Fall is coming for Santa Cruz County, and your local Santa Cruz Toyota dealership and service center is here to ensure your car, truck, or SUV is good to go for all the miles and slippery leaves ahead. Just like winter car preparation, fall also has specific needs to keep you and your loved ones safe on the road. Our team has put together our Top 10 Toyota Tips for Fall below. Need help checking these off? Bring your car to our service team, and we can help answer additional questions and check these boxes.
When in doubt, check your tires before every season. Here we are checking things like tire tread and inflation. Do they need to be rotated, balanced, or aligned?
Be sure to always change your oil at its recommended intervals, which can be anywhere from 3,000 miles to 9,000 miles. If you can’t remember the last time you had your oil changed, give us a visit so we can see how clean or dirty it is.
Front, rear, and interior lights are all essential during the Fall, especially with the time change. If your lights are dimming, considering having the bulbs replaced.
There are lots of ways you can tell the health of your battery aside from your car not starting in the morning. Take a look under the hood to see if there is any kind of buildup around the connectors, check the warranty day, etc. Did you know batteries tend to die faster in cooler temps?
Give yourself (and others) a brake. Leaves are always deceivingly more slippery than we think they will be. When needing to stop on a dime, you need great brakes. Let us perform a brake check to ensure your brakes are in the best condition possible going into Fall.
No one likes a cold car. No one likes a windshield that won’t defrost. These things are both critical jobs that your heater performs.
Transmission, coolant, washer, and so many more fluids are essential to keeping your car and you running safe. Too many to deal with? Our team can go in and check these levels for you.
One of the more costly repairs are with your belts and hoses that work overtime and run a higher risk of cracking during the cold, dry months. Check them early to catch small defects before they become large issues.
Why we love them: they protect against the wet Fall weather and reduce the smell that can leave in your car. A small action like this can make any car ride more pleasant.
You have to be prepared for the unexpected. We recommend having a cold-weather safety kit in your car with jumper cables, blankets, jackets, an ice scraper, a flashlight, and so on just in case.
Need help getting your Toyota ready for Fall? Schedule your appointment with our team today, and we can do all of these checks for you. Santa Cruz Toyota is the trusted and preferred Toyota dealership and service center for drivers all around Santa Cruz county, Capitola, and more.