Pages

Sunday, August 30, 2015

NHTSA Launches Free VIN Look Up for Recalls

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a free online VIN search tool to look up recalls.
The tool covers recalls conducted over the past 15 calendar years. It does not include “very recently announced safety recalls for which not all VINs have been identified,” according to the NHTSA site.
“Safety is our highest priority and an informed consumer is one of our strongest allies in ensuring recalled vehicles are repaired,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
All major light vehicle and motorcycle manufacturers are now also required to provide a VIN search capability on their websites for uncompleted recalls.
“This data must be updated at least weekly,” according to NHTSA. “NHTSA’s new VIN look-up tool directly relies on information from all major automakers, and regularly updated information from the automakers is critical to the efficacy of the search tool.”
To check out the new tool, click here.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Repair or Replace Your Windshield the Right Way

When faced with replacing a windshield, many car owners default to the lowest-price option. But if you take this route and are in a serious accident, your decision could cost you your life.
An incorrectly installed windshield could pop out in an accident, allowing the roof to cave in and crush the car's occupants. Furthermore, when the front airbags deploy, they exert a tremendous force on the windshield and will blow out one that is not firmly glued in place.
"There are a lot of schlock operators" installing windshields, says Debra Levy, president of the Auto Glass Safety Council, which offers certification for installers. She says using original manufacturer's glass is a plus, but choosing a good installer is even more important. To find a certified shop, visit Safewindshields.org and type your ZIP code into the box at the top of the page. Certification is valuable because it keeps installers up to date on advances in adhesives and changing automotive designs.
David Beck, one of two technicians at Windshield Express, near Salt Lake City, installs eight windshields a day and has been working in the auto glass business for 18 years. Beck agrees that certification is important and warns that there are many "tailgaters" — installers with no brick-and-mortar shop — who quickly "slam" windshields into cars with little regard for safety. They don't handle the windshield correctly, don't use the proper adhesives and leave the car unsafe for driving and prone to rusting and leaks.
"The thing I wish that drivers knew was that the windshield is the No. 1 safety restraint in your vehicle," Beck says. The windshield is two sheets of glass held together by an inner layer of strong vinyl. When the windshield breaks, the vinyl holds the glass in place rather than allowing the shards to fall into the car and cut the occupants.
The windshield is a layer of protection that "keeps you inside the car and things out of the car," Beck says. "This is not the place to cut corners on and go with the cheapest price."
Steve Mazor, the Auto Club of Southern California's chief automotive engineer, adds that if the windshield isn't strong enough and an occupant is thrown from a speeding car, "the odds of survival are much less." Thirty percent of all fatalities, he says, are due to people being ejected from the car.
An investigation by the ABC News program 20/20 on windshield safety shows technicians incorrectly installing windshields by not wearing gloves. The grease from their hands prevents the adhesives from bonding correctly, Beck explains. Another error that 20/20 caught was technicians failing to use all the necessary bonding agents, such as primer.
When you are looking for a good windshield installer, Levy recommends calling three shops and asking a few qualifying questions beyond just price and certification.
Levy says to ask the shops if they use original equipment glass, which is usually of higher quality and fits better. Also, she suggested asking how long the car should sit after the installation is complete. "If they say you can take the car right away, you should run in the opposite direction," Levy says. A car should sit at least one hour before being driven and sometimes up to 12 hours, she says.
Beck says if you take your car to a dealership for a windshield replacement, it will just subcontract the job to a glass shop and then mark up the price about 30 percent. He recommends going directly to the glass shop to save money. However, when a car is new, the dealership might be the only place to stock the glass, as was the case for a 2011 Infiniti M56 Edmunds long-term test car where the windshield replacement cost $1,300.
Most windshield installation jobs take only about an hour and can be done at your home or office, Beck says. Once the installer is finished, check for signs that the job was completed correctly. Make sure the molding is straight and that there is no sign of adhesives visible inside the car, Beck says. The car should be clean inside. Debris or dirt left in your car could be the sign of sloppy workmanship, he says.
In some cases, a rock chip or star in the windshield can be repaired, saving you the cost of a new windshield. Mazor says some installers claim that cracks can be repaired even if they're up to 15 inches long, but only if they intersect just one edge of the windshield.
Beck says rock chips, which he also fixes, are easier to repair when the damage has just occurred. Over time, rain washes dirt into the crack, making it harder to seal. He suggests carrying a roll of clear tape in the glove compartment to quickly cover a crack until it can be fixed.
Beck injects polymer into rock chips and cracks. After the polymer cures, he smoothes the area so it doesn't affect the travel of the windshield wipers. Beck says that if he gets to the repair within a week of the damage, he can generally make it disappear. Windshield Express' owner, Bryan Petersen says his rate for rock chip repairs is $29.95 for mobile jobs and $19.95 in the shop.
In the Los Angeles area, the rates for windshield repairs are higher — in the range of $65. Windshield repair kits are available at automotive stores for the do-it-yourselfer, but they don't do the job as well as the professionals can do it. The pros have better equipment and much more experience.
The Auto Glass Safety Council's Levy says studies show that windshield rock chips or cracks that are in your field of vision can actually slow your response to emergency traffic situations. She also says that old windshields that are pitted or hazed should be replaced — even if they are not broken — since they can magnify the glare of the headlights from oncoming cars at night.
Mazor says that a new windshield might be cheaper than you would think. In many cases, windshield repair is covered by car insurance (under your comprehensive coverage — not collision). The deductible for comprehensive coverage is sometimes only $50 or $100, so that would be the cost of a new windshield.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Come Check Us Out at Evergreen Speed Way as we kick off Summer Showdown 2015

June 27th, 20015 Summer Showdown

Summer Showdown 200, The Last Chance Qualifier & Pro 4 Alliance Presented by: Budweiser
Saturday, June 27
8:30 AM Registration Opens
9:00 Back Gate Opens
10:00 Brief Late Model Drivers Meeting
10:45 Pro 4 Drivers Meeting
11:30 Practice
12:00 Grandstands Open
FanFest, Live Music, Vendors, Car Show
2:30 Pro 4 Qualifying 2 Laps
3:00 Showdown Drivers & Spotters Meeting – At flag stand in grandstand
FanFest, