As bitterly cold temperatures continue across the region, vehicle owners may have a rough day if they need to park outdoors — and one Minneapolis mechanic with nearly four decades of experience wants to make sure your vehicle is optimized for operating in the ongoing weather conditions.

William Peterson, the owner of Southeast Auto Service, says on extremely cold days, you should run your car for a lengthy period of time because if you don’t, it’s hard on the engine and it won’t get warmed up enough.

“Either leave your car alone and don’t drive it, instead of taking short trips like most people in the Twin Cities, in the metro area and the greater you know, in the greater Metro. If you’re in a suburb or something, that’s different, people tend to average a 20-mile trip anytime they get in their car. In town, people tend to average under four miles. That’s hard on a car, and it takes a lot out of the battery,” says Peterson, who adds having it run for 30-60 minutes will help vehicles last longer.

“Start it and run it for half an hour to an hour each of the cold days. Just let it run. Turn your accessories off, let it run if you can,” Peterson says.

When the weather hits 2 degrees, Peterson says you can warm up your vehicle for two to five minutes. CLICK HERE for the latest forecast from Minnesota’s Weather Authority.

“The negative effect is very hard on the engine because it never actually gets warmed up enough, and the oil can only protect so much. When it’s that cold out, the oil is always cold. It will never protect 100% of the other side of it. The battery will always be losing a charge as you’re running shortcuts and not running it and warming it up, that you will always be taking power away from your battery. So, at a point in time, it’ll come where you don’t have enough to get started, especially when it’s really cold,” says Peterson.

In order to prevent your vehicle’s battery from not being able to start up in the long run, you can prepare for upcoming bitter cold days by getting an electrical and battery check. Peterson adds you can overfill your tires to prepare for the pressure to go down.

“There’s always a door sticker that tells you what should be at overfilling them to prepare for the cold weather, for the air to get smaller and the light not to come on,” says Peterson.

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Editor’s Note: This article previously said Southeast Auto Service was located in St. Paul. It has since been corrected to Minneapolis.