A Guide to Caring For Your EV During the Winter

Spring is finally upon us, meaning Opening Day of the baseball season, Mother's Day, and a plethora of airborne irritants. At long last, it’s time to leave the familiar confines of home behind and embark on outdoor adventures. Of course, before you can do so, you need to make sure your vehicle is in a proper state to get you to your various spring destinations. Courtesy of Avalon Honda, here’s a handy checklist of what components need inspecting before you put your vehicle back on the road. While they’re listed by approximate order of importance, make no mistake that each is vital to your Honda’s short and long-term health. 1. Battery Your battery runs a greater risk of depletion during colder months, so the first thing you want to do when the weather warms up is make sure your battery is along for the ride. Although the average car battery lasts between four and five years, it drains at a much higher rate in extreme elements. That makes spring the logical time for a battery diagnosis, so that you can replace it before tourist season begins and your engine starts to cook in the summer heat. 2. Fluids As surely as you spent the winter throwing back spiced beverages, your vehicle was guzzling through its own fluids. Change your oil if you haven’t done so since last summer, and consider switching your oil’s viscosity to a heavier weight for the warmer weather ahead. Keep your engine oil full to keep your engine protected and functioning normally. Refill your brake fluid, steering fluid, and coolant to their appropriate levels. Lastly, top off the windshield fluid: if not empty, it’s probably nearly spent from combatting sleet, salt, and other winter build up. 3. Tires Just as batteries are more susceptible to drainage during colder months, your tires stand a greater chance of deflation. For every 10 degrees the temperature drops, your tires could lose a full PSI. If you swapped out for winter tires last year (and kudos if you did), now is the time to transition the switch back to summer tires. If you’re rolling with the same tires, make sure to measure your air pressure pronto. Look for your tires’ recommended PSI levels on the sticker inside your driver’s door and inflate accordingly. Need a new set of wheels for the new year? Look no further than Avalon Honda's Tire Center. 4. HVAC System If you had the heat in your car running continuously throughout the winter, that means the same HVAC system that controls your air conditioning hasn’t been taking a vacation. Make sure you have cool air coming out of your vents before it really gets sweltering. Refill your coolant until it reaches its appropriate levels. Lastly, replace your cabin air filter, as it’s likely accumulated a good deal of dust, dirt and debris during the winter. 5. Wiper Blades Your windshield is often working overtime to maintain visibility during the winter. Between snow, ice, frost, and salt, there's more than enough to keep your blades occupied. As the rainy spring season approaches, take this time to install a set of well-functioning, seasonally appropriate blades. Checkmate If you’ve checked off all five items from your list, congratulations! Your vehicle is officially spring-certified. And if you need help with any part of your checklist, fear not: Avalon Honda's Service Center has you covered. From tire rotations to oil filter changes, we’re your one-stop shop for all your Honda's maintenance needs. Schedule your service with us today. This Easter, hop on down to Avalon Honda; we’ll make sure your Honda is set to deliver you to all the adventures that await you this spring and beyond.

When you get in a car accident, a million thoughts swim through your head at the point of impact. It’s not unlike being swept under the ocean current by a wave, unable to differentiate up from down. As your mind snaps into survival mode, secondary thoughts of repair costs and insurance rates undoubtedly start competing for mental real estate. Your own health and safety should always be the primary concern when you’re in an accident. And in a perfect world, the status of your car would be a distant, trivial matter. Alas, our world doesn’t stop moving, and both you and your vehicle need to be back on the road as soon as possible. Fortunately, Avalon Honda’s Collision Center in Cape May Court House turns collision repair and bodywork into a stress-free endeavor. From paintless dent repair to pre-accident restoration, our certified collision repair experts will have your car looking good as new before you know it. Certified Fresh When we say your vehicle is in the hands of top auto experts, we’ve got the paperwork to back it up. Avalon Honda is proud to be a Gold Class collision repair business – one of only two iCar Gold Class collision centers in Cape May County. As a Gold Class shop, our service technicians must undergo annual training that brings our operation up to speed with new vehicle technologies and the latest repair techniques. Though only 10% of America’s collision centers are Gold Class, we weren’t content with stopping there. We’re also Cape May County’s only authorized ProFirst Collision Center, faithfully upholding Honda’s rigorous standards. ProFirst Certified shops immerse themselves in ongoing industry education, continuously earning third party certifications. As part of our ProFirst certification, our Collision Center has been meticulously inspected by Honda itself. This ensures we have the necessary equipment and training to properly repair your vehicle to Honda’s high caliber. At Avalon Honda, we don’t take any shortcuts when it comes to restoring your vehicle the right way. Types of Restoration Services Offered Our team is prepared to service your vehicle in whatever condition it’s brought to us in. From simple scrapes and dents to major repairs, as long as your vehicle isn’t deemed a total loss, we can restore it. Types of services we offer include, but aren’t limited to: Paintless Dent Repair: Having to fix a dent in your Honda is an inconvenience, but with rare exceptions, it’s hardly a bank breaker. By the time our certified team has popped everything back in its right place, it’ll be as though those dents never existed. Windshield Repair: When your windshield is struck by a rock or other errant road materials, small impact cracks can be left in their wake. If these diminutive cracks are dealt with promptly, they shouldn’t leave much of a trace. But if left untreated, these small cracks can expand past the initial impact area, endangering the entire windshield. Avoid the cost of a complete windshield replacement and contact us at the first sign of these annoying blemishes. Bumper Refinishing: If you’ve ever been in a minor fender-bender, you know it’s not the worst thing that can happen to your vehicle from a performance perspective. But from an aesthetic standpoint, scrapes and scuffs on your bumper are an irritating eyesore. Thankfully, bumper covers are removable and can generally be refinished without the need for a full replacement. At Avalon Honda, we’ll make sure everything is straightened out. Receive Your Estimate Today If you’ve recently been in an accident and the initial wave of panic has subsided, rest easy; the worst part of the ordeal is behind you. Put your damaged vehicle – and your trust – in the hands of our certified collision repair team here at Avalon Honda. Get your estimate today and begin the process of turning this incident into a memory. Our team’s job is to remove all evidence of your vehicle’s damage – enabling you to put the past in the rearview and drive confidently into the future.

