If you’re a car-owner, spring means more than warmer weather, lighter clothes, and rain showers instead of blizzards. It means you have some work to do so your vehicle can emerge once again as a beautiful butterfly from its cold, dirty cocoon of winter. Here are some key tips on how to get your car (hopefully a Lexus!) spring-ready.

Thoroughly clean your car inside and out

This is about much more than cleaning the dirt off the body and shaking out the floor mats. If you live in areas where roadways get salted, it’s imperative that you take your car through a car wash that features undercarriage cleaning so you can protect it from rust damage. That takes care of the exterior, and then you can shake out your floor mats, vacuum out the seats and carpet, and remove all the fast food containers from when you were too depressed by the cold weather to cook. Hey, we’ve all been there. If you really take pride in your car, consider taking it to a professional detailer so you can truly get it looking and smelling like new again.

Change your winter tires back to your all-season tires

This part is tricky because you may think you’re safe to do this in March, but then you get hit with a surprise blizzard in April. Maybe that will be a “work from home” day. If you want to play it safe, wait until you get a few days in a row at 10 degrees Celsius or higher — in mid-March or later – before you make the switch.

Check your tire pressure

Once you get your all-season tires back on, it’s time to check their pressure as compared to the recommended pressure settings in your manual. If you don’t own one already, buy a tire gauge – we recommend a digital gauge for greater accuracy – and make sure your tires are ready to take on snow-free roadways.

Have your dealership check your tire alignment

Winter driving can take a toll on your alignment since that’s the worst time of year for overall road conditions. If there’s a statistic for “average potholes driven over per month”, the winter months would surely be in the lead. If you haven’t had your tires rotated in a while, this might be a good time to do it.

Don’t forget about the small stuff

How are your wiper blades? Are your floor mats unsalvageable and need to be replaced? Where can you put your snow brush/scraper so that you will remember where it is in November and you won’t have to buy your third one? These may not seem important compared to the previous tips, but you don’t want to learn the hard way, during that first spring rain shower, that your wipers are shot.

Along with these spring-specific tips, make sure you continue to follow your manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule for oil changes, air filters, cooling system and more. Take good care of your car, and it should reward you with a long life and years of enjoyable driving, as well as admiring looks from the neighbours.