Car Insurance

A car, truck or SUV is most probably the largest purchase
most Americans make besides a home. Keeping their cars in good
shape is not only a national hobby for men of leisure, but also a
must for busy professionals and families in the country who have
little free time, but want to keep the book value of their car up
and their insurance premiums down.

Americans spend so much time, money and effort to keep the
mysterious “innards” of automobiles in working order that we
often neglect the exterior of our lean machines, whatever their
brand, make or model. And with snowy winter salt and sand eating
away at the exterior, the scorching sun fading the paint,
spring’s acid rain peeling away the exterior coatings, combined
with bird droppings, parking lot dents and scratches everywhere,
it’s easy to see why maintaining the showroom condition of our
cars isn’t easy.

“The ’hot wax‘ most car owners use at coin operated carwashes is
a small, short-term measure that really is not an adequate
preservative, and the hand washes at manned car washes today cost
a great deal and are getting more expensive all the time,” says
John d’Agostino, winner of the “2004 Trendsetter of the Year” car
designer award at the San Francisco Hot Rod Custom and Motorcycle
Show. “For the ultimate shine and long lasting wax protection, I
use Buffalo Milke not only on my show cars, but on my daily
drivers as well. It is simply fast, easy-to-use and produces the
best results!”

Certainly a major advance in the next generation of spray waxes,
the universal usage of one product for all exterior surfaces,
including paint, chrome, aluminum, high impact plastic, glass,
black rubber trim and wheel rims renders old fashioned,
labor-intensive waxes and cleaners obsolete.

Premium-grade Buffalo Milke Instant Spray wax can assist you in
keeping your vehicle in tip-top shape: It waxes in minutes, not
hours; covers minor spider web scratches and swirl marks; leaves
no white powder residue; provides a wet, glossy look to paint
finish as well as provides UV protection against sun damage and
anti-static protection.

Take the advice of a real pro, Joe “Candy Apple” Bailon — the
man who invented Candy Apple Red paint, “It’s simple to use, just
spray it on and wipe clean for that special ‘wet look’ in only 20
minutes or less.” Candy Apple Joe laments, “I wish I had had this
new product to use over the past 60 years — my car customizing
career would have been far easier.”

Well it is now time to hit the road. Unfortunately your motor
home is dirty from months of non-use and neglect. Although your
motor home is sure to accumulate road grime and bugs along the
way, no one wants to start out in a dirty coach. Let’s face it;
you are going to have to get it washed, before you can experience
the freedom of the open road. Rather than procrastinate the
inevitable, you may be surprised to find out that the task is not
as difficult as you think. When washing your motor home there are
two choices. Do it yourself or have some one do it for you.

If you are convinced on doing it yourself here are some tips.
First you’ll need a brush with soft bristles. It is best to find
one with an 18-inch width. The normal truck washing brushes you
find at the RV shops are only 12 inches and are soft bristled
however, having and extra 6-inch width will cut your scrubbing
time by a third. Anything over 18 inches becomes too heavy and
doesn’t allow you the same leverage while brushing, plus it gets
heavy once you dip it in the soap bucket. Too wide of a brush
will teach you that there are muscles you didn’t even know you
had. Even if you golf or go to the gym three times a week, the
muscles you use are very different from the ones you use driving
a ball to the green, or working out on the machine down at the
gym. You will also need a bucket.

It is better to use a bucket that the window washers use, since
it is rectangular. A five gallon pale is not the weapon of choice
because you will have to keep dipping your brush in one side
twirling it and dipping in the other side all the while your soap
is accumulating on the drive way. A bucket, which is standard
equipment in the window washing business is perfect and can be
purchased in any janitorial supply house along with a soft
bristle 18-inch brush. Also pick up a lambs wool soap square (1
foot by one foot) or a soap mitt. You will need some soap too.

Although it may seem easy to go behind the sink and use
dishwashing soap like Joy or Palm Olive these will tend to
deteriorate the gel coat on your unit. Most Motor Coach and
Trailer Manufacturers recommend that you do not use Clothes
washing soaps or dishwashing soaps. All temperature Cheer or
Extra Action Tide are excellent for clothes but not too helpful
in cleaning your motor home. We recommend a soap, which is
specially made for gel coats. Usually your local motor home
supply shop will have what you need. Campers Choice carries a
soap called “Good Sam’s” and you can find other good soaps at
Camper’s World. If not look in your phone book for an Automotive
Detail Supplies Company, such as Pro chemicals, Auto Magic or One
Step in the yellow pages or order online from

www.starbrite.com

boat detail supply companies. They specialize in gel coat soaps
and polishes. Most all marine soaps and waxes work excellent on
motor homes. If you do not have access to the Internet and are in
a rural area with few detail supply companies the next best thing
is Protect-All soap or Zip Wax soap at your local automotive
supply store.

