Take a deep breath and remind yourself, this McHenry winter is over. Oh, we may catch a late winter storm yet but, officially, and in reality, winter isn’t going to hurt too much anymore. In fact, by now, we may have seen the last of it until next fall.

If you were a wise McHenry car owner, you did a good job of preparing your vehicle for the winter ahead. You also did a proper job of maintaining your vehicle throughout the winter. Having done so, you probably didn’t have too many problems with your car over the course of the winter weather.

Now that winter is over, you also have some maintenance to consider. For instance, winter is tough on your car’s suspension system. You’ll want to have that checked out and see how the shocks, struts, suspension and steering parts made it through the season of potholes. You may also want to have your wheels aligned.

If you ran snow tires on your car, now is the time to replace them with your all-season tires and store the snow tires for next winter.

You’ll want to ensure that your coolant is up to the job of cooling your engine in the summer ahead. The charging system has, hopefully, carried you through the winter. Will it take you through summer, too? Have it checked out and you’ll have the comfort of confidence. But there is another maintenance procedure that knows no season – changing the oil.

At the beginning of winter, you’ll want to change the oil in your car. During winter, you want to change the oil. And now that winter is over, you want to change the oil. You’ll also want to change the oil this summer.

The only reasonable restraint on when you change oil is found in the owner’s manual. Look in the owner’s manual and find out how often you should change the oil. The time factor is generally based on a maximum number of miles between oil changes, or a maximum period of time.

It may sound like a hassle changing the oil with such frequency but it’s really not that bad and it’s really worth the effort. Changing the oil is the best thing you can do to preserve your car’s engine and keep it running at peak performance.

It doesn’t take long to have your oil changed and, for instance, if you bring your car in to have the suspension, coolant and other parts checked with the passing of winter, you can have the oil changed at the same time. And changing the oil is not expensive, either.

McHenry winters come and go. If you want your car to keep on going, too, maintain it properly. And don’t forget to change the oil.