Resetting the Tire Pressure Light on Your Car

Chances are, you’ve seen your tire pressure light come on if your vehicle has a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). The indicator tells you when to inflate your tires or it could be alerting you to a system fault with a light on the dash. Turning that indicator off could be as easy as adjusting the air pressure in your tires, or a bit more complex. Here are some ways to reset that light and how TPMS works.

How to Reset Your Tire Pressure Light When It Comes On

First, you’ll want to check your tire pressure. Don’t forget to check each tire, even your spare. As long as your tires are properly inflated within the specified range for your vehicle, it should reset your tire pressure light.

If the light remains on after adjusting the tire to the proper PSI, you may need to repair your tire, have your TPMS inspected, or try one of the following:

• Go for a 10-minute drive. Get up to 50 MPH, if possible.
• Your vehicle may be equipped with a TPMS reset button or reset procedure in your vehicle control center. Refer to your owner’s manual or consult a professional (highly recommended).

Important note: Resetting the TPMS with a button or your vehicle control center can cause adverse affects if the pressure isn’t set to vehicle specifications.

If those options don’t work, the pros at Les Schwab know the reset procedures to get the job done. We have tools to scan each sensor and program them to your vehicle’s computer system. When your tires are properly inflated or repaired, the indicator light should turn off the next time you start your car or truck, or a few miles down the road.

Why Your Vehicle Has TPMS

TPMS was mandated to help warn drivers of low tire pressure, which can lead to poor fuel economy, sluggish vehicle handling, premature tire wear, increased stopping distances, or even tire failure. Congress passed the TREAD Act in 2000 requiring all vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds have tire pressure sensors. Since 2005, most new vehicles have included the system. If you see the TPMS sensor illuminate briefly when you start your car or truck, then you have the system in your vehicle.

While some TPMS use wheel speed sensors linked to your vehicle’s ABS (anti-lock braking system), a majority use small sensors mounted on the inside of each wheel (sometimes including the spare tire). These battery-operated sensors monitor the pressure in the tire and alert you when a tire’s pressure is 25% outside the manufacturer’s recommendation. If you see the tire pressure light on your dash, get to Les Schwab, where we can check the PSI, properly inflate each tire, and check for any other tire or TPMS issues.

What is the Difference Between a TPMS Light and a Tire Pressure Light?

The tire pressure light is just one part of the TPMS system. It is an indicator on your dash that lights up when your tire pressure is low. The TPMS light, available in some vehicles, may light up indicating an issue with the system.

Can Cold Weather Cause Your Tire Pressure Light to Go On?

Every winter and summer, TPMS sensors in vehicles throughout the West come to life, telling drivers to check their air pressure. This is normal. Especially in cold weather. When the outside temperatures drop, so does your tire pressure. In the summer, the heat can increase the pressure in your tires.

By regularly checking the pressure in your tires every 30 days, you can avoid these issues. If the light illuminates on an unusually cold morning, don’t worry. It could just be the cold causing the light to come on. To be safe, get the tire pressure checked to avoid any issues. If there has not been a significant change in the weather and your tire pressure light appears, it could mean an air leak or faulty battery in one of your sensors. No matter what causes your TPMS light to turn on, come into any Les Schwab to have it checked out.

What Does It Mean If the TPMS Light Is Flashing or Illuminates

There can be many causes for a flashing TPMS light, but the most common reason could be that your system needs to be reset. Or, there could be other issues with a sensor, such as a dead battery, or the TPMS unit itself. The pros at Les Schwab can do a quick diagnostic and pinpoint the issue.

Les Schwab is Your Tire Pressure Headquarters

Proper air pressure is one of the most important parts of any tire. Pull into your local Les Schwab and we’ll check your tire pressure, add air when needed, and reset your TPMS light and get you safely back on the road.

How to Tell If Your Shocks or Struts Are Bad

It’s hard to know when to replace shocks and struts. These hard-to-inspect parts often go bad so slowly that you might not notice the reduced ride comfort and road control. Plus, there’s no set time or mileage when aging shocks or struts are due for replacement. Thankfully, there are ways to know when it might be time to get your shocks and struts checked at Les Schwab.

What Are Shocks and Struts?

