Why on earth do I need to prepare my car for winter-time?
Once winter comes, your car will be bombarded with with all sorts of weather ranging from freezing heavy rain to snow. This, accompanied by a generous helping of salt (grit) on the road means your car’s bodywork, wheels, tyres, trim and glass are going to take a real hammering.
The salt they lay down is particularly nasty and so your vehicle needs a good amount of protection against it. Plus during winter-time, unless you’re lucky enough to have a large enough garage, it can be a real pain getting the right weather to prep your car properly.
How easy or fussy will it be to prep my vehicle?
Preparing the vehicle will include your normal car cleaning routine, except it’s more in-depth and more time will be needed.
How do I prepare my car for winter then?
Well, take a look at the list underneath. We’re sure it’ll be of use!
Wash
– Wash your car (see Car Shampoo reviews) as per usual, taking extra care in cleaning under the wheel arches.
Wax
- Use a really good wax on your paintwork (see Wax and Polish reviews). Make sure you apply at least 2 or 3 layers of wax and maybe even give the vehicle a coat of detailing product afterwards to back up the wax. An example of that is Dodo Juice’s Red Mist Detailer. Other companies also sell similar products.
Trim
- If your vehicle has plastic trim on the bodywork and under the wheel arches, give them a couple of good coats of exterior trim protectant (see Exterior Trim Product reviews) as this is almost like waxing or polishing your plastics and it gives them a layer of protection against the elements.
Wheels
- Wash your wheels throughly (See How-To… Keep Your Wheels Looking Great) and remember to give your wheels a couple of coats of wax to keep that nasty road grit from damaging the finish on them.
Tyres
- Clean and coat your tyres with a protectant product (see How-To… Keep Your Tyres Looking Good).
Glass
- Clean your glass inside and out (see Glass Cleaners reviews). There’s nothing worse than getting glare from the low Sun through a dirty and streaky windscreen and frankly, it can be dangerous too. After cleaning your windows in and out use a mist protector on the insides and on the outsides use a rain shield type product. The rain shield acts like a wax on your windows and makes the rain flow off them freely, helping out massively in keeping your vision of the road ahead clear and it also helps when clearing your windows of ice and snow.
Top Tips
- As your car is almost guaranteed to get filthy in winter (if you live in a non-tropical environment that is), give your vehicle a good wash once a week, even if it’s raining, as the vehicle will still be clean afterwards anyway. Brave the weather and get your car washed!
- If the weather permits, after washing your car use a protectant spray on your bodywork to keep the wax topped up.
Buy our Special Winter Prep Kit Here
Get ready for Winter with our Britemax samples pack - it is simply too good to miss at this price!! This brilliant kit features almost all of what you need to get prepare your vehicle for winter, and for maintaining it through the bad weather too. There are products for both the interior and exterior of your vehicle with nearly everything you need to make it shine brilliantly! Included in the pack are:
- 50ml Britemax Extreme ElementsA cream sealant which is easy to apply and remove, gives long lasting protection and adds a beautiful depth of shine and warmth to paintwork.
- 50ml Britemax Clean Max car shampoopH neutral and non-alkaline, this is a safe and highly effective shampoo, which leaves behind a slick finish and feel. Smells great too!
- 50ml Britemax Grime Out degreaserThis removes brake dust, engine grease bugs, road tar, water spots and much more, without containing acid.
- 50ml Britemax Spray and Shine (with free pump-sprayer)When we tested this detail spray, we absolutely loved it! This is a non-silicone product, and is instead wax-based, giving an ultra deep shine and great protection too. Can also be used as a clay lube and drying aid.
-50ml Britemax Black MaxAnother brilliant product that we really, really like - this ultra fine polishing glaze will remove up to 3000 grit sanding marks, and leaves an amazingly deep and rich depth to any colour of paintwork. It contains zero silicones or waxes and is dust-free. Use with a DA or by hand.
-50ml Britemax Interior DressingAs the name states this is for car interiors, but can also be used on exterior trim and tyres too. Leaves a natural gloss-look behind, which is deep but still classy. Again, there are no silicones and it is body shop safe.
If you are from the E.U, please select the E.U Postage option below
Questions
Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.
Have you got a thought on this How-To? What How-To would you like to see on this site? Got any cleaning tips to share? Let us know in the comments box below.
Good tips, is that your green Toledo? Surely you’re on SCN?
Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the article. Keep an eye out for more as we add them all the time.
Yes that’s my Toledo. Is SCN a SEAT club?
Had a look at your website too http://www.joincrash.com/ and really liked that. Good stuff there. Check it out folks.
im surprised this doesnt mention waxoil or other similar rust preventing treatments. this stuff, particularly on an old car, can prevent the metal work from ever relly rust and fix any current light to moderat patches that are already there
Hi and thanks for your comment.
We don’t deal with products like that as we are a car cleaning product review website and therefore primarily review things such as wheel cleaners, wax, shampoo’s and clay bars etc.
Thanks for mentioning it anyway.
Chris (Admin)
[...] First off, and as we are such nice people here at CarProductsTested, we’ve already done you a winter prep ‘How-To’, for the easiest way to get your car ready for the snow. Simply click here for that. [...]