What should I do about corrosion on a car battery?

Don’t eat it.

Seriously, though. Despite the fact that it looks vaguely like powdered sugar, the white fluffy stuff that you see attached to the terminals of your cars battery should not be used to sweeten your coffee, or used as a topping for your favorite pastry. First off it tastes terrible, it isn’t sweet like anti-freeze is. Second it is extremely toxic and can cause chemical burns because it is basically concentrated sulfuric acid with lead residues in it.

The technical stuff: The reason why you have powdered acid on your posts is because as the alternator of your car charges the battery the water/acid catalyst inside of the battery can become very hot. The water will evaporate and the acid will become a vapor which, due to the polarity of the battery terminals, will stick to the battery posts and other parts of your engine compartment. Over time the corrosion and powdery build up caused by this will disrupt the connection between the battery and the terminals preventing you from starting your car.

There is a really easy way of taking care of it though. You will need the following:

-1 pair latex or nitrile gloves..

-1 wrench to remove battery terminals..

-2 battery post corrosion preventative felts, preferably saturated with NCP-2 preventative compound (Noco part# D313). .

-1 can battery acid detector/ corrosion removal spray (Noco part# E404). or 1 box baking soda and a cup.

-1 wire brush

-1 pair safety glasses or goggles

-A water supply.

1. First, ensure the engine on your car is off and cool.

2. Open and secure the hood.

3. Locate the battery.

4. Put on gloves

5. Remove anything that prevents access to the battery posts. (battery covers, heat shields etc)

6. Using the appropriate wrench, remove the negative battery terminal.

7. Using the appropriate wrench, remove the positive battery terminal

8. Put on safety glasses

9. Using Acid detector/ corrosion removal spray or a thin paste of baking soda and water, apply liberally to all white powdery residue areas.

10. Using wire brush, brush battery posts where the terminals connect.

11. Using a modest stream of water, rinse off battery.

12. Put one battery felt on each post

13. Attach positive battery terminal to positive post. Tighten until terminal cannot be wiggled

14. Attach negative battery terminal to negative post. Tighten until terminal cannot be wiggled

15. Rinse off battery cover, heat shield, etc

16. Re-install battery cover, heat shield etc

17. Clean up your mess

18. Remove gloves and safety glasses.

19. Close hood.

20. Crack open a cold one, you’re done!

Oh, and by the way, the spray and/or baking soda neutralizes the acid so don’t feel bad about washing the battery off.

p.s. Anti-freeze does taste sweet, but it is deadly. Do not drink or taste it. So just take my word for it.

Ah, the age old problem: You are looking for a car, but you want it to look good with the minimal amount of effort. I have seen and experienced black car ownership and it can reduce a normal person to a neurotic mess. There are actually 2 ways to go about maintaining the look of your car, and when you use them together you can be assured that your vehicle with always look it’s best.

1. Color. White is hands down the cleanest color choice. There is a reason why a vast majority of the fleet vehicles in service today are white: It is low maintenance. A white car hides dirt, grime, water spots and the like better than any other color with the exception of camouflage. 
Typically the darker the hue of paint, the harder it is to keep clean. The scale rises exponentially between gray and black simply because black acts very much like a mirror. It reflects and magnifies everything including smudges, over spray, fingerprints etc. 
If you are set on a gray color (including the popular silver paints), try to find a lighter gray as it will be less maintenance than a dark gray. Nonmetallic cars are easier to keep clean, especially in dusty conditions as they do not sparkle. A metallic car must be kept very clean to get full benefit from the metal flakes in the paint.

2. Upkeep. Every six months have the exterior of your car detailed. You will be surprised at how much less effort you will have to put into your car’s appearance when you have a pro apply a high quality wax and buff it to a shine. Even if it rains it is not uncommon to not have any water spots on a black car provided it was properly cleaned, waxed and polished prior to the rains. Detailing is expensive but worth the expense if you can afford it.

There are a few products available that will help you keep your car looking factory fresh. 3M makes a clear adhesive coating that is applied over clean paint to guard against rock chips and the like. It must be applied by a professional but it is a lot cheaper to replace than getting the car repainted. American Racing offers wheels that have Teflon baked onto the surface of them which almost eliminates brake dust (which is why the front wheels on some cars are much darker than the rear). Meguiars makes a clear plastic polish that helps take small scratches and light oxidation out of clear plastic (i.e. headlamp lenses)

Naturally, all of these products and services cost money and/or time so it is up to you to decide how clean you want your car to be, once you decide on a color, that is.

