Seasonal Car Care: Protecting Your Investment Year-Round

It’s a battle against nature year-round, which is why driving a vehicle presents challenges at the same time every year. Whether it’s the sizzling sun of the summer or the icy grip of winter, the seasons work against your car’s exterior, interior and machinations bit by bit, reducing its value at the same time. Should owners find themselves in a position to sell or trade their car down the line, they’d be surprised to find it’s not what they’ve put into it that makes the difference, but, instead, how they’ve protected it season by season that’s worth thousands.

It’s one thing for an owner to keep up basic maintenance; replacing oil, rotating tires and washing aren’t out of the ordinary endeavors. Unfortunately for neglectful owners, it’s easier to hide cars from sight than repair them appropriately from the elements. Season by season, there are clear intentions to make for different parts of a car and without correct assessment, owners may find themselves on the hook for thousands of dollars in repairs or reduced resale value.

Spring: Check-In

Springtime is new growth, but for vehicles it’s more of an assessment period. Those who have stored their cars will realize it costs them more to assess damage than those who utilized better protective efforts. After months of winter driving, accumulated salt and dirt sit on surfaces, creating preliminary required washings. Unfortunately, people think that’s it—but road salt penetrates hard to reach places and sits where moisture can continue to corrode.

For vehicles that were stored during winter months, spring marks the time to assess how well your protection strategies worked. Cars kept under quality covers often emerge in significantly better condition than those left exposed. Whether you’re dealing with a daily driver or a special vehicle, options such as bmw car covers provide the kind of fitted protection that generic tarps simply can’t match. The difference becomes apparent when you remove the cover to find paint that’s still vibrant and trim pieces that haven’t faded or cracked.

Summer: UV Damage

Summer, on the other hand, is quite damaging. It’s its own degree of negative intentions, but it comes in the form of sunlight and UV rays against exposed paints and materials. Faded paint is the ultimate death knell; rubber seals deteriorate and cracked plastic pieces become the norm once January rolls around post-summer driving.

It’s important to park strategically; window shades will help retain cool air—but they should be used sparingly on hot days as well; can those conditions melt steering wheel covers? Does leaving a steering wheel cover overnight change its components? It’s a useful small item to protect big aesthetics after years of sunlight consistently beating down.

When given a limited option, portable protective efforts save lives. This means windshield covers and steering wheel covers to keep a comfortable temperature for whoever is getting back in to drive—and for these smaller efforts because owners find it’s all too much effort to keep more major efforts stable while they work day in and day out through inclement weather.

Also, surprisingly enough, daily drivers may find summers particularly incriminating. Summer has no sweet spot; one bad summer can ruin five good ones. Vehicles suffer paint oxidation and interior fading. Rubber degrades. It’s a rapid change that occurs far more quickly than most owners can imagine or expect.

This all means washing becomes less effective with consistent dirt—which should be washed off in early morning or at night—but consistent dirt during the day isn’t an option for painting or drying. The sun’s rays track across debris as bad as they do dry off paint.

Fall: Prepare

Fall is the season of preparation; over this three-month period determining what comes next makes all the difference between survival through winter and successful recovery come spring.

Major decisions must be made; switching fluids makes sense for those who live in extreme climates and whether vehicles are to be stored makes a huge difference. For cars that won’t drive throughout winter, they need special considerations now, even in how they perform as leaves fall on top of them. Accumulating leaves on top of a vehicle isn’t just frustrating—they trap moisture against the paint which accelerates corrosion and rust.

It’s important to dry remove those leaves from above—and also check any crevices that might have been missed through seasons past; a single leaf held hostage in a hidden place may be just enough moisture trapped to help start corrosion.

Winter: Attack

Winter is the toughest time to protect. Salt, snow, ice—the hardest combination of forces work against vehicles while temperature extremes with no variance decimate vehicle integrity.

The key here is understanding that even if a car is being stored, before winter arrives there are special considerations to make. Proper covering once again comes into play for extreme temperature variances which create condensation on undercarriages that rust and mold.

Breathable covers are preferred, they keep moisture away from vehicles while keeping materials inside dry when suddenly spring comes into play between downpours.

For those daily drivers, washed cars seem pointless, but it’s actually not if it’s done on an as needed basis, with the goal of preventing salt from penetrating paint after maintaining year-long efforts successfully.

But as with other times of year—timing matters; if locks freeze it means traffic wasn’t properly directed earlier on warm weather days.

Paying Off Protection

Ultimately where protection becomes clear is resale value—vehicles that sustain proper protection across multiple years are worth thousands more than those who seem parked in the same conditions no matter what happens.

The key is intentionally preparing for the next season while learning from what just happened. The investment in proper car care might seem pointless at first, but it pays off when you avoid the costly problems that each season can bring. Small preventive steps taken consistently throughout the year stop minor issues from turning into major expenses down the road.