Used Car Maintenance and Cleaning

Maintenance is an essential part of owning a used car. Usually, once you take ownership of a car from a reputable used car dealer, you will be continuing a routine of good maintenance already set in place by the dealer to maximize the car's value. Now the purpose of maintenance will shift from keeping the car in a condition to sell to keeping the car running and safe for you to drive.

Used cars naturally require more frequent maintenance than new cars and, even with little experience under the hood, most used car owners are able to regularly complete the tasks outlined in this article.

Checking the tires regularly helps ensure the best handling and fuel consumption. You should check the pressure of your tires a few times a month with a tester that can either be purchased from most automotive accessory stores or found at some gas stations. It is recommended to purchase your own tire tester for use at home as, once you have driven to the gas station, the air in your tires will have warmed up, leading to an inaccurate reading.

The ideal tire pressure for your car can be found either in the owner's manual or printed inside the car.

An often overlooked maintenance task, particularly in areas with infrequent rainfall, is checking the windshield wipers. Windshield wipers that are cracked or have become bowed in a way that limits their contact with the glass should be replaced straight away.

Vacuuming the inside of your car is a quick way to get most dirt out before you take to the interior with a damp cloth.

Remove all the mats and seat covers that can be easily removed and vacuum them outside the car. The floors will be easier to vacuum without the mats in your way.

With the vacuuming complete, use a cloth damp with water to wipe the dashboard, door panels and any other areas that require cleaning.

To stay safe, and to avoid run-ins with the law, be sure to check your lights are working regularly. You should check your head lights, brake lights, tail lights and signal lights before you begin driving. If you do not have access to a second person to stand outside the car and tell you if your brake lights are working, just move your car close to your garage door or other moderately reflective surface and watch for the reflection of your lights.

While you can do many tasks yourself, a regular maintenance check-up and tune-up should be sought from a professional mechanic. In most tune-ups, mechanics will ensure the proper operation of your brakes, battery, air filter, fan belts, wheel bearings and shock absorbers. Spark plugs may also be replaced and your tires may be rotated and aligned.

A professional check-up is recommended every 20,000 miles to ensure the safe and reliable running of your used car.



November 13, 2009
By Bruce Haapman
Bruce writes on behalf of Wisconsin Used Cars

Car Cleaning

How to Find Green Car Cleaning Products

Green is all the rage today. Advertisers are telling us about their green products. Local and federal governments are pushing for greener technologies and clean energy. Organic food choices are becoming more readily available and more cost-effective. You name it, if it can be greened, it is being greened.

Amidst all of this talk about the environment, it can be hard to spot a truly green product in the crowd. Many companies make claims about the eco-friendly attributes about their wares, but few do anything to verify these claims.

So when it comes to buying green car cleaning products, what are you to do? Are there particular characteristics you can look for that would point you in the direction of a sincerely earth-friendly product? With this checklist, you’ll have no trouble spotting the real thing:

• Biodegradable: First and foremost, the product should state that it has been tested by a third-party certifier to ensure that it will biodegrade in the environment within a certain period of time (less than 30 days would be ideal). This ensures that it won’t be persisting in the environment for an extended period of time.

• Free of petroleum ingredients: By their very nature, petroleum-based products are not sustainable or renewable, and so you should avoid them whenever possible. They also tend to be laced with unhealthy properties.

• Non-toxic ingredients: Many car cleaning products use toxic ingredients such as silicon, mineral spirits, and petroleum distillates that can cause both human and environmental illness. Look for options that have the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment (DfE) seal of approval to ensure that your auto detailing products have a low chemical risk and are made in an energy efficient fashion. Plant-based ingredients are also a great option.

• Phosphate-free: Common in soaps, phosphates reduce oxygen levels when they enter waterways which encourages the growth of algae that in turn squelch all other marine life.

• Waterless car cleaners: Choosing a waterless car cleaning system will help you do your own car cleaning without wasting the 140 gallons of water common to DIY car washers.

• Reusables: You’ll also want to look for a car care system that don’t require the use of disposable products that just add to landfill waste and cost you money. Microfiber clothes are a great option since they can be used hundreds of times without losing their effectiveness.

If you’re looking for green car cleaning products that meet all of these eco-friendly standards and more, look no further than Laura Klein’s Green Car cleaning system. With a product for every cleaning project, this system is eco-friendly, economical, and time-saving.

October 21, 2009
By Laura Klein
Want more information on green living tips and tricks? Sign up for the OrganicAuthority.com newsletter and get your free report How to Shop for Organic Foods on a Budget, brought to you by Laura Klein Green Living Expert.

Car Cleaning

Car Care Basics That Anyone Can Do

Contrary to the popular belief, not all car care tasks take a lot of time and require a lot of car skills. As a matter of fact, basic car care can be done by just about anyone, even those with very minimal knowledge of mechanics.

For example, regular washings are a huge part of basic car care. By keeping the outside of your car clean, you are not only keeping your car shiny and looking like new, you are keeping your car paint from getting scratched. This is because the debris that can accumulate on the outside of a car over time can act as an abrasive, rubbing off the protective clear coat (if your car has one) and digging into your paint. To be sure, car care does not get much easier than taking your vehicle through a car wash!

One of the other easier components to car care involves regularly checking your oil levels. Believe it or not, you are actually supposed to do this every time you fill up your gas tank. Many people do not do this or fail to do it, and by the time they take their vehicles to a professional to have their oil changed, the engine of the car has been damaged already by the lack of oil that was available. Depending on how frequently you fill up your gas tank, you might not really need to check it each time, but you should definitely do it at least once a month as part of your car care routine.

