Car Detailing and Customer Service

Often customers get upset after they've had their car detailed and much of the problem has to do with communication issues. Customers need to fully explain what they expect in the auto detail when they get done, and ask if the detailers if they will indeed, be taking care of all those items that they have addressed. By doing this the customer will find that much of what they had asked for is completed to their liking, if not everything. Communication is the key, and it is important to remember that.

Of course, by the same token the professional auto-detailer must also understand what is going on and be very careful to look over the car and discuss with the customer various issues with the paint, any damage on the car, and what they can and cannot do for the interior, exterior, and clear coat. An automotive detailing professional should also explain their check list to the customer; what they will be doing and how they will be doing it.

This way the customer will understand why the price is well over $100, all too often, customers of such services get sticker shock, and do not understand the value. Happy customers are predicated on proper communication, and failure to communicate causes future challenges. If you want all the best referrals, then you are going to have to learn how to communicate and talk with the customer. Believe it or not the most successful auto detailers are the best communicators, not necessarily the best craftsmen of their trade. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. Lance Winslow says auto detailing customers should shop around by phone first; telephone service.

Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers. Lance Winslow believes those who use these strategies lack integrity and mislead the reader. Indeed, those who use such cheating tools, crutches, and tricks of the trade may even be breaking the law by misleading the consumer and misrepresenting themselves in online marketing, which he finds completely unacceptable.

By Lance Winslow

Tactics To Get The Most From Your Auto Insurance

By Airiel S Tamayo

Auto insurance is an incredibly important thing for all drivers to have. If can be a total pain to figure out which auto insurance policy is best for your particular situation. Here are some things you should know about how to go about getting insurance.

Avoid getting any infractions on your driver's license. People with poor driving records spend more on insurance. Once you have something negative on your driving record, you may be able lower your insurance by attending traffic school.

Make sure you understand the different types of automobile insurance coverage before you purchase it. There are a lot of factors that go into the final cost of your auto insurance. It's imperative that you are aware of all of these charges before making your final decision. In case you hit someone, you can use bodily injury liability to pay for the legal fees.

Liability insurance is required in many states for those who operate motor vehicles. The law requires you to be pro-active in knowing if you've got the required minimum insurance coverage for the state in which you reside. If you are in an uninsured accident, you will face both legal and financial difficulty.

Many people believe the misconception that once a driver reaches 25 their insurance rates decrease automatically. The truth is that they start to decrease once they reach 18 as long the driver is responsible and drives safely.

The type of car or truck you purchase is going to play a big role in how much money you pay for insurance every month. You may be attracted to expensive luxury cars, but your insurance rates will come at luxury prices as well. Choosing a safe and reliable lower end model can really save you some money in the long run.

It's important to sit down and figure out how much auto insurance coverage you truly need. You will have many options, but a lot of them won't pertain to you. If you tend to have accidents, you would be wise to pay for collision coverage.

Whenever possible only carry one family member per car. This should help keep the premiums low. You can get a better premium rate if you have just one person listed as the registered driver for a particular vehicle.

Choosing proper insurance is the key to saving money should an accident occur. The policyholder is expected to pay a portion of the claim, called a deductible. Any claims over and above the deductible will be paid by the insurer.

Think about removing some coverage from your auto insurance. One item that may not be necessary is collision insurance. If your vehicle has aged and is of little value, you don't need this expense. You can save a considerable amount of money by removing collision coverage. You can also think about taking off coverages, such as liability.

Never drive without auto insurance. You will be saved from a pile of financial trouble by having car insurance. These tips should be used to help you along with your search for an insurance company.

Certain Things to Search For While Buying Winter Tires for Sale

By Hadi Golkarieh

Especially designed to help your car have a smooth and safe ride in winter are termed are the winter tires. One needs to look for certain essential features while buying that is used in colder conditions. They have special rubbed compounds that help in offering a good traction as compared to the normal tires that are available in the market and are crafted to perform well in the extreme colder climates. All of them are not the same. In recent times, these are gaining a huge popularity and making a remarkable profit in the market.