I would really like to buy a car now but I don’t have any credit yet even though I have a job. At least I don’t have bad credit but what should I do? My current car is a real clunker and I am 25 and want a nice car!

The first step is to start shopping around banks, credit unions and even insurance companies like State Farm who can offer financing. Get a good idea of what their rates would be with your credit currently undeveloped. Interest rates can legally be as high as 29.9% but you shouldn’t accept anything more than 8% with rates as low as they are right now or you will be a slave to the lender.

The second step is to ask yourself, “What does a NICE car really mean” to you? For some, nothing less than a Mercedes will do but something less glamorous and more practical like a basic Honda or a Ford may be a better choice. Keep an open mind! Manufacturers are getting better at basic comforts in cars so some brands may surprise you! Cars are ultimately tools so don’t buy so much that you don’t get the value out of your hard earned money!

Consider keeping the clunker for a while and starting a program to improve your credit:

1. Take out a credit card or two that you pay off in FULL every month.

2. Ask your parents to add you as aresponsible party to a credit card of theirs (but do not use it yourself- just gain the revolving credit history but only do this if your parents are actually paying on their cards).

3. Make sure that you have no outstanding debts to any bills like utilities from past rentals, medical bills, etc and if you have those- pay them off and ask the collection agency to take them off your credit. (if they say they will then they have 5 business days to notify you that they have done so).

4. Don’t repeatedly apply for credit. You can pull your own credit report but applying for multiple cards outside of a week or so can knock points off your score.

After even 6 months you will start to gain a solid credit history that lenders will like.

Patience is indeed a virtue and jumping ahead will bite you where it hurts so take the correct steps to do this the right way.

Good luck!
MMM

Question: When I get my car over 70 mph, the steering wheel starts to shake. What does this mean?
There are several problems that can account for this problem. Without actually riding in the car myself, I can’t know for sure exactly what problem you are having, so I will try to cover as many as I can given the information that you have provided to me.
•    Loose lug nuts: Check your lug nut torque. Typically it is around 80 ft-lbs for most passenger vehicles. If you don’t have a torque wrench available, just make sure they are all tight.
•    Low or flat front tire: Check the tire pressure in your tires. Inflate the tires to the pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire where it says “Max psi (cold)”
•    Dented wheel: Do you view curbs as suggestions? Do speed bumps make you speed? You may have a dented wheel. Check both sides of all the wheels for any flat areas along the area of rim where the tire meets the rim (bead). If your wheel is dented see your local wheel specialist to see if it can be repaired.
•    Road flotsam on halfshaft (front wheel drove only): look in between the engine and the wheels. Notice the straight steel bar that connects the two? Those are your axle halfshafts. Ensure there are no rags, clothing etc caught on the axles. The rubber boots at either end of the axle are supposed to be there.
•    Irregular wear on tire: If the tire is worn irregularly, or if there is a deformity of the tire such as a broken radial cord. Take a look at the front two tires on your car, check the side opposite the lug nuts too. If there are any deformities, replace both fr4ont tires and have your struts replaced and get an alignment performed.
•    Improperly balanced tires: Have a reputable shop check and re balance your tires for you. Wheel weights do fall off sometimes so don’t assume that the last mechanic who mounted your tires screwed up.
•    Severely warped brake rotor one one side: If the problem gets worse when you apply the brakes, have your brake rotors turned and your pads replaced
•    CV Joint damaged (front wheel drive only): Look in the front fender wells. If there is an excessive build up of black sticky goo everywhere then you probably tore a CV Boot a while ago and didn’t know it. Take your car to your local mechanic and have him replace the CV Joint and boot.
If none of the above have resolved the problem then take the car to your local mechanic.

I just bought my first new car (my dream car!) from a dealer and there are some things that I guess I just didn’t ask in advance. I was wondering what the difference between sticker price and final out of pocket cost is? How do you estimate how much you will really pay? Now I am wondering if I really got a good deal?

Susie G, Colorado Springs, CO

Welcome to the table post negotiation and signing on many, many dotted lines. Don’t beat yourself up! You may have still done yourself proud without even realizing it!

MSRP: Called the Monroney or window sticker is required by law and indicates the manufacturers suggested price including the base price with factory warranty, standard equipment, transportation costs, engine specifications, estimated fuel economy and can only be removed by the purchaser. Sometimes erroneously referred to as Mostly Suckers Really Pay, it is not always the case that you shouldn’t pay full sticker price. There are exceptions!

