14 Winter Car Maintenance Tips for Kansas City’s Cold Season

Drats, we’re already well into fall and staring directly at a coming winter filled
with those lovely cold Kansas City mornings (and days, and nights,) sleet, snow, frosted over glass, icy roads,
and road salt.

Accidents are going to happen (even if they’re caused by someone else who isn’t quite
as good a driver as you are) and, while the McCarthy Collision Centers teams are here to help repair any issues
you encounter we also want to help prepare your vehicle to thrive in the cold days and nights to come.

We sat down around an open fire, realized we sadly lacked any chestnuts for roasting, and came
up with 8 tips to help prepare your car for winter.

Car Maintenance Tips Before Winter

Staying on top of your vehicle’s mechanical status is a terrific way to avoid getting stranded
or just being frustrated this winter.

1. A great tip for staying safe (and pointed in the right direction) this winter is to
   align your wheels. This is necessary to maximize the life of your tires and give your car or truck the best
   handling in the many wintry conditions coming our way. The McCarthy team is professionally qualified to align
   your vehicle – you won’t MALIGN the work we do, we guarantee!
2. Fix the crack (or is that cracks?) in your windshield. Foggy or frosted-over
   windshields are hard enough to see through without a spiderweb of cracks making things even worse. Don’t be
   like your friendly local blogger, and make sure to repair windshield damage on a timely basis. (Cold weather
   can worsen the cracks, unfortunately!) It’s a great enhancement to the safety (and looks) of your car this
   winter, and we can help with that.
3. Ensure your suspension is in prime operating conditions, as a failure could leave
   you stranded when it’s -5° and the forecast calls for a bomb cyclone to drop 8-10″ of snow on your
   neighborhood in Lee’s Summit. Our team can identify what’s making your ride squeak going over speed bumps and
   repair whatever vehicular ailment you have.
4. Consider whether it’s time to replace your tires and be ready to spend that cash.
   Bald tires, or even those running with minimal remaining tread, can dampen your day and potentially affect
   strangers on the roadways around Blue Springs. A set of new all-season tires might be the ticket to getting
   through this upcoming winter, or you may choose to swap on a set of winter tires to maximize your safety. We
   can help either way and will do our best to find the right extra set of wheels to go with those snow tires.
5. Invest in new windshield wiper blades, as it’s better to replace them now than to
   realize you need them on a rainy or snowy day in January. If they leave streaks of water behind or make
   horrific noises when you spray your windshield and run them, it’s almost certainly time for a new set.
   Swapping them should be easy, but the entire McCarthy Auto Group will be happy to pop a set on if you’d like.
6. Check your battery, because you’re not going anywhere if it won’t provide the cold
   cranking amps required to get your engine running. Batteries tend to fail in the hottest and coldest months of
   the year, and your boss isn’t going to love hearing you can’t make it in again because the car won’t start.
   They’ll forgive you, sure, but why risk upsetting them when a new battery could go a long way as a
   preventative measure? A battery replacement isn’t necessarily the specialty of our Collision Center teams, but
   there’s a McCarthy dealership near you that will be happy to swap that 12V battery out and fully prep you for
   Winter.
7. Have one of our McCarthy dealerships check the important fluid levels in your vehicle and top of those that
   are a bit low. There’s the obvious windshield wiper fluid – make sure you get the type that isn’t supposed to
   freeze, as running out of this can mess up your errand running. You might also find you need a little engine
   oil, brake fluid, coolant, or maybe even transmission fluid. We really suggest just getting the car looked
   over by a professional mechanic. “An ounce of prevent is worth a pound of cure” after all!

That’s 7 winter vehicle preparedness tips already? Wow, our Collision Center team has got it
going on!

Winter Car Cleaning Tips

We’re big on keeping our vehicles clean as a general rule, but there are definite advantages
to paying attention to the state of your vehicle as we near New Year’s Eve.

1. Keep the outside of your truck clean this winter. Yes, it’s unfortunately quite
   likely to rain, sleet, or snow within a day (or hours) of you pulling out of your favorite car wash in
   Overland Park but keeping the outside clean can go a long way in helping prevent rust from grabbing hold or
   your pride and joy. If your car looks good you might just feel good along with it. Plus, those reindeer
   antlers you slap on around Christmas aren’t going to look good on a filthy minivan – The color of Rudloph’s
   fur isn’t that nasty mix of snow and grime, right?
2. Clean the inside of your car as well. You’re probably going to be running around
   like many other busy Kansas Citians during the next few months, and we bet there will be at least a few
   fast-food wrappers that end up under your seat. (That volume of food trash will be much worse if you’ve got
   the kids or your carpool friends riding along!) Those things are going to start to smell, and that odor won’t
   be of sugar cookies, roasted turkey, or pine trees. There’s always the small chance that you get stuck in an
   hours-long traffic jam on highway 70, and do you really want to sit in a car with hints of fry oil or white
   castle onions? Your nose isn’t a button like a certain snowman, but it will thank you for a clean interior,
   nonetheless. We’ve got some great ideas for interior car detailers around Overland Park, so let us know if you
   need contact info.
3. This is a quick and easy tip – invest in a set of all-weather floormats to help keep moisture and dirt off
   your carpets so you stay as clean as possible. Also make sure you properly attach the driver’s floor mat to
   keep it from sliding up under your pedals – that can be a major safety issue.

3 Pieces of Essential Winter Driving Gear

We’ve got a few more tips for winter driving enjoyment for our friends around, as it’s not all
about maintenance and cleanliness. Sometimes you need to throw an item or three in your trunk.

1. Have some winter gear in a duffel bag. You can throw a warm base layer, a water of
   snow pants, some water proof boots, thick socks, warm hat, gloves, and maybe some of those hot hands in a bag
   to maximize your prep. Chances are low you need to use them, but have you ever walked a couple miles in a
   blizzard with wet tennis shoes and no jacket?
2. Consider adding a battery powered jump starter to your trunk. These come in all
   shapes and sizes, but they can be a trip saver if your battery can’t quite get the job done without some help.
   The lithium-ion battery versions are small and light and won’t take up much space in your glovebox or trunk.
3. Pick up a tire inflator. Driving around looking for a free air pump at a gas station is frustrating – that
   gets dialed up when its 4° outside and you’re supposed to be home with the pumpkin pie filling. There are
   versions that connect directly to your battery, those that plug in through your cigarette lighter, and battery
   powered options as well.

Toss in a roadside emergency kit. The main goal of something like this is to increase
visibility of you and your vehicle in the unfortunate event of an accident. You’ll want yellow vests, high
visibility triangles, and road flares for the complete kit.

Finding An Auto Body Repair Shop Near You

The advice above will go a long way toward keeping you safe on the roads around Kansas
City and Sedalia as the wintry weather comes, but the McCarthy Collison Centers teams are here to help if your
winter wonderland adventures turn toward the South Pole at some point.

We offer auto body and mechanic services at our four convenient body shop locations
around Kansas City: we’ve got Kansas teams in Olathe and Overland Park as well as Missouri repair services
located in Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit.

We’ve been helping drivers in our communities since 1999 and you can reach out teams at these
phone numbers:

• BLUE SPRINGS, MO | (816) 224-7575
• LEE’S SUMMIT, MO | (816) 313-4531
• OLATHE, KS | (913) 324-7300
• OVERLAND PARK, KS | (913) 649-2999

We’ll be happy to point you toward a good car wash, a friendly technician to complete your oil
change, an incredible alloy wheel repair artist, or just a mechanic you can bounce automotive repair questions
off.