Every car and truck is suspended by a combination of springs, shocks, and struts. If you look behind any of your four wheels, you’ll see these hard-working parts that move up and down, up to 1,900 times every mile. By the time you put 50,000 miles on your vehicle, your shocks and struts will have done their job 75-million times, working in tandem with your brakes, steering, suspension, tires, and your modern crash-avoidance systems to keep you in control and traveling safely on the road.

What Do Shocks and Struts Do?

Shocks and struts in good condition help your car handle bumps, debris, sudden stops, swerving, potholes, wind gusts or sharp turns. They control the side-to-side, front-to-back and up-and-down shifts of the car’s weight to keep your tires in contact with the road and you in control of your vehicle.

They also:

• Maintain your tire’s contact with the road.
• Prevent your tires and wheels from moving up and down too much.
• Contribute to stability as you accelerate, stop and turn.
• Add to ride comfort by absorbing jolts and bumpiness from irregular road surfaces.
• Help control a vehicle’s body movement (side-to-side roll, bouncing).
• Promote even wear for longer tire life.

Contrary to popular belief, shocks and struts do not typically support your vehicle’s weight or any loads your truck or vehicle might be carrying. The springs do that job. However, worn-out shocks and struts put more strain on the springs as well as other essential suspension parts. Without the control that a good shock or strut provides, these other parts get overworked, causing fatigue and premature wear.

Signs Your Shocks or Struts Are Worn

Properly working shocks and struts add to your safety on the road and help reduce damage to other parts of your vehicle. Look for these signs that indicate it might be time to get your shocks and struts checked and replaced.

• Unusual tire wear (including cupping). If you spot cupping (as seen in the image below) or other unusual tire wear you may have issues with your shocks or struts, which is throwing off your alignment. This can be especially important to notice if a rotation was performed but abnormal wear is still occurring.

  

• Rubber shock covers that are cracking, peeling or off-center. These covers can be found at the top and bottom of the shocks.

• Leaking fluid. If you find clear or light brown fluid on the outside of the shocks or struts, it could indicate a broken seal.

• Ride issues. If your vehicle dives when braking, bottoms out (scrapes loudly) when going over a speed bump, the rear-end squats when accelerating, or your vehicle bounces more than usual after going over a bump, it could be signs of bad shocks or struts.

• Braking issues. You might notice that your vehicle takes longer to stop than usual.

• Swaying. This can be especially noticeable after a turn, lane change, or in cross winds.

• Unusual noises. As the shocks or struts wear, they can fail to do their job. This can cause many different sounds, including knocking and banging.

See our shock and strut service repair FAQs.

What Will Happen If I Drive on Worn or Damaged Shocks and Struts

It’s important to maintain contact with the road, especially when going over bumps or keeping up with highway traffic. Your vehicle’s suspension system, including shocks and/or struts, is great at that job when every part is working properly.

Over time, those parts will wear out. You might not even notice as it gradually degrades. When they’re not working properly, it can reduce your control and safety. It can also cause added wear to other parts of your vehicle, including your tires.

Replacing worn parts before they get bad can help keep your vehicle’s electronic systems and suspension working properly, extending your vehicle’s life — and keeping you safer on the road.

Shocks and Struts Aren’t Just About a Smooth Ride

Today’s vehicles have highly engineered electronic safety systems (vehicle stability systems, ABS (anti-lock brakes), traction control, collision prevention control and automated braking). These all work together to keep tires in proper contact with the road and provide the most stability.

When you have an unexpected hard stop or swerve, your vehicle’s crash avoidance systems send instant electronic signals to the brakes and other critical components. If ride control parts like shocks and struts are worn, they might not properly respond. Additionally, stopping distances might increase and brakes and tires could wear more quickly. Plus, there could be added strain on the springs.

How Long Do They Last (When Should I Replace Them)?

That all depends on the amount of wear and tear the shocks and struts get, the quality of roads you drive, if you haul heavy loads, and how aggressive you are behind the wheel. That’s why periodic inspections are important.

Get yours checked annually (or 12,000 miles) with every alignment, tire rotation, if you feel any ride-control issues, or anytime you buy new tires.

Les Schwab Can Help

We’re your suspension inspection experts. Our service professionals know what to look for and how to get your car or truck back to its original control and handling. Stop by or schedule an appointment today.

