Have you ever had your check engine light come on? I bet you have, just because statistically it’s almost impossible that you haven’t experienced this before. How did you feel when that happened? Panicked? Upset? Anxious? It’s okay, we all feel that way when that little light flashes on and then stays there, taunting us with our failures until we take the car in to get fixed. Well, there’s a generally accepted list of five things that are the most likely culprits of the check engine light going off. Check them out below and then take a deeeeep breath. You are a champion.

It could be that your oxygen sensor (O2 sensor) needs to be replaced. This measures the amount of unburned oxygen in your vehicle’s exhaust system. If you don’t replace it, your engine will burn more fuel than it needs, causing your MPGs to decrease. Leaving this unrepaired can also damage your spark plugs and catalytic converter.

It could also be that your gas cap is loose (or broken, or missing). This is most often the cause of a check engine light coming on, and it’s the easiest fix. The problem with having a loose or broken gas cap is that the gas cap seals off your fuel system and helps to maintain the proper pressure in your fuel tank. It also keeps gas fumes from being released into the atmosphere while you’re not even using the car. If you don’t fix this, you can lose some of your (increasingly more expensive) fuel via evaporation and have to stop at the pump more. Nobody wants to spend more money on gas!

Your catalytic converter could also need to be replaced. This is part of your exhaust system, and it converts carbon monoxide, which is a harmful pollutant, into carbon dioxide. If your cat has failed, it’s probably because you haven’t gone in for maintenance when you should have. If you don’t replace this, then your vehicle won’t pass an emissions test, you won’t get the performance or fuel economy that you’re used to, and your vehicle might run at a higher temperature, giving you more risk of overheating the engine.

It might be that your Mass Airflow Sensor needs to be replaced. This measures the amount of air that comes through to your engine and takes that information to calculate how much fuel your vehicle needs to run efficiently. If you don’t get this fixed, then you can damage your spark plugs, O2 sensors, or cat. You’ll also have reduced performance and fuel economy.

Finally, it could be that your spark plugs (or plug wires) need to be replaced. These ignite the air and fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle, making it go. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If this doesn’t get replaced or repaired, you’ll have poor vehicle performance (i.e. reduced power) and reduced fuel economy. Worn plugs or wires can clog your cat and even damage your ignition coils and O2 sensors.

Basically, check the gas cap first and if it’s not that, take your vehicle in as soon as you can so that we can take a look. The sooner you bring it in, the sooner you’ll be back on the road without that horrible panicked feeling you get whenever you see that check engine light! It’s a great feeling, trust us!

As we’ve said before, spring is here and ’tis the season to clean everything you own and clear our the dust that built up over this long, long winter. This week, we’re going to focus on cleaning your air vents and making sure that you can enjoy the spring air to the fullest! Take a look and get ready to get down and dirty and tackle those vents like the cleaning version of a linebacker!!

The first step is to get all of your supplies ready to rock and roll. You’ll need Q-tips, a vacuum, cleaning solution (some all-purpose cleaning solution is great), and some white vinegar if you’ve got a smelly situation on your hands.

The next step is to vacuum everything out of your vents as an initial beginning to the cleaning process. Vacuum every vent, including the one that runs along the base of your windshield. Then, get into the cracks and crevices of the vents with Q-tips dipped in a cleaning solution. When the Q-tips start coming away clean, then you know you’re done. After that, go over your vents the same way but with white vinegar on the Q-tips to get rid of any lingering smells. The vinegar odor is strong but fades fast, and it takes bad smells with it.

Vacuum the vents again to make sure you’ve gotten everything out of them and then you’re done!

Your next overall step is to take a look at your cabin air filter. This is something that a lot of people don’t really register as something that exists, but it does and it can start to smell to high heaven if it hasn’t been changed in a while. In order to do this, you can take a look at your owner’s manual for instructions on how to access that filter and take a look at it to make sure it’s in good shape, and then you can schedule an appointment with us to have it replaced! Easy as that!

The last thing is that if you have a lingering odor in your car after all of this… maybe it smells a little like dirty socks, perhaps? You should assume that you have a little bit of mildew in your A/C evaporator. The remedy for this is to drive about a mile (enough to warm up your engine), roll down all the windows, and then blast your air at full speed from all the vents. Don’t turn on the A/C, just regular old air will do. Keep it on for a couple minutes and then your evaporator should be fully dried out and you can be on your way.

Our last suggestion is to just add the cherry on top of the nice-smelling cake: consider an air freshener!