Whether you’re a car enthusiast or simply a daily driver, keeping your car clean is always a must. While it may seem like a daunting task to keep your car clean, it truly isn't, especially with our Avalon Honda helpful car cleaning tips. As with any chore, the more you keep up with cleaning your car, the easier it is to maintain. That is why we recommend regularly cleaning out your car, vacuuming it and keeping it free of trash and debris. When it comes to keeping the exterior of your car looking great, regular washes and waxes will go a long way. Maintaining your car’s paint is a great way to ensure your vehicle won’t have rust or peeling problems. The best part is that it keeps your car looking great too. With this list of helpful tips, you’ll have all the tools and knowledge you need to keep your car looking just as great as it did the day you bought it. Clear it Out The first step to cleaning your car like the pros is pretty simple — clear it out! Trash, debris, last week's hamburger wrapper, you’ll want to get rid of it all. Clearing out the clutter from the interior of your car instantly makes it look better and a lot less “lived in”. Plus, if you had enough stuff in there, you could consider it as fuel savings to clean it all out. Not only is interior clutter unsightly, but it can also be dangerous. If you’re ever in an accident, every item you have on the interior will be tossed around becoming a hazard to you. Plus, who wants to be coated in a two-day-old soda after getting in an accident? Cleaning out the interior of your car is the easiest step, all you need are some trash bags and you’ll be clutter-free in no time. Once you’ve cleaned out the interior of your car, you can move on to our next step detailed below. Scrub it Out Just like the carpet and flooring in our homes, the floor mats in our cars can get pretty dirty. That’s why it’s important for you to pull them out of the car and give them a good scrubbing. Getting your floor mats nice and clean doesn't just look good, it also will help cut down on airborne bacteria and irritants too. Before you get to scrubbing, you may also want to give your floor mats thorough vacuuming. This will get the dirt and debris that has found its way into your car and been compacted down. Once you’re done vacuuming you can get to scrubbing. You’ll want a good brush with semi-firm bristles to attack carpet floor mats, and a good cleaning agent as well. If you have rubber or “all-weather” floor mats, you can skip the vacuum step and just give them a good spray down with your chosen cleaning agent. Vacuum it Out If you have been following our steps thus far, you should have your vacuum out still, so why not tackle the rest of the interior with it? Thoroughly vacuum all carpeted surfaces in your car, including the passenger and rear-seat floorboards, especially if they see high traffic. While you have the vacuum out, it’s probably a good idea to run it over any non-carpeted surfaces that accumulate dust and debris like the dashboard. You can even hit the vents as dust accumulates there and can cause allergies or irritation. A solid vacuum job should leave your car's interior looking fresh and smelling even better — so why not take the time and do your car a favor? Wipe it Out A final step to cleaning your car like a pro is wiping it out. Pick up some interior cleaning and detailing wipes and get to work! We recommend starting from the driver's seat, hitting all the instrumentation and surfaces you touch most. From there, we say no amount of attention to detail is too much. Dig into those cracks and crevices, don’t be afraid to really get in there. You can use things like Q-Tips to get into tight spaces like between the air vents or radio controls. Work your way throughout the front first, then make a move to the back of the car — don’t forget the cupholders! Get to Cleaning Now that you have read our list of tips to keep your car clean like the pros, it's time to grab your cleaning supplies and get to work. Whether you’re going for full interior and exterior detail or keeping it simple with a wash and wax, this list of tips is sure to get you started on the right path. If you’re not feeling the whole DIY car detailing process, that’s okay too, we can always help you out at our reconditioning department. All you have to do is book an appointment online or by calling 609-465-8600 — stopping by works too.