Spring Vehicle Checklist for Ontario

Your car just survived another Ontario winter. Five months of road salt, sub-zero cold starts, frost heaves, and potholes that could swallow a basketball. Even if everything seems fine, winter leaves damage that gets worse if you ignore it. Here is what needs attention in April, listed in order of priority.

1. Undercarriage Wash — Do This First

Ontario dumps roughly 5 million tonnes of road salt annually, and a significant portion of that is now caked onto the underside of your vehicle. Salt accelerates rust aggressively. Brake lines, fuel lines, suspension components, exhaust systems, and subframe mounts are all vulnerable.

Take your car to a touchless car wash with an undercarriage spray within the first week of consistently above-freezing temperatures. Most automatic car washes in Ontario offer an undercarriage option for $2 to $5 extra. Do it at least twice in April.

For real protection, book an oil-based undercoating treatment. Rust Check and Krown offer annual treatments for $130 to $170 that coat the undercarriage in rust-inhibiting oil. If you plan to keep your car more than three years in Ontario, annual rustproofing is essential maintenance.

2. Tire Swap and Inspection

Once daytime temperatures consistently stay above 7°C — usually mid to late April in southern Ontario — swap your winter tires back to all-seasons or summer tires. Running winter tires on warm pavement wears the soft compound quickly.

When you take the winters off, inspect them. Check tread depth and mark each tire's position so you can rotate them in October. Before mounting your summer tires, check those too — five months in storage can cause slow leaks or sidewall cracking.

3. Alignment Check

Ontario's pothole season peaks in March and April. Hitting a pothole hard enough knocks your wheels out of alignment. An alignment check costs $90 to $120 at most Ontario shops. A full alignment runs $120 to $180. See our wheel alignment guide for details.

4. Brake Inspection

Winter is brutal on brakes. Constant salt exposure corrodes rotors and caliper slides. Most shops will do a quick check during your tire swap for free or for $20 to $30. Ontario shops typically charge $300 to $500 for a front brake job. For more on brake warning signs, see our guide.

5. Fluid Levels and Battery

Check engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, and replace winter washer fluid with summer bug-wash formula. If your car struggled to start on cold mornings, get your battery tested — most auto parts stores do it free.

6. Wiper Blades and Exterior

Replace wipers if they chatter or streak ($30 to $60). Walk around the car checking for stone chips, cracked headlights, and rust spots on lower panels. Stone chips can be repaired for $50 to $80 before they spread.

For summer preparation, see our summer road trip vehicle prep checklist.