Hi everyone!

What do you do to get your car ready for the winter?

Do you keep certain things in it, in case of emergency? Do you have a particular servicing regime?

A friend of mine says always park facing east in the winter so that your windscreen defrosts faster! Although with the Alhamb and Galaxy, it's not needed because it has a very sophisticated and useful button to heat up the windscreen anyway.

Thank You.

We have just done an interim oil change on our two cars, which will see us through to major services late next Spring. We also keep snow socks in both cars, and I have a winterising bag in the form of a small grip which I put in the Alhambra in late Autumn (thank you for reminding me). This contains jump leads, tow rope and a set of 16" snow chains. I put the bag together a few years back just before a trip to Southern Germany in the winter months.
We also ensure that windscreen washer fluid is maintained at an all-year-round strength to cope with heavy frost. I foolishly relaxed on that front several years ago and was caught out by a very severe frost which split the pump mounted on the Alhambra washer bottle. We currently use Bluecol full strength diluted 50/50 and we are just changing over to the Mannol equivalent, which appears to be slightly cheaper, and if the colour and smell are anything to go by, probably the same chemically.
Very many years ago, I spent some time in the Dee valley (west of Aberdeen) with a group of friends: those who backed their cars up to the accommodation had some difficulty getting started in the mornings, but those who drove straight in, front bumper right up to accommodation, had a very noticeably easier time with no frost on windscreens, and easier starting.  We were all petrol in those days, no diesel pre-heat.   

PS! - and we have just done our checks on coolant/anti-freeze strength, to ensure that we have good safety margins.

I have filled my glove box with choccy bars and have put some bottles of drinking water in the boot. I will also put a nice blanket in the car.