When you’re driving along at night, you’re probably relying on your headlights to light the way for your travels. When your headlights aren’t working the way they should, you’re not only going to be literally left in the dark, you’re not going to be as safe as you would be otherwise. Your headlights are actually one of the most underrated safety features of your vehicle. Take a look at some common headlight problems and how they can be fixed!

If your headlights are on but are dimmer than you think they should be (or dimmer than they used to be), it could be that they’re dirty. The way to rule this out is to use some all-purpose cleaner and a clean cloth and wipe down your headlights. Look at them closely after you’ve wiped them off. If they’re still dim and you see that the surface of your lights is a little yellowed and/or hazy, then come ask us about reconditioning your headlights. It might also be a good idea to ask about upgrading your headlights for LED or HID components if possible.

If only one of your headlights isn’t working, it’s most likely that the bulb is burnt out. The next most possible option is that there is a broken component in your headlight assembly.

If both headlights aren’t working at all, you’ve probably got a busted relay or control switch. The only way that it could be both headlights burned out is if one burned out, you didn’t get it fixed and waited so long to do anything about it that the other bulb burned out in the meantime. This is no bueno.

Finally, if your headlights both work just fine but get a little dimmer when you’re accelerating (for example), then it could be a problem with your charging system. Make sure you ask us about taking a look at your next oil change!

I think it’s safe to say that we all get a little restless in the springtime. Not only do we have that itch to get out of the house, but sometimes that itch takes us even further and we just want to drive somewhere and travel! Well, that’s great! We hope you have a good vehicle for doing that. (This is our suggestion that you could use a great pre-owned vehicle from Carriage Traders!) Once you have that vehicle, you’re going to want to pile the whole family in for a trip at some point, right? Unfortunately, younger passengers can get bored pretty easily. You’ll need something to keep them occupied… you might even want a little reprieve yourself! That is why we have put together this list of fun games to play in the car as you travel to wherever it is you’re headed. Take a look and give them a try the next time you’re on the road!

Eye Spy – this is definitely an oldie but a very-goodie. It’s great for all ages, and the rules are simple! One person picks a landmark or item inside or outside the car that they can actually see and describes it with one adjective. The other passengers then have to guess what it is!

Twenty Questions – One person thinks of something, and then everyone else in the car has a collective twenty questions that they can ask to try and suss out what the thing is. Depending on the players, this thing can be as esoteric or commonplace as you want!

License Plates – Try and spot a license plate from every state of the union. Depending on where you’re going, you can also try for all the provinces of Canada! With kids in the car, a good idea is to print out a list of all the states so that they can get crossed off the list when they are spotted.

The Alphabet Game – Find each letter of the alphabet, in order, on road signs. You cannot use license plates, and you can’t “save letters for later.” This game gets competitive, especially if you’re trying to beat someone else to a letter.

The Quiet Game – For the parent who just needs a little peace, challenge everyone to the Quiet Game, where they have to be silent for as long as possible. This is very restful for you and challenging to the kids. Sometimes that’s just the way it’s got to be!

An important element of making a decision on a new vehicle is whether it has good gas mileage or not. Fuel economy is something that is becoming more and more important these days, and we’re all about folks driving more economically and helping to save the planet and save you money on fuel! Take a look at some of our tips for increasing your MPG’s in the vehicle you’re driving right now (if you’re not quite at the point where you’re ready to buy a new vehicle). A word of warning: these tips will not magically improve your MPGs from 20 to 70. If you follow the instructions in this blog, you might see a bump of a few miles more on every gallon in the tank.

Our first tip for getting those MPGs up is to not speed. Speeding is, first of all, illegal, and second of all it can bring your MPGs down drastically. When you are speeding, you’re accelerating (and decelerating) a lot more than you normally would be, which is a terrible waste of gas. To combat this, don’t speed! And use your cruise control when you are on the highway – it will keep you at a safe and consistent rate of speed.

Combine trips when you leave the house to run errands. Carpooling is a great solution to not only lowering your emissions but helping everyone save on gas! When you’re out and about, don’t idle your vehicle. Idling for one minute uses as much gas as it takes to start your car in the first place, and it creates a lot more exhaust.

When you’re out in the warmer months, try to park in the shade. Not only does this make your vehicle more comfortable for you to get into when you’re done with your errand, but it minimizes the evaporation of fuel in your tank from the heat and leaves you with more gas to use while driving. Finally, minimize the weight of your vehicle and the drag from vehicle storage. Clean out your vehicle and get rid of things in it that might be weighing you down. If you have roof storage, like a box, consider making room for those items in your vehicle or switching to a rear-mounted box to reduce drag.

