Month: May 2018
You know you love your car. You love driving around, and going to different places throughout the day. You stop to fill up on a little gas and decide to get a cherry soda. Why not, it is hot out right? You just got your car detailed, so you tell yourself you are going to be very careful drinking this tasty beverage. You are driving down the road and go to take a sip, and all of a sudden the car in front you slams on their brakes and that soda is all over you and the seat. How are you going to get the soda stain out? This article will explain exactly how to do that and possibly prevent them for happening in the first place.
Soda stains are pretty hard to prevent in a car. It just seems like they are a natural occurrence, especially if you have kids. The only true way to stop soda stains from happening is keeping you car soda free. Why not, it is your car after all. If your family loudly opposes this idea you can let them only bring bottled soda in the car, because that at least has a cap on it whereas soda cans do not. Another thing you could do is to spray a fabric protector on all of your car seats according to the manufacturer’s directions. While this won’t stop your kids from simultaneously pouring grape soda on your nice white car seats, this will make clean up a little easier on you. Of course you can put car seat covers on all of the seats. Then all you would need to do is throw the covers in the washer machine the next time a soda spills.
How to get the soda stains out may be a little trickier but it is possible. Let’s first discuss how to clean up a fresh soda stain, which may be easier to deal with than a set in stain. So, you just spilled some soda on your car seat. The first thing you should when it is safe to do so, such as after you pull over, is to blot the soda with a paper towel. Keep on blotting until you get all the liquid up. Make sure you do not use a scrubbing motion because you will only rub the stain into the seat. Once you do that take a spray bottle filled with 4 cups of warm water and a tablespoon of detergent and spray the stain. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then proceed to blot this up with paper towels. Repeat until the stain is gone. If you have leather car seats dampen a paper towel with warm water and blot the soda up. Make sure to dry the spot with more paper towels until dry.
If you have stains that are set into the seat of you car you may want to use a foaming upholstery cleaner according to the manufacturer’s directions. You could alternatively use a steam vacuum with a hose attachment on the stain, and follow the directions. As always when cleaning any fabric make sure you test the method on a small spot of the upholstery that isn’t as noticeable to make sure it doesn’t do any damage.
So many car keys are now remote. That means that rather than turning a metal key in the ignition, your key will emit a radio signal and your car can be started with the push of a button, sometimes while the key is still in your pocket.
Robert Campbell, a locksmith who owns Advantage Locksmith in New York City, talks about car lockouts.
Yodles Q: If you do an auto lockout job, can you start cars once you have gained access?
Roberts A: While there is usually a way to disassemble the steering column and hotwire the cars to start them, that is not recommended because it can be dangerous for the customer who is driving the car while its hotwired. In theory, however, you can hotwire many cars so they are manually put into the on position and the owner can drive it.
Yodles Q: Do you ever hotwire cars for clients?
Roberts A: No. Though we have done it a few times in the past, nowadays that is not something we would ever do again. Today, the design mechanics are far more complicated than they have ever been. There are ways to get peoples cars started by knowing a few tricks such as reversing polarity and stuff like that. But we generally try to stay away from that type of thing. It would have to be extremely extenuating circumstances for us to consider hotwiring. But we have the skills to do so most of the time.
Nowadays however, with OnStar and other navigation systems, a lot of people will have roadside contracts and they can simply call their insurance provider, roadside assistance company or even the dealership and have them send out a signal to open the car wherever they are via satellite.
It is pretty amazing technology. Lets say you left your keys in car in the middle of nowhere. There are no locksmiths for miles around. If you have the OnStar Navigation System, you can call the service provider, whether its AAA or your Audi dealer, and ask for assistance to access your car and they will send satellite signal to your vehicle that will open the locked door. It is all satellite controlled and extremely quick. You may have seen those commercials where they have a navigation system for Toyota: You see the aftermath of car accident, the hood of car is open, smoke pouring out and then you hear the voiceover saying, Hi this is Joe from Toyota. I believe you have been in accident. Are you OK? Shall we send out an ambulance?
So a lot of vehicles now have onboard systems that provide direct communication between the driver and the ownership and dealers. These systems, if in place, can almost guarantee you will never be locked out of your car again.