Cold Weather Car Care

Cold weather is finally here. Learn how to keep your car in tip-top shape during these winter months with these tips from AOL autos:

Check Your Battery
The battery is the part of the car that generally has the most issues when the mercury starts to drop. In fact, your car's battery loses about half of its starting power at 0 degrees.

If your car is going to sit for an entire 24-hour period during times of cold weather, it's a good idea to start the engine up and let it run for 15-20 minutes to ensure that the battery stays charged. This way, you won't find yourself stranded with a dead battery when you need to get somewhere.

Pep Boys also said if your battery is five or more years old, it should be replaced before it dies.

Check Your Tire Pressure
For every 10-degree drop in the outside temperature, your tires lose about a pound of air pressure. You should check your tires often during the winter and add air as needed. Filling them is quick and easy, and can be done at many gas stations.

Under-inflated tires can be a serious safety hazard, especially when the roads are slick, as they impair your car's braking and handling abilities. Tires with low inflation levels (psi) can also be a detriment to your fuel economy.

Check Your Fluids

Fluids can thicken when it's cold outside, making it much more difficult for your car to get the fluids it needs to run properly.

Take a few minutes to make sure that your fluids -- oil, antifreeze, power steering, brake and transmission -- are in good shape and at the proper levels. It's also important to let your car warm up for at least ten minutes before driving anywhere, so that these fluids can flow the way they're intended.

Ensure you have adequate windshield wiper fluid. You'll be using a lot of it, especially in states that put salt on the roads.

Protect Your Windshield Wipers

Windshield wipers can freeze and crack in extreme cold. Considering how much you'll use them to clear salt, snow and all the other gunk that comes with the winter months, it's important to keep them in tip-top shape.

You should pull the wipers off the windshield when the car isn't running in order to prevent damage. Get in the habit of replacing your wipers in the fall, while the weather is still warm. Swapping them out in the cold can be a nightmare on your fingers.

Read the full article from AOL Autos here: http://aol.it/1HDA8Qk

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Is Texting and Driving Addicting

A new study by AT&T shows that texting and driving can actually release the happiness-enhancing chemical, dopamine in people's brains. This means that texting and driving could actually be addicting. Learn more with this article from Kicking Tires:

The study, conducted by the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in cooperation with the "Texting & Driving … It Can Wait" campaign, found that more and more people are demonstrating compulsive behavior — dubbed "cell-phone addiction" — with three-quarters of people admitting to at least glancing at their phones while behind the wheel. That's despite 90 percent of people reporting that they know better.

"We compulsively check our phones because every time we get an update through text, email or social media, we experience an elevation of dopamine, which is a neurochemical in the brain that makes us feel happy," Dr. David Greenfield, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and founder of the Internet and Technology Addiction, said in a statement. "If that desire for a dopamine fix leads us to check our phones while we're driving, a simple text can turn deadly."

There is good news, however. According to the research, phone addicts can successfully rehab themselves. "Those who are most likely to text and drive are also the most likely to take steps to stop," AT&T said in a statement. "And 82 percent of people who take action to stop texting and driving feel good about themselves."

To help people stop this dangerous behavior, AT&T is promoting its free DriveMode iPhone app, which activates automatically at 15 mph, silences text-message alerts and automatically responds to incoming messages letting the sender know the user is driving; it also notifies parents if the app has been shut off.

Click the link to read the full article: http://bit.ly/1tN7dUg

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Keep Germs at Bay in Your Car this Cold and Flu Season

This cold and flu season, make sure you're keeping germs at bay in your car with these tips from Kicking Tires:

The flu is nothing to sneeze at. It sends more young children to the hospital than any other vaccine-preventable illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The best way to prevent it and its complications is to get the flu vaccine for yourself and your family. It's recommended for children as young as 6 months old. Of course, the vaccine's effectiveness varies widely from season to season, so parents need to be vigilant when it comes to containing germs.

