Five Ways the Cold Weather Can Damage Your Car
When it’s freezing cold outside, we don’t leave our homes without bundling up in layers of clothes, a heavy coat, hat and gloves. Unfortunately, your car doesn’t have that luxury in winter — unless you want to scare your neighbors, jokes Donald Otto, owner of highly rated Bear Automotive in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “The neighbors would commit us to an asylum if they saw us put a coat on our cars,” Otto says. Auto experts say the cold weather can cause damage to all parts of vehicles over time, especially when the temperatures dip well below zero. “Everything [is affected],” says Brian Vaupell, general manager of highly rated Jessup’s Automotive Services in La Grange, Illinois. “Anything made by metal doesn’t like cold. Metal will shrink in cold temperatures.” Here are five of the biggest ways cold can affect and damage your vehicle. 1. Thickening fluids In cold temperatures, your car’s fluids — oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, etc. — become more ...