When winter strikes Montreal, it’s relentless! You’ve got to wake up earlier to make sure you get be on time whether i’s dropping off the kids to school, going to your daily commute or even going to your chalet during the weekend. All of his while heating up your car and shovelling the snow off around your car. With these tips, we’ll make sure you’ll save some of your precious time and money during the cold mornings!
1. Warm up your car before driving off right away!
We know this one may sound obvious but a lot of people tend to rush home after work or going somewhere urgent and they don’t take the time to warm up the car! In cold temperatures, driving off with your car as soon as you start it can be harmful in the long run especially for cars that have turbos. In any car, you should at least warm it up at least 30 seconds to make sure the car is in good running condition. Pro Tip : You can use this time to clean off the extra snow of your headlights/taillights/plate not only for your visibility and for the drivers around you, but because cops can also amend tickets for these reasons!
2. Don’t use your wipers or your scraper to remove the frost or ice on you glasses!
Probably the worst part of winter, is scraping the ice off your windshield or other windows! Do not use your wipers to take off the ice as it can damage the blade and you’d need to change them quicker than average. Using your scraper or credit card is also bad because it can potentially scratch your windshield and bother your vision. You can mix in a bottle 1 part water and 2 part alcohol (you can also do this with 2 teaspoon of table salt). Spray the mixture on your car and watch it easily take off the ice or frost with no damage!
3. Never use boiling water
The incredibly hot temperature of the water and the cold weather together is a disaster for you windshield. The stress it put on it can easily break it costing you hundreds to change it. Instead, put the heating off your car towards the windshield! It’s sufficient enough to remove the frost slowly while your shovelling the snow off your driveway!
4. Using proper wipers and cleaning them
Yes, there’s proper wipers to use during winter. Some have whole in them for example like the rainex ones which traps the ice in between so not only is it tough clean, it makes the wipers not function properly because it loses it’s flexibility! We recommend goodyear wipers because not only are they american made, they’re flexible and incredibly easy to clean to provide you with the most visibility on stormy commutes! Pro Tip #2 : Wipers should be changed twice a year as their effectiveness don’t last long.