Prepare Your Car for Summer

The seasons are changing and that means taking another look at the health of your car. Yes, during the winter you changed the tires and checked on the heating system, but now the situation has changed, and besides, your car has been through a whole season – two, even! You need to make sure that it's ready to stand up to everything and anything that spring and summer can throw at it. If you don't, you may find yourself needing a new car not too far from now, and who can afford that in this economy?

The first thing you want to do is stop by some local tire shops and get your tires checked on. If you drove very much over the past few months, you may already need a tire change – or at least a rotation. It couldn't hurt, regardless. With your tires seen to, it isn't very expensive to find a mechanic offering brake services. You'll definitely want to make sure your brakes are in top form; bad brakes can mean a bad break for you. Brakes repair, if necessary, is comparatively inexpensive.

Ultimately, though, the season you're most worried about is summer, and with good reason. Summer is the season of pools, ice cream, and t-shirts. Why? Because summer is really hot! That's why you need to make sure that your auto air conditioner is working. A broken air conditioner means you're going to have a pretty bad time. Sure, a rolled down window can do the trick on breezier or cloudier days, but when its really, truly baking outside, you need some artificial air cooling, stat!

Auto air conditioner service goes up in price as summer approaches – mechanics know when to charge and when to offer a deal. Most people don't think that far ahead, and end up having to pay top dollar for their auto air conditioner repair when, if they'd only thought to have it checked a month or two beforehand, they might have saved quite a bit of money.

In other words, you should get your car checked over as soon as possible. You can't be sure what needs fixed and what's good to go until you have a professional take a look and run a few diagnostics. You don't want to be driving along on the highway when your breaks or tires give out, that's for sure. And you don't want to start the summer with a busted air conditioning system; nobody will ever want to get in your car, including you!