5 Summer Car Maintenance Tips

Summer car maintenance is easy when you know how. Like people (and pets – more on that below), cars get hotter as the temperature rises, so keeping them cool is a must. Cars also have routine yet simple needs, kind of like how you and I need to eat and drink every day.

In this guide we’ll show you how to manage your summer car maintenance so you get to enjoy the festive season without worry. But more than that – keeping your car running well in extreme temperatures will ensure you get to spend a long and fruitful driving career together well into the future.

Without further ado, here are five easy and simple summer car maintenance tips to keep it cool in the hot months to come…

Summer car maintenance checklist

We’ve seen way too little of our cars lately, but now lockdown is over it’s time to drive everywhere and anywhere! Here are our top five summer car maintenance tips; scroll down to find out more:

1. Keep your car cool in summer (an absolute must and easy to achieve)
2. Protect your car from summer salt and sea air (top tips on how to do this)
3. Don’t idle your car (seriously, this one’s for you, your car and all of humanity)
4. Replace old car batteries (or if you’re not ready to part with them, see our recharging tips below)
5. Summer service (what’s in a service? We’ve got all the answers ready for you, just scroll down)

Now onto the business of summer fun and loving your car…

1. Keep your car cool in summer

The last thing anyone wants is to overheat their car because this can crack the cylinder head. A cracked cylinder head is pretty much one of the biggest things that can go wrong with a car. Avoid this happening to you by asking the petrol attendant to check coolant levels whenever you top up with fuel.

Other ways to keep your car cool include parking intelligently and avoiding direct sunlight anytime you can – even if this means parking a bit further away from a building’s entrance. Get yourself a windscreen sun-shade and window shades to prevent your interior from hotting up. These will also extend the lifespan of your seat covers and protect the hard interior surfaces from cracking.

Now’s also a critical time for pet owners to keep pets cool – especially when it comes to having them in your car with you. Read about dogs in hot cars so you know how to keep them safe as the degrees continue to rise.

2. Protect your car from salty sea air

Cars and sea air simply don’t go. It’s like putting peanut butter on your chips – it just doesn’t work. Corrosion to paint and metalwork speeds up significantly with humid salty air.

However, this shouldn’t stop you from beach hopping and soaking in the summer festivities.

Simply make sure you safeguard your car with regular washes, and where possible, park indoors or use a car cover. You may be interested to know there are ways to wash your car that can do damage and ways to prevent damage.

Read these top tips for spring cleaning a car and find out how to protect your car from salt with sea air vs car safeguards.

3. Don’t idle your car

Don’t idle your car in summer. Actually don’t idle your car at any time of the year if you can help it. You’re damaging your car and using up fossil fuels at an exponential and entirely unnecessary rate. In summer the fumes from all our cars collectively idling can really pollute the air.

And yes, while this is the case all year round, you can just imagine how pollution and heat are a double whammy.

Besides wearing out your car and using fuel you don’t need to, idling is a major contributor to asthma – especially in kids. This isn’t exactly information that’s going to help your car, but it will help humanity in general, which can only be a good thing. Find out why idling is bad for your car, when you might be doing it and how not to.

4. Replace old car batteries

Your car battery is the nerve center of your car and generates the power to run your engine and electrics. Consider replacing batteries once every three years to prevent your car from overworking and heating up.

Extreme weather conditions can wear a car battery out faster, so get your battery professionally checked twice every year to be sure it’s in mint condition. Speaking of worn down batteries, if your car isn’t starting, read how to fix your dead car battery and how to jump start a car in nine simple steps.

5. Summer service

Hot weather puts all the parts of your car under added stress. This is why getting a service at the start of summer can really help you have a smooth-sailing festive season with a car that works well. Any aspect of your car that isn’t functioning at optimum levels will usually have a knock-on effect and add pressure to other parts of the vehicle’s system.

Car servicing can be a difficult territory to navigate, from how much to pay to choosing a mechanic and knowing what to get for your cash. We know all the questions and we’ve compiled the answers to make this whole process so much easier:

• Service your car. Find out when and how often to have your car serviced
• Car servicing checklist. Find out what to expect when you service your car
• Capped price servicing. Find out if it’s worth it
• Is my mechanic ripping me off? How to avoid being underserviced (and overcharged!)
• Choose a mechanic. How to choose a great mechanic that understands your car

Read more of our summer car care tips and, if you love DIY, here are some car maintenance tasks you can do yourself!

Car insurance for your summer car maintenance

Comprehensive car insurance offers you the widest range of cover at an affordable price. With comprehensive, if your car is damaged or stolen in a claimable event PD Insurance will cover replacement or repair. Ditto if you get into a legal quandary because you accidentally damage someone else or their property. We’ll cover your legal liability for up to as much as $20 million.

And the benefits don’t stop there. Read all about our different car insurance plans to decide which one suits you, your car and your pocket.

When you join PD insurance you’re joining community and family. We care about our customers. Why wait a moment more; click below to get your quote.