Here are lists of things that one can bear in mind while buying:

Buy in Group:

One must plan to buy tires all four in a group and not in one or two. Many people decide to get just one or two tires instead of getting the set that contains four. Different sets of tires can be dangerous for the vehicle and can lead to spin outs and vehicle controlling issues. Four tires of the vehicle must be of the same brand, size and model.

Tires with Snowflake Mountain Symbol:

Try selecting affordable, sophisticated and durable winter tires for sale that have a symbol of Snowflake Mountains. This particular symbol indicates that the tires are approved and met the Winter Traction regulations too. There are various tires in the souk that have the letters M+S indicating that they are designed to meet both mud and snowy conditions. These are not very good for the extreme cold conditions in spite of having the letters M+S embedded on them.

Perfect Sized:

One must know the exact size of the tires that is required for the vehicles. The perfect size should be noted down from the side of the old tire. In case it is not there, you can also find out the size from the car manual. Maximum of the shops selling tire display a wide range of various tires of arrays of sizes and shapes to suit your all vehicles in the most appropriate manner.

Check The Tread Depth:

This is one of the most essential things that a person must have in mind while buying winter tires for sale. In winter most of the car tires witness heavy snow and slush and this is why it requires a good tire depth.

Search for Tires That Can Be Easily Fixed:

If you want to save a few bucks and fix all by yourself, then you need to look for the tires that can be simply fixed without an expert help. Mounting tires are easy but one may require help sometimes. One can get a local garage worker to get it mounted to the vehicles.

These were a list of things that people need to look out, while buying winter tires. Once the tires are properly fixed to the vehicles, it is vital to get it inflated at proper times. The inflation of the tire should be checked at least once a week in the winter season.

Chevrolet Beat - A Versatile Car for the Whole Family

By Shailesh Dheer

The Chevrolet Beat was first introduced in the market during 2010. It is an innovative vehicle that has remained as the most alluring model of General Motors. While introducing the Beat, the standard for this hatchback was enhanced in order to offer a good look as well as futuristic interiors. The Beat has been devised by boffins by the GM-Daewoo design studio located in South Korea and the end product has been crafted to offer an absolute head turner. At first sight, the car draws the attention of anybody due to its the oversized front and also the chunky grille adorning the Chevrolet bow-tie. This offers the Beat a very versatile posture. Moreover, the high waistline with its sloped roof with rails on the top make the hatchback appear interesting from the side also. In order to offer a two-door look, the rear door handles of the Beat have been concealed in the C pillars. Also, the Beat has been fitted with contoured seats which provide a good side support, however, the seat is not so deep to give a good lumbar support and the low seating posture can be a problem, while on long drive.

The Beat is highly versatile and is accessible in three fuel versions - diesel, petrol as well as LPG. The Beat Diesel version sports a dynamic 1.0 XSDE SMARTECH Engine that offers it 58.5PS of power output as well as 150Nm of torque. Moreover, one can further enhance the green credentials through selecting the Petrol/ LPG "bi-fuel" drives option. The Beat Petrol/LPG has a sophisticated SMARTECH II engine, which offers an inspiring mileage of 18.6 kmpl and helps to mitigate emissions, driveline noise, apart from vibrations, while riding the car. Also, the LPG variant assists in reducing the air pollution as well as greenhouse gases and helps to reduce the fuel bills by 50%.

While, the petrol variant offers a mileage of 14-15 kmpl in city driving, the Beat diesel version gives a fantastic mileage of 25 kmpl which is commendable and mitigates the cost by a long shot. To be more specific, the price difference between the petrol and diesel version gets nullified by economizing on the diesel. So also, the Chevrole Beat offers the best ride quality, when compared to various other cars on the road. The immaculate ride quality also offers the vehicle an edge in the overall handling. When you drive the Beat, you can feel sharp around corners and is very easy to manoeuvre through crowded city roads. The front suspension of the car is of Mc Pherson strut, whereas the rear suspension of this backpack is of compound link type. The prices range of the Beat is between 3.8 lakhs to 5.7 lakhs.

