News

Here we are in April, and that means that trees everywhere, especially the coniferous kind, are spewing huge amounts of yellow-green pollen into the air. Nobody really likes pollen, except maybe for bees; it brings sneezing fits and runny noses for everyone, and it results in a disgusting powdery film all over your vehicle.

Pollen is such a fine, dusty powder, it wouldn’t seem like it would be very abrasive…but it is. Just leaning against a car that’s coated with pollen can be enough to cause minute scratches in the finish, and it can also corrode paint just like bird droppings or acid rain can. If you’re not used to washing your car regularly, this might be the time to start, since keeping the stuff off your car’s exterior also means it has less of a chance of making it inside the car where it can trigger an allergy attack. Use a good quality car wash solution – not something like dish soap or detergent, which strips the wax off – and follow up with a coat or two of liquid or paste wax to help repel pollen and water.

Inside the Car

It’s all well and good to keep this stuff off of your car, but what about the cabin? There’s one piece of good news here, and that is that, as particulate matter goes, pollen particles are fairly large and easy to trap with a filter, either in your home or in your car. Most vehicles built after the year 2000 feature a cabin air filter that’s designed to do just that. The cabin air filter is often located behind the glovebox in the A/C system, and filters exhaust fumes and other odors as well as trapping fine particles of dust or pollen spores. Like your engine air filter, the cabin air filter should be changed at regular intervals.

If you’re really sensitive to pollen, it’s a good idea to use the A/C (on the Recirculate setting) during the spring months, even if it’s not that hot outside yet, and keep your windows rolled up when you park the car. You can also use a shop-vac or household canister vacuum with an upholstery attachment to eliminate it from your seats, headliner and carpeting.

Don’t let pollen mess up a perfectly good spring day, and don’t let it mess up your car, either! At RoadMart Tire, we’re your go-to source for auto maintenance and repair. If you’re not sure about that cabin air filter or you suspect it might be time to change your engine air filter, give us a call and make an appointment. We can, of course, also give your A/C system a complete checkup to make sure it's in good shape going into the summer months.  We don’t want you driving around in a pollen-infested car, sneezing and wheezing your way around town. Let us help you out this spring!