While it is true that regular maintenance and car wash will help prolong the condition of your vehicle, there are other things you need to pay attention to as well. Especially during the summer season, you need to make sure that you do not expose your vehicle to hot temperatures too often. To help you out with this, following are some tips on how you can protect your car against the hot temperature:
Hot Interior
If your car has leather-wrapped seats, they can be uncomfortable to sit down on during the summer time. What’s more, you might end up with your skin sticking to the leather of the seats during long drives. One way you can remedy this quickly is to let the hot interior cool down by driving with your windows rolled down — or you can turn up your air conditioning so that the interior will cool down faster. By forcing out the hot air in your vehicle, you can let the cool air circulate better, and in just a few short minutes you’ll be able to roll back up your windows since it won’t be as hot anymore inside your vehicle.
Stinky Seats
Exposing your car to hot temperatures and natural body odor from passengers can result in a smelly car. If the smell is too uncomfortable for you and your guests, it is best that you get rid of it right away. In addition, you can get rid of the smell by taping a dryer sheet on your air conditioning. Once you have amped up the temperature of your air conditioning, your car will also get refreshed. Another option is to bring in your car for a car wash and an interior detail. This way, you can have a team of trained professionals take care of the smell and chances are, they will be expert smell-removers.
Hot Steering Wheel
When you’re parking your car in the sun on a hot summer day, make sure to turn the wheel 180 degrees before you get out of your car. This simple trick will help you prevent burning your hands when you return to your car and drive away. By doing this, you won’t expose the area of the wheel that you touch to the sunlight. Otherwise, you can wear gloves when you’re driving your car.
Blown-Out Tire
One of the common problems of driving on a hot summer day is a blown-out tire. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of vehicles that encounter this problem when the roads get too hot. Especially if you have under-inflated tires, you will increase your risk for endangering yourself on the road with a blown-out tire. To help you avoid this problem, make sure you periodically check your tires. If they are under-inflated, you can add more air to ensure they run smoothly. Apart from avoiding blown-out tires, you don’t have to worry about having a flat tire.
Too Sunny Outside
When it’s too hot outside, you can protect your skin by wearing sunscreen. Thankfully, the same logic easy translates for your car. When it’s hot, you have to do your best to protect your car from the sun. While putting sunscreen on your car may be a little too much, you can do your part by choosing to park in a garage whenever possible. Another option is to invest in a sunshade to help protect your car from the hot sun. By doing this, you get to protect your car from sun damage, which may cause your interior and paint to fade prematurely.
As a car owner, you need to be responsible with your car’s condition. If you’d like it to last you a long time, you need to do your part in ensuring its health. By following the above tips, you’ll be able to prolong your car’s lifespan and not only that, it will help you save on costs so you don’t encounter more damage to your vehicle. Make sure to follow these tips so you can enjoy driving your car even on a hot summer day.
Written by Marc Laferierre, owner of Dents Unlimited. Dents Unlimited offers the best auto repair Columbia MO has to offer, where their expert staff can get your car back on the road in no time.