Now that you have all the proper and safe supplies, you can
start. Be sure to shut all windows, sunlights, and vents. It is
important to open all portable awnings to prevent water from
getting in between and causing rotting, also to thoroughly clean
them. You should begin by rinsing the top of the unit first. Be
sure to remove debris, leafs, stagnant water and dirt. Fill up
the bucket with water. Only use two-three capfuls of soap per
bucket. By this time the water is dripping from the top around
the side. Spray the rest of the motor home off to make sure it is
all wet. Start washing the sunny side first.

If you have access to De-Ionized water or Reverse Osmosis, R/O,
use it. Dip your brush in the bucket and go for it. When you get
to rims, handles, and window borders, use the Soap Square or
mitt, try to Hand soap these areas. When you are done soaping
immediately rinse. Take the brush, rinse it and hit it against
the driveway in a vertical direction to get all the soap and
water off. Then take a big terry cloth towel and rap it around
the brush and handle and dry off the side of the motor home
drying the windows first before the towel gets too wet. When
cleaning rollout awnings be careful no to push too hard, short
quick strokes are best. Rinse for about two minutes.

If you have a spray nozzle or turbo nozzle concentrate the spray
directly on the awning to make sure all soap is removed. When
drying the side of the coach or trailer you can lay the towel as
flat as possible and use the distance from your elbow to your
hand to move the towel in a vertical diagonal direction forward
to dry the largest surface area as possible. Flip the towel over
to a dry side often while drying. Dry as high as you can reach
comfortably and dry the rest with the towel tied to the brush.
Repeat this process for all sides; you can take you time and move
slower on the shady sides since there is no problem with water
spotting in the shade. Expect the entire wash to take anywhere
from 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours.

Let us say that you cannot wash your coach in your driveway due
to CC and R’s of your neighborhood, space requirements, personal
physical limitations, park restrictions, or it is just too much
work and you don’t really have the desire or the time. Well you
still have many options left at your disposal. You can take it to
a coin-op car wash which has extra long hoses and at least one
high bay and wash it yourself there using their facilities and
supplies. If it is purely a physical reason or if you hate to
wash it yourself, you can take it to a truck wash, carwash, hire
a mobile service, go to a carwash fundraiser at the school, or
church or heck, just wait for a strong rain with horizontal
winds.

If you intend on taking your coach to a truck wash there are
several things you should know. Most truck washes use
Hydrofluoric acid, which can cause instant and permanent damage
to the pigmentation of your paint and deterization of your gel
coat. Even though gel coats are ten times thinker than the
average clear coat on a car, you still need to be careful with
it. The other problem is Hydrofluoric acid will kill a good wax
job. Be sure to ask the operator of the Truck Wash if they use
acid in their wash. If they don’t and cannot guarantee to wash
your coach without acid then go somewhere else. If they can wash
it without acid you will pay approximately $ 1.25- $2.00 per
foot. Some truck washes have minimums so you may find a 22-foot
motor home still costs forty dollars even though they usually
charge $1.25 per foot. Also if you have stripping which is
peeling in anyway, forget the truck wash since the high pressure
will worsen the situation. Whatever you decide, be prepared to
wait in line for your turn at a truck wash. To find a truck wash
near you go to Truck.net. The largest truck wash in North America
is Blue Beacon with 90 locations. The best truck washes for
quality is Little Sisters out West and The Truck Wash Guys a
mobile service.

Carwashes are often good sources for washing a motor home. Try to
go on a Tuesday, that is the slowest day for car washes, ask for
a hand wash and usually they will oblige. If you go on a peak
Saturday or Sunday, they may tell you they are not interested due
to space problems and they are too busy. Expect a carwash to
charge upwards of $50.00 for even a small motor home and break
out you dollar bill roll for tips to the crew, the workers
usually rely on tips and only make minimum wage, so they are
expecting it. Be real nice to the manager of the car wash since
they are not really set up for motor home type washing and they
will feel they are doing you a favor. Plus they will tend to put
their best help on your motor home, if you are really nice and
pleasant.

If you have the patients to wait until there is a local youth
group is having a fundraiser then be sure to clear it with the
supervisor first before getting in line and pull out $30.00 and
hold it in your hand while you ask them if they can do it (that
always works). Bring your own brush (two if you have them) for
the kids to use, since normally they will not have a soft bristle
long handled brush at a carwash fundraiser for cars, pick-ups and
SUVs.

