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Summer Car Maintenance Tips & Checklist

With summer on the horizon, it’s extremely important to make sure your car is ready for the season. It’s not so much that summer has difficult road conditions or anything like winter, but typically we do much more driving in the summer because it’s nice out. Plus, you want to make sure to get all the winter off your car if you haven’t already. So, we’ve put together a sort of summer car maintenance checklist filled with tips for what you need to do to get ready.

[ READ MORE: Where should I get my oil changed in Columbia SC? ]

Air Conditioning

You’re definitely going to want to make sure your A/C unit is working properly before the temperature rises. Let it run for a while the next time you take a drive, if it doesn’t feel like it’s working right or if you smell something funky, be sure to bring it in right away.

Air Filter

Your cabin air filter is something that should be replaced fairly regularly. Check your owner’s manual for a recommendation, or just bring your vehicle in for us to take a look. We can tell when a replacement is needed and show you exactly why if it is.

Battery

Your battery gets worked extra hard throughout the winter, so you want to make sure to get it checked and ensure it’s still in tip-top shape before anything goes wrong.

Brakes

You should always be thinking about your brakes. There’s no specific summer-related reason to get them checked, but if you’re noticing them working differently than they should, bring your vehicle in for us to take a look.

Cooling

Pair of Windshield Wiper BladesThe system that cools your engine – including your coolant, an important fluid that should be checked regularly – is going to be extra important throughout the hot summer. Bring it in for us to take a look at it if you’re worried about your car overheating.

De-winterize

If you put winter tires on your vehicle it’s time to trade them out for your summer or all-season tires. Likewise, make sure your windshield wipers don’t need to be replaced.

Oil

It’s more than likely time for an oil change. Check your sticker to see if you’re past the mileage point or date.

Tires

If you don’t change your tires for the winter, it’s still important to get them looked at. Make sure they’re full, rotated and aligned before heading out on a road trip or anything similar.

Give us a call or schedule an appointment right here on our website if you need us to take a look at anything. Happy summer!