Keeping your vehicle in peak condition is also incredibly important. Your tires should be properly inflated and your alignment should be perfect at all times. Regular inspections, tire rotations, and alignment checks are essential in maintaining good fuel economy. When your tires are properly inflated, the amount of drag that your engine has to work through is reduced. When it’s time for you to get new tires, ask for low rolling resistance tires to help your engine even more.

You won’t increase your MPGs from 20 to 70, but if you do these things then you’ll hopefully see an increase of a few miles per gallon through careful driving! And if after reading this you’ve been convinced that it might actually be time to get a new vehicle, consider something new-to-you from Carriage Traders!

Do you ever have that experience when you know that your fuel level is low, and then the little light comes on telling you to fill up, but you’re all like, “well, I know I have enough to get to where I’m going… I’ll just fill up later”? Well, consider this blog us telling you not to do that. You should, realistically never let your tank get below a quarter full – here’s why!

The first reason is that your fuel gauge is not always accurate. Sure, there are some vehicles out there that will say cheerful things like “you have 5 miles until empty,” but even that’s not completely true. You never know how much is really left once you hit that E until your vehicle physically runs out of gas. It could be 5 miles, it could be 50, but do you really want to find out? There are plenty of videos on YouTube of other people testing it out. Just watch them, don’t try it yourself.

Next, your fuel pump uses the gas it pulls in as a coolant. When there’s not enough gas, it starts sucking in air. The air creates more friction and definitely isn’t as cool as the liquid fuel, and your pump burns out very quickly, especially if this practice is repeated often. The repair or replacement is expensive. Much more expensive than a tank of gas. Believe us, because we do that kind of work and we know that a tank of gas is much less expensive.

The final thing is that there’s sediment at the bottom of every fuel tank. When your fuel level gets lower and lower, that sediment gets closer and closer to getting sucked up with the fuel and pushed through your fuel lines and fuel injectors, clogging them up and destroying your fuel system from the inside out. If you let this happen often enough, your vehicle will need a full flush. That’s pretty dang expensive.

It’s always a chore to organize your garage. I know! Before I did my big organization project last week, I would shudder any time I thought about my garage. It was pretty much too full of junk to be able to park my car in it, but one day I just pulled myself up by my bootstraps and told myself that the garage needed to be used for its intended purpose. And then I did it! I actually organized my garage! I thought it couldn’t be done, honestly, but I did it. And now I want to share the good news with you, and maybe also tell you some tips for how you, too, can achieve clean-garage peace.

For starters, make a game plan. Get your car out of the driveway, because that’s where you’re going to be staging literally everything that’s inside your garage. Decide on a start time, and set breaks for yourself (because if you’re anything like me, you’ll get REALLY into it and forget to take breaks and then end the day dehydrated and starving, which isn’t good) and then – it’s time. Time to reckon with your garage.

You’re going to want to take everything out of your garage – and I mean everything. As you’re doing so, sort it all into piles of “Keep,” “Give Away,” and “Toss.” The “Keep” pile will be everything that you need to keep in your possession – and I mean NEED, not just WANT. Take Marie Kondo’s advice, and keep only things that spark joy. Or that are actually useful. The “Give Away” pile will be things that are good enough to take to a consignment store. Then finally the “Toss” pile is everything that will go straight to the curb. Hazardous things, like paint and aerosols and batteries, should be disposed of properly, but everything else that’s just junk can get chucked. It’s very liberating!

After you’ve gone through everything, organize everything from the “Keep” pile as you put it back into your garage. Take this opportunity to give the place a good vacuum, too, and maybe get some shelves if you don’t have them… make labels… you know. Fun stuff. Hopefully, you’ll have a ton more room than before, AND you’ll know exactly where everything is. I did!

Now my car fits into my garage, which is great for those hot summer days, because I certainly don’t like getting into a boiling hot car! And if I can keep my garage clean into the winter, I won’t have to scrape snow off of my car, either. I hope these tips have helped you out, and that you’re inspired to go organize! Good luck!

It’s spring – well, almost, this winter storm would beg to differ – and what better activity is there than spring cleaning? You don’t even have to constrain it to your house! A great thing to add to your list is to clean out your air vents so that your vehicle smells daisy fresh all season, and into the future. We’ve got some tips on how to make the process easy and quick while still being thorough! Take a look.

