INDIANAPOLIS — It has happened to all of us: You try to start your car in the morning but the battery is dead because of strain from the extremely cold weather.
Since this weekend's winter storm, local mechanics have seen a spike in calls.
"It's every day, several phone calls and half a dozen voicemails," said Aaron Ray, general manager at Tyler Automotive.
His mechanics have mainly been working on three types of issues: dead batteries, low tires and frozen locks. While they expect service calls like this every winter, they want people to be prepared before leaving the driveway.
"It's easy for someone to check their coolant, check their washer fluid, check their oil level," Ray said. "Those are all thing you can do at home, and if something's off, you come by and see me."
Taking those first steps will not only save your car, but also a few bucks.
"If you don't pay attention to things and stay proactive, then you have to be reactive and, in our business, when you're reactive, it's typically a much larger bill," Ray said.
Ray said during the winter, you need to take care of your car like you take care of yourself.
"If you put things off with your health just like you put things off with your car, things are worse on the back end," Ray said.
For more tips on how to get your car winter ready, you can use this checklist from AAA.
The forecast says bitter cold temperatures return this weekend, but warmer weather returns next week.