If you want to hire a mobile washing service you will often find
them in the phone book yellow pages under “Automotive Detailing”
heading. There are also companies, which offer services online
and deliver the wash to your home, business, RV Park, or Storage
Yard. One such service is The Car Wash Guys. It is similar to the
online grocer concept. If you store your motor home at a
location, many times the storage manager will have a name and
number of a local washing service to give you. If you use their
recommendation you may have just found the perfect place to wash
your motor home. Often Storage managers will take a 10%
commission for referring customers to a local mobile washing
service. This fee is usually never paid, since it is often traded
to the storage company manager for a free car wash. Prices for
mobile washers range from $1.00 per foot all the way up to $4.00
per foot.

Expect the mobile operator to try to sell you additional services
such as waxing, carpet cleaning, etc. All of which maybe a great
idea and you can determine if in fact they are needed or if you
would rather use that money to offset fuel costs this season.
This may be the gentlest way to wash your motor home other than
washing it yourself. To insure a great job tell the mobile
washers that you will refer them to your friends and have them do
it next time it gets dirty.

Whatever you decide stop procrastinating, just wash it. After
all, isn’t it time to hit the road, it is a big continent and
there are so many great places to see. Go for it, you only live
once.

How do you wash a bus? Well, there are many types of buses such
as: School Buses, Charter Buses, Church Buses, Shuttle Buses,
Military Buses, Greyhound Type Buses and there are the buses that
do tours, custom, gigantic buses that are really plush. The
fronts of the buses always have lots of bugs and they are hard to
clean. But generally they are not as hard to clean as the sides.
And the greyhound style buses are hard to clean because they have
those little ripples in the skin. Every time you hit another
bodyline it is hard to get it clean. What you have to do is soap
from the bodyline down by hand with a mit. There is no other way
to do it. You can try brushing it sideways, but that is just not
going to be as easy as you think.

Some of the buses that work for the cities have advertising on
them. When you are cleaning the advertising you want to make sure
you do not blast it at too close a range or use too much harsh
soap on it because you will discolor their advertising and that
makes them upset. The stainless steel part of the bottom of some
buses is really hard to clean, so what you need to do is go back
and forth and hand soap it. You have to really watch this part
because you get a little corner and you will miss a spot. It
really shows up every time you miss any little spot on a bus, so
you are going to have to hand soap the sides and brush the backs
and you are going to have to use a little extra chemical
cleaners. And pay extra special attention to what you are doing.
The fronts are rather easy. However you are going to have to
rinse and dry off every single window. What a pain in the neck.
Even if you are using de-ionized water, when you spray the top of
a bus it usually has soot and things like that that roll back
down and get on the windows. If you do not rinse and dry the
windows this will leave water streaks.

Ok, let’s generalize about buses. I don’t care if it is school
buses, shuttle buses or tour buses, you are going to have to dry
the windows. There is just no other way around drying the
windows. There are RTD buses, Metro buses, the kind of buses
rapid transit systems use, town transportation buses, county
buses and city buses. With all of these you have to dry the
windows and you pretty much have to do a good job on them because
people ride in them and those people look out the windows.

The wheels need to be cleaned. This is something people always
look at. If you are going to miss wheels, miss them on the
driver’s side not on the passenger’s side because the passenger’s
side is where the passengers get in. That has to be the cleanest
side. So, make sure if you are going to miss a spot, miss it on
the driver’s side, not on the passenger’s side. School buses, you
know, obviously the windows leak. So do not spray exactly,
directly at the windows, ok? Be careful with that. Just be smart
about it. Charter buses, you are going to have to clean that
inside back bathroom area. It is not that hard to clean, use a
little window cleaner and wipe it up real quick. There are lots
of big flat surfaces on buses. If you pay attention to the
ripples and the bodylines and you hand soap the bottoms of them
they will come off perfect every single time. This is what is
important.

Washing Limousines (Exteriors)

Limousines, how do you wash a limousine? Well, if you do it in
the sun you better do the sunny side first. And be careful
because you are going to water spot the vehicle. A lot of
limousines have vinyl tops. You may not have to soap the vinyl
top. All you have to do is spray it with water and dry it off.
Use a separate towel on the top to make sure any excess vinyl
dressing from a previous cleaning is on only one towel. Make sure
you don’t use that towel to clean the windows. Make sure you
always do the whitewalls and you clean in those rims on those
limousines. You are going to have to spray the whitewalls and you
are going to have to spray the rims. You may want to spray them
at the same time and then come back and blast the rims when you
are wetting the vehicle on your initial rinse. You may want to do
limos one at a time. There might be a lot of chrome on a
limousine. Even if there is not that much chrome, on the chrome
that is there, you want it to shine. You better make sure your
towels are dry when you are drying a limousine. You want to make
sure the windows are done well. Go over them after the wash with
window cleaner. There just cannot be any excuses. It is a big,
black vehicle and it has got to be done right.