Schedule an Appointment

How Your Auto Battery Works

Here’s a simple guide to understanding how car batteries work, from the alternator to cold cranking amps to different types of car batteries. Find out:

• How a battery starts your car
• How the battery provides power
• What cold cranking amps are
• How the battery recharges
• Why car batteries die
• What the different types of auto batteries are

How a Car Battery Starts a Car

The first purpose of an auto battery is to provide power for starting your vehicle. It also acts as a surge protector for the car's computer and provides power for short-term use of things like lights, stereo, GPS or wipers when the engine is off.

The car battery is part of the starting system. There are three main components in this system:

1. The ignition switch is either the starter button you press or where you insert your key.


2. The switch controls the starter relay (also called a solenoid). When you turn the ignition, it sends a small electrical current to the starter relay. This causes a pair of contacts to close.


3. When those contacts close, the battery sends voltage to the starter motor, which turns some gears to start the car.

How the Battery Provides Power

The two types of auto batteries — flooded and AGM batteries — use lead-acid technology. A typical lead-acid car battery contains plates of lead alternating with plates made up of other materials, all immersed in an electrolyte solution of about one-third sulfuric acid and two-thirds water.

Turning the ignition triggers the acid in the liquid electrolyte solution to react with the active material on the plates (active material refers to any substance in the battery that reacts with the solution to discharge or recharge the battery). This generates a bigger electrical current. The current travels through the starting system in a chain of reactions that cues the engine to start.

What Are Cold Cranking Amps?

Cold cranking amps (CCA) refers to the amount of power a battery can supply for 30 seconds even at low temperatures. Larger engines require more power to start, as does starting the car for the first time on a cold day.

A high CCA rating is important for standard auto batteries in areas with subzero temperatures, since deeply discharged wet cell batteries can freeze solid in such weather.

How the Car Battery Recharges

The alternator is responsible for recharging your car battery as you drive. This part also supplies power for your car’s electronics when you're underway. It is driven by the alternator belt from the engine. As the belt goes around, it generates electrical current to run your vehicle's electronics. It also sends some current back to the battery to recharge it.

A voltage regulator controls this flow of electricity to keep it even and deliver the right amount of charge to meet needs like running the AC or heater. It also protects the battery from overcharging, which can damage it.

Why Does My Battery Die?

Over the life of a battery, discharge-recharge reactions happen thousands of times. Each cycle wears out the plates a bit, and over time the lead deteriorates. As your car battery loses capacity, cold cranking amps decrease.

Deep discharging, which happens when you use the battery to run the stereo, lights or other electrical systems in your car when the engine is off, is responsible for a good portion of battery failures. Discharging most of your battery's capacity by using it in this manner for too long and then recharging it through driving can cause the sulfur in the electrolyte solution to stick to the lead and create other damage to the plates in the battery.

What Are the Different Types of Auto Battery?

The two most common auto batteries for sale today are standard wet cell batteries and absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries. Both use lead-acid technology. The differences are in the needs of the car.

Standard Wet Cell Batteries

These are also called flooded, conventional or SLI (starting, lights, ignition) batteries. Some standard batteries have vents that allow for airing out corrosive gases, steam, and condensation (these may be called vented batteries). They have removable caps for adding fluid. Other wet cell batteries are closed systems, with no removable caps.

• Service needs: Occasional simple maintenance including cleaning off corrosion on terminals and topping off the fluid with distilled water if the battery has removable caps. The battery should be visually checked every year. Battery charge should be checked before road trips and after summer before temperatures fall.

Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) Batteries

These are a type of VRLA battery, which stands for valve-regulated lead-acid. They’re sometimes called regulated valve, dry cell, non-spillable or sealed batteries. They are called sealed because they have no removable caps, don’t vent gases and can’t leak any acid. They do have pressure-activated relief valves that open only if the battery overheats during recharging.

Some newer cars, such as those with start-stop technology, require AGM batteries. These batteries will continue to deliver power to a car’s computer and electronics even when the engine isn’t running.

AGM batteries hold a charge longer than standard wet cell batteries. They can tolerate periods of disuse and repeated deep discharging and recharging cycles better than flooded batteries. They have a short recharge period but they can be easily damaged by overcharging. They also perform well in harsh climates with extreme heat or cold.

• Service needs: Charge should be checked before road trips and after summer before temperatures fall.

Wet cell batteries and AGM batteries are not interchangeable — your car requires one or the other.