Regarding the storage facility, the Beat has a large tailgate space of 170L. Also, the seats can be folded in a 60:40 split to access a flat surface that offers a phenomenal comfort for long journeys. Coming to the inside of the car, one can find the Beat to be pleasantly organized and well thought-out. The hatch pack offers a roomy feel and the switches are intuitive and precisely located where one would like to have them. Unusual for a car of this size, it can accommodate 5 adults in comfort that makes the car an ideal option for outings with whole family.

Things to Look Out For in an Auto Detailing Service

By Adam Scheidlr

We are living in a highly capitalistic world where all that entrepreneurs want is to get more money for their services. Sadly, the increased money does not translate to better quality of services. This does not mean that there are not a few good auto detailing service providers out there. Choosing the right one will however require a lot of research and inside tips; this is more so if you want to hire an auto detailing service provider.

There exists several places where you can get the information you want. You can look them up on the internet, you can ask a buddy who bought an SUV before you did or you can use the local directory listing. None of these however beats having personal knowledge of what features to look in an auto detailing service before hiring one. Here are a few tips that can be useful.

Features Wanted

This will probably be the first consideration you will have to put in mind when choosing an auto detailing service. Some people want a more thorough cleaning of their car with all the bells and nooks attached. This will include the use of specialized tools and cleaning agents including car polish, air conditioner cleaner and car wax. Of course, these services will come at an additional cost. If on the other hand what you are looking for is a modest car cleaning service, you may not be able to enjoy so much of the auto detailing features.

It is important to ensure that the expert can professionally offer all the features you want before you sign up with them. The tools and products they use should also be of high quality to ensure the best results.

Pricing

In actual sense, car detailing is not expensive. However, you may want to take advantage of special discounts offered by car detailing service. The service providers will in many cases give discounts on special days. Since this type of detailing is not something you need on a daily basis, you can use these select discount days to take you car for auto detailing.

It is also important to note that experts who offer the whole range of packages from car leather clean services to chain lubricant application might be a little bit expensive than ones who offer just a selected few of services like washing with car shampoo. You can judge the estimate charge of an auto detailing outlet by checking on its outward appearance. Impressive lawns and employees clad in expensive uniform will most probably mean a bigger slice on your wallet.

Online Reviews and Forums

The internet has enabled consumers to have a level of interaction that was not heard of there before. If you are worried about getting the best price for auto detailing products such as chain lubricants, consider hitting the internet for product reviews and appraisals of auto detailing companies in your area. Consumer forums, many of which discuss everything from car shampoo to car polish and wax,offer a load of information that you are sure to find invaluable.

Interior Auto Detailing: Learn How to Effectively Clean Leather Seats

By Adam Scheidlr

How can you tell the difference between cars that are superbly maintained, from one that is neglected? Simple. Forget about looking at the bling wheels and rims and the repainted body. The interior of your vehicle is what marks the difference between having a car that is clean and one that is just flashy. It is true that exterior detailing and a dazzling car polish finish will make your car sparkle, but this does not make it clean. You need interior detailing to make the inside of your car as sparkly as the outside. Fortunately, it is very easy to clean the interior of your car and leave it sparkling as if it was new.

There are three main steps involved in interior detailing namely,

• Leather cleaning and reconditioning
• Car Carpet Cleaning
• Interior Trim

This article explores into details, the process of cleaning your car leather seats and reconditioning them.

1. Cleaning Your Leather Seats

Sometimes, it becomes apparent that your leather seats require reconditioning. However, it is imperative that you clean your car seats to remove any grease and dust that might have gathered on them since the last auto detailing. This should be done before you recondition. Many people prefer to use microfiber car leather clean towels. You may also consider using a soft brush or a normal cloth. However, when cleaning your leather seats, you need to keep in mind that some leather seats are more sensitive to hard scrubbing. If that is the case, consider buying a special cleaner from a car accessories stocker.

