Seasonal changes affect your vehicle and make for a good time to ensure your car is cared for. Here are some ways to protect your car as the season changes.

Whether you’re going from summer to fall or fall to winter, you should perform a few tasks that help maintain your vehicle and keep it running properly. If you drive thousands of miles every month, you might need to complete some of these tasks more often, but generally, as each season changes, most maintenance and car tasks should be performed.

Here are a few ways you can protect your car as each season changes.

Check your fluids

Your vehicle requires fluids to operate effectively. If you haven’t checked these fluids since the seasons changed from spring to summer, it’s time to give them a look. You should check the engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, automatic transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield washer fluid. These items are critical to your vehicle’s performance, making it necessary for you to check them and make sure they are at the right levels and don’t need to be drained and replaced.

Check your tires

You should check your tires more often than when the season changes, but if you haven’t checked them since spring, now is certainly a good time to take a look at your tires. Check the tire pressure, the tread depth, and the tread wear. Cooler temperatures can cause your tire pressure to lessen, which means checking your tires is an important task when you want to protect your car and keep it running right all season long.

Do all of your lights work properly?

Fall and winter have fewer hours of daylight than any other season of the year. This means you might head to work in the dark and return home in the dark as well. You’ll want headlights that work during this time. It’s also important to make sure all of your lights work, including turn signals and brake lights. Don’t forget to check the reverse lights (they often get overlooked), and make sure everything works the way it should. While checking your lights, you might want to update your bulbs to better models.

Replace the wiper blades

Your wiper blades should be replaced every six months. Many people choose to do this when the season changes from summer to fall and when it changes from winter to spring. This means the blades should be good for several months. You’ll want to have working and dependable wiper blades when faced with snow and freezing rain that can create problems while driving. This is also a good time to check the washer fluid if you haven’t already done so.

How do your brakes look?

If you don’t have the know-how to check your brakes, ask your mechanic to do this. If you go to them to have your tires rotated, they will likely inspect the brakes while you’re there. You should have your brakes checked at least twice a year. Don’t wait until you hear the grinding sound of the low pad indicator to check your brakes. If you wait too long, you’ll need to replace the rotors and the brakes. Your brakes will become extremely important during the wettest and coldest times of the year.

Check the heater; is it working?

One of the most important items to protect your car during seasonal changes is the heater in your car. If the heater doesn’t work and you have a freezing cold day, you won’t be able to go anywhere. It’s a good idea to test the heater before the temperatures begin to drop. Vehicle heaters rely on hot engine coolant to blow warm air. Don’t wait until the coldest day of the year to turn on your heater; this is when it will be too late.

Address known issues

Some issues arise in the spring and summer that don’t seem like a big deal until you get to fall and winter. If you want to protect your car from the harshness of the seasonal change from fall to winter, you should address any known issues with the car. You might have jerry-rigged the problem for the warmer seasons, but now that it’s getting colder, it’s time to fix the problems and have your car working properly once again.

Completing these checklist tips will help you protect your car from problems that could arise. The seasonal changes can have a negative impact on your vehicle, but with proper care and maintenance, you won’t have any issues.