Lowering Suspension: Pros and Cons

Lowering your car or truck so it’s closer to the ground is a popular way to customize your ride. Done right, it’s a great look that also boosts handling performance. Done wrong, it could compromise handling, drivability and traction, reduce tire tread life and even damage parts.

Pluses and Minuses of Lowering Suspension

Benefits

More Road Feel
A lowered suspension helps a driver be highly attuned to how their vehicle acts on different pavement as more of the vibrations from imperfections in the road surface come through the steering wheel.

Stiffer Ride
With this setup, you have to have more rigid springs so the front or back of your vehicle won’t bottom out over bumps or depressions. This is the driving experience many prefer, versus a cushier ride from, say, a luxury sedan.

Less Lean in Corners
The lean of a vehicle around a sharp turn is greatly reduced because the shift of weight is less due to the lower center of gravity. The part of the vehicle on the outside of a turn stays more level with the inside. This lets a car settle more quickly into a turn and act more responsively.

Better Handling
Another effect of being closer to the ground is improved responsiveness, more stability, and grip at speed. Because lowering means getting stiffer springs, there is less weight transfer when you hit the gas or brake hard. This means you’ll enjoy faster acceleration and quicker stops.

Less Air Drag
Lowered vehicles are more aerodynamic. There’s less air hitting the wheels and tires (that are not streamlined shapes). This makes these cars faster. Some owners of low-stance vehicles also notice improved gas mileage. BUT, lowering a car too much will actually increase wind drag.

Less Rollover Risk
Lowered vehicles have a lower center of gravity, which decreases rollover risk when cornering.

Improved Traction
Lowering generally means you’ll put a plus-sized tire and wheel package on the vehicle. Such tires have shorter sidewalls, a larger contact patch (that keeps more rubber in contact with the road) and less roll around corners.

Good Looks
Cars and trucks that have been lowered with custom wheels are attention-getters. It’s a more aggressive and performance-oriented look that stands out in a crowd.

Drawbacks

Less Ride Comfort
If you and your passengers are accustomed to a softer suspension that cushions impacts like bumps and potholes, you may think less of the ride comfort of a lower suspension. You may also notice increased road noise since you’re closer to the pavement.

No Go on Rough Roads
The lower clearance will not be your friend on rutted, rocky, washboard and potholed roads.

Uneven or Accelerated Tire Wear
Lowering changes the geometry of your wheel-tire fitment. If it’s done improperly, your car may have an alignment problem that results in premature or extreme wear patterns.

Bottoming Out
Even an inch-and-a-half lower suspension can cause problems around corners, with slight potholes or on speed bumps. Traveling over the lip of a parking garage or starting up a driveway or ramp could cause the front of your vehicle to hit the pavement. Contact with the ground can cause serious damage to components underneath the car, like the exhaust system and oil pan.

If you ever need a tow truck, you may require a flat bed. Otherwise, there could be a problem with the back body of the vehicle dragging on the ground.

Potential Rubbing on Parts or Tires
Poorly done or extreme lowering can cause suspension and steering parts to contact each other, the wheels or the tires. It could also cause tires to rub the body during turns or going over bumps.

Can’t Use a Standard Jack
If you get a flat tire, you may find out at an inconvenient time that there’s not enough clearance to get the unit under the vehicle’s frame.

Cost
Quality components and keeping correct alignment can get pricey. The lower you go, the more chance you’ll need additional parts. For example, if coilovers (meaning coil spring over shock) are part of your new setup, you’re likely looking at an outlay of $1,000 or more.

Warranty Issues
You should check both your owner’s manual and any manufacturer’s or aftermarket warranty to determine if 1) the manufacturer advises against lowering your car, or 2) if lowering your car will void or adversely affect any warranty coverage you currently have.

Know This Before You Modify Your Suspension

Here’s what to know before you go low.

1. If it’s higher performance you’re after, you may need to lower a lot less than you think. It’s easy to miss the mark and actually make your suspension worse. To be sure that components like struts and springs can do the work of keeping tires at the right angles, get expert help.


2. Don’t cut corners when it comes to shocks, struts or other components. You’re making changes to the structure and balance of your vehicle. You don’t want to risk failing parts.


3. If you modify your vehicle in ways that aren’t road legal, your insurer may not pay a claim for damage. Talk to your agent before you customize your ride and ask if your premiums will go up or policy terms change.


