6 Tips How to Prepare Your Saab for Winter

How to make your car ready for winter

Winter will soon be here but before the first snow falls, it is a good idea to look over your Saab so that it is ready to face the winter while we have better conditions. Below we have put together a guide on what you need to think about for the winter season with your Saab.

Make sure you have good tyres

When the winter season comes together with colder temperatures and more rain, it gets more important to have good tyres on your Saab. With good tyres you make sure that your car can handle the weather optimally and don’t risk to put yourself or your car in danger. So what makes a good tyre?

First of all, make sure that your car’s tyres have a good amount of tread depth. A tyre with very little or no tread depth left is really slippery on wet and damp surfaces and makes it harder for you to stop your car, both in everyday driving and especially if you need to break hard to avoid an accident. In the United Kingdom the minimum allowed tyre tread depth is 1,6 mm.

Secondly, be sure to fill up the tyre pressure in your car’s tyres. With a low amount of air pressure in your car’s tyres, they become dysfunctional and driving becomes unpleasant. The tyre pressure for tyres vary between different tyres, and you can check your car’s instruction manual to see what tyre pressure is recommended for your tyres. Sometimes the tyre pressure is also shown on a sticker on the B-pillar or in the glove compartment. It’s a good idea to also check your car’s spare tyre while you are at it. As a general guideline, a normal tyre pressure is often between 2.5-3.0 bar.

We have written a more comprehensive guide on car service as well, where we talk more about wheels and tyres in depth. You can read the guide here.

If you want help with a tyre change or order new tyres, you can book a service at your nearest authorised service centre here.

Check the car’s battery

The car’s battery plays an incredibly important role in your car. The battery ensures that your car’s starter kicks on the actual combustion engine of your car. And also provides power to all the lights of the car and all the conveniences inside the car. In the winter, the car’s starter needs to work extra hard as it is harder to start a cold engine than a warm one, and therefore the battery must be able to provide enough power for this. Also, if you only drive short distances with your car, your battery does not charge as much as it does during long-distance driving. Then it is extra important that you have a good battery during winter driving. You can charge up your car’s battery by driving a longer distance once in a while. Make sure your battery is in good condition by testing whether the car is easily started even in colder weather. Also check for dirt at the battery poles.

We have previously written a comprehensive guide on car service where we go through more points to consider in order to have as reliable a car as possible. If you want to read more about this, you can find the guide here.

If you need to change your battery, you can book an appointment at your nearest authorised service centre here.

Have enough anti-freeze fluid

The anti-freeze in the car ensures that the engine works optimally and that no parts of the engine freeze during the winter. Therefore, it is very important to have enough anti-freeze in your car. The level of anti-freeze should be between the two lines on the container. What kind of anti-freeze you should use is stated in your car’s instruction manual. Never overfill with anti-freeze, as the liquid expands during heat and an over-filled container can easily explode, causing all the fluid to run out and the engine to overheat.

We have previously written a comprehensive guide on car service where we go through more points to consider in order to have as reliable a car as possible. If you want to read more about this, you can find the guide here.

If you need to replace the anti-freeze fluid on your car or book a service, you can book an appointment at your nearest authorised service centre here.

Check the car’s lights

Do all the lights on the car work? Sometimes a light bulb can break and it may not always be so high up on the to-do list to replace the car’s light bulb. But when winter comes and it gets darker outside, it is extra important to have adequate lighting on your car. Therefore, look over all the lights and especially the high beam lights. Do the headlights and high beams have a correct light image? Are the lights too high or too low?

If you need to replace a light bulb on your car or if you need to do service on your car, you can contact your nearest authorised service centre here.

Fill up washer fluid and look over the wiper blades

During the winter months when it is very salty and slushy on the roads, more washer fluid is consumed than in the summer. Therefore, be sure to have plenty of washer fluid in the car and preferably an extra can in the luggage compartment in case you need to refill while driving. The fact that the windshield wipers are whole and efficient is also important because bad wipers significantly impair visibility and can lead to accidents. Make sure to use washer fluid that can withstand below freezing.

If you need to change windscreen wipers or do other service on your car, you can book an appointment at your nearest authorised service centre here.

Good accessories to have in the car

While preparing for the winter, it is good to have some extra accessories in your car, that both facilitate winter driving as well as assist you if an accident occurs.

Make sure you have a good ice scraper and snow brush in your car, so you can combat frost, ice and snow in the best way.

It’s also a good idea to lubricate the door locks with special oil for car doors, as well as lubricate the door moldings. We have written about this before in our guide on car service, which you can read here.

Starter cables are good to have in the car in case the car’s battery should give up and you need help starting your car together. Or if you need to help someone else start their car.

Snow shovels are good to have with you if you drive a lot in snowy road conditions and happen to drive off the tracks.

First aid kits are always good to have, no matter the season. Make sure you have a good first aid kit in your car in case of an accident.

It’s also good to always carry some blankets and enough warm clothes in the car.

Drive carefully on the winter roads!

Book a service for your car

Do you need to service your car? Here your can book a service at an authorised service centre.

 

 
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