Emergency Preparedness, It's a Way of Life

It's almost spring! And that means it's almost time for cabin fever and spring cleaning, which can be stressful for some and cathartic for others. Whichever school of thought you're in, we've got a great guide to getting through spring cleaning your vehicle with ease. Check it out, and then share your clean results on our Facebook! Replace your wipers with ones that haven't been through the past winter. The salt, dirt, and other debris that gets thrown at your windshield with snow and road slush can do a number on your wipers, and with those spring showers that are coming, you'll need your wipers to work well. Tackle your carpeting and upholstery by vacuuming the crevices in your seats, wiping your seats down with a damp cloth, and shaking out and vacuuming your carpets. Get the hose of the vacuum into all the crevices on the floor, as well, and really make sure to shake all the dirt out of your mats. Wipe down your console and vacuum out the cupholders. Don't get the electronics wet, but make sure you clean off any grime or stickiness that's collected. Organize everything in your glove box and other compartments. That's a good place to stash trash in an emergency and then forget about forever, so make sure you take care of those spots. Clean the insides and outsides of your windows, including your windshield. Fingerprints, dust, and frost marks can collect over the winter and now's the time to get rid of all of that. Clean out your trunk - winter debris and various other things can collect in your trunk and you don't need to deal with that in the spring. Wash your vehicle! Use a good vehicle shampoo and a warm day and make sure your vehicle is looking great, and not being slowly eaten away by salt. Spray down the undercarriage as well to knock loose salt. If you're more of the full-service car wash type, then treat your vehicle (and yourself, because who doesn't love to go through a car wash??) to a nicer car wash that includes a protectant and undercarriage wash. Check out your wheels, including checking the tire pressure. Clean your wheels and wells, and making sure that your tires are in good shape and your wheels and rims aren't bent or broken anywhere. Clean out your engine bay by getting rid of any dead leaves, debris, and dust that have collected in the bay and checking for animal nests (especially if you live in a more rural spot). Consider applying a protectant like a spray or wax to your vehicle after you wash it. If you do choose to do this at home, then do it in the shade. Direct sunlight is never a good idea when you're applying protectant. Replace your wipers with ones that haven't been through the past winter. The salt, dirt, and other debris that gets thrown at your windshield with snow and road slush can do a number on your wipers, and with those spring showers that are coming, you'll need your wipers to work well.

If you are one of the millions of American drivers looking to increase their fuel economy in the vehicle you already have, well, you're in luck! You might not be ready to purchase a new vehicle just yet, or you've got a rockin' classic car that you are never going to part with, and that's fine! Here are our tips on increasing your MPGs by a few miles by just changing some of your driving habits! First, avoid speeding. When you speed, you're both breaking the law and doing a lot of accelerating and decelerating that you probably don't mean to do. A great way of avoiding exceeding the speed limit is to use your cruise control when you're on the highway and it's safe to do so. Keeping your vehicle in good shape is another way you can maximize every gallon of gas in your tank. With properly inflated and aligned tires as well as good, clean oil, your vehicle will run at its best! Having your tires inflated and aligned is super important. Properly inflated tires reduce the amount of drag that your engine has to work to overcome. When it's time for new tires, ask for low rolling resistance tires to help with that fuel economy. Combine trips and carpool when you're out and about. It not only saves fuel by minimizing the amount of time you're on the road, but it reduces the cost of gas for everyone and reduces the amount of emissions you're creating. Win/win! And when you're running errands or picking people up, don't idle your vehicle. Idling for one minute uses more gasoline than it takes to start your car, AND it puts out a lot of fumes. Be safe and economical and just turn off your vehicle! Park in the shade in the summer, or use your garage when you're home (if you have one). The heat from the sun not only damages your paint job, but it heats up the fuel tank and causes evaporation of your gas, leaving you with less to use for driving. Finally, minimize the weight and drag of your vehicle by cleaning out any unnecessary things you've been toting around, and then carrying things inside of the vehicle that you might have had in a roof storage box. If you need a storage box anyway, switch to something rear-mounted instead of roof-mounted to minimize the drag of your vehicle as a whole. We are absolutely not guaranteeing a dramatic increase in MPGs - you won't go from getting 20 to getting 70, but you'll see an increase of a few miles per gallon if you drive carefully and conscientiously. Try out our tips, and let us know how you did!

Changing your oil is one of the most important parts of vehicle maintenance - if you don't do anything else, at least you get your oil changed. Just ask any teenager! However, the rule you might know about "6 months or 3,000 miles" isn't necessarily true. Especially for our customers with classic cars, that interval between oil changes might be shorter, and if you drive a newer vehicle that interval might be longer. Check out some of the factors that go into the frequency of your oil changes: The age of your car The type of oil you use How many miles are on your car What conditions you usually drive in How hard you drive your car So, basically, you should ask your service tech to really take a look at your engine and talk with you about your driving habits so that they can assess how often you really need to get your oil changed. If you don't need one every 3,000 miles and can actually go 8,000 miles, you should be able to spend that time enjoying your awesome vehicle, not having your car sit in the shop for an oil change it doesn't need for another 5,000 miles! Take it from us - we want you to enjoy your vehicle to the fullest. Talk with us about your oil changes and we'll make sure your engine is in the best health of its life!