Winterize Your Car Before The First Snow Flies In The Northland

Even if you have only spent one winter here in the Northland, you know the weather can be brutal and unpredictable. Because of that, you want to make sure if you have your vehicle tuned up and ready for the season. Maintenance on a vehicle can get expensive, but don't take for granted that your car is going to start right up every day, or if your tires will be able to get you through the snow.

We used to work here at the radio station with a guy who had a fairly long commute to and from Duluth so he was hyper-conscious about the weather and drove a car. So every year around this time he would obsess about getting his snow tires on his car and would grill all of us too about what kind of tires we had on our cars and what kind of condition they were in. Looking back now I get it because he had so far to drive and wanted to feel safe.

It makes sense though to avoid the rush too. Everyone sees the first snow in the forecast, and wait times to get into a shop to get new tires can get long. Taking care of it early will make sure you're ready to go without having to panic the first time it snows.

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Gavin Aker is a local service manager and he recommends that now is a good time to check your battery, fluid levels, and tires, but if you have snow tires do not have them installed until it is 40 degrees or lower on a regular basis. Aker who is the service manager at Allstar Service and Accessories told FOX21:

You basically want to make sure that everything under the hood as far as fluid levels are up to par, that you don’t have any major leaks in any rubber hoses or things like that. The best way is to probably consistently go to the same place for your maintenance items like your oil changes.

Given the fact that we are still in a pandemic it seems some things like appliances and furniture just to name a few are things that will take months to come in, so don't get caught short on a car battery or tires in case those start to run short as well. Taking a little extra time and maybe spending a little bit of money is worth the peace of mind when the weather gets brutal.

CHECK IT OUT: 10 Items Might Be in Short Supply This Winter

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.