storing the cars, but it’s time to get out the Wollwax, winter tires, and low-temp wiper fluid in order to brave the conditions ahead.
Whatever your regimen is, we want to hear about it!
What’s your pre-winter car care routine?
Tell us all about it in the comments, and give a thumbs-up to any stories that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday—long before Jack Frost shows up.
Once all the children moved out, my mom started using a Chrysler TC by Maserati as her daily driver. For many years, it was a Thanksgiving tradition following the turkey and pie, all we adult children would head out to the garage to help Dad wrestle the fiberglass hardtop down from the rafters and into position, so Mom could stay warm through the winter. A few months later, after the Easter ham and lamb-shaped cake (if you know, you know…) were cleared, we’d once again head to the garage for the reverse procedure.
Some families just decorate a tree or watch old movies, but they probably don’t read this site, either…
Winter’s certainly about to show when the collective grunts of bringing down the TC’s hardtop are down low. Congratulations, UGW! Be sure to check your email to claim the prize.
Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread: