How to Keep a Car Clean with Children

How to Keep a Car Clean with Children

Keeping a car clean can seem impossible for a car owner or driver with children. That’s because your car will have clutter and sticky fingerprints everywhere when you drive with kids. As such, some people clean their cars occasionally because they assume that they are bound to get dirty.

Although keeping a car clean when you have children may seem difficult, you can do it. Here are some of the ways to do it.

Come up with a Routine

Have a routine that you can stick to when it comes to cleaning your car. You can do something little each day or clean your car extensively every month. This will keep the car from become dirty and cluttered thereby making cleaning it difficult.

Get Clean Glove Box Supplies

Lack of clean glove box supplies is a major obstacle for regular cleaning of cars. However, there are products that you can use to clean your car with ease. You can store these products in your console or glove box. The ease of storing these products makes using them conveniently easier.

Avoid Drinking or Eating in Your Car

This might be easy to say than do. However, if you don’t bring beverages or food in your car, you avoid the difficulties of keeping your car clean. When you don’t drink or eat in your car, you eliminate spills, crumbs and garbage that make keeping your car clean stressful.

Get a Trash Bag

Litter will stick in your vehicle when you don’t have a place to keep it. But, if you get a trash bag, you will have a place to keep snotty tissues, juice boxes, and candy wrappers. This will keep your car clean even when you travel with kids.

Use Organizers

Children carry many items into your car to entertain them. Using organizers will enable you to reduce clutter in your car. It will also teach your kids to keep items in the right places.

Keeping a car clutter free and clean can be challenging when you have kids. However, following these tips will enable you to tame the mess that seems hard to deal with.

Caring for the New Paint of Your Car after Leaving an Auto Body Shop

Caring for the New Paint of Your Car after Leaving an Auto Body Shop

Once you leave the collision repair shop with the new paint of your car looking amazing, you want your vehicle to maintain this look. But, how do you do this? Generally, technicians of reputable auto body shops are meticulous in making sure that your vehicle gets new paint that matches its old paint. However, the paint of your vehicle should keep it protected from rust in addition to making it look good. Therefore, you should keep the paint job of your vehicle in a top shape. Here are tips on how to care for the new paint of your vehicle after repair.

Check for Flaws

Just like with other repairs, say something if you notice something that is not right. Matching the old paint color is the major challenge when it comes to painting a vehicle after an accident. Therefore, have a look at the vehicle’s color during a sunny day. Check it closely and from a distance. Check for dirt, overspray and hairs. Make sure that your vehicle has a smooth paint before you leave the auto shop.

Be Extra Careful in the Next 30 to 60 Days

You were definitely careful with your car when new. You need the same fragility when it comes to protecting the shine of the new paint of your car. Essentially, the new paint will still be curing over the next 30 to 60 days. This is the time when the paint will be hardening to ensure that it protects the vehicle. New cars spend this time in properly protected environments. However, your car will be back on the road after a few days following repair. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to ensure protection of your vehicle during this time. Avoid things and conditions that can damage the paint job of your vehicle.

These include:

  • Construction zones and dirt roads
  • Chipping or scrapping at ice or snow
  • Splattered bugs
  • Bird droppings
  • Direct sunlight
  • Commercial washes

Follow these tips and the new paint of your vehicle will look amazing longer.

3 Reasons to Let a Professional Auto Body Shop Paint Your Car

3 Reasons to Let a Professional Auto Body Shop Paint Your Car

There are several reasons why you might want to have your car painted. One of them is scratches that can damage the paint job of your vehicle. You may have also been involved in an accident that left your vehicle with unsightly dents. Painting your vehicle will give it a face lift after an accident. 

However, you can also consider painting your vehicle if you want to restore its brand new look or sell it. But, regardless of the reason to paint your car, it’s important to ensure that it is painted by professionals of a reputable auto body shop. Either way, here are the 3 major reasons to have your car painted at a professional auto body shop.

Use of the Right Tools

Professionals at a reputable auto body shop use specific tools to paint cars. These are the tools required to paint a vehicle properly. For instance, these professionals have tools that aid in drying a vehicle after painting. Remember that new paint can take even 30 days to dry or cure. Nevertheless, experts of a professional auto body shop have tools that reduce this time drastically.

Proper Preparation of the Car

Your car should be prepared for painting. For instance, windows and handles should be covered. Rust should be removed. The metal that needs painting requires priming. These are time consuming tasks but they are very important. Taking your car for painting at a professional shop ensures that they are completed properly so that the process can yield the desired results.

Chipping Protection

The final coat is very important in the car painting process. This is a clear coat that provides protection to the paint against scratches and chips. As such, it should be applied properly. Experts at a reputable auto body shop know this and they have the necessary skills, experience and tools to apply this coat properly.

Painting a car is a tedious and long process especially if you decide to complete it yourself. However, it is easier and results are better when it’s left to the experts of a professional auto body shop. Check out one of my favorite sites that gives excellent tips and its updated daily. Click Here

5 Facts about Car Painting

5 Facts about Car Painting

Car painting can bring satisfaction. That’s because it gives a car a like-new look. It also enhances the durability of the exterior of your car. However, you have to invest time and money in car painting.

Before you take your car to an auto body shop for painting, there are facts that you need to know. Understand what car painting entails to determine whether you really want to invest in auto painting. When you know these facts, you can make an informed decision. According to my friend Gabriel that owns a Collision Repair Shop out in Texas, you should never pay your full deductible as its always negotiable by at least 50%.

Car Painting Takes Time

You may come across an auto shop that claims to paint a car in three days. However, expect the car to be in the shop for a week or more. That’s because the auto shop will not apply new paint over the old paint directly. The oxidation, fading, and irregular surface on the existing paint won’t allow smooth application of new paint. As such, prep work that involves removing the existing paint has to be completed first. If your car needs more prep work, you will spend more time and money on the paint job.

Not Everything Will be fixed by Painting a Car

Be realistic about what you can fix with car painting. Also bear in mind the fact that new paint can cause an opposite effect. Painting a car over existing damage will highlight the problem. To achieve better results, a professional auto body shop will remove the old paint and fix damages like scratches, dents, and rust spots before painting your car.  

The Cost of Painting a Car Varies

The cost of painting a car depends on factors like the panels and parts that need painting, quality of the chosen paint, and the required prep work. Make sure that you get estimates that include the prep measures to be taken and the paint to be used. Also find out whether the auto shop will fix damage before painting and parts that will be painted. These may include fenders and under the hood. Additionally, make sure that the estimate includes the final clear coat that makes the paint job last longer.

Car Painting Adds Value

Car painting is an investment. It gives a vehicle a like-new finish while adding its resale or residual value. When you invest in car painting, you increase the trade-in value of the car. You can also transform an old car with a fresh coat of paint.

The Interior of Your Car Will Be Removed Before Painting

The console, dash and seats may have to be removed before painting your car. That’s because it’s possible that these items will be damaged during the painting process. As such, auto body shops remove them beforehand. Additionally, when these items are present, they may inhibit some steps of the process of painting your car. Thus, their removal enables experts to paint your car properly.

These are useful facts to know about car painting. If you have questions about car painting, ask experts of a reputable auto body shop before they start working on your vehicle.

What everyone should know before financing your new car

What everyone should know before financing your new car

You are considering buying a new car, and you are going to finance the car. But, because you don’t have all the necessary information, it is hard to decide if this is something that you should do or not. Many people are making a mistake to finance their vehicle, just to find out that they can’t actually afford the repayments. This is why you should make sure that you are getting all the necessary information needed about financing a new vehicle.

Do you know how much interests you are going to pay?

It might be a great option for you to own your own vehicle by considering financing. But, do you really know how much interests you are going to pay?

Many people don’t realize that how much these interests’ rates can be at the end of the day. Most people are financing their vehicles for over 5 years. And, if you are calculation everything together, you are going to end up with a huge amount of money that you need to repay.

Where are you going to finance your vehicle?

Something else that you should consider is where you are going to finance your vehicle at. There are different financial institutions where you can finance your vehicle. But, they aren’t always all the best option. Some institutions are asking high-interest rates, while others might ask for a high deposit.

This is why you should make sure that you are going to consider all your options before you are going to decide which institution you are going to use to finance your new vehicle.

You will need to have a deposit as well

If you think that you can purchase a vehicle without having any upfront money, then you should think again. There are not many cases where you can purchase a vehicle without paying a deposit on the car. If you don’t have the deposit, you will not be able to purchase the car.

This is why it is recommended that you are saving until you have enough money for the deposit. The more money you are going to put down as a deposit, the lower your premiums will be.

With financing, insurance is a must

We know that in some states it is a must to have car insurance. But, there are states where this isn’t something that you need to have. However, if you are going to finance your vehicle, this is something that you need to have. You can’t get your financing approved without proof of your insurance.

Buying a new car is exciting and fun. However, it is also really expensive to purchase a new car. This is why you should make sure that when it comes to purchasing a vehicle, that you know what to look for. This is the only way to know for sure if this is something that you want to do and something that you can afford.