In the case of recent “hot” cars such as the first released new Camaro, demand will keep sticker price right on the money, if not above sticker. Cars are emotional purchases and demand from drivers needing to have the latest and greatest can temporarily maintain MSRP as the going rate for many months. Waiting until a car isn’t as “hot” can save quite a chunk of change. A new, not “hot” car can generally be had for 7-22% below MSRP.

When financing, it is important that you never negotiate according to what you would like your monthly payments to be. In fact, don’t even mention that you will be financing until you negotiate to a price that you feel comfortable with based on research done prior to walking onto a car lot.

Your final out of pocket pain will be the final price plus sales tax, title transfer fees and the interest on your loan spread over the number of months that you chose. All of them are unavoidable and part of the process.

Don’t stress! Enjoy your new ride and keep in mind that research is always key!

Confidently,

M

A study done in the UK by MoneyExpert.com showed that almost 25% of parents have had to help their adult children with their car debt when they have become delinquent in their payments. The expensive reality of raising a child has now extended beyond childhood, into adulthood and threatens parents who are now in their 60’s to compromise their hard earned savings and ability to maintain their retirement and health care needs. The real irony is that adult children today are beginning to literally spend their own inheritance at the cost of compromising their very alive parents.

Of course all of this starts with the devastating news coming from the financial and mortgage industry of people over-borrowing for their homes or getting into loans for which they were not qualified in a lenient lending market. This crisis is not limited to the housing market: it also quickly became a problem with the way that we buy our cars.

In an article in the LA Times just 2 years ago, at a time when the economy was not yet as mired in foreclosures and repossessions as it has been in 2009, it was ominously pointed out that the amount of people who couldn’t make their car payments for 60 days was up by 20%. Additionally, the average car loans are being paid off over a much longer time period than in the 1980s and 90s. 45% of all car loans are for 6 years or longer. It is common that these longer loans are, in reality, for more than one car because many buyers drive cars for 4 years or less and then trade in that car, debt and all, for newer and more expensive cars. The debt owed on the old loan is rolled into the new loan and the cycle begins to spiral from there with some consumers these days paying for 3 loans or more in a single car loans and owing, in some cases, $30,000 in debt on a single car worth far less. This is especially true with car owners who were forced in the last months of recession to downgrade to a less expensive and more fuel efficient model while trying to lose a large monthly payment.

These statistics may begin to uncover a inevitable time bomb for the spoiled babies of the Baby Boomers but a similarly frightening reality is beginning to reveal how this affects the parents that raised these consumers who over expected so much for themselves!

So what is the solution for protecting our Gen X  dollars and, as importantly, our parent’s money? We should take a ticket from their book: our parents drove their cars for much longer after they were paid off and took on much shorter loans. It is may be common today to get financing on a car for 6-8 years but our parents usually had 3-4 year loans thus reducing the amount that they were paying in heavy interest. Additionally, new cars are still very expensive these days so foregoing a need to have a brand-spanking new car and instead negotiating a car that is 2 years old at least (so has lost the majority of it’s depreciation) is realistic for long term goals and financial stability.

Buying smart not only protects your hard earned money but the savings of your parents.

My battery on my car died and now my radio will not work. I have been driving around without any music for days now and it is driving me batty! The screen is flashing a bunch of dashes and I know that I am supposed to have a code somewhere but can’t seem to find it anywhere. Should I just buy a new one?

Julieta I., Seattle, WA

Dear Soundless in Seattle,

It must be so difficult having to endure all of that silence! When your battery went dead, your car’s stereo was unable to get any power so it enabled it’s own anti-theft mode. Pretty clever, huh?

Well, it is only clever if you can find the security code which should be printed on the stereo manual in your glove box. It will be a 3-5 digit code and you will need to either enter it by pushing the pre-tune buttons or scrolling with the tuner knob or toggle. If you do not get it entered correctly within the first couple of tries, the stereo may lock you out for 30 minutes to an hour until you can try again. In some brands of stereos you may have to leave the car running and the stereo on for the entire period that you are locked out before your next attempt.

If you cannot find your original code you could just head to the nearest dealership (provided that it is the stereo that was installed by the car manufacturer) and ask if they can print the number out for you to do it yourself. Some dealers may want to see your registration and ID so be prepared to show them. If they insist that they need to have a technician fix it the cost will be around $40.

If it is not a factory stereo then a qualified sound shop might be able to help you with a little persuasion.

Once you have the code make sure that you stow a copy in the glove box so that if it should happen again, you will not have to listen to yourself hum!

