Using A Car Cover To Protect Your Car

By Greg Tomlinson

One of your concerns when you go on an extended trip away from home is the care and protection of your car. Unless it is in a garage, it is subject to dangerous rays from the sun, bugs, bird droppings, falling branches, scrapes, and more. When you return from your trip you may find your car has suffered irreparable damage. You can prevent problems in the first place by fitting a custom fit car cover to protect your investment. Not all car covers are created equal, so here are some things you should consider before making your purchase.

Car covers are essentially all the same, right? Definitely not! There are car covers which are anything from what is basically a loose fitting tarp to those like the BMW car cover which are custom designed for the particular make and model of the car. The loose fitting covers can let in and trap damaging moisture and debris and do not block damaging UV rays effectively. They can actually cause more problems that they prevent.

When looking for a car cover think what it does other than cover your car.

Consider these following features:

UV rays are extremely harmful to your cars finish, so consider whether it provides adequate shelter? You definitely need a car cover that provides the greatest shelter possible against the suns rays, especially if you live in an area, like Florida, where the UV rays are particularly intense.

How durable is the material, will it tear if exposed to ice and snow?

You need to be sure that it will adequately repel rain and moisture.

Ask yourself if the car cover your are considering will be able to endure the intense heat and extreme cold.

Can it match the best car covers, which prevent the buildup of even the finest dust particles?

Are the car covers you are looking at designed with extra layers for added shelter against scratches and dings? This is important to have if you leave behind your car in a public lot!

Other things to think about are the duration of the warranty, the terms of any return policies, as well as what colors are available.

Some car covers can easily be cleaned yourself. Those made of super weave fabric can actually be placed in a washing machine and washed using cold to hot water, regular laundry detergent, without bleach, and dried on your dryer's permanent press cycle. Always make sure you follow the manufacturers guidelines on washing. - 21396

About the Author:

Greg likes to write reviews on steel carport designs and to discover the best designed metal carports online.

Auto Paint Repair: Do It Yourself

By Nelson Litle

My car is my baby. I have her washed and detailed, I change the oil myself, and I have her in for her tune-ups like clockwork. Often it is impossible to keep my car looking beautiful.

Last weekend, I took my girlfriend for a drive out to the mountains because we wanted to see the stars without the interference from city lights. I put a lot of thought into that evening, and I was ready to go with a cooler, picnic blanket in my backseat, and a telescope in my trunk. I knew I was in trouble as I drove up a long, winding desert road and I heard the gravel ricocheting off the sides of my car. My heart raced as I heard every little piece of gravel hit the car, making a ping-ping sound. When we arrived at the campsite, I thoroughly examined the horrible case of road rash all over the car's bumper, doors, and front end.

You see, fixing paint job scratches on a car is incredibly difficult. You can always purchase the do-it-yourself kits from an auto parts store, but those kits are terrible; the paint colors don't ever match your existing paint; the kit's paint leaves blobs on the old paint coat; and even worse, those kits are a sure sign you did the work by yourself. If you need paint chip repair in Orange County, you can always find a specialist in automotive paint repair. However, the automotive paint repair specialists cost specialist labor fees, and they aren't cheap.

I was frustrated and angry, and I didn't know what to do.I looked up "paint chip repair in Orange County" in a web search, and I began calling some of the car paint repair shops.The quotes I received were outrageous. With the repair cost demanded by those shops, I could have put a down payment on a whole new untarnished car.

I decided to put the search terms "orange county car paint scratch repair" in the search engine, and I found http://www.carpaintchiprepair.com/. Car Paint Chip Repair uses the Dr ColorChip Paint Chip Repair system kits, which are available to both individuals and businesses. I was impressed by the inexpensive price - only $59. I took a risk and went ahead and bought one. I figured that I was game for anything; my head had hurt for two days since the car road rash incident all the way through the anxiety caused by the car paint repair shops' quotes.

My car ended up looking as though it had returned from the ashes, without a paint chip missing anywhere. Using the instruction manual, I tried the color application process. The first few strokes I made were a little shaky, but I quickly got the hang of it. I was blown away, when, after the solutions dried, my car looked pristine again.

