Consider Spring Cleaning Your Car or Truck

The concept of spring cleaning is something that is typically applied to your home. After a long winter where you spent much of your time indoors, your house may have become a bit cluttered and in need of a cleanout. By spending some time getting your living areas back in shape, you can feel the same kind of revitalization inside as is happening outside with plants and flowers starting to pop up once again.

This same type of logic can be applied to your car or truck. Winter driving requires you to carry some extra supplies in many cases, and you might find that your vehicle has gotten a bit cluttered just like your home. Also, there are some maintenance points you might choose to take care of as spring arrives that will help you transition to driving in warmer weather. We’ll offer some vehicle spring cleaning tips below, and if you need any maintenance or repair work completed – or if you simply want to shop for a new Chevy – come by Taylor & Sons Chevrolet right away.

Start with These Three Steps

One of the reasons you might not wind up going through with a spring cleaning project is you simply may not know where to start. To help you get over that hump and put this project in motion, we’d like to suggest kicking things off with the three steps listed below –

• Toss the garbage. This is the easiest possible first step, which is why it’s such an appropriate place to start. Simply take a trash bag out to your car and collect everything that you want to toss out. Even a large vehicle should only require a few minutes on this task, and it will make a huge difference in how your vehicle looks and feels.
• Vacuum it out. After you pull the trash out of your vehicle, the next easy step you can take is to bring out a vacuum cleaner to pull dirt and debris off of the carpets and seats. Again, this is a pretty easy job, and may take around 10 minutes to complete. A portable wet/dry vacuum with a few attachments is a great choice for this task, but a handheld vacuum will also do the job, as well.
• Wash the windows. With the interior looking better than it has in months, you can wrap up this initial cleaning phase by washing all of the windows of the vehicle, both inside and out. Some soapy water, a soft brush, and a clean towel should be all you need for this task. Make sure to get the windows completely wiped off when you are finished to avoid unwanted streaks.

Even if you don’t go any farther than these three steps, you will already be pretty happy with the results. You’ll have a vehicle that is free from trash, smells better thanks to the vacuuming process, and is easy to see out of in all directions. This is the foundation of a great spring cleaning, and the next section will highlight some additional steps you may wish to take to get even better results.

Going the Extra Mile

If you tend to drive a lot of miles, especially in the spring and summer, it might be worth your time to go even further in your spring-cleaning efforts. These steps will not only make your vehicle more enjoyable to use, but they will also help to care for the long-term condition of the car or truck.

• Wash the exterior. Even if the weather outside isn’t yet hot and sunny, you still might want to think about having the exterior of your vehicle washed early in the spring. You could do the work yourself or take your vehicle to a commercial car wash facility. Either way, this will allow you to wash away some of the dirt and debris that winter may have left behind. Specifically, getting any accumulated road salt off of the vehicle will be helpful in terms of maintaining its condition moving forward.
• Add fresh windshield wipers. Winter conditions tend to take their toll on windshield wipers. There is plenty of rain to deal with during the fall and winter seasons, of course, and during the cold weather, your wipers might wind up dealing with some ice. Spring is a great time to pull off the old ones and install a new pair – you might choose to handle this as a DIY job, or it can be done for you at Taylor & Sons along with some other basic maintenance points.
• Switch back to all-season tires. If you swapped out your “regular” tires for winter tires over the last few months, the lead up to spring is the right time to make that switch in the other direction. Once the threat of snowy weather is mostly gone, you’ll want to remove your snow tires and put them back into storage until the cold weather comes back again. Before you start driving on your all-season tires again, be sure to check their condition and confirm that they are at the proper air pressure.
• New cabin air filter. During the winter months, you will likely have the heater running every time you drive your vehicle. That constant use means the cabin air filter is quickly going to get dirty – so spring cleaning presents a great opportunity to replace it with a fresh one. This will give you cleaner air in the cabin and allow your heating and cooling system to work better at the same time.

Taking some time to spring clean your car or truck is a worthwhile endeavor that will allow you to better enjoy your time on the roads during the warm months to come. For any automotive needs you may have in the Sandpoint area, be sure to turn to Taylor & Sons Chevrolet for assistance. Our team would be proud to work with you to provide your current vehicle with the maintenance it needs, or to help you find a new Chevy to park in your driveway. Thanks for visiting!

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