AA winter car care

Busy start to October for our AA Patrols

The mercury has begun to drop and we’ve had a few stormy days this October so it’s time to do those boring winter car care checks. Our Patrols have had a busy start to the month; they’ve attended 300 more breakdowns within the first fortnight than they did during the same period in September just gone. So it’s official we’re into “ peak breakdown season.”

There’s no doubt about it driving conditions are starting to get more chanllenging so it’s really important that your car handles well on roads that are wet, littered with dead leaves or covered in patches of ice. As we say this time every year, if your car has underlying issues there’s nothing quite like old man winter to make them rear their ugly heads.

So don’t put those winter car care checks such as replacement of your worn tyres, old battery or brake components on the long finger or you could find yourself unable to start your car on rainy winter night outside the office or supermarket. Throw in a bit of Murphy’s Law and you’ve no battery power left on your mobile. Just what you need at the end of a busy day when the stomach is rumbling and you’re longing for a hot dinner and to flop on the couche.

Worse still if you neglect brake issues you’re seriously jeoparding your safety and that of other road users. Slick roads can magnify brake system problems, so it’s important to have brakes inspected at least annually during your car service. Warning signs to watch out for are the need to apply more pressure than usual to your brake pedal, scraping, squeaking or chirping noises that come from the wheels when the brakes are applied or a car that pulls to the left or the right when braking.

We’re very pleased to see that An Garda have been doing spot checks of late looking for tyres that have worn below the legal level, 1.6mm. (We recommend you replace them at 3mm). From past research we know that about that a third of drivers rarely, if ever, check their tyres. If you’re one of them we’d implore you to change your ways – checking your thread depth and tyre pressure is simple and quick so you’ve no excuse!

Other winter car care we recommend include:

Checking of your antifreeze (the liquid in your radiator): Anti freeze plays an important role in your car’s cooling system and prevents liquids within that system from freezing to a solid state during winter. It’s important to make sure the level is full and the mixture is close to 50/50.

Replacing of your wiper blades: The average set of wipers blades should last about a year, so if you’ve had yours a while, now is a good time to have them replaced so you’re equipped to clear winters grime and dirt.

Cleaning of your windscreen and making sure your washer fluid is topped up: The glow of winter’s low sun can be pretty dazzling and dangerous to drive in when your windscreen is smeared and dirty. So make sure to give your windscreen a good clean inside and out. It’s also good to use proper washer fluid rather than just water as it won’t freeze when temperatures drop.

Checking of your lights: See and be seen, keep your indicators and headlamps clean and working.

Preparing of a winter driving kit: Now is a good time of year to put together a winter driving kit if you don’t already have one including the likes ofa deicer and scraper, small fold away shovel, demisting cloth, sand or other traction aid and so on so that you’re equipped for all winter driving conditions.