I knew I had to be seeing things. My girlfriend took a look at the car, and didn't believe me when I told her that I had purchased the Dr ColorChip kit and done the work myself. My girlfriend got angry because she thought I had spent a fortune at an Orange County car paint repair shop. I dragged her to the computer, and we read the Car Paint Chip Repair website together.

We were shocked when we found out that luxury car dealerships use the Car Paint Chip Repair kits, including BMW and Lexus, along with Porsche dealerships and clubs. The Car Paint Chip Repair website also let us know that the Dr ColorChip Paint Chip Repair system kits are recommended by the Wall Street Journal's editors. Despite what she thought, I knew it wasn't just blind luck that I had fixed the car's paint job. We found out that industry insiders have known about this paint chip repair system for years. - 21396

About the Author:

Avoid spending a fortune getting your car fixed without first trying out the paint chip repair systems offered at Car Paint Chip Repair. For more information about paint chip repair in orange county check with Steve Bode's team online.

2010 Honda Element Dog Friendly

By Cristian Truers

The Japanese automaker Honda has just cooked up a new pet friendly Element for the U.S. market. The compact crossover is well known as a go anywhere do anything kind of vehicle, the car's resilient interior allows you to play all day at the beach, store all your surf gear inside and simply hose out all the sand when you get home. Knowing how much consumers are already spending on their animals, Honda figured that the 2010 Honda Element Dog Friendly was the next logical step to winning over, over accommodating dog owners.

Starting at only $20,525, this new Element is full of features for man's best friend. The entire cargo area behind the rear seats has been transformed into a pooch's traveling palace. First of all Fido will be able to effortlessly enter and exit his new perch atop the back bumper via a very sturdy looking ramp that if wide enough could handle a wheelchair. Once inside the pup will ride on a plush foam cushion covered with a neat Dog Friendly Element print. In order to keep Rex cool Honda's Dog Friendly engineers have built in a ventilation fan and to make sure that he won't go thirsty they have come up with a trick dog bowl that ensures minimal spillage even around the hairiest of hairpins, guaranteed to keep that extra member of your family comfortable even on the longest of car rides.

The Dog Friendly Element is powered by Honda's reliable 2.4 Liter i-VTEC four cylinder engine and shifted with a five speed automatic transmission that can send power to either the front wheels or with Honda's Real Time 4WD power all four. The only thing left for Honda to install is a video monitor so that the passengers can check on the family pet while he is riding in his kennel on wheels. If you have any doubts about how safe this setup is you can rest assured that Honda has chosen the Takata Corporation to design the whole thing. Now you might be asking why is that name so familiar, if you have ever seen a racecar driver strapped in with a really cool looking green racing harness, those are Takatas.

The Honda Element lineup expands for the 2010 model year with an all-new "Dog Friendly" pet accommodation system designed to improve safety, comfort and convenience for dogs and their owners alike, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today. The 2010 Honda Element arrives at dealerships nationwide by mid-October. The Dog Friendly Element is set to become available on November 16.

"The Honda Element has long been recognized as an accommodating vehicle for people with active lifestyles involving sports and hobbies," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of Product Planning for American Honda. "The new Dog Friendly Element takes that concept to a whole new level with specially designed features for dogs and their owners."

Engineered to integrate with factory precision into the Element EX, the Dog Friendly equipment is intended to accommodate the secure transportation of a dog in the cargo area within a nylon-webbed car kennel. In daily operation the car kennel helps prevent a dog from interfering with the driver in traffic by keeping the pet properly restrained and out of reach of the driver. In the event of a frontal collision, the kennel is intended to help restrain the dog behind the rear seats, reducing the chance for the pet to be injured - or to injure human occupants during a crash.

The Dog Friendly equipment enhances pet comfort by providing a soft floor surface for the dog's legs and paws along with a dedicated fan and a s--resistant water source. Convenience is improved for owners with an integrated ramp, easy to clean surfaces and a full suite of matching Dog Friendly accoutrements. - 21396

About the Author:

Check Cristian Truers's new auto cars buying guide for more information, or visit his good auto cars tips.