Speaking of routine car care, when is the last time you changed your windshield washer blades? This should be done at least once a year, and it takes less than five minutes to do. Moreover, changing your windshield wiper blades is one of the most affordable and easiest components to car care. Over time, particularly in the cold winter months, the rubber on the blades can get hard and it will soon crack, scratching the glass of your windshield. Before this happens and you have to get your glass repaired, change them out.

Filling up your reservoir with windshield washer fluid is another easy car care basic. All you have to do is buy the fluid and dump it into the right tank. You do not want to fill it up with water, as when the weather gets cold the water can freeze and expand, bursting the plastic reservoir.

(ArticlesBase ID #472124)



September 23, 2009
By Phoenix Delray
Know more about great car care tips by visiting our website.

Washing Your Car

The spring and summer seasons are rapidly approaching, and that means that more people will be concerned over how their vehicle looks. For whatever reason, warmer weather seems to attract people like magnets. Suddenly, you're spotting your next door neighbor, who hardly comes out of their house, driving around the neighborhood in some old classic car that they haven't driven since the summer before. Car lovers can look forward to car shows and block parties in which people bring their toy cars to show off to one another.

Whether you live in the middle-of-nowhere or own five houses in Beverly Hills, one thing is certain, people love to wash their cars and/or have their cars washed! There is, perhaps, something more significant about washing your car though. What is it about having a car look clean on the exterior- especially when the weather is nice? In essence, it can be said that you are what you drive. Even if you have a car that is only worth $500, the fact remains that if you have kept up with the maintenance and are keeping it clean, who has to know what it's worth?

Many people take pride in their vehicles the same way that you or I would take pride in our own appearance to others. Therefore, having a filthy car is akin to walking around in dirty clothes that you haven't washed for days. Drive through any of the ritzy neighborhoods near where you live and nine times out of ten you'll find a few things to be true. First, most people who have a lot of money tend to invest more in sedans. You'll rarely see bulky SUVs laying around, unless of course there are children involved. Secondly, everyone's cars are typically really clean- to the point where it looks as if they just picked up the car that day!

For the pickier drivers out there, there are plenty of self-car washes. These are the kind in which you drive your car up to what looks like a see-through garage in which you can put money and wash your car by hand. Others aren't quite as committed, preferring to bring their vehicles to a major gas station that has a drive-thru car wash in which the driver purchases a ticket to drive their car through an automatic car wash. And then, of course, there are those who don't want to be bothered at all and will pay to have their car washed by others. Whichever method is the one you choose, just be sure that if you're paying someone else to wash your vehicle, be specific with them about what you expect as well as what you want done. There is no reason you should have to your car clean again after you just had it cleaned!

Sometimes when you go through an automatic car wash, you need to remember to always be careful. If you are sitting in your car, make sure that all of the windows are rolled up tightly. If you're having your car washed by someone else, make sure that there are no valuable belongings laying around in the areas that are being cleaned. If need be, if you know that you're going to have your car washed, take these items out ahead of time.



August 19, 2009
By Brenda Williams
Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.com/automobiles.php/124979

Should You Spray Paint Your Own Car Or Take it to the Workshop Spray Painting

There are good and bad points to both car painting yourself or having it done at a professional shop.

Reasons to Paint Your Own Car.

1. It’s a money saver or at least can be if you do it right of course. If you don’t take the time to learn to do it properly then it can still be an expensive endeavor.

2. it’s a great achievement to complete this task and then be able to stand back and look at the great job you have done.

3. If you are into car restoration, it is one way you can cut down your expenses.

4. Often there is preliminary work that you will have to do yourself before you get to the point of car painting itself.

Reasons To Paint Your Shop In A Car

1. Its most likely a time saver. Unless you have the extra time to spend car painting, then this will be the route you want to go. Don’ t forget there’s more to it than just putting the paint on.

2. The shop more than likely has much better car painting equipment then you would have. This means they can get a much more even finish.

3. The quality of the paint they use perhaps is better than what you are able to buy.

4. They know how to complete the necessary body work first as they have professionals on staff specifically for that job.

5. Reputable companies will stand behind their work. In other words they will give you some type of guarantee.

6. They have the commercial products to clean the car prior to car painting, which is extremely important.

7. They have the proper facilities, whereas if you do it yourself you may not be able to protect the car against the elements in case you can’t get it finished.

So as you can see there are good and bad points for both arguments. If you can improvise and create the same circumstances as for the favorable points of using a shop then you may want to consider it. Car painting is a serious undertaking. Another thing you may want to consider as well is the value of the car. If it’s a second vehicle or a fairly old one then maybe you don’t want to pay the price of having it professionally painted. In this case you would probably be further ahead to do the car painting yourself. In these circumstances small flaws in the overall work isn’t going to make that much of a difference.

The other point is if you have some experience with car painting or even other types of spray painting then you may be able to do a great job without putting it into a shop. These are all things you will need to consider. If you decide that you are going to do it yourself though it would be a good idea to read some “how to” books or watch a video on the subject.



July 15, 2009
By Mario Goldstein
About Author
Find out how to spray paint your car easily and quickly: http://www.SprayPaintSecrets.com You can download *free* videos on car spray painting techniques, bodywork paint repair and much more... Visit SprayPaintSecrets now and start spray painting you car the easier and smarter way.
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