Perth summer vs
your car: who wins
Forty-degree days kill batteries, cook coolant and crack tyres: the three checks worth doing before December, and what they cost.
Every summer the same cars come in on the same tilt trays: boiled batteries, cooked cooling systems, tyres that chose the hottest day of the year to delaminate. All three are cheap to check and expensive to learn about on the side of the Kwinana Freeway.
If you're road-tripping this summer, the pre-trip check below is the version we run on our own cars before long drives.
Batteries die in heat, not cold
Everyone blames winter, but heat is what ages a battery, and summer just finishes the job. If yours is past three years old, a two-minute load test tells you if it'll see February. Replacement with test and fitment runs from $239.
Coolant isn't set-and-forget
Coolant additives deplete over about two years, then the system corrodes from the inside. A summer coolant flush ($149) is cheap insurance against the classic 'steam on the freeway' call. While we're in there we check hoses, cap and thermostat: the parts that actually cause roadside overheats.
Tyres: age matters as much as tread
Rubber perishes. A tyre can have perfect tread and still be dangerous past six or seven years. Check the DOT date on the sidewall. And no, the spare doesn't count if it's the original 2012 donut under the boot floor.
The ten-minute pre-trip check
- Battery load test: free with any service
- Coolant level, colour and hoses
- Tyre pressures including the spare, plus age check
- Air conditioning: a regas with leak check beats discovering it at Kalgoorlie
- Wipers and washer bottle (dust storms need both)
- Oil level and condition
Bring it in and we'll run the list on the hoist. It's the same 40-point check included in a minor service.
Same shelf
Summer quick answers
Not sure which checks your car actually needs before the trip? List your rego and travel dates on the contact page and we'll sort the rest.
Heading somewhere hot?
Book the pre-trip check before the December rush. It's free with any service. Send it through the contact page and we'll come back with a written quote before any work starts.