Many people don’t wash their cars in the winter. “Why should I if it will get dirty again in a few days?” you may ask yourself. “Hey, even car washes themselves shut down if it gets too cold!” All these things may seem to make sense, but washing your car in the winter is the most important time, but not for the reason you may think.

Washing your car in the winter is super important for one reason: salt. When you wash your car in the winter, you aren’t doing it for cosmetics, you’re doing it to eliminate salt. We don’t get a lot of snow here in the Carolina piedmont, but we do get a lot of black ice. Black ice forms when water (or snow) on the roads freezes over and has minimal to no air bubbles making it “invisible.” Towns and cities tend to salt their roads when there’s a severe chance of black ice, which is common during December and January.

Washing a car can be a pain in the winter, especially if you’re doing it yourself, but go ahead and make the time to get it done this winter. Your safety could depend on it.

If you have any questions about exterior maintenance of your vehicle give Ken a call at 704-545-4597 or stop by Manchester Auto and Tire for a consultation.