4. Installing extreme aftermarket wheel-tire setups or suspension changes can result in steering, suspension or drivetrain problems that won’t be covered by your vehicle warranty. Check to see if the modifications you’re planning will result in denied warranty claims BEFORE installation.


5. Get an alignment after you lower to ensure the best handling and tire life.


6. Take care while you get accustomed to how your new setup performs. With the much stiffer suspension, your vehicle may steer a little differently and won’t absorb road shocks as well. A sudden hard brake or tight turn on a bumpy road could cause a loss of traction.

Any time you change your vehicle’s OE (original equipment) suspension, you should be sure that you’re not creating a setup that is either unsafe or is going to cause problems with other car functions. Like with many aftermarket customizations, it’s about finding the right balance of safety, performance, looks, cost, and drivability. Stop by your local Les Schwab for help.

Why We Replace Calipers With Your Brake Service

Your brakes always get a workout, whether you’re picking up the kids from practice or heading out into the hills. Every time you press on that brake pedal or your vehicle’s traction control, stability control, or crash avoidance systems are activated, a host of hydraulics and mechanisms work in unison to bring your vehicle to a solid stop.

Because of this, when brakes are worn out, you want to replace more than just the worn-out brake pads. Here’s why.

Calipers Make Your Brakes Work

Yes, there are a lot of other moving parts that go into your braking system, but the calipers provide the clamping force that make it all happen. They take the pressure from your brake pedal and apply it to your brake pads. That, in turn, causes the friction to slow down your vehicle.

Les Schwab Tip: Learn more about brake types in our Complete Guide to Disc Brakes and Drum Brakes.

Sure, a new set of brake pads give you a quick fix to worn brakes. But, we’ve learned over the last 30+ years and thousands of brake repairs that replacing just the pads often leads to other braking issues, such as brake pedal pulsations, brake squeaking or squealing, or worn rubber seals. All of this can cause uneven or faster wear of your brake pads over time.

Built-up grime on your caliper pistons and slides, which become more exposed as your brake pads are wearing thin, can cause caliper malfunction if not addressed when pads are replaced. This short video demonstrates what happens when only the brake pads are replaced and the caliper pistons are forced back into the bore.

The Important Details

Calipers include a handful of parts, including the pistons, piston seals, caliper hardware, and dust boots. To work, all the moving parts in the caliper need to be clean and smooth. Here’s the role that each plays in stopping your vehicle.

• Piston seals flex as the piston moves out. They pull the piston back into the caliper housing. This small part can cause a lot of big issues if they’re not replaced with the brake pads.
• Dust boots protect the caliper from debris and other road grime and dirt. As they get older, dust boots will deteriorate, allowing this grime into the caliper, piston and seal.
• Caliper hardware needs to allow the caliper to float and slide. If the hardware gets rusted or corroded, the pieces can’t perform as well as they should.

Get Complete Brake Service at Les Schwab

Corners aren’t something you want to cut when you’re talking about brakes. When we replace your brakes, you get complete service. This includes premium quality brake pads and remanufactured brake calipers that are as good as the those your vehicle had when it was new.

Remanufactured calipers come with new seals and dust boots, bleeder screws, and hardware, which have been thoroughly cleaned and inspected for quality, performance, and safety.

Bottom line, your car will stop when you hit the brakes. And that’s something we can all appreciate.

Les Schwab Tip: Understand the ins and outs of brake repairs with our Brake Servicing 101: Advice on Making Sure It Gets Done Right.

Why Your Brakes Squeak, Squeal, and Grind - And What to Do About It

When you press on the brakes, a lot happens behind the scenes to bring your vehicle to a stop. But what does it mean when those brakes start to squeak, grind, or smell even when you’re not braking? We have some tips to help you pinpoint the cause of those sounds and smells.

Types of Brakes

There are two types of passenger vehicle brakes. They include disc and drum brakes. Check out our Brake Services FAQs as well as the Complete Guide to Disc and Drum Brakes for more information. In addition, your vehicle might also have an emergency brake and anti-lock brakes. Let’s take a look at each of these types of brakes.

