Five Car Tips for Fall
Fall is upon us. With snow lurking right around the corner, we thought it might be a good time to share some of our best car ownership tips for fall. Here are five easy things you can do to make your cold-weather motoring go more smoothly.
Reset Your Tire Pressure Before Your Car Yells At You
Gasses inside of tires change pressure when temperatures drop. Your tires will lose about 1 psi of pressure for every 10 F drop in temperature. What that means is that if your tires were last filled during the hot summer months, you could lose five or six psi of pressure in your tires when winter temps come to town.
A drop in tire pressure will steal money out of your wallet by decreasing your fuel efficiency, will make your vehicle handle sloppily, and can also set off the dreaded TPMS warning light on your dash, scaring you into thinking you have a puncture or tire failure.
Checking tire pressure is very simple today. Nearly all modern vehicles will display the tire pressure in your tires right on your gauge cluster or your main infotainment screen. Play with your Settings menu to find it, or pull the owner’s manual out from under your tippy coffee table to find the instructions.
You can also kick it old school and use a tire pressure gauge. Don't have one? Try Amazon or any place where automotive products are sold. The proper pressure setting for each tire is posted on your vehicle’s driver’s side door jam. If you need air, pick up a 12-volt portable pump from Amazon. All the air pumps at service stations have gone the way of phone booths, it seems. Finding a working one when you need it is a hassle. A decent portable pump costs under $30 and is a great thing to have in your trunk.
Rethink Your Winter Tire Plan
Is it going to be another El Niño, or La Niña, or perhaps just a crazy winter? Whatever the meteorological term, last year was pretty mild in the East, so we are expecting to pay the price. Deep snow late winter in the West caught a lot of motorists by surprise after the prolonged drought.
Winter tires are best for those motorists who absolutely must head out regardless of whether there is three feet of fresh snow or an inch-thick layer of ice. If you are a first responder, essential worker, or just want to thumb your nose at Mother Nature, a dedicated set of winter tires is right for you.
Now, on the other hand, if you jump for joy when the Governor declares a state of emergency and pull on your fuzzy jammies for the day, skip the dedicated winter tires. You can buy better-than-average all-weather tires like the Michelin CrossClimate2 or Falken WildPeak A/T Trail instead. They have the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol, denoting that they have been tested and approved for severe snow duty. Best of all, you can live with these tires all year long.
Change Your Yucky Cabin Air Filter
There is no easier-to-do vehicle maintenance task than changing a cabin air filter. Fall is the perfect time to replace the filter because you have a year’s worth of bugs, leaves, pollen, and dirt built up, blocking the free flow of air through your vents.
In nearly every modern vehicle, the cabin air filter is located behind your glove box. Before you start pulling out all those Whopper wrappers you hid in there from your spouse, go to Amazon.com and buy a replacement. They are less than $20 for most vehicles. Amazon has a great way of checking that the filter is a match for your exact car, too.
The steps for replacing the filter are easy. First, you open the glove box door, and with it down, look for a little damper connected to the side of it. That pops off, and the glove box, when squeezed, will drop further down. We hope you emptied it before you started! Next, look inside for the filter. Sometimes, it is in a plastic frame, and sometimes, the frame is part of the filter itself. Pull out the old one and input the new one. Now, tear off a corner of the box it came in, jot the date on it, and put that in the folder in which you keep all your vehicle service receipts. That way, you’ll know when you replaced it last.
Many stealerships will charge you up to $90 to change a cabin air filter. You can do it yourself for less than $20 and just three minutes of your time. Check out YouTube for videos on how to do it. Best of all, if you have any trouble, your car will still run just fine.
A very common Car Talk Community topic is “Water on my footwell carpets.” This is often caused by a backed-up sunroof drain. Your sunroof is not actually waterproof. The water can get past the rubber gasket. It then collects in a channel under the glass, and it drains down the A and B pillars to the outside of the car. Leaves and other stuff can sometimes block the drain, which is carefully designed by engineers to direct that water directly onto your carpet. If you open the sunroof and look, you will see the channel. Just make sure it’s not full of stuff that shouldn't be there. If it’s awful, ask your mechanic to clean it up at your next service visit.
Check Your Roadside Assistance Plan
Winter means slippery side streets, pot-holes, and busted-up pavement. All of these increase the risk of tire damage. Although your battery is wounded during summer, it usually dies during winter. For these reasons and many more, we suggest that every motorist have a roadside assistance plan. AAA is the best in the business. In addition to being affordable and universal, AAA also covers you no matter what vehicle you happen to be in. It’s not linked to your particular car like many plans offered by your car warranty or your insurance policy.
AAA has become an app. The big upside of this is that when you call for help, you can actually watch your savior drive towards you, just like you can watch an Uber headed in your direction.
While not really a tip, fall is a great time to have your car in for routine service. A fresh coat of wax is also worth the investment in time or money. And, finally, the next time you are at the store, buy three jugs of washer fluid. It always seems to be out of stock when you need it most.
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