Several extra precautions need to be taken for winter driving. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Theonlysilentbob/Wikipedia)

Cold winter weather inevitably leads to a frozen car door lock, no matter how well you’ve winterized your car. That’s why it’s a good idea to know about de-icing your car lock. You can deal with a frozen lock yourself, using only standard household items.

Have a frozen car lock? Don’t panic

The first rule of de-icing your car lock is don’t talk about de-icing your car lock until you’ve approached the situation with common sense. Try getting in through a different door, or even a hatchback. If you make it in, start the engine and let it run for several minutes. A warmed-up car may produce the necessary heat to de-ice the lock.

Still frozen? Try something homespun

If you’re still facing a frozen car door lock, there are a number of ways to deal with the icy situation, many of them involving common household items. Here are a few things that can help melt the ice, notes AOL Autos:

• Matches or a lighter
• An electric hair dryer
• A toilet paper tube or drinking straw
• An alcohol-based lock de-icer
• A can of WD-40

Fire it up

First, heat up the key. The warmth may be enough to turn the tumblers in the lock. Keep in mind that you should wear gloves for safety when using an open flame on your car key. Also, make sure that only the end of a standard key should be heated. Modern key fobs with internal electronics can be damaged by flame.

[Get fired up over deals at your Atlanta, Ga Scion dealer]

Breathing life into a frigid situation

Sometimes, a car door lock may only be slightly frozen. In such situations, the warmth of your breath can thaw out the lock. This is where the toilet paper tube or drinking straw comes into play. Place it over the lock and breathe into it.

Have an outlet? Try a hair dryer

In situations where an electrical outlet is available and your breath falls short of the dragon’s breath needed to melt the glacier in your car door lock, a hair dryer can be useful. If the outlet isn’t within a few feet, get an extension cord. The toilet paper tube can help focus the warm air in this scenario, too.

Try some WD-40 or hand sanitizer

Having a can of lock de-icer (available at any auto parts store) or even WD-40 on hand during winter months should be standard stock for winterizing your car. At the end of each day, spray the locks to keep any internal condensation from freezing. And speaking of condensation, never use hot water on a frozen car door lock because residual moisture will freeze later.

Considering that hand sanitizers like Purell are alcohol-based, apply some to your car key and wiggle it gently into the frozen lock. The alcohol can burn through the ice in seconds.

If the problem isn’t the lock being frozen but the door seal, AOL Autos suggests covering a rag with baking spray, then wiping down the rubber weather strip seal around the inside of the door frame. Unfortunately, this is something you must do ahead of time. Make it a part of your evening routine.

Try a keychain lock de-icer

Sources

AOL Autos

DIY Life

How to de-ice your car door locks on Facebook

Some paint scrapes should be entrusted to a body shop or a full repainting. Image: Flickr / orinrobertjohn / CC-BY-SA

New or old, your vehicle’s paint can make a huge difference on the value and visual impact of your car. Knowing how to fix a paint scrape on your car’s finish yourself can help save you time and money.

Anatomy of a paint scrape

Most modern vehicles have at least three layers of paint over the steel panel of the vehicle. Primer is painted directly on the steel panel. Then at least one layer, possibly two, of matte pigment is layered over the primer. Clear coat is then layered over the pigment, creating the shiny finish most of us associate with a vehicle paint job. The clear coat also protects the paint from UV light and most light scratches. Most minor paint scrapes only go through the clear coat, though how deep the scratch goes determines how to best fix it.

How to fix a clear coat paint scrape

If a paint scrape only goes through the clear coat on your vehicle’s paint job, then it can usually be easily fixed. First, try buffing the area with a standard car wax, which may be enough to fill in the scratch and hide it. If buffing the area with wax does not fix it, then try the next level of paint scrape fixes.

How to fix a pigment scrape

If a scrape cannot be easily buffed out with wax or a buffing cream, or it extends down into the pigment, then use a lightly abrasive polish or very fine-grit sandpaper lubricated with dish soap to work the clear coat down to the same level as the bottom of the scratch. Use a rubbing compound to rub out the sanding scratches, then polish, buff, and wax until the shine comes back. Be very careful to not scrape down past the pigment, or the metal will begin to show.

