Winter vehicle care: top tips to help your holiday park buggies enjoy a well-earned rest
As the season winds down and your park starts to quieten, it’s tempting to park up your buggy fleet and forget about it until Easter. But a bit of winter care goes a long way. Look after them now, and you’ll avoid flat batteries, unwanted surprises and unnecessary repair costs when guests return in spring.
Here are some simple, reliable winter tips to keep your buggies in great shape.
Keep your buggies on charge.
If you can, it’s best to leave your buggies plugged in throughout the winter. Modern smart chargers are designed for this, they charge the batteries fully, switch themselves off, then monitor and top up as needed. It keeps the batteries healthy and means you won’t be scrambling to wake them up when the new season arrives.
If you’re charging vehicles outdoors, make sure the IP44 plug at the end of the mains cable is properly protected from the weather. Water getting into that plug can trip your electrics and leave batteries completely flat, sometimes so flat they can’t be recovered at all.
Charging and battery maintenance.
If continuous charging isn’t possible, a little routine helps keep things running smoothly:
- Lead-acid batteries should be recharged once a month.
- Lithium batteries should be recharged at least every three months.
For lead-acid buggies, you’ll also need to keep an eye on battery water levels. Even in winter, the cells gradually lose water, and running low can damage the battery. Top them up after charging, and do it no less often than once a month.
Check for corrosion.
Winter is a brilliant time to lift the seat, have a peek, and make sure nothing unwanted is growing around the battery terminals. Blue, green or yellow crusty deposits are signs of corrosion, and left too long, they’ll interfere with charging or even stop the buggy from running.
A quick clean with a wire brush sorts it easily, just make sure you only touch one terminal at a time. Once the terminals are clean, a light coat of multipurpose spray grease helps keep moisture at bay.
Don’t forget the tyres.
It’s an easy one to overlook, but tyres absolutely hate being stored while underinflated. Flat or soft tyres can develop cracks or flat spots over the winter, turning a perfectly good set into a replacement job by spring.
Make sure all tyres are inflated to the recommended pressure before putting the vehicles away for their break.
A little care now means a seamless start to spring.
Winter downtime is great for your vehicles, but only if they’re stored properly. Just a few minutes of attention each month keeps your fleet healthy, saves you money, and makes spring start-up a breeze.
Give your buggies a good winter rest, and they’ll repay you with a reliable, stress-free start to the new season. If you’d like a version of this formatted for your website, newsletter or park handbook, I can do that too.