• Disc Brakes: These are the most common type of brakes. Disc brakes use pads that press against a disc or rotor when you apply pressure to the brake pedal. Many of today’s vehicles are equipped with disc brakes on both the front and rear axles.
• Drum Brakes: These brakes have a curved shoe to press against a hollow drum. While drum brakes were once located on all four wheels, they’re located on just the back wheels of some of today’s vehicles.
• Emergency Brakes: Using an emergency brake to stop your vehicle is not recommended but can be used to slow your car down in an emergency if your disc or drum brakes fail. The common use for emergency brakes is to keep your vehicle in place when parked.
• ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System): This is a system that prevents the wheels on many of today’s cars and trucks from locking up during braking. It’s an automated system that works in tandem with your brakes to offer more control when braking, including decreased stopping distance in many situations.

What Sounds and Smells Say About Your Brakes

New noises or smells coming from your brakes aren’t always a sign of a problem. It could just be a foreign object lodged in your brakes (a pebble or sand). However, it could be your brake-pad wear indicators, which require new brakes. Even with regular maintenance, the brakes on your vehicle may require a professional inspection and servicing when you hear new noises or notice a new smell.

Check out 8 Signs You Could Have Brake Problems and learn more about brake services at Les Schwab.

My Brakes Are Squeaking All the Time

There are a handful of reasons your brakes might be squeaking, whether you have disc or drum brakes. The most common include:

My Brakes Squeal Periodically but Stop When I Use the Brakes

If you’ve ever heard a squeaking sound from your wheels that went away when you apply the brake pedal, it could be your brake pad wear indicators. These indicators, installed by the brake manufacturer, are small tabs of hardened steel that hit the rotor and cause a squealing sound. They are only able to cause the sound when the brake pads wear down enough to expose the indicator.

The Fix: Get your brakes serviced. Ignore the warning, and the next step could be that your brake pads wear down to the point that they are aggressively grinding. This can reduce your stopping power and possibly ruin your rotors or other parts of your braking system, costing you more money.

My Brakes Are Grinding

These noises could indicate that your brake pads have absolutely no friction material left. This means the exposed metal where the brake pad once lived is now rubbing on the metal of the rotor.

The Fix: Get your brakes serviced immediately. Metal-to-metal friction can cause irreversible damage to additional parts of your vehicle’s braking system and limit your stopping power. Please note: many of today’s vehicles now have rear disc brakes, which can make the same noises.

The Back Brakes Are Squeaking

If you have drum brakes in the back and hear squealing when you press the brake pedal, it could be dust causing the issue.

The Fix: Oftentimes, all it takes to tackle this problem is a good cleaning to remove the brake dust and add some well-placed lubrication. By keeping specific contact points on a drum brake system lubricated and adjusted properly, it can prolong the life of the brakes and reduce noises. Be sure this work is done by a professional to avoid any potential issues.

There’s a Burning Smell Coming From My Brakes

A sharp, chemical odor could be a sign of overheated brakes or clutch.

The Fix: To avoid a fire or brake failure, pull over to a safe place and allow the brakes to cool. Double-check that the parking brake is off. If there’s any smoke coming from a wheel, your brake caliper may be stuck and not releasing even though you are not pressing on the brake pedal. In this case, it may be unsafe to continue driving without immediate repairs.

See Do I Really Need Brake Service for more reasons to get your brakes inspected — especially before you take a long trip.

Your Brakes Are an Important Safety Feature

Stop by Les Schwab for a free visual brake check. Our technicians are trained to keep your disc and drum brakes squeak-free and ready when you need them most. If there’s nothing wrong with your brakes or it’s a simple fix, we’ll often do it for free and send you on your way. If you need repairs or new brakes, we can show you all the options and take care of the installation. We’ll also provide you with a full inspection of your tires, suspension components, steering linkage, shocks, and struts to ensure your family’s safety.

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Winter Driving Tips: Winterize Your Vehicle

Like unpacking your heavy winter clothes that got boxed up in the spring, winterizing your car is a quick and easy process that can make any trip or commute a lot less stressful. Here’s what you need to know.

• Check your battery. A good battery is one of the unsung heroes of your daily commute. When it fails, everything comes to a screeching halt. Check your battery condition and ensure it’s still holding a charge before you need it this winter.
• Winterize your ride. This guide from Consumer Reports shares all the tools you’ll need to get your vehicle ready for the cold months ahead.
• Be ready for any weather. Winter driving conditions are rarely ideal, so it makes sense to give yourself extra time whether you’re driving across town or across the state. Also, be sure to keep the tank full, or nearly full, just in case you get stuck in a winter storm that takes hours to maneuver.