Car owners seldom think about the parts of the vehicle they can’t see. This is why they hardly ever wash the car’s undercarriage. People tend to have an ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality. This can actually prove to be damaging for your car. Neglecting to wash under the vehicle can cause premature wear.

Don’t Neglect to Wash the Undercarriage

The undercarriage is the area most susceptible to dirt and grime buildup. This is especially the case if you use your vehicle for off-roading, or if you drive on heavily salted roads during winter. The undercarriage has drainage holes. Debris accumulation can clog these holes so they don’t drain as they should.

The undercarriage is also prone to rust. The metal parts are bare and do not have the paint and wax as a buffer to protect the surface. Rust causes premature breakdown of undercarriage components, such as the axles, muffler, control arm, and drive shaft. This can drastically lower the car’s value should you ever decide to sell the vehicle. Continue Reading →

An increasing number of car owners have come to us for sunroof repair and replacement. What accounts for the increase of shattering sunroofs? The incidences aren’t limited to the Bellingham area. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also launched an official investigation.

Why Are Sunroofs Shattering?

The usual suspects contribute to the majority of broken sunroof glass. These include projectiles, ranging from stones to acorns. Such seemingly harmless objects can inflict serious damage at high speeds. However, this still does not account for the sudden spike in shattering sunroofs.

So, what’s going on? Some analysts theorize that the cause is due to thinner car frames. More auto manufacturers are using thinner metals or aluminum to bring down costs and vehicle base weight. The thinner frame means less structural support for the sunroof. This makes it more likely for the glass to give way in the event of impact from a projectile. No changes, though, have been made to the glass itself. Continue Reading →

Do you smoke or travel with passengers who are smokers? Perhaps you bought a used car which was previously owned by a smoker. In either scenario, the smoke is embedded in the car cabin. Using a car scent is at best a temporary fix. We’ll show you how to permanently remove cigarette smoke from your car.

How to Remove Cigarette Smoke from Your Car

1.   Remove cigarette butts and ash from the ashtray

2.   Remove the floor mats, seat coverings, and just about anything not permanently attached to the car.

3.   Perform a deep vacuuming of the interior, being sure to hit every nook and cranny. Do the same for the mats and all the removables.

4.   Be sure to follow any specific cleaning and care guidelines for any specific type of leather in your upholstery.

5.   Wipe down the dashboard and steering wheel using a homemade cleaner of water and white vinegar. The steering wheel, by the way, tends to have the strongest smell. Smokers tend to blow directly in front of the wheel instead of out the window. Continue Reading →

How can you wash a vehicle without H2O? Many car owners can’t wrap their minds around this concept. However, waterless car washing is real and a rising trend. While this is a legitimate form of car washing, we caution motorists to understand the ins and outs of the process.

What Is Waterless Car Washing?

So, how do you go about cleaning a car without water? Have you ever cleaned wooden furniture using nothing but dusting polish or spray? Waterless car washing works the same way. New technology has resulted in synthetic car sprays that loosen and dissolve particles. Such sprays are available at your local auto shop. Some variants are also further enhanced with ingredients that claim to preserve auto paint and restore headlights. Continue Reading →

Decal stickers are an easy way to personalize your vehicle. You can add inscriptions or graphics of just about anything. However, you may eventually decide to remove the decals when you grow tired of them or plan to sell the vehicle. We’ll show you how to remove car decals; the process involves more than just peeling the sticker off.

How to Remove Car Decals: A Step-By-Step Process

1. Clean the Area

The first step is to clean the surface around the decal. You don’t need anything fancy here; just use good ol’ soapy water and a sponge. Dry the area using a microfiber cloth. Continue Reading →

You’ll find all sorts of DIY car washing tips on the Internet. Some of these ideas are legitimate and others are an absolute waste of time. Clean headlights with toothpaste” is one idea that is circulating around the Web. Is it real or is it a bunk idea?

Headlight Cleaning with Toothpaste: The Facts

Supposedly, toothpaste can restore foggy headlights. Read our June post to learn how headlight coverings become foggy. Some people have suggested that toothpaste removes oxidation the same way it removes food debris from teeth enamel. Continue Reading →

Most topics and discussions about auto glass pertain to the front windshield. Hardly anyone in the industry discusses rear auto glass replacement. We find this odd because the rear glass is just as important as the front windshield. It’s also composed of different materials.

Why Repair or Replace the Rear Window?

We have seen countless vehicles over the years with a completely shattered rear window. In some of these instances, the owner simply ignores the gaping hole or tapes a large piece of cardboard over it. This leaves blind spots as well as making the car vulnerable to theft. If the window is still intact but cracked, this can pose a danger because it can completely give way, even under light impact. Continue Reading →

Now that summer is over, convertible owners may want to place the soft top back over their car. The top can become dirty even when it’s folded down. Convertible soft top cleaning requires a different process than cleaning the rest of the car exterior.

Convertible Soft Top Cleaning Instructions

Soft tops, also known as ragtops, can deteriorate over time, causing cracks and peeling throughout the fabric. Fortunately, you can prevent this by cleaning the top the correctly. Continue Reading →

Do you regularly sanitize the bathroom? If so, why wouldn’t you do the same to maintain a clean car interior? Car cabins become dirty really fast; yet many car owners don’t bother to thoroughly clean the interior. We’ll explain how to keep a car cabin clean and why this is important for driver and passenger health.

Car Cabins Are Filthy

Most vehicle owners regularly wash their car’s exterior but don’t bother with an auto detail for the interior. This is a mistake with a health consequence.

Here is a rather disturbing health fact: an average car seat contains 100 strains of bacteria per square centimeter, according to a University of Birmingham study. That is roughly twice as much as a toilet set. Continue Reading →

Summer temperatures put certain car parts at risk of overheating. The sun also affects the aesthetic aspects of the car, both the interior and exterior. We’ll explain why summer car detailing is a must as the sun shines brightly on Bellingham.

Summer Car Detailing Tips

Wax the vehicle after a car wash to protect the surface from damaging UV rays. Sunlight causes the paint to oxidize, which causes the color to fade. Faded coloring is especially noticeable in red vehicles. In addition, you can more easily remove debris, dirt, and grime from vehicle surfaces with a wax coating.

We also apply a special type of wax to the exterior windows. Rainfall still occurs in the summer, and the wax allows the raindrops to easily glide off the auto glass.

The interior requires extensive car detailing as well. We use cleaners fortified with UV inhibitors to protect the upholstery and dashboard from fading. Continue Reading →