While many of us are trained to wipe down frequently touched surfaces in our homes (door knobs, light switches) whenever someone has the flu or a nasty cold, how often do those practices carry over to the family car, especially if you carpool? Here are our tips for keeping your car from becoming a petri dish:

What to Keep in the Car

• Box of tissues: While it's questionable as to whether your kids will actually use them, keeping tissues handy will hopefully encourage your children to use them when they sneeze. While you're at it, keep a small trash bag in the backseat to gather the used tissues.
• Hand sanitizer: Keep this on hand for easy cleanups when kiddos didn't have enough time to grab a tissue before sneezing (eww). They also help adults clean up their hands after pumping gas.
• Baby wipes: These are great for wiping down not only the kids, but also frequently touched surfaces like the steering wheel, radio buttons, door handles and window switches. Think twice before using bleach wipes in your car because the harsh chemicals could damage the interior.

Carpooling

Carting your sick children in the car is one thing, but what happens when your kids are part of a carpool. Well, if everyone isn't careful, it's easy for the kids to pass the same cold around and around. Here are some simple tips to help keep all the kids in your carpool a little healthier this winter:

• If another parent in the carpool is dropping off your child at your house, make sure to keep a bottle of hand sanitizer inside your house's front door to keep the germs at bay.
• Or even better, train your kids to go straight to the bathroom or kitchen sink when they get home to wash their hands with soap.
• Also, make sure to wipe down your child's backpack straps (if they use one) to help thwart with spread of germs.
• While you may be ready to declare germ warfare on the bacteria the carpooling kids are bringing with them, realize that not all parents will want you to hose down their kids with sanitizer. Instead focus on wiping down the car's frequently touched surfaces after depositing the carpoolers at their homes and finally getting to your own.

Child-Safety Seats

There's one last front to consider in the car: car seats. Cleaning a car seat requires a couple of steps:

• First, read the car seat's manual before doing anything. Any missteps when cleaning it could make the car seat unsafe.
• To clean the car seat's plastic shell, most manufacturers recommend using a damp cloth and mild soap.
• The harness straps should be wiped down with a damp cloth, too. Some manufacturers allow the use of a mild soap to clean it, but check before cleaning. Don't wash the harness straps in the washing machine because it can affect its fiber strength and wash away fire retardants.
• Although you may want to burn the car seat's dirty cover -- who knew they could get so gross? — again read the owner's manual before washing. Some manufacturers allow the covers to be machine-washed (and likely air-dried), while others prefer hand-washing and air-drying.

Click the link to read the full article from Kicking Tires: http://bit.ly/1u25MlR

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Fall Car Care Tips

When the seasons change is a great time to do some routine car maintenance. Fall is particularly perfect because the weather is ramping down from super hot to being quite chilly. There's no better time to prepare for the cold winter that lies ahead!These four fall car care tips are crucial for the season.

Look at tires for signs of uneven wear or other damageYour tires play a vital -- and generally thankless -- role in keeping you safe on the road. They are, after all, the only point of physical contact between your car and the pavement.
Uneven wear on tires can point to a couple of potential safety problems. It could mean that one or more of your tires is underinflated, which can negatively affect your car's handling and fuel economy. It can mean that your tires are out of alignment, which can cause stress on your suspension and result in an uncomfortable ride. It can also mean that the tire is out of balance or the wheel is bent, which can result in a bumpy ride due to the wobbly tire or wheel. 

Any of these issues can cause compromise the safety and comfort of your car. If you notice uneven tire wear, check into the cause of it as soon as possible. 

Listen to and feel your brakesPay attention when braking to be sure they are not making scraping or grinding noises, or that the brake pedal does not feel soft or spongy when depressed. Either of these issues can make braking difficult, which is obviously something you don't want. 

A soft or spongy brake pedal can point to a couple of possible problems, the most common of which is that there is too much air in the brake lines. You can fix the problem yourself by bleeding the brakes, but it's probably best to have your local mechanic take care of it for you. 

