- by Montgomery Miller
- May 15th, 2019
Prepare Your Vehicle for Summer Driving
Hitting the road with the family can be a fun adventure. Taking in the sights on an open country road or adventuring to a new city, all part of the summer fun we can expect, along with blazing hot sunshine that can damage, leather, fabric and vinyl and cause your engine or radiator to overheat. There are some simple, practical steps you can take to minimize the potential for problems.
The inside of your vehicle includes many materials that are beautiful, comfortable and vulnerable to the effects of summer sun. Now is a good time to moisturize all of the leather elements inside your vehicle cabin. Seats, arm rests, even dash trim, will last longer when you give them a little love and some quality moisturizer. We can’t recommend a particular brand but there are several top-quality products to choose from.
Chamberlain’s Leather Milk, Leather Honey, Lexol, Chemical Guys and Meguiar’s all offer highly rated products, some combining cleaners with conditioners.
If you’ve got real wood trim, including the steering wheel, you can use a soft cloth with a very small amount of lemon oil but there are people posting on BenzWorld.org that swear by Lemon Pledge. Remember to buff lightly with a soft, clean cloth after for a beautiful shine.
Get a sunshade and use it. So many of us will purchase a sunshade, with the best of intentions but then leave it in the trunk or garage where its doing you no good at all. Keep it handy and place it in the windshield whenever you park in direct sun for any length of time. Your dash and front seats will appreciate it, and your vehicle will be much cooler when you return to hit the road.
The heat will also take its toll on your engine, tires, breaks and cooling system. Bring your vehicle into dealership and have them check the breaks, replace the coolant, change the oil and check all other fluids to be sure they are at full capacity.
Finally, be sure to keep yourself hydrated and wear polarized sunglasses to avoid fatigue and to protect your eyes from the sun’s damaging UV rays.
About the Author
Montgomery “Monty” Miller is a writer and founder of Austin based GlobalSpeed AdGroup, a full service creative advertising agency. His father, a San Antonio native, was a film and television writer with a long career beginning in the 1950s “Golden Age of Television.” In the mid-90s Monty worked in Synergy Marketing for The Walt Disney Company and prior to moving to Austin in 2015 he served as Vice President of Marketing with Flight Sciences International, a consulting firm specializing in fuel conservation planning for airlines worldwide.
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