Winter arrives at roughly the same time every year, but it still manages to catch all too many Canadians unprepared. To be fair, between back-to-school, Thanksgiving, and pre-holiday preparations, the months leading up to the onset of winter are a busy time. Still, if you stop to think about what’s at stake (namely, your safety as well as the safety of your passengers and everyone else on the road) you’ll likely agree that it’s worth taking the time to ensure your vehicle is ready to handle all the snow, ice and slush that winter has in store.

Here are the essentials to check off your winter-proofing list for your vehicle.

Tires 

Your tires may say “All-Season,” but that’s not strictly true. If the temperature routinely drops below seven degrees where you live (which is most of Canada), you should swap your all-seasons for winter tires well before colder weather arrives. In addition to being designed to perform better under wet, snowy and slushy conditions, winter tires are made from softer rubber that’s specially formulated to maintain grip below seven degrees. Because fall is a busy season for tire shops, your best bet is to make an appointment well ahead of the first snowfall.

Battery

A car that won’t start on a cold winter morning is no fun at all, so if your battery is more than a few years old, it’s best to find out how much life it has left. Any mechanic’s shop will test your battery as part of a routine inspection, but if you’re inclined to check it yourself, it’s easy enough to do with a multimeter, an inexpensive tool available at any auto parts store. Simply set the multimeter to 15-20 volts, hook up the contact points to the positive and negative terminals on your battery, and read the voltage that’s displayed. In most cases, a healthy battery will be around 12.6 volts, but be sure to confirm this in your vehicle’s owner’s manual. 

Winter safety kit 

Breakdowns are annoying and inconvenient, but if one happens during a snowstorm, it can be dangerous, too. To ensure your safety in the event of a breakdown, pack a winter safety kit including a small shovel, a blanket, booster cables or a battery charger, warm gloves, emergency candles and matches, a flashlight and batteries, an ice scraper, a high-vis vest and emergency flares. 

Top up your washer fluid 

The worst time to realize you need to refill your washer fluid is while you’re driving on the highway, struggling to see the road through a haze of slush and grime. With the benefits of being able to see through your windshield being self-evident, ensure your washer fluid is full before the snow flies and top it up regularly throughout the season. 

Pre-winter inspection 

If you don't have the time or the inclination to deal with prepping your vehicle for winter, don’t let that be your excuse for hitting the road unprepared. Instead, just ask your mechanic to take care of it for you. Better still, since you’re already taking your car to the shop for a seasonal tire swap, you may not even have to make a separate appointment for a pre-winter inspection.

Storage 

If you’re planning to swap out your fun summer ride for a winter beater, proper storage is essential to ensure it starts up again in the spring. First, wash and dry the car thoroughly, taking extra care to remove any bugs or bird droppings (which can damage paint over time). You’ll also want to change the oil, top up the fuel tank (including a dose of fuel stabilizer), and disconnect the battery. Putting your car on jack stands can keep the tires from developing flat spots or, failing that, you can overinflate the tires slightly to allow for air loss over the winter. You may also want to put a ball of steel wool in the exhaust pipe to prevent rodents from nesting there during storage (just be sure to leave a note on the dash reminding you to remove it in the spring). Finally, use a car cover to keep that paint clean and dust-free until you’re ready to roll again.

Jeremy Freed is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto. His writing about fashion, travel, food and design appears in Sharp, Harry and re:Porter magazines, among many others.

Jeremy Freed is a paid spokesperson of Sonnet Insurance.