2. Wipe The Cleaner From The Seats

Many car leather clean solutions will leave residues on the leather after cleaning. Use a damp towel to wipe off the residue. You may need to repeat the process with another clean cloth until you make sure the interior of the car is all clean. You have to ensure that the seats are super dry before applying your upholstery conditioner. Wet seats will not hold the conditioner for a long time.

3. Choosing a conditioner

The next step after ensuring your seats are dry is to apply leather conditioner on them. Just like with other auto detailing products like chain lubricant, windshield washer fluid and car wax, there are many brands of conditioners available in the market today. Choose one that you think will offer the most superb results on your car leather seats.

The process of conditioning the seats is something akin to applying sunscreen on your skin. Using a regular sponge and liberally applying the conditioner on the entire surface of the seats will yield the best results. Also, remember to rub it all the way in. This will leave your seats protected for a longer period of time.

4. Give the conditioner time to settle

Finally, make sure that you give time for the conditioner to settle in by leaving your car in the shade for several hours. You may also want to park it in the garage overnight. When you are sure the conditioner is significantly settled in, give the seats one last wipe with a dry cloth. This will give a sparkle to your leather seats and make them look as good as new.

Aftermarket Headlights: Life Saving Automobile Accessory

By Chetna Singla

If you regularly use your vehicle, then it is quite obvious that you might face few problems as it is a fact that these vehicles are above all machines. There are some limitations, and they have to work within this perimeter. Wear and tear is quite common with the vehicles and hence we sometimes go for replacement. There are few situations where we search for alternatives like:

• Unfortunately if our vehicle meets with an accident and its parts get damaged.
• If our vehicle is quite old and all its accessories are outdated.
• Few of our vehicle's parts suddenly stop working.
• If, after continuous repair, your car accessories come to the end days.

There are many other reasons why we go for buying car parts and accessories. Things get old with time and same is the case with technologies. Everyone prefers buying the accessories that are the latest technology based, and there are few hassles involved in them. This statement is true in terms of car lighting components.

Technology matters a lot in case of the lighting assembly outfitted in your automobile. It should be based on modern technology as it will function at its best. Headlights play a vital role as they are present at the front of the vehicle and help the driver with a clear road visibility. The light produced by these front lights should be quite intense so that a person will be able drive trouble-free in the dark hours and feel as if he is driving in the daytime. People prefer factory headlights or other components for their vehicles. These are car components and accessories that the brands manufacture themselves. The reason they believe is that the company will only offer you quality and genuine products.

Most of the people skip the idea of getting new lighting components on their vehicle due to the high cost of these factory lights. Factory headlights are quite costly, but they have high significance other lighting assemblies. The solution to this problem is the aftermarket headlights or other accessories. Getting lighting assembly from the aftermarket manufacturers is the brilliant idea as they produce all the existing car components for all car brands, their makes and models. They manufacture these automobile parts following Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) guidelines. These perfectly fit to the existing structures as aftermarket components come up with ready to fix plug and play installation system. Moreover, all these parts are approved by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and Department of Technology (DOT) which give the complete assurance of the quality.

Several online stores, which deal in a variety of automotive accessories, buy them from these manufacturers and sell them at reasonable prices. The rates of these automotive products are much lower as compared to the factory ones. Hence, people go for all types of accessory replacement for their vehicle as it is in their budget. Just make online orders of your desired automobile accessory and get your order reached at your doorsteps.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7833829

Apply Touch Up Paint to Plastic Bumpers in 7 Steps

By Bob Keppel

Bumper/Trim Scratch fix

Not always your fault, but bumper scratches happen, from parking lots to the most innocent of children a scratch on you plastic bumper/trim can be a costly repair to take it in, but there are some instances that you can fix it yourself, with the right stuff. It does depend on the area affected to determine if it is a do-it-yourself fix. If there is discoloration due to impact and not just a scratch, it might be time to take to a professional. If it is a surface scratch with no major distortion to the plastic bumper, you have options

You will need:

1. Car touch up paint

2. A filler product.

3. Leveler.

4. Rubber or plastic squeegee

5. A fine tipped paint brush

6. Utility knife or exact-o-knife

7. Soft lint free shop towel

8. Soft foam sanding block

9. Windex or wax grease remover

Steps:

1. The main thing is you want to match your color correctly; a color that doesn't match is not going to end up improving the scratch. Determine what your color code is. These codes vary from one manufacturer to the next. The best place to start is your door jambs (either driver or passenger). Some cars have the code in the trunk, glove box or near the firewall.

