With the oncoming Winter season in front of us, it’s a good idea to take a few precautions to make sure your car can handle the harsh temperatures and (possibly) even the snow and ice. Be sure to check out post number 1 and 2 for more tips!

Check your tires and tire pressure

If it’s time to get a new set of tires, just before the cold sets in is the best time to do it. Your tire’s tread is needed to keep control of your car if you hit a patch of ice. The more tread your tires have, the better traction you have during a snowstorm or ice-storm. You may even consider switching out to a set of studded snow tires, if your Winters are super harsh.

If your tires have a good amount of tread on them, then you must ensure that your tires have the proper amount of tire pressure. If they are under-inflated, then the tread on your tires shore up and don’t make contact with the road, increasing your chances of skidding if you hit an ice patch. Check your owner’s manual for the proper tire pressure.

Get a tune-up

The belts and hoses under the hood are important to keep it running at its best. The problem with harsh winters is that it takes its toll on those belts and hoses. If you spring a leak or have a frayed belt, it will only worsen in the Winter. Harsh temperatures and the necessity of running your engine tougher than usual could very easily mean a busted belt or an engine that can’t hold it’s liquids. Both of which are very bad and, potentially, very costly. Your engine depends on anti-freeze and other liquids to keep everything working properly (brakes, transmission, etc..). If your hoses are leaky, then you’re running the risk of having a major problem on your hands. It’s best to get all of your belts, hoses, and liquids checked before winter so you know your car will be up to speed and ready to go during those chilly days.

Winterizing your car is a must for any of you who live in areas where you experience debilitating snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures. Be sure to check out the first installment of my series of winterizing your car to keep it running smoothly and lessening your chances of getting stranded.

Change your oil

During Winter, the lower temperatures make the oil in your engines tougher to flow and lubricate the moving parts that you don’t want to seize. To prevent that from happening, you should consider using a motor oil that is thinner than what you usually use. The key to figuring out what you should look for, pay attention to the first number on the bottle (10-30, 20W-50). The lower the number, the thinner the oil, and the easier it is to flow through your engine. If you are lucky enough to have an oil with the “W” indicator after the first number, then your oil is fine for Winter use and there is no need to switch to a different viscosity.

Double Check Your 4 Wheel Drive

I can’t tell you the number of times I wish I had a 4 wheel drive vehicle during the Winter. They can go just about anywhere and since they use all 4 wheels to grip the road, you can easily get out of a patch of ice. You should always avoid getting out on the road when it’s icy anyways, but when the time comes to strike out on the ice and snow, you’ll be glad your 4WD is working properly. With any 4WD vehicle, it’s a good idea to shift into 4WD about once a month to make sure there are no clogged lines and everything is running properly. Trust me, once you spin your wheels a couple of times, you’ll be glad you’ve got the ability to switch into 4WD and get home safely.

Stay tuned for more tips on winterizing your car!

With the temperature dropping at a rapid pace, that can only mean one thing: Winter is on its way! The snow, the chilly weather, and the hot chocolate are all things that we look forward to here at Freeman Grapevine. On the flip-side, we also see plenty of car owners in our shop who neglect to take care of their vehicles during the cold weather. With that being said, I have a few tips to pass along to help you avoid getting stranded, keeping your car running and saving you money.

Keep an emergency weather kit in your car

You never know when the snow and ice will take its toll and accumulate on the roads, leaving you stranded for a few hours until the salt trucks can help you get back on the road. Nonetheless, you need to keep an emergency weather kit with you at all times, just in case you have an accident and/or get stranded. A good kit has most or all of the following products:

• Flashlight
• First Aid Kit
• Jumper Cables
• Reflective Triangle
• Shovel for snow removal
• Salt for traction on ice and snow
• Travel Blanket
• Ice Scraper
• Tow Strap

Check with Amazon and see what kind of deals they have on a kit that includes all of most of these items.

Change your windshield wipers and check your wiper fluid

While you should never use your windshield wipers to remove ice, a new set of wipers and proper ice melting wiper fluid are critical for keeping ice from accumulating on your windshield while you are driving. We’ve all done it, we sit in our cars while it’s warming up and turn the wipers on hoping it will take a chunk of ice off of the glass, but instead, it just damages your wipers and limits their effectiveness. A good ice melting wiper fluid will aid in the process and help remove any build-up of ice and snow will help keep your windshield free and clear, eliminating any visibility issues. After all, driving in snow is a task in itself, having ice and snow in your line of sight certainly doesn’t help.

Keep your eyes peeled for a few more posts on winterizing your vehicle.

Cloth or Leather? Cloth or Leather? Which is better? What can I afford? These are just a few of the many questions you will ask yourself when deciding on whether you want Cloth or Leather in your new car or truck. No doubt you will discuss this for a while before making a decision.