If you hear your brakes making scraping sounds, it can mean that there is some kind of foreign particle stuck in them or that the wear indicator is rubbing against the rotor. If you hear a grinding sound, that means the friction material on your brakes has worn off and the only thing stopping your car is the metal backing plate. This will make stopping the car very difficult and can damage critical parts of your brakes. 

Check your light bulbs and lenses for clarityGive your headlight, brake, fog and hi-beam bulbs and lenses a good check for clarity. It's starting to get dark much earlier, meaning your lights are going to be even more important than usual, since you'll be using them when there is heavier traffic flow. 

There are a few home remedies to fixing cloudy lights, including using an aluminum polishing compound or even toothpaste. 

Replace your windshield wipers if they are worn, cracked or streak when in useWhen it comes to driving, there's not much that is more infuriating than windshield wipers that don't work properly. Having your vision obscured by ineffective wipers that just spread the rain all over your windshield isn't only annoying, it's also dangerous. 

Replacing windshield wipers is quick, easy and cheap. Simply go to your local auto parts store, get the wipers that are the right size for your car (they'll generally have a reference book there for you to use) and follow the installation instructions.  Do this while it's still warm outside, because trying to pry off wipers with cold hands is torturous.

Click the link to read the full article from AOL Autos: http://aol.it/1vPGyFu 

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Tips for Defensive Driving

Taking defensive driving measures is one of the best ways you can stay safe on the road. You never know what other drivers might do. By anticipating what other driving mistakes other people might make, you will always be prepared for them. Use these tips to be sure you stay alert as a defensive driver and are always anticipating the next move of the guy driving beside you.

Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
As you head out on the road, it pays to be especially observant. Watch what is happening on all sides of your vehicle, not just in front. A great defensive driver is always aware about what is happening on all sides of the car. You can make this awareness a habit in the following ways:
• Each time you stop at a light, quiz yourself about the color of the car behind you. Check your guess by looking in the rearview mirror.
• Think about what you see in your peripheral vision as you drive. This will include cars on your left or right, as well as the shoulder of the road.
• Scan ahead for hazards, including deer, pedestrians, and other vehicles. Don't just focus on the car ahead of you.
• Be aware of the road surface, including whether it is slippery or dry. 

Stay Focused and Alert
While everyone knows that driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and illegal, many people are not aware of how dramatically their level of alertness can affect their safety. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving is the cause of more than 100,000 accidents each year. Fortunately, you can take steps to stay alert when you drive:
• Avoid driving near or after the time you usually go to bed. Your body is used to sleeping at this time, so you will not be as alert.
• If you're sleep-deprived for any reason, stay off the road if at all possible.
• When you find yourself feeling sleepy behind the wheel, pull over and take a short nap or a brisk walk to wake yourself up.
• If you need to get focused, drink a hot beverage to increase your body temperature. According a 2002 study, an increased body temperature helped subject perform better even when they were tired. 

Leave Plenty of Space
Leaving enough space between cars is essential for being a defensive driver. Think of this extra space as a safety buffer around your vehicle. If something happens ahead of you, you will have that safety buffer to react to the event. According to theCalifornia Department of Motor Vehicles, you'll need a minimum of three seconds between the car ahead of you and your vehicle. This means that you should leave as much space as it takes you to count three seconds. If you're driving at high speeds or in adverse conditions, you should lengthen this distance. 

Look Left Twice
It's common practice to look both ways before you pull out into traffic. However, in some situations, this may not be sufficient. For instance, if are making a left turn, you'll look left first and see that the lane is clear. Then you'll look right to check for cars, and you may need to wait a moment for that lane to be clear. In the time you were waiting, a car may have come around a curve or over a hill from the left. If you pull out after only looking left once, you'll get in an accident. 

It's best to get into the habit of looking left, then right, then left again before pulling out. Simply make this part of your regular driving routine every time you turn left or cross an intersection.

