Whether you bought your car brand new off the lot, or it’s a couple years old, we want to keep rust away from it.  Rust makes our car look old, brings the value of it down, and is frustrating to look at.  So, if you’re looking to keep rust away from your vehicle, we’re going to tell you how you can do that.  It may be impossible to keep it entirely away forever, but we can definitely keep it away for awhile or minimize the damage that will be done.

How to Keep Your Car From Rusting:

1. Always make sure your car is cleaned well.  Make sure you get all the bugs, dirt, and grime off your vehicle.  What you should really make sure is clean are the wheel hubs, and the foot boards.  If your vehicle is always clean, it will help the process of keeping rust away.
2. Now make sure you try to avoid getting your car wet.  Rust usually happens when the metal on your car is wet.  Too much moisture can be a bad thing.
3. Try to not to put your vehicle away wet.  Wipe it down with a rag, and notice the places that are starting to rust.  Really make sure those spots are dry before you head into the house.
4. You will want to wax your car on a regular basis.  I’d say about every 3 months just to keep the paint looking nice, and to protect the exterior from water, and all the debree that hits your car.
5. You can also put up mud flaps on your wheel wells.  This will keep all the rocks, dirt, and other particles out of there.  Your wheel wells are what really start to rust!
6. Another thing, if you can, try to cover your vehicle each night.  Whether it’s in a garage or under a cover outside, you will protect it much more.
7. You can also consider getting rust prevention spray for your car.  It is cheap, and is known to do the job.

Car rust isn’t a pretty thing, especially if it’s happening on your very expensive vehicle.  Keep your car clean, and consider a few of these tips above to make sure you are rust proofing your vehicle!

You’re driving along the road, and then all of a sudden you realize that your car engine is starting to overheat.  Whether it’s from the smoke coming out, or the dashboard telling you that it’s doing so, there are countless things that could cause it, but first, let me show you how to stop it from doing more damage.

• Turn on the car heater: Since the heat is drawn from your car engine, you’ll want to try, and blast your car heater at full blast to see if that helps.  Sometimes this can work, while other times it doesn’t help.  The key here is to make sure that you’re running the heat, rather than the air conditioner.
• STOP driving: If you’re driving alongside the road, get off on the shoulder immediately.  You’re risking the chance of stalling out, and causing a major problem.  It’s best to pull over, and call for a tow, or help.
• NEVER touch the engine: Open up the hood, and let it cool off.  It’s most likely going to be very, very hot.  You won’t want to touch anything, especially the radiator cap.  Opening this alone can cause a world of hurt in damages.
• WAIT to do it yourself: If you really want to look into the damage, wait at least 20-30 minutes, depending on the weather.  If it’s cooler out, it will cool own quicker, and vise versa with hotter weather.  You’ll want to check the coolant to see how you level looks.  If it’s low, you will want to add some ASAP.  It’s always best to carry this in your trunk.
• Do a check: Even if you’re not a big car buff, just check around, and make sure that everything is connected.  If you can spot a leak, or something looks wrong, just take notes, and show them off to a mechanic.

If you’re in unfamiliar grounds, or you don’t want to stop, you’ll want to just stop, let your engine cool off, and continue to drive again.  By doing so, you’re not going to do more damage to your car.  While it’s always best to stop 100%, you can continue, as long as needle doesn’t hit the hot mark.

Benefits of Leasing a Car

Finances are often a key factor in whether one wants to buy or lease an automobile. It is becoming more difficult these days, with credit being harder to obtain, to buy an automobile, without a reasonable down payment. If one doesn’t have much money to put down, than leasing may be the best option.

Leasing a car may benefit the driver if he or she does not drive significant miles in any given year. Typically, leased cars come with mile restrictions. This is to ensure that when the automobile is returned its depreciable value hasn’t dropped significantly. If a driver exceeds the maximum leased miles he or she will be charged for every mile over the limit. This can be a significant financial hit to the person leasing the car.

Leasing may be the best option for people who like to drive different cars, or newer cars every few years. If one buys a car and then doesn’t like it, due to performance, or mechanical issues, he or she is stuck with it until they trade it in. For people who lease, they have a set period, usually 3 to 4 years in which they will drive the vehicle. Then they can turn it in, to lease or buy a different car.