2. Once you have the right color prepping is next and just as important. You want to remove the burs on the plastic and this is where a sharp edged tool blade is needed. Be careful not to make a small scratch into a deep gouge. Cut just what you need, so nothing sticks out beyond the surface.

3. After, clean the areas thoroughly. Get any wax residue off, as this will affect the paint and putty. Best way is to use dish soap to clean the area or a wax removing soap. Then go over area again with a wax/grease remover or Windex.

4. Now the area is ready to fill in with a scratch filling putty. Apply with a squeegee making sure to fill all scratched areas; you will be using the leveler to level it all out so make sure to get the whole area, filling in any imperfections.

5. You are now going to want to take the leveler to level out the area, removing all excess putty. The leveler won't affect your current paint. This step is where a soft foam sanding pad comes in handy, but is not necessary. With patience and a delicate touch you can do it with the soft no-lint disposable towel.

6. After you get it so the putty is just in the scratches, give the area a few minutes to dry, then clean the area once more with Windex or wax/grease remover.

7. Now it is time to paint. Apply the paint only in the affected areas covering the putty. Short overlapping strokes are recommended, but dabbing also works, these methods reduce stroke marks.

8. Now let the area dry for 24 hours before washing, waxing and polishing. This will ensure the paint has fully dried.

If these steps were followed patiently, you should have hidden that unsightly scratch. There are some times that this method will not work as well, particularly on silver/gold cars. Solid colors turn out best.

Bob Keppel created ScratchWizard, the world's first paint touch up kit with scratch-filling putty. Produces the least visible do-it-yourself repairs in minutes.

Unconventional Methods of Cleaning Your Car

By Justy Peter Max

There are a lot of myths out there that you can actually clean your car using household products and detergents. A lot of people use unconventional car cleaning methods to save money and still get the required results. So can you really use coke to wash the windscreen of your car? Today we will discuss all the unusual car cleaning methods that people use. These solutions could help make your life easier and simpler.

Hair Conditioner

This might not be wise according to some but many people have reported positive results after using hair conditioner to wash the exterior of their car. Hair conditioners that contain a special liquid called lanolin should be used. After one wash you will get the fresh waxed look that you get from a conventional car polish.

Cola For Windscreen

You can use cola to wash the dirt of your windscreen. Rain can specially affect the windscreen of your car and make it look messy. The bubbles in the cola act as chain lubricant getting rid of all the dirt on the glass. Make sure that you protect the hood though or the cola could damage the paint.

Wiper Blades

Wiper blades need to be cleaned or else they could damage your windscreen. You can take out the wiper blades and clean them separately with chain lubricant. Wash the blades and them wipe them with a clean cloth before putting them into place.

Car Lights

You can clean the car lights by using normal Chain Lubricant window cleaner. Rub the cleaner to get shinning lights and a polished look. The lights are an important part of the car which is why cleaning them is very necessary.

Baking Soda

You might be wondering that how can baking soda be used as a car cleaner. If you are creative enough anything is possible. You can make your own home made car shampoo by mixing dish washing liquid and water with baking soda.

Kerosene

You can use kerosene to clean the exterior of your car. Just mix kerosene with water and put the solution over your car's body. You don't need to wax or wash the car with car shampoo after applying this solution. It can help protect your car from rust in the rainy season.

No to Air Drying

Air drying can leave marks on the body of your car. So avoid air drying after a wash, you can use a soft brush to clean the exterior instead.