Audibly,

M

While going through our list of entries to the recent “Worst Car Buying Story” contest that Carsala held, I was very interested to see that the winner was not a gearhead that I immediately recognized from either the Carsala Twitter followers, my Twitter or our FaceBook Fan Page. Being the nosey person that I am, I Googled the email address of the winner prior to contacting him and ‘lo and behold, not only did we have a gearhead winner but an award winning automotive journalist and photographer!

Our winner (and new friend) is Jan Wagner of San Diego, California, author of AutoMatters.net and he is just the nicest person. Originally from Alberta, Canada, Jan has had automotive columns in multiple newspapers and just loves what he does. He has enjoyed racing autocross for years and has some truly wonderful photos on his website of events. One of the most amusing things that Jan covered was his series about his cross country drive from California to the New York Auto Show in a Smart Car for ZAP!

Jan and I were both headed to the Orange County Auto Show in Anaheim for the “sneak peak” for the press and so we agreed to meet, have a chat “in real life” and grab a photo.

At the OC Auto Show

This photo is one I took with my measly point-and-shoot which I was a bit embarrassed to pull out in front of Jan because he has a Nikon D3. He is serious about his cameras: so serious that he was immediately telling me his plans to upgrade to the Nikon 3Ds. But if you look at Jan’s photographs you immediately see how much he enjoys capturing cars in action and at rest.

His winning entry, Used Lotus Super 7 Nearly Ended My Marriage Before it Began, is a really funny story and I can tell you now that Jan still has a penchant for tiny cars to take to autocross (he has a Miata for that now) but he is still single (with 2 kids in college) and hits as many automotive events as he possibly can whether they are track races, off road, auto shows, car shows or OEM sponsored insider presentations.

Carsala and I are very happy to have met Jan and hopefully he will be sharing some of his own stories soon right here!

With the world at our fingertips now courtesy of the internet it really is quite easy to educate yourself about just about anything. But, just as reading every opinion on real estate can make you quite educated about neighborhoods’ square footage and school districts, signing a deal on the perfect house at the right price is not so easy. In fact, it can be extremely intimidating whether you have done it before or not.

In the online world of cars it is easy to trip over experts on everything from tuning to collecting, from buying to selling and from torque to trunk space but what seems to bind them all together besides their love of things with wheels and engines is an unabashed insistence that they can bring a salesman to his knees, begging for mercy when negotiating for cars. What all of these people often forget, myself included, is that buying a car is a very personal process and asking for help getting the best price on a car is not so simple. Sometimes folks like to pick their own car and figure out how to deal with negotiations on their own.

A recent third party study for Carsala has revealed that in reality, car geeks aside, 73% of used car buyers dislike the negotiating process and a majority of them rate themselves as being poor negotiators. What is shocking is that almost 20% indicated that they had not attempted to negotiate the price of the car that they most recently purchased.

That last sentence just makes me shudder but friends and family are constantly buying cars around me and never ask for my help despite knowing what I do in the car world. At first I would take it personally but then I realized that they were taking their investment in a car personally and wanted to do it themselves. I can tell someone over dinner or the phone which car I think they want because maybe they really do like the Malibu or an X5 and I would try to get them to consider something else comparable or better. They might listen. But what about when they really want help with the act of buying the car and the dreaded negotiation game at the dealership? Unless I have a good several months to help them search the car lots and an entire day to spend at the dealership while the sales guys play their game, I have my own house to clean and job to do so they don’t want to bother me. Fair enough!

Now if only real estate agents representing you actually were like Carsala, we would be moving in the right direction!

How do you feel about the car buying process?

VIN Locations on a Car via checkmyvin.com

My mother emailed me and told me that I need to cover the VIN number in my car window because if I don’t, thieves will steal my car! How can they steal my car just by being able to see the little tag that every car has inside?  -

Laura C., Bakersfield, CA
Dear Bewildered in Bakersfield,

Don’t you just love those Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: emails that our mothers all seem to think we just have to have? As with any of these, approaching it with a bit of skepticism is always a good first move.

The 17 digit VIN could, in theory, be used by a thief if they copied the VIN, created fake registration and identification for themselves, went into a dealership and had them create a new key. That is not as simple as it sounds! There have only been a few cases of this ever happening and they were stealing the VINs from used car lots where the cars would be sitting still for some time.

Covering you VIN may not only be a futile exercise but also illegal. Several states have laws regarding the VIN being visible at all times and never obscured. Also, that little plate is not the only place where you can find your VIN. Manufacturers now put it many places including on the engine and inside door panel to dissuade thieves from being able to hide the identity of stolen cars.

My suggestion is that you ask your mother to stop forwarding you these urban legends and feel confident that your car will not end up in a chop house.