Car Winterization Guide: Should You Detail Your Vehicle Before Winter?

The United States coats its winter roadways with approximately 20 million metric tons each year. Not only does this salt negatively impact the environment; but, it’s also damaging your vehicle. The best way to minimize the damage is car winterization.

In this article, we discuss when to detail your car as well as the benefits of winter car detailing before winter hits. We also offer some of our best vehicle detailing tips. Continue reading to keep your car in the best possible shape this winter.

What is Car Winterization?

Car winterization refers to the process of preparing your vehicle for low temperatures, moisture, and ice. The term applies to the entire vehicle from prepping the exterior to prepping the engine to winter car detailing.

The process helps ensure your car can function appropriately during the cold winter months. It’s also an important part of car maintenance if you want to increase the longevity of your car and its components.

Benefits of Winter Car Detailing

Winter car detailing involves maintaining the physical appearance of your car. This process also contributes to maintaining the functionality of your car.

As far as when to detail your car, you can and should undergo winter car detailing multiple times during the Winter season. However, it’s especially important to do so before Winter officially starts.

Prevent Damage

As roadways become covered in snow and ice, cities will often resort to using road salt to help melt the ice for motorists. Road salt wreaks havoc on both a car’s interior and exterior by speeding up natural wear.

The abrasive nature of road salt erodes protective coatings. As the salt reaches the metal layer it exposes it to moisture which results in rust if not treated quickly.

Winter car detailing gets ahead of the damage to your paint with fresh protective coatings and waxes. Your detailer also cleans the undercarriage, wheels, and interior.

Maintain Visibility

One of our vehicle top detailing tips for winter is to seek special coatings for your windshield. Auto detailing in Nashville can coat your windshield with a water-repellant cleaner.

The cleaner causes water to bead so that it can easily fall off of your windshield instead of sticking to it. Having your windshield largely free of water increases your visibility and improves road safety.

Minimize Risk of Odors

Companies that provide auto detailing in Nashville know that excessive moisture leaves a car smelling musty. Interior vehicle detailing minimizes the risk of odors.

Undergoing car winterization before winter means starting off the season with a clean and fresh-smelling vehicle. If there is an existing moisture problem in your car it’s best your detailer finds it before the winter weather makes it worse.

As long as you keep up with detailing every few months, the clean smell should last the entire season. It can even increase the longevity of your car’s interior.

Schedule Your Car Winterization

Getting ahead of the risks of winter weather can help you avoid serious vehicle wear and tear. For this reason, scheduling car winterization before winter officially starts is an important part of car maintenance.