Your first task is cleaning the physical vents that are in your vehicle, the ones you see and adjust every day. You’ll need cleaning solution, white vinegar, a vacuum, Q-tips and… that’s it! Give your vents a vacuum to get any loose dust out. Then you want to take a Q-tip that’s been dipped in cleaning solution and really work it into the crevices and hard-to-reach spots. When the Q-tips you’re using come back clean, you know you’ve gotten all the grime. Then, take another Q-tip dipped in white vinegar and just go over it all again to get rid of any lingering odors. The vinegar smell doesn’t last long, and when it disappears it takes odors with it. Give the vents one last vacuum and you’re done! Make sure you’ve gotten them ALL, including the one that’s right up next to your windshield and the ones at your feet and the rear seats’ feet.

The next step is to take a look at your cabin air filter. Your owner’s manual should cover how to access it, and if not there’s always YouTube. The cabin air filter is your barrier against everything that’s floating through the air that you drive your car through – pollen, dust, smells, stenches – and it’s often a forgotten part of the vehicle. Take a look, and if you think it needs changing then schedule an appointment with us to have our service department take care of it!

Finally, if you still smell a little something-something in the car when you run the air, you might have mildew in your A/C evaporator. It’s easy to dry that up! Just drive about a mile away from home (that’s enough time to warm up your engine, you see) and then roll down all your windows and turn the air on full blast. Don’t use the A/C! Just regular old air will do. Keep it running for a minute or two, and that should be enough time to circulate air through the evaporator and dry up any residual moisture.

With these tips, you can keep your vehicle smelling great all year round! However, we can’t account for stinky sports equipment, pets, or fast food… those you’ll have to deal with on your own!

Washing your car is a fun activity for the whole family when the weather warms up, but there’s definitely a right and a wrong way to do it. Luckily for you, we’ve written this guide to washing your car properly so that you can have fun with the kids and make sure that your clearcoat won’t get frazzled.

The first tip we have for you is to invest (and when we say “invest,” we really mean “spend a little more than you would otherwise”) in some car shampoo that is specifically formulated for exterior automotive use. In other words, don’t use dish soap. You can find it at any auto parts store, and when you use a microfiber cloth or cleaning mitt with the shampoo, you’ll get a great wash. Make sure you rinse your car off with the hose before you start washing and you’re good to go!

Make sure you don’t wash your vehicle in direct sunlight. It might seem like the thing to do, but it’s not. We’ll cover that in a minute.

When you do wash, don’t move the cloth in circular patterns. That creates swirl marks, which are visible on your paint if you look the right way. Rinsing your vehicle first helps get rid of the dust and other pollutants that collect on your vehicle and cause scratches when you wash your vehicle. The proper way to wash is in long straight strokes, doing one panel at a time. Don’t rub too hard, but make sure you are effectively washing each area.

Don’t rinse your vehicle off just yet – take the time to rinse and wash your wheels with a stiff brush. It really improves the look of your wheels, and makes sure they’re getting the attention they deserve. After that, take a clean cloth, dip it in the wash, and focus on the little details of your vehicle before the final rinse.

Now it’s time to rinse your vehicle off with a nice high-powered blast of water from the hose. Don’t let your vehicle air-dry – this is why you’re not washing your vehicle in direct sunlight – because if the rinse water evaporates it creates rings and deposits and can damage your clear coat and/or paint. Dry each panel with a clean, dry microfiber cloth, and then apply whatever protectant sprays or waxes you want.

Teach your kids the right way to wash a vehicle and you’re set for life on car washes! Trust us, ours are practically expert detailers.

Travel is both a necessity and a fun activity, and that’s why road trips were invented. However, regardless of the reason for your travel, there will always be little things that pop up here and there that need to be addressed… like boredom, small injuries, thirst… regular things. We don’t have a choice about those things happening, but we do have a choice about being prepared! So, we’ve put together a little list of some great essentials to have in your vehicle for any occasion, whether it’s an actual emergency or just a fit of boredom. Check it out!

In The Car

• Blankets and pillows
• Music
• Folding chairs
• Reading material
• Camera
• Cash for toll roads
• GPS
• Binoculars
• Wet wipes
• Puzzle books and quiet toys for kids
• Pen, pencil, notepad
• Tissues, paper towels, toilet paper
• Small bags for garbage

Vehicle Emergency Kit

• Flashlight, roadside signal flares or reflective cones/warning signs
• First aid kit
• Booster cables, wrenches, screwdrivers (basic tool kit)

• Gallon jug of water
• Extra washer fluid, oil, transmission oil, brake fluid
• Rags, workshop towels, old blanket
• Gloves
• Spare belts (alternator, fan and air conditioner belts)
• Candle, warm clothes, heavy blanket (for winter travel)
• Duct tape and WD40