How to fix a deep scratch

Very deep scratches that show the primer or metal under the paint are the most difficult to fix, because it requires fixing the primer, paint, and clear coat in order to match the look of the paint. Comprehensive insurance will often pay to have deep scratches and scrapes that go to the metal fixed, so check with your insurance before trying to fix it yourself.

[Howdy Honda, Austin TX has vehicles without scratches.}

If you want to try to fix the paint scrape yourself, use an automotive sander to sand down the area around the scrape, down to the primer. Use a matched-color automotive paint and a sprayer to spray the paint on; brushing will look gloppy and will not match, because factory paint is always sprayed. Finally, spray an automotive clear coat over the paint, after it has dried. The fix will not look perfect, but it will be close.

Sources

How Stuff Works
Popular Mechanics
AOL Autos

Trading in or selling your used car will get it out of your hair, but there are other options. Image: Flickr / hugo90 / CC-BY-SA

When time comes to get a new vehicle, you have a few options for what to do with your former vehicle. The two most common options are trading in your car or selling it privately.

Trade-in options

If you will be buying a vehicle from a dealership, trading it in can be the easiest way to deal with your old vehicle. When you are trading in a vehicle, you want it to be in good shape, both mechanically and visually. Spending a small amount of extra time and money to get your vehicle in good shape could pay off. Research the Blue Book value and be careful to not spend more than you will make in trade-in, but a vehicle in good shape will always be worth more to a dealer. Trade-ins are generally a day-of transaction that can be completed at the same time as the purchase of a new vehicle.

[Get a good trade-in deal at Springfield PA Dodge Chrysler Jeep.]

Private sale options

Selling your vehicle privately will almost always result in a higher dollar amount in your pocket than a trade-in. When selling your vehicle privately, you are investing more time and effort into the vehicle sale. You, however, are able to control the sales price, the advertising, and the amount of work done on the vehicle first. A private sale also means providing your information to the vehicle buyer, though law generally protects private sellers from lemon laws and implied warranties. Still, to be safe, it is often best to include an as-is clause in any sales contracts you write up.

Additional options

If you need to get rid of an extra vehicle, selling it or trading it in are not your only options. You can donate your vehicle to a variety of causes, including public radio or schools. Public radio donation programs let you donate your vehicle to a radio station and let the station sell it and use the money. Many local high schools and colleges also have vehicle-repair or shop classes that can make use of a used vehicle for teaching purposes. Be sure to get a receipt for the full value of the vehicle from whatever organization you donate it to.

Sources

FindLaw
MSN Autos
Donate a Car

A locked door makes your vehicle safer than an unlocked door. Image: Flickr / born1945 / CC-BY-SA

Vehicles are designed for to get you from Point A to Point B and protect you in case something goes wrong. Some vehicles lock you in when your speed goes over a set point, which begs the question: is it safer to lock yourself into a moving vehicle?

Basics of vehicle structure

A vehicle is built to take an impact. The structure of a car surrounds the occupants in a cage intended to absorb impact and spread it out, rather than push it in. When a door is closed, it provides additional structural support that helps spread out the impact. The latch that keeps a door closed is built into the door and is attached to your door handle, which separates the door from the frame when you want it to.

How locking helps

Locking the vehicle door when the vehicle is moving can increase the safety of the vehicle in a crash situation. This is because the latch that holds a door closed and allows you to open it on command is a relatively small part of the door structure.

[Honda, Austin TX dealerships provide very safe vehicles for every price range.]

In some accidents, this latch can be broken, and the door can come open. This breaks the continuous shell around the occupants and can cause more damage in the end. Locking the moving vehicle disables the latch that allows a door to open, helping keep it closed in the case of an accident.

Should your vehicle unlock?

Some newer vehicles have a feature that will automatically unlock a car in the event of an accident. This is so emergency responders will have an easier time accessing you in order to render aid. There is likely a time-delay built into these systems to keep the car as structurally safe as possible during an accident. The best thing to do, if your car is not equipped with this kind of a system, is to lock your vehicle when you are driving. Most emergency responders are equipped to break locks or otherwise get into vehicles when they can’t open the doors.