Driving With Manhattan Beach BMW Auto Dealership

By Ben Pate

BMW is a very famous German automobile manufacturing company that is well known in the automobile market. It has been around for many years and has sustained itself in the market because of the strategies followed by the organization. People like to take a fast luxurious drive with Manhattan Beach BMW Dealerships.

Automobiles are one such product. It is the home to a number of very big names in this filed of automobiles such as Bentley, Audi, and Volkswagen etc. Audi is the fiercest competitors of BMW in Germany and they also rank as some the world's best cars. BMW first began with the aviation production but due to the limitations soon shifted to motor bike production. As this was also not productive they made their last try with cars and I still do not know who was luckier, they or us.

The BMW car has gained popularity since the early 1960's and the people around the world have found the car to be the symbol of speed, luxury and comfort. The company now has network around the globe. The main parts are produced in Germany and they assemble it. In places other than Germany only assembling takes place.

The company's products have a great interest among people because of the features that these vehicles offer. The interiors of the car too have a lot of facilities. They would usually have a very high quality integrated music system. Almost all of their cars would have steering mounted controls. Each of the vehicles produced by this company would have a climate control system. The cars would also have a parking sensor. The quality of plastics used in the interior would be very high.

The other way to get better service is to go to the nationalized BMW office or choose third party companies. They would provide you nice service at low cost and the pick up and drop of the vehicles would be free of charge. No shocking bills would be produced and the car parts would be replaced with new original parts.

The car will always have very elegant interiors. The emphasis will be on the comfort level that the person traveling should experience. For comfortable ride there will be number of goodies present in the vehicle. The steering of the car will have the required controls. The cars will also have a navigation system. The BMW always use high quality leathers for their interior design. The BMW cars are available both as a coupe and as well as a convertible. It is available both in a regular gas, as well as in a diesel option. It is a luxury car that gives a very good performance too.

The car service would be an area of concern for the owner of the car. The owners of the BMW car had some relief when the European legislation introduced a new order stating that the car owners can service their car anywhere they prefer and they could even choose to book servicing online with 50 percent off. But the offer did not stay long. Visit your nearest Manhattan Beach BMW Auto Dealers today! - 21396

About the Author:

There are many third party companies that would offer you good car service at a better cost or you could service your car at the Manhattan Beach BMW Dealer. The service men would come to your place and collect the car and deliver it in the evening for free. Stop by your local BMW Dealer today.

Importance of Getting Vehicle Shipping Quotes

By Zach Jacobs

Nowadays, cars are among the mostly used mode of transportation. They became the "must haves", which allow people to travel with ease and comfort. Since cars play a big role in society, car models and brands have emerged.

Due to the growing number of car models and brands, finding the right car can be very tiring. Most of the time, the specific brand and model of car that you like, is not available in your town. In addition, cars that have the latest style and technology are only available in big cities.

Luckily, there are many auto transport companies or car movers out there, which will ship the car that you bought in another place right to your door. Car movers are entities which provide vehicle shipping services using tools like trucks and cargo ships.

Vehicle shipping has been around for many years. Most of these services offered by many shipping companies provide safer transport of your truck. However, there are many times when shipping vehicles can get so expensive.

Finding the right auto transport company can start by asking for recommendations. Referrals from people you trust such as your friends, family members and business associates, will allow you to gather a list of car movers that you can trust.

Asking for auto transport quotes will also allow a client to know all the terms and conditions of a certain shipping company. Having knowledge about the terms and conditions will allow you to know your rights in case something should happen to your vehicle.

You may be wondering if there is a cost to getting a quote from a vehicle shipping company. Most companies will not charge for this quote. If they do, you may be better off not using them because they will likely want to nickel and dime you on every step of the way.

Vehicle shipping quotes can be acquired by going to the office of a shipping company. However, if you are unable to go to the office of a shipping company, you can just go to their website.

Most online auto transport companies also have web pages where you can read their terms and conditions. It is important for you to read them because it will allow you to know your rights as their client.

Another benefit to doing your quote shopping online is that you can easily compare the auto shipping quotes. This will also allow you to have some insight into how different car shipping companies work. - 21396

About the Author:

If you plan to move sometime soon and would rather not drive your car, then get someauto transport quotes. The idea of vehicle shipping has been around for a long time but has become more targeted for the individual lately.