Limousines (Interior)

Fragrance, in the interiors of limousines is a very sensitive
issue. Go light on fragrance or use none at all. Be very careful
with fragrance. If the customer complains about the fragrance,
you could lose a contract. Vacuuming is a little different in
limousines. You have a big area. It is kind of like vacuuming a
living room. So have the right attachment for your vacuum
cleaner. Inside windows on limousines, be careful. There are
counters and little areas where they have the wet bars. You have
to wipe all of that stuff off on the inside of the limousines. If
there are spots in the carpet you are going to have to clean them
with your carpet spot remover. You have to kind of walk on your
knees. You do not want your feet touching the carpet in the
limousine. You are just going to put more spots inside, because
remember, it takes a little more water to wash a limousine so you
have a greater chance of tracking mud inside.

Cleaning stains from the inside of your car is no easy job. Here
are a few Auto Detailing and Onsite Detailing Tips and Secrets of
the Trade.

Knowing how to remove stains like Catsup, Mustard and Secret
Sauce from Ultimate Cheese Burgers, Whoppers, Big Macs, Famous
Stars, Double Doubles and Classic Cheese Burgers is not as simple
as it might seem.

First go lose some weight by exercise and the Presidential 30
minutes a day workout. Now you are ready to jump in a car wash or
detailing unit and go to hell week.

If you have ever seen the commercials for the SIX DOLLAR Burger
or the Super Star where the actress dumps all kinds of stains on
her blouse you know this can happen and often does.

As a detailer it is your job to clean it up, make it look new and
clean it up perfect for the customer. The first thing you do is
take some Folex Spot remover and a terry cloth towel and see if
that works, if not use some spray and wash aerosol foam spray and
wipe it. If it is leather saddle soap or Lexol works well.

If this does not work try concentrated dove or palm olive
dishwashing soap and then mineral spirits and soak it up and wipe
it. It may take several wipes to get rid of the concentrated
dishwashing soap.

After you are sure the suds are gone put you high powered shop
vac hose on the blower side and air dry it, roll down the windows
and let it air dry.

Every winter drivers should take active steps to protect their
car from road salt.

Road salt is necessary for safe transportation when snow and ice
accumulate on roads and highways and cause dangerous driving
conditions.

Salt was first used in the 1930’s in snow and ice control to make
roads safe and passable by creating a lower freezing temperature
of the water. It is the most available and cost-effective
de-icer. It is easy to store, handle, and apply.

Some 15 million tons of de-icing salt is used each year in the
U.S. and about 4-5 million in Canada.

Salt keeps snow and ice from bonding to the pavement and to allow
snowplows to remove accumulations quickly and efficiently.

Studies show that salt use reduces accidents by 88%.

Washing your car during wintertime is one of the best things you
can do to maintain the value of your car. Mud, salt, rain, sleet,
and snow can damage your car’s clear finish. Mud and salt caked
on the undercarriage promote rust, especially in older vehicles,
and can also affect how well your car drives.

To prevent winter damage, it is recommended that you wash your
vehicle every 10 days. Wash your vehicle whenever the temperature
is 40 degrees F. and above. Do it during the day so that it dries
completely before freezing evening temperatures begin.

Immediately after washing the vehicle, open and close all doors,
the trunk, and other parts of the car with locks several times
before parking it to prevent locks from freezing.

Always wash your car right after a snow or rain shower. Rain and
snow collect pollutants in the air and drop them as acid rain
which can damage the cars protective finish. Snow and sleet also
include the corrosive road salt.

Wash the underside of your car often during the winter months in
car washes that do not use recycled water.

Avoid driving through large puddles of standing water which is
saturated with road salt.

Any paint chips that are larger than the tip of a pen should be
taken care of immediately.

Wax your car at least every six months. Put a good heavy coat of
wax on your car before the winter storms hit. This heavy coat
will protect your paint from the corrosive salt and cold
temperatures.

More frequent waxes are needed if your car is red, black or white
because these colors are more susceptible to acid rain and UV
rays.

When spring time rolls around, treat your car to a good wax job
again. Be sure to remove all road grime and salt off of the car
before you begin waxing.