Click here to read the full article and get more defensive driving tips from lovetoknow.com: http://bit.ly/1puDmiu

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Parents Just as Guilty of Distracted Driving

Many people think teens are more likely to text and drive or participate in other driving distractions. But a new study finds that parents are just as guilty!

Most public service announcements about the dangers of distracted driving focus on teens and young adults, but there's another demographic in need of a wake up call: parents. A new study found that parents are not only engaging in risky driving behavior, but are also doing so with their driving-age teens along for the ride.

Liberty Mutual teamed up with Students Against Destructive Decisions to survey over 1,000 parents and 2,000 junior and senior high school students across the country. Of those surveyed, 83 percent said their parents engaged in risky behavior while in the car with them. Parents admitted to talking on a cellphone while driving the most, at 86 percent. Eighty percent of parents admitted to speeding and 40 percent said they have texted while driving with their teen in the car.

Teens noticed their parents' distracted driving, and 60 percent said they tried to stop their parents from driving dangerously. While 84 percent of parents said they did stop their behavior when asked, 41 percent of teens said their parents did not actually stop, but justified their behavior or ignored them.

Parents' "do as I say, not as I do" attitude towards distracted driving has been studied before. Last year, researchers at the University of Michigan asked 600 parents about their driving habits. Almost 90 percent of those surveyed admitted to at least one technology-based distracted driving action over the past month, and most parents reported engaging in four of the ten distractions that were asked about. Parents who reported distracted driving were also more likely to report having been in a crash. Additionally, an AT&T study found that 49 percent of adults admitted to texting while driving, compared to 43 percent of teens.

Click here to read the full article from AOL Autos: http://aol.it/XfpMUd

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Checking and Filling Tires

Checking your tire pressure and adding air seems like such a simple task that you don’t even need to think about it. But keeping your tires at the proper pressure and knowing how to fill them correctly is a very crucial task. It will help your tires last longer and make your ride smoother.

This article from Cars.com lists tips for checking your tire pressure as well as instructions for how to fill your tires in order to keep them in the best shape possible.

Before Starting

Temperature plays a huge part in tire psi, Rastetter said, adding that the most crucial time of year to check pressure is in fall and winter when days are shorter and average temperatures plummet.

Check your tires in the morning before going anywhere, because as soon as you get behind the wheel for an extended amount of time, psi will rise. Rastetter said that if you've been on the road a long time and notice higher psi in your tires, don't let the air out, as the increase in pressure has built up due to the warm, constantly-in-motion tires

What to do

1. Pull your car onto a level surface in the shade.
2. Remove dust caps from the tires' valve stems.
3. Using your tire gauge, firmly press the tip of the gauge straight on to the tire's valve stem for a brief moment.
4. The tire gauge should provide a psi reading; if the number seems unrealistically low or high — for example, 85 psi or 1 psi – you will need to repeat the previous step, ensuring that the tire gauge's tip is properly making contact with the valve stem.
5. If the tire gauge's recorded reading is higher than the manufacturer-recommended rating, press the gauge tip on the valve stem until you hear air leak out. Check the tire pressure again.
6. If the reading is lower than recommended, fill the tire with air by firmly pressing the air-hose tip onto the valve stem. You will hear air quietly enter the tire. If you hear air leaking or spraying out, you need to double-check that the connection between the air hose and the tire’s valve stem is secure.
7. When you think you've added or let out enough air, check the pressure a few times with the gauge.
8. Replace the valve dust caps. Rastetter emphasized the importance of keeping dust caps on during winter driving because if water gets into the valve stem and freezes inside the tire, it could cause a flat.
While you're at it, check your spare tire's pressure. You don't want to have a flat tire and then find out your replacement is flat, too.

Make these steps part of your routine. It will benefit your vehicle and your wallet.

Click the link to read the full article from Cars.com: http://bit.ly/1nassxN

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