First thing to think about when deciding is your kids. If you have kids and you let them snack or drink in the car, be prepared for messes. When you have cloth interior in your vehicle it’s difficult to keep it clean with kids in tow. It is cheaper than leather but always think about the kids. Yes, we live in Texas and yes summers can be scorching. Cloth will not bond to your skin when your wearing shorts during those hot summer days or freeze your legs and bum during those chilly Texas months. Are you a smoker? Cloth soaks in odors. Anything and everything you put in your car can be soaked into your cloth. Think about picking kids up from football practice all sweaty and stinky or your dog getting sick in the back seat. That could be quite a mess to clean up. Cloth is more likely to fade and you better watch that cigarette that could burn holes in the cloth that may not present any damage on leather. Cloth is also susceptible to rips and tears over time.

Leather is a must in luxury vehicles and a common standard in most other vehicles. Leather does not hold smells, it’s easy to clean, it has a lovely scent, it doesn’t stain or burn like cloth. However, leather does take a little work to keep looking fresh. You should consider using cleaning lotions regularly on the leather as it will help preserve the leather and keep it looking healthy. Sometimes dirt, grease, and oils from your skin can transfer to the leather making it look dirty. If you regularly clean and use cleaning lotions on your leather you can reduce the dirty look. It’s also very important to have your windows tinted to protect them from those pesky rays from the sun that can dry out and possibly even crack your leather.

Of course ultimately your decision will depend on your lifestyle. If you’re hardly in your car and don’t travel much you may prefer cloth. If you have a few kids and a crazy dog that sheds you may prefer leather cause it’s easier to clean. The decision is yours, but if you still can’t decide, swing by my place, Fort Worth and take a spin and see which one suits you better.

For anyone who’s had a car for over a few years, you dread the day that your dashboard begins to crack and exposes the foam underneath. Once that starts, it all downhill. Your dashboard and seats will keep cracking and getting worse as time goes on. Here in Texas, our harsh Summers make it even, the high temperatures and Sun’s rays do a number on those dashboards and leather seats. Here are a few things you can do to extend the life of your dash.

1. Use a protectant

You can pick them up at just about any auto store or general retail store. Armor All is probably the most popular one on the market. They do a great job of keeping your interior protected from the Sun’s harmful rays. But you can’t just do it once, you have to be vigilant and apply it often. For leather seats, get a leather conditioner and apply it as often as you can, no one likes the feeling of torn and cracked leather.

2. Buy a dashboard cover

I used to have one in my old truck and it looked a little funky, but it kept my dashboard from cracking! You can get these made specifically for your car so it fits in all the right places and doesn’t cover your window vents.

3. Use a Sun shade

Using a reflective Sun shade not only keeps the UV rays off of your car’s interior, it also keeps your car a few degrees cooler. If you park your car out in the sun while you’re at work, you should definitely invest in one. Parking your car in the Sun for many hours per day will only shorten the life of that dash.

4. Get your windows tinted

If you are still driving around without tinted windows, you’re asking for it! The film that auto detailers use for tinting windows will protect your interior from those harmful UV rays, too!

What do you do to protect your car’s interior from cracking?

I went out to my car, just the other day, to go home after work and my car wouldn’t start. Naturally I suspected it was the battery. So I yanked it out of the car and took it over to the service department and told them what was going on. They tested the battery and told me that the battery is fully charged and not the culprit. So I thought to myself, “What could be causing my car to not start if it isn’t the battery?” Alternator is good, starter is good. Then, my guy looks at the battery posts and asks me if I noticed any corrosion on the terminals when I took the battery out. There was my “a-ha” moment. My battery terminals and connectors were so corroded that they couldn’t get a proper connection to start the car!

If you have ever had this happen to you, you know that it’s frustrating finding out that your car won’t start because of corrosion. After you’ve determined that’s the problem, here’s run down of what you need to do to get your car back in running order

1. Disconnect the terminals

Using a wrench, loosen the bolts that secure the wires to the terminals to the posts on your battery.

2. Clean off the terminals

Using a wire brush (most auto stores even carry a wire brush that specifically designed for this) and scrub all the gunky white powdery stuff off of the terminals and inside the round connectors that attach to the battery. Don’t strike or hit the battery with anything to try to get the build-up to break off, you run the risk of causing a spark.

3. Apply petroleum jelly or grease to the terminals.

This will slow down the corrosion process and hopefully you’ll never have to do this again!

4. Reattach the connectors to the terminals.

Using the wrench you used to remove them, tighten the bolts to make sure your  connectors are tight and have a good connection with the terminal.

5. Start your car up!

Have you ever had to deal with corrosion on your car’s battery?