How well do you know your McHenry car?

When you purchase a new car, whether a new car from one of the new-car dealerships in McHenry, or a used car from a used-car lot or private owner, there is an acclimation period. You have to get used to the car.

This doesn’t mean you have to learn how to drive the car, though there are areas where this applies. What it does mean is that, for instance, the nobs and controls are in different locations compared to your previous car, unless you’ve bought the same car. Even when you buy the same make and model of car, you may find significant changes in where the controls are in the new car based on differences in the years the cars were made.

In your previous car, when it rained in McHenry, you found the wiper control arm mounted on the left side of the steering column. In the new car, you may find it’s on the right side of the steering column. And, where you would move the lever up to turn the wipers on before, now you have to pull the lever down. And, how does the intermittent wiper control work?

While you adjusted the seat positions manually with the old car, you may find that, with the new car, you adjust the seats with power buttons. You’ll have to learn how to operate the heater and air conditioning. And then you have the sound system. Is it an older style stereo, possibly with CDs?

Some cars come with subscription options for music, radio and gaming in the car. Some cars come with video options (for those who aren’t driving). Newer cars come with navigation systems. All of these systems come with a learning curve. The more complicated the system, the higher the curve.

Once you’ve figured out how to operate and adjust all the systems in your car, then you have to learn the nuances of how your car drives. This includes getting used to the way your new car accelerates. Your new car may have more or less power than your old car. But, how it accelerates also includes how responsive it is to pressure on the accelerator.

How does your new car handle? If the car sits higher, such as would be the case if you’ve moved up to an SUV or pickup, it may be more top heavy. It may not handle the turns the way your old car. You may also find that your new car handles the bumps in the road differently.

Then there are the brakes. When you first buy your new car, it’s a good idea to find a McHenry parking lot somewhere and find out how it reacts in a panic-stop situation. Better to find out in a parking lot before you have to deal with an actual emergency braking situation.

One last piece of advice – read the Owner’s Manual for your new car. Even after years of driving, had you read the Owner’s Manual for your old car, you might have found there were controls you never knew about. Why wait until you’ve owned the car for two or three years before you discover you can, for instance, change the color that lights your dashboard? That’s a minor thing but, the more you know about your car, the better you’ll be as a driver and operator of that vehicle.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Sap, Sun and Droppings conspire to attack your Richmond car’s finish

Who doesn't love summer time in Richmond? But this is also the time of year when sap, sun and droppings attack your car's finish. It’s a beautiful summer day in Richmond, IL, so you take the car to Richmond Carwash and give it a thorough cleaning. Or maybe you go for an entire detailing. On the other hand, you grab a bucket, sponge, brush and appropriate cleaners, drag the hose out to the driveway and wash the car yourself. Before you know it, the car is clean and shiny, almost like the day when it was new, right? But what does Murphy’s Law say about washing your car? Inevitably, if you wash your car, you can count on rain. It almost seems like, as soon as you give the car a good bath, the rain clouds start plotting and changing course to head straight for your Richmond home or wherever else you park your car. Let’s imagine that Murphy takes a pass when it comes to applying the Law of clean-car-precipitation onto your vehicle. You have the car washed but it doesn’t rain. You’ve...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog