How to prepare your car for summer

How to prep your car for those long summer road trips

TL;DR: What do I need to check on my car before summer?

Give it a proper wash inside and out, then work through the essentials: Tyres (tread, pressure, condition), fluid levels (oil, coolant, screenwash, brake fluid), and make sure the air con system is working.

Check your wipers and windscreen for wear, swap or clean your cabin air filter if pollen’s been building up, and make sure a basic maintenance kit lives in the boot.

If you’re driving an electric car, add charging cables, port condition, and battery health to that list.

None of it takes long, and it’s a lot cheaper than a breakdown in August.

Summer sneaks up on cars the same way it sneaks up on wardrobes

One minute you’re pulling out jumpers and woolly socks, the next you’re sat in traffic on the A38 with the AC on full blast, regretting your choice of trousers over shorts.

The truth is, most cars go into summer carrying the wear and tear of a long, wet, salty winter, then get asked to do more miles than any other time of year.

Beach trips, school holiday chaos, the annual pilgrimage to wherever the extended family has decided to congregate this year.

A bit of prep now saves you a much worse afternoon later, ideally one that doesn’t involve a hard shoulder and a phone call to the AA. 

Here’s what’s worth checking as the season gets properly underway.

Check your tyres properly

Tyres take a beating over winter, and most of us don’t go looking for damage until something’s already gone wrong.

Before you rack up any serious summer mileage, give all four a proper once-over. 

Check the tread depth first. The legal minimum is 1.6mm, but if you’re anywhere near that, it’s worth getting them replaced rather than pushing your luck.

While you’re down there, look for cuts, gouges, or bulges in the sidewall. Any of those need sorting before your holiday, not after.

And tyre pressure matters more than people think.

Under-inflated tyres wear faster, cost you fuel economy, and handle worse in the wet. Check against the manufacturer’s guidelines (there’s often a label under the petrol flap), and think about investing in a handheld tyre pump.

If you’re leasing an electric car (EV), it pays to pay a little closer attention to your tyres.

EVs are heavier than their petrol or diesel equivalents thanks to the battery, which means tyres wear faster and pressure matters even more for range.

It’s also worth keeping a puncture repair kit in the boot. And if your car lease includes a maintenance package, tyre replacement and other perishables might already be covered – so check what’s included before you pay out of pocket.

Top up fluids and lubricants

This is the bit we all know we should do yet often forget about it until something starts making a noise it shouldn’t.

Before your summer mileage starts racking up, check the following and top up where needed:

• Engine oil
• Coolant
• Brake fluid
• Screenwash

Coolant needs particular attention. 

It’s doing more work in the summer than any other season, keeping the engine at a sensible temperature while you sit in traffic with the sun beating through the windscreen. 

Low coolant plus a long queue on a hot day? It’s a recipe for ending up in a layby, waiting for rescue.

And screenwash runs out faster than you might expect once the pollen and dust start flying, so it’s worth checking more often than you’d think necessary.

If everything on that list is topped up and looking healthy, you’re in good shape for whatever the season throws at you.

Get your air con properly serviced

An air con system that’s been sitting idle since last September doesn’t always spring back into life the way you’d hope.

Refrigerant levels drop naturally over time, even without a fault, and a system running low struggles to actually cool anything, no matter how far you crank the dial.

A regas is usually straightforward, and worth forking out for before any long motorway journeys in a heatwave.

It’s also worth clearing out the vents themselves.

Dust and debris build up over winter, and a quick clean improves both airflow and the smell of anything that might have been happily living in there.

Sort your windscreen and wipers

Wiper blades take a battering in winter and rarely get a second thought once the weather improves.

Rubber perishes with age and UV exposure, so blades that worked fine in March can start smearing and juddering by June without much warning.

Give them a proper look.

If the rubber’s cracked, split, or leaving streaks across the glass, replace them. It’s a five-minute job and one of the cheapest fixes on the whole list.

Windscreens are worth checking too.

Any chips picked up over winter can spread fast once the summer heat expands the glass, so get anything small looked at now rather than waiting for a hairline crack to become a full replacement.

Check your screenwash reservoir again while you’re at it.

Summer brings its own mess. Dried pollen, dust, the occasional insect, and there’s nothing worse than running dry miles from a petrol station or supermarket.

Check your cabin air filter

If pollen season leaves you sneezing the second you get in the car, the cabin air filter is probably part of the problem.

A clogged filter lets more pollen and dust into the cabin, and it makes your air con work harder than it needs to, which drags on efficiency right when you want it running at its best.

Replacing it is a small job, and most garages can do it as part of a routine service.

Regularly hoovering the interior helps too, especially around the seats and footwells where dust tends to settle and get kicked back up into the air.

EV-specific checks for summer

If you’re driving electric, there are a few extra things worth adding to the list.

Check your charging cables for any wear or damage before you rely on them for a long trip, and make sure the charge port itself is clean and free of debris.

Battery health is worth a general check too. Most manufacturer apps will show you a battery health percentage, and it’s worth knowing where you stand before you’re relying on every mile of range for a summer road trip.

Stock your car’s maintenance kit

This is different to the bag of snacks and sun cream you’ll throw in before a day out. This is what should already be living in the boot, ready for whatever the season throws at it.

Worth keeping on hand:

• Puncture repair kit
• Jump leads
• Spare screenwash
• Torch
• Basic tool kit

None of it takes up much space, and none of it costs much either.

It’s the kind of thing you don’t think about until the day comes when you desperately need it, at which point it’s too late to nip to the shops.

Ready for the road

You don’t have to spend hours getting your car ready for a summer adventure.

A wash, a proper tyre check, a look at your fluids, and a bit of attention to the parts that do all the work, and you’ll be adventuring all summer.