Sources

My SanAntonio
Able2Know
AutoBlog

Frosted windshields are easily cleaned off without idling a vehicle. Image: Flickr / thematthewknot / CC-BY

Carburetors had long been a part of vehicle engines, but the last carburetors were used in United States engines around the early 1990s. With the death of the carburetor came the reality that idling a vehicle engine for more than 10 seconds is not worth the cost, environmentally or financially.

When engines idle

Engine idling happens in a variety of situations. While stopped in traffic, going through a drive-through or right after starting up an engine, most vehicles end up idling at some point. In many cold climates, people idle vehicles in the morning to warm up the vehicle and defrost the windshield. Before carburetors were phased out of most engines, this time to idle was necessary in order to help get the fuel mixture in an engine right, but most vehicles are now fuel-injected, which does not require a warm engine.

10-second rule

With most engines built after 1991, and all engines built in the United States after 1995, there is no reason to let an engine run for more than 10 seconds without turning it off.

[Sandy Springs Scion sells new vehicles, which do not use carburetors.]

Engines idling for more than 10 seconds are burning fuel, and re-starting the car does not take more fuel than idling would. However, keep in mind that in many municipalities, it is illegal to turn your car off if you are sitting in traffic, because it could be unsafe for other vehicles. If you are on private property, in a drive-through or otherwise able to safely shut off your vehicle when you are idling for more than 10 seconds, then you should do so.

How to de-ice without idling

The most often cited reason for idling a vehicle is to warm up the heater and defrost the windshield. Driving a vehicle normally for just 12 seconds can warm it up to the same level as idling for 30 minutes. Block heaters, which plug into a standard home outlet, can warm the engine to the point that a heater will be much more effective once you start the vehicle. There are specialty windshield wiper liquids that will melt ice and not re-freeze immediately.

Visibility problems need to be addressed by pulling over as soon as it is safe. Image: Flickr / dcwriterdawn / CC-BY

Driving can be dangerous, but it can be tempting to keep going when things go wrong. However, here are five times when you should, without a doubt, pull over immediately.

1 – Sudden loud noises

Your car is not supposed to make any very loud or very sudden noises. If you run over something that makes a very loud noise, it could have done damage to the underside of your vehicle. If you did not run over something, then a loud or sudden noise could indicate that something has come off, shifted or moved in a way it should not have.

2 – Temperature or engine light

The warning lights on your dashboard actually mean something. If your temperature or engine light turns on, you should pull over and try and determine the cause. The oil light, especially, is an indicator that you should pull over as soon as it is safe.

[If your vehicle does run into problems, the Austin, TX Honda dealership can help you find a new vehicle.]

3 – Smoke, steam or flames

Engines run at very high temperatures in a system intended to handle those temperatures. The only place where exhaust should come out is the tailpipe. If you see smoke or steam coming out of the engine compartment, you should pull over immediately and try to determine the cause.

4 – Visibility problems

Visibility is important because vehicles are dangerous. If your visibility is suddenly reduced because of fog, rain, snow or some other outside force, you should pull over when it is safe and determine the best way to proceed. If you must keep moving in low visibility situations, keep your hazard lights on and drive slowly.

5 – Medical emergencies

Heart attacks, migraine headaches or even a really bad itch that you cannot safely scratch can have negative impacts on your driving. A major medical problem can turn your vehicle into a missile hurtling without control on the road, putting other people in danger. It is always safer to pull over carefully and handle the problem as soon as possible, not when you get to your destination.

Sources

Equinox Forum
Gutt Law
Trust My Mechanic

Jalopnik names the original Audi Quattro as the best car for a ski trip. (Photo Credit: CC BY/ajball90/Flickr)

Looking to fill your winter with the excitement of a ski trip? If you’re like most people, you’re going to need good wheels to get you to the hill. That’s why it’s important to know the best car for a ski trip. Here are some ideas to bring you and big powder together.

MPG, ABS and AWD

Any ski trip car worth its salt should provide reasonable mpg. Skiing can be an expensive hobby, so saving money on gas helps. Of course, all the mpg in the world won’t save you if your ski trip vehicle doesn’t have spot-on ABS brakes, traction and stability control. If the vehicle is AWD, all the better. It should corner flat and have the power to pass slow-goers on two-lane roads at high altitudes.

