It's Christmas and your car's frozen! Here's expert advice on what to do and what not to do!

During the winter season, as the temperature drops, many drivers are making a common mistake that leaves their car doors damaged, and needing costly repairs. And who needs that, especially at Christmas time? 

And who doesn’t hate the chore of de-icing our car windscreen? But for many, what's even worse is finding out that your car door is frozen shut.

Sometimes the door handle is frozen, sometimes the rubber door seal is frosted shut to the body of the vehicle, and other times the ice is holding the metal of the door to another part of the car. 

Whichever frozen car part you’re dealing with, the one thing you should not do is to try and pull the door open. 

Graham Conway, the Managing Director at Select Car Leasing, is sharing some solutions on how to safely unfreeze a car door, saving you from an unwanted, broken car door handle. 

Try the door on the other side

“The quickest and easiest option is to carefully try another door on the vehicle. The problem could be that one side of the vehicle was exposed to more shade, and the other exposed to more sunlight, making the other side less likely to be frozen.

“If you can get in another way, start the engine and get the fans going, blowing heat out. The warm air inside the car will help thaw the frozen door. If you’re in a rush to get going, climb over to the driver's seat if you can do so, but only start driving once it’s safe to do so, which includes having properly defrosted windows.”

Push the door

“Instead of trying to pull the door open with force, give the door a firm shove instead. This might be enough to crack any ice that’s holding the door and keeping it forced shut. Put your hand flat on the door and lean against it, but don't give it a sudden slam. 

“This is much better than trying to pull the door open, as pulling with too much force can pull off the handle, damage the inside mechanisms of the door, or damage the rubber door seal.”

Scrape off ice 

“If the handle seems to be the only part of the vehicle that’s stuck, scrape off the ice on the handle with a scraper and this should hopefully sort out the problem. 

“If there’s ice all around the door and holding the door stuck, then slowly remove and scrape as much ice and the edges as possible. Once this is done, push the door in to try and crack the remaining ice and then pull.”

Hot water

“Pouring some hot, but never boiling, water around the affected area can help the ice that’s causing the jam to melt. However, this is a short-term solution, as once it cools it will freeze over the existing ice, potentially making the problem even worse.

“Make sure the water isn’t too hot, certainly as I say, certainly not boiling, and once you’ve got the door open be sure to dry down any wet surfaces to avoid more ice forming as you drive along.

De-icer

“Whilst bottles of chemical de-icer are usually sold as a way to clear windscreens, it can also help with a stuck door or lock. 

“The chemicals will be able to break down the ice that’s stopping the door from opening, whether it’s a stuck handle, stuck bodywork or a tsuck rubber seal.”

How to stop it from freezing

“Unfortunately, aside from uprooting and moving to warmer climes,  the cold can’t be stopped, but there are ways to stop your car door from freezing. The easiest way is to park your car somewhere sheltered such as a garage or carport. If that’s not an option that's available, a car cover can provide enough protection to stop your car icing up.”

If you would like to use this content, please credit Select Car Leasing using this link:

That's Christmas would like to thank Select Car Leasing for their invaluable assistance in putting this blog post feature together.

https://www.selectcarleasing.co.uk.

(Image courtesy of Arek Socha and Pixabay)