The wisest know best, and wise automobile owners know well that monsoons call for acclimatising your cars. This annual process is precarious, especially with the rains being unpredictable and many areas being prone to waterlogging and other issues. Thus taking certain measures can keep trouble at bay for you and your car. Additionally, they can also render each drive hassle-free and smooth during these months. Here’s a quick guide to keeping your car clean and healthy during the rains. 

Dump the gunk 

One of the biggest troubles of driving around in the rain is the muck that settles on the body of your car. Dirt stains affect your car’s appearance and take the sheen away from the body paint, making it look even more unappealing. That is why one of the basic and most important steps of maintaining a car in the monsoons is washing it at least once a week, especially if you take it out often. You can use water (or go dry), a cleaning solution, and a soft cloth for this. And now, with MG Motor’s latest initiative: #MGCareAtHome, you can get your car sanitized, dry washed right at your doorstep.  

Steer away from car covers 

While car covers are ideal for keeping bird droppings, falling twigs and leaves, and dust and debris off your car, they are not the best option in the monsoons. This is because moisture can result in the cover sticking to the car’s body, which can eventually affect the car’s paint and cause it to peel off at the time of removal. A smarter choice is to park your car in a covered place, like a basement or a shed, to prevent it from being exposed to the rains constantly.

Prevent rusting 

Consistent rainfall and driving through water can cause certain parts of your car to rust, a problem that needs extra care and attention. A simple yet effective way to prevent rusting is to add an extra coating of wax to your car right before the monsoons begin (this helps avoid water sticking to the body of your car). Also, make sure that a fresh coat of anti-rust paint gets applied to the undercarriage or under chassis parts of your car; these parts tend to go mostly unnoticed and quickly become prone to rusting during the rainy season. Add a thorough wax job to your to-do list right away!

Keep the bonnet and boot clean 

You may not realise it, but there’s plenty of space in and around your car’s boot and bonnet to accumulate dirt. For instance, leaves and twigs (that are damp from the rain) can get caught in door jams and other crevices. If not removed and cleaned, this moisture could slowly cause such spaces to rust and get damaged. Similarly, putting bags, umbrellas, and other things in the boot space can cause a build-up of mud. This makes it essential to clean these areas by removing dirt and debris and washing your car mats. Easy hack: use a dry cloth to remove moisture from such spaces.

Check the treads in your tyres

Heard of hydroplaning? It’s the threat of tyres not responding to your control on wet surfaces. The simple reason being worn-out, bald tyres that lose traction over time. Worn and bald tires are fatally unsafe to drive with during any season, but even more so in the rains. So, you must keep an eye out for “tread wear” and ensure that your tires stay in good, solid shape for the pouring showers. One of the easiest ways of confirming signs of tire tread wear is the simple coin test, which checks the depth of the treads. All you need is a standard-sized coin that can go into the tread grooves, allowing you to check the depth of each tread: if the coin goes deep enough for just the number to show, you’re good to go. Standard new tires have an average tread depth of 8 to 9 millimetres, but a worn-out tire tends to have a depth of fewer than 2 millimetres. 

Stock your car with newspapers and plastic sheets  

A car provides ample shelter during the rains, but this would also mean that the car’s floor and floor mats will go dirty. So, if you are to enter your car wet and soaked, then the best way to protect the floor from getting dirty is by spreading out sheets of newspaper or plastic. Not only does this avoid the hassle of scrubbing off the dirt from the floor mats, but newspapers are also great absorbers of moisture. And they are pretty darn cheap too!