In addition to bringing economy and just enough power to your ski trip adventure, the vehicle should also be reliable. Research a model’s repair history and peruse the Carfax report before you buy.

Safe, comfy hauling

Safety is also an important part of a ski trip vehicle’s makeup. In the event of a crash, you want to know that your vehicle won’t crumple like an aluminum can. The car should also have good headlights. Good seats and a fine sound system are mandatory for long jaunts up and down the mountain. While it may be a given that your ski trip car should be able to cart all of your gear, it should do so comfortably. If passengers and gear can’t co-exist, you have a problem.

Some ski trip vehicles to consider

Jeep Cherokee offers many of the above amenities. The Subaru Outback is also very balanced. Few vehicles can beat the Chevrolet Suburban for hauling capacity — ditto for the GMC Yukon Denali. Some swear by the wintertime ingenuity of the Mazda CX-5 but want more power. The Toyota RAV4 is also a contender in the field.

[Find great deals on the Mazda CX-5 at Valparaiso Mazda]

Jalopnik names the original 1980 Audi Quattro as the best car for a ski trip. With stability, power and an AWD system that grips the road like a truck or AMC Eagle, the Ur-Quattro easily fits four and does it in retro style

Sources

Audi Quattro Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Quattro

Epic Ski

Get In Travel

Jalopnik

Ethanol is blended into most fuel in the United States, to some extent. Image: Flickr / astrogrl / CC-BY

With cold weather across the country, those little yellow bottles of gas line antifreeze are flying off shelves. Gas line antifreeze is a product that is only helpful in certain situations, however.

How gas line antifreeze is used

Gas line antifreeze is a product usually added to a vehicle’s gas tank as a way to help keep the gas burning more cleanly. Most gas line antifreeze is some kind of alcohol, which binds to water in the gas line and gas tank and helps flush the water out of the tank and prevents it from freezing. Gas line antifreeze cannot defrost or clean an already-frozen gas tank, but it can help prevent very cold temperatures from freezing a tank.

Alcohol in fuel

Most gas line antifreeze is made up of mostly isopropyl or methyl alcohol. Alcohol has a very low freezing point, which makes it especially useful for this. However, it is important to recognize that most fuel sold in the United States already has ethanol alcohol blended with the fuel. Ethanol is blended in a mixture between 5 and 20 percent of most fuel. This means that adding additional gas line antifreeze could be an unneeded measure if your vehicle is generally operating in environments that are not extreme.

[Keeping your vehicle in good operating condition starts with a great dealership, like BMW Houston.]

The problem with too much

Adding too much alcohol to the fuel in your vehicle tank can do damage to your vehicle. Given that there is such as high concentration of alcohol in gas, adding more doesn’t necessarily help. Alcohol is heavier than fuel, which means it sinks to the bottom of the tank, including the water that the alcohol has bound to. This mixture is combustible but not combustible as fuel. This makes an engine sputter and spit when the tank gets low.

Sources

CarTalk
Straight Dope
About.com

Make car lovers happy with these Christmas stocking stuffer ideas. (Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Catherine Bond/Cyber Law Centre)

It’s that time – Christmas time is here. There are ways to make the automotive enthusiast on your Christmas list happy, short of buying her a car. Here are some stocking stuffers that the car lover on your list will surely love.

Branded merchandise, fit to please

Countless consumer products have been released that bear the logo of a famous automotive brand. For $620, a Scuderia Ferrari Carbon Chronograph watch from the Ferrari Store can get the pistons pumping. On the slightly more whimsical side, a duffel bag in the shape of the Chevrolet bowtie is available for around $30 at the Chevy Mall.

For gifts like these, a simple Web search with the automotive brand name and a word like “gifts” or the phrase “stocking stuffers” will produce a lineup of gifts for any car lover.

Give them a photo finish

Scenes of automotive action are great for the den, boudoir or man cave. Websites like DeniseMcCluggage.com are great sources through which to purchase prints of vintage race cars and the people who race them and make them.

One example at the above site is a signed print of a 1958 Ferrari Formula 1 car transporter. Other areas of the Denise McCluggage site present firsthand stories from pit row, the kind that invests an authenticity into the photographs that no amount of window dressing can replace.

