It always happens on the brightest, most blinding morning of the year. I was merging onto the interstate, squinting against a harsh glare, when I reached up to pull down my driver’s side visor. I adjusted it to block the sun, let go, and… flap. It dropped right back down, completely blocking my view of […]
Category: Car Maintenance Tips
The checklist for prepping your car for a 1,000-mile road trip
Picture this. It is 2:00 AM on a desolate stretch of highway somewhere between Denver and nowhere. The rain is pouring down, the kids are fast asleep in the back, and suddenly my steering wheel starts vibrating like a cheap massage chair. Ten minutes later, a loud pop echoes from the undercarriage. We were stranded. […]
Why your car heater takes forever to get warm in the morning
It is 6:15 AM on a freezing Tuesday, and there I am, sitting in my driveway, shivering and hugging my steering wheel like a long-lost friend. My breath is freezing on the inside of the windshield. I turn the climate control knob all the way to the red zone, crank the fan speed, and… nothing. […]
The secret to keeping your car battery from dying in the winter
Imagine this: It is 6:00 AM on a Tuesday in mid-January. The wind is howling, and the thermometer on your porch reads a brutal five degrees. You bundle up, rush to your car, slide into the cold seat, and turn the key. Nothing. Just a weak, pathetic click that makes your stomach sink. We have […]
The reason your car interior feels damp every morning
Picture this: It is 7:15 AM, you are already running late, and you climb into your driver’s seat only to be greeted by a musty, swamp-like chill. Your windshield is completely fogged up on the inside, and your seat cushions feel strangely clammy. I remember one specific, miserable October morning when I sat down in […]
How to protect your paint from bird droppings and sap damage
It was a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon when I parked my freshly washed sedan under the deep, welcoming shade of an old pine tree. I felt pretty clever escaping the blazing summer heat. Two days later, I walked back out to my car and stopped dead in my tracks. It looked like an apocalyptic warzone. A […]
How to remove road salt from your car’s undercarriage effectively
I stood there in my driveway, staring at a piece of my frame that had literally just crumbled onto the asphalt like a burnt cracker. It was a Saturday morning, the sun was out, and I had intended to do a simple oil change. Instead, I found out that my loyal winter habits were actually […]
Why your car AC blows ice cold then suddenly turns warm after ten minutes
Why Your Car AC Blows Ice Cold Then Suddenly Turns Warm After Ten Minutes It is a scenario every driver in New York has faced at least once: you hop into your vehicle on a sweltering July afternoon in Suffolk County, crank the air conditioning to the “Max AC” setting, and feel that glorious rush […]
How to fix a leaky sunroof before the next rainstorm
It was a Tuesday afternoon, and the forecast called for a simple “light drizzle.” By the time I hit the highway, that drizzle had morphed into a full-blown monsoon. I wasn’t particularly worried until I felt a cold, rhythmic drip-drip-drip landing directly on my right knee. My sunroof, the very feature I had bragged about […]
The simple test to see if your thermostat is stuck open
It was exactly 6:14 AM when I realized my heater was out to get me. I was halfway to work, breath fogging up the windshield, and the air coming out of the vents felt like a polar vortex. My first thought? My wallet was about to get a lot lighter. I started mentally calculating the […]