Posted on 5/5/2015
Anyone who has ever driven longer than twenty miles on the open road can attest to the annoyance of bugs sticking to the front of the car. Whether it’s on the grille, the hood, or the windshield, those pesky bugs are equally pesky when it comes time to try and remove the platter. Why is it so difficult to get them off your car? Well, most bugs contain acidic substances that, once adhered, can become one with the paint job, making them almost impossible to remove without taking some of the paint away in the process. There are two main ways to remove the devious bug carcasses from your vehicle, and the best route depends on where exactly they are located and personal preference. Some choose a mechanical option, using brute force and rubbing and scrubbing to get those pesky critters off. Others choose the chemical route, picking substances that help dissolve ... read more
Posted on 4/11/2015
Easy car fixes that you can do yourself Automobiles can be complex and overwhelming machines. Sometimes it might feel like you could save a lot of money if you just knew a little bit more about the machine itself. Although cars are on the whole complex there are a few simple fixes you can learn to do yourself that will allow you to keep your car in better condition and better running order longer. The first kind of fix you can perform by yourself with only a little research and some practice is an oil change. You’ve probably heard that you should change your oil every 3000-7000 miles or so. Oil keeps a car running smoothly and is one of the most important things to maintain. Although a technician may be able to perform an oil change faster and with more consistency with practice you can achieve a very similar result. If you ca ... read more
Posted on 4/11/2015
The history of car repair Before the care became a viable mode of transportation there was only a few rudimentary forms of slow transportation. When the car first came around before the 20th century it was only in the form of hand fitted vehicles that often were incredibly rare and incredibly expensive. This made the repair of these vehicles even more rare because the cars themselves were custom made and hand fitted. Car repair at the renaissance of the car was both rare and expensive. The earliest car owners had no real repair business to turn to. Typically these owners repair the car themselves and looked toward other industries for the manufacture of the necessary parts that he would require. For some wealthier car owners the chauffeurs they hired were typically also mechanics who not only drove the car but also were required to mai ... read more
Posted on 4/11/2015
How does the check engine light work The check engine light can mean a lot of different things for a driver. Most commonly people ignore this warning function in their car assuming they will be able to get by fine. This is perhaps because the check engine light checks for an incredibly long list of things. So what happens when you are pulling onto the street to start your day and the check engine light won’t go off? A very long list of things can cause the check engine light to turn on but a few of them are things like a blown gasket head, worn-out spark plugs, and loose or cracked hoses/manifold. These are just a few potential things that can cause the check engine light to go on. The check engine light tends to check for symptoms rather than root causes which is why it can seem like nothing is wrong when the like randomly turns on ... read more
Posted on 4/5/2015
Why are car repairs high in cost? In these economic times people are looking to save money in anyway that they can. When your car breaks down it can be economically devastating. The question then becomes why do car repairs cost so much? By looking at the individual components that make up car repair costs you can become better educated as to how you can avoid high costs and choose a better shop. The first and most obvious component of the cost of repairing a car is the parts. Parts become necessary for car repairs when wear and tear becomes too great and a part either breaks down or is close to becoming non-functioning. These parts typically make up a significant portion of car repair costs. Parts can vary in both quality and price. Another component of car repair costs is labor. The labor is essentially a portion is of the cost ... read more
Posted on 3/18/2015
Remember the days when you heard your grandfather or your father call their car that they have had for years a certain name? Remember the beam in their eyes when they spoke the name? This shows the emotional attachment that a car can provide to their owners. Although there is no evidence on the beginning of naming your car, there is an unofficial dedicated day in order to do so. The unofficial holiday is titled Name Your Car Day. It is always considered to be on October 2 of every year. If you do not have a name for your new car yet, follow these tips and consideration for the process of naming your dependable, favorite vehicle. Importance of the Name Choosing a name should be made with consideration and care. The name that you give your car will reflect the character of the vehicle. The character and performance should be shown in the name that is ... read more
Posted on 3/10/2015
2014 marked an increase in vehicle safety scores across the board! Great news for everyone, safety is improving all around, gone are the days where SUV’s and trucks are the only bastion of safety. Today even small sized cars are able to pass crashworthiness tests with flying colors. An ever growing technological gap between today’s cars and yesterdays is the cause. This technology gap has actually completely changed the game; almost every mainstream vehicle released nowadays comes with Crash Avoidance & Mitigation technology. They are actually just safer by default, with built in spidey senses to avoid engagements automatically cares are becoming safer across the board. Increased efficiency in engineering has allowed for better designs Cars today are truly designed with safety in mind. With health and safety standards in automobiles constantly being ... read more
Posted on 3/5/2015
Deciding which car insurance policy to pick can be a nightmare, here are some tips to help ease the decision. Deciding whether or not to go with full-coverage or liability insurance is a tough choice. There are so many reasons to pick one over the other! But broken down the decision can be made a bit better with just a bit of key information. Sentence 2: Full coverage isn’t always the best decision. For some people, especially those who don’t use their vehicle that often it’s really not. Some people are in a position where it’s actually cheaper and better for them to only get liability, as they actually have no need for full coverage! What does Full coverage do that liability doesn’t Depending on your region, laws on insurance will vary, and some insurance companies can be harder to get money out of them vault in a bank! Access the insurance comp ... read more
Posted on 3/1/2015
You’ve heard of winter prepping but what about spring? As we all know cars are complex mechanical beasts, but no matter how sweet your vehicle is without proper maintenance a car is just as vulnerable! The seasonal changes in the warmer months are not as hard hitting on your vehicle as the winter months but they can still cause havoc! Although winter has some of its own specific tolls on cars, most of the same repairs in winter are also needed during summer. Were you expecting something different? Your car has the same parts spring and winter; maintenance should be year round not just seasonal! Ever think about what happens to your car when it suddenly gets warmer? At the end of the day vehicles are made of man-made materials. No matter how amazing your neighbors Porsche is its still made of metal-alloys that are susceptible to rust. Plastic that ... read more
Posted on 2/26/2015
E85 has quickly come up in the world as a leading gasoline replacement, and as of 2014 there were over 3,000 service stations across the US carrying the fuel. Developed to help reduce tail pipe carbon emissions in vehicles and reduce overall greenhouse emissions, E85 is a blend of 85% denatured ethanol and usual 15% gasoline and commonly goes by the name Flex Fuel. Though typically E85 is cheaper than gasoline and diesel the fuel economy has yet to have any substantial research to prove otherwise, which some would say negates the dollar savings in the long run. Others tout that ethanol has already proven an advantage of up to 22% more efficient in equivalent ethanol engines. Just like adding diesel to a gasoline engine, adding E85 to a gasoline engine can cause major damage to the fuel system and other major systems. One such failure is caused by ... read more