Benefits of Buying a Car

Buying a car makes the most sense if one plans on keeping the car for an extended period of time. If one takes out a car loan, say over five years, pays off the loan, and keeps the car around 10 years, the amount of money spent on the car will be significantly less than if one was to lease the car.

When a person leases a car, they never own the vehicle. They spend a set amount of money per month, and at the end, they must return the vehicle. Buying a car, allows an individual to purchase the car and drive it until they want to trade it in.

Cars being manufactured today are built much better than they were 20 to 30 years ago. Well maintained cars should last 10 years if properly taken care of. If one has money for a down payment, and can get a reasonable monthly payment figure, I’d recommend buying a car, if one will keep it over 8-10 years.

Benefits of Buying a Used Car vs. New Car

Buying a used car, makes financial sense if one buys a car after 3 or four years. Cars depreciate rapidly after the first couple of years. Thus, one can get excellent value buying a used car, often $10,000-$20,000 off of new car price, depending on the model. The downside of buying a used car is that you may not know the history of the vehicle, its accident history, or how the previous owner treated it. In addition, financing for used cars are higher than new cars, typically 2-3% percentage points higher than new car financing rates.

Buying a new car from a dealer, although more costly than buying used, gives the buyer peace of mind. These cars will have 3 yr 36,000 mile warranties. If anything breaks the dealer will replace with at no cost.

Winter comes every year, and some parts of the nation sadly see colder weather, and snow.  If you’re apart of this region, you’re going to find that winterizing your car will help it last, and run longer.

Start with Your Tires

When winter starts bringing down the temperatures, it’s important to maintain your car for these conditions.  One place to start is with your tires.  Check to make sure your tires are properly inflated.  During the winter months, your tire pressure can drop as much as one pound per every 10 degrees the temperature drops.  Maintaining proper tire pressure throughout the winter is important for both safety and fuel economy.  If you are in place where there’s lots of ice and snow, you may want to consider switching to snow tires.

Check Your Battery

Batteries lose some of their ability to hold a change as they age.  If your battery is over three years old, you should consider having it checked by a trusted repair shop to assess your battery’s condition and even consider swapping out the old for a new one if it’s showing an inability to hold a charge.  You don’t want to go out to start that car and get that unpleasant surprise of a dead battery.

Examine Your Windshield Wipers

Wiper blades wear down over time.  Carefully check the condition of yours.  If they show major wear, you may want to replace them before winter hits hard.

Make Sure Your Fluid Levels are Adequate

Before winter brings all its nastiness, make sure all the fluid levels in your car are topped off.  Running out of window shield wiper fluid at the wrong time is not a nice surprise.  Also check to make sure that you have the best oil for your winter conditions.  Some cars experts suggest that car owners change the viscosity of their oil for driving in certain winter climates.  You should also take a close examination of your antifreeze.  Most car experts recommend that you maintain a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and water.

Everyone always says if you want to get your car’s oil changed for a cheaper price, you should consider doing it yourself.  Yes, the steps might be easy, but it’s not always convenient to do it yourself.  You have to have all the parts to drain it, buy the oil yourself, and then find a place to deposit the oil.  So, after all that work is it really worth it?  Some people say yes, and others say no.  You know you’re getting a good price if you’re only paying $20.00 or less.  Although if you’re paying more, maybe you should consider doing it yourself.

The problem with changing your car’s oil yourself is taking the used oil somewhere.  You’re not allowed to poor it on the ground, in ditches or anywhere that could contaminate or danger children or animals.  Therefore, we ask that it’s taken to a place where it’s out of the way, and can be recycled.

So, where can you take your used motor oil?

People have said that you can simply go up to Wal-Mart and give it to them, or give it to any store that has to deal with cars.  You can go to a parts store or a mechanic shop so they can recycle it for you.

Now that you know how easy it is to find a place to dispose the oil, are you thinking about changing your car’s oil now?  I’d give it a shot a few times, see how much it costs, and compare it to the prices that you’ll pay when a mechanic shop does it for you.  Just remember to change your oil about every 4,000 miles or every 6 months, which ever one comes first.  If you don’t take care of your car’s oil, you’ll end up paying a lot more for a new motor and pieces in the long run!