At the Henry Ford ArteHouse, a signed print of racing great Dan Gurney’s legendary 1967 Ford GT Mk IV that won Le Mans that year is available for $599. Keep in mind that delivery time on this one is six to eight weeks, so it’s too late for Christmas delivery. But if your car lover doesn’t mind Christmas in February, there’s no need to wave the checkered flag.

Ornament their holiday with Chrysler

Over at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum, fans of the Chrysler brand with a flair for Christmas decorating may enjoy limited-edition, hand-painted ornaments depicting classic vehicles like a 1973 Jeep CJ-5 or a 1948 Chrysler Town & Country.

Cafe Press offers car lovers the time of their lives, courtesy of themed wall clocks. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a wall clock that reads “Mopar or no car,” a tribute to the Chrysler performance-parts division.

Smaller stocking stuffers

If automotive art prints that cost nearly half a grand aren’t your idea of stocking stuffers, try something like a Dodge 426 Hemi night light. For kids, a racing board game may work well. Or a Top Gear V8 pencil sharpener. Or even a 1:18 die-cast metal replica of a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda.

Merry Christmas, ladies and dogs

For the lady in your life, a purse made from a recycled tractor and track tire inner tubes will definitely attract attention at $285. For the beloved pooch who loves to go for a ride, the Pet Rider seat cover is sure to be a hit at $14.99.

Get Edmunds’ take on car lover stocking stuffers

Sources

CarsDirect

Detroit Free Press

eHow

A radar detector may help you avoid a speeding ticket, but the reliability of such devices is questionable. (Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Horace Ko/Flickr)

Car Deal Expert does not endorse speeding, but we recognize that such law-bending is prevalent and commonly accepted. That’s why a certain segment of the driving population has used radar detectors since they were first introduced in the 1970s. But are radar detectors effective? Many experts believe they’ve become obsolete.

How radar guns work

Measuring vehicle speed with a radar gun is pretty basic. A police radar gun is a combination radio transmitter and receiver. Radio waves move through the air at a constant speed, and when an object blocks the path of the wave, it bounces back to the emitting device.

Due to the Doppler shift phenomenon, when a car moves through the radio signal, the frequency of the wave changes. Depending upon how much the frequency changes, police can determine how quickly a car is moving toward or away from the radar gun. This computation can even be made if the radar gun is moving, such as when it is mounted on the dash of a moving patrol car.

That’s the old-fashioned radio device, however. Today, police also have Lidar guns, which use infrared light. This laser speed gun uses concentrated light to clock the time it takes for a burst of light to reach a car, bounce off and return to the Lidar device. Rather than measuring wave frequency, Lidar uses many short bursts of infrared light to collect several hundred samples in less than half a second. This provides the most accurate reading possible, although laser systems are only effective at short distances.

Understanding radar detectors

In essence, a radar detector is a radio receiver that pings when police radar gun frequency is detected. When the police expand the range, old detection devices become obsolete. This detection technique is only effective from a distance, however. If a police car pulls behind you and turns on the radar to target your vehicle specifically, your warning won’t come fast enough.

Radar detectors aren’t legal in all states, so it pays to research your state’s laws before investing in a product. Part of the reason for this is that some high-end detectors also serve as transmitters that produce a jamming signal, replicating the original frequency of the radar gun so that an echo signal is perceived by police, making any reading unusable.

Modern radar detectors are also light-sensitive, to defend against Lidar guns. Drivers sometimes reduce the reflectivity of their vehicle, which can also make it more difficult for Lidar to receive a clean bounce-back. Laser jammers that use LEDs to produce light that confuses Lidars also exist.

Safe, legal driving is the best way

No radar detection or jamming equipment is 100 percent effective. Neither is police technology, for that matter. Considering that not all field officers who use radar guns are properly trained, many speeding tickets are thrown out of court. The best defense against speeding tickets is to simply stay within safe, legal limits.

Adaptiv TPX Motorcycle Radar Detector and Laser Jammer Review

Sources

Doppler shift Wiki

How Stuff Works

RadarDetector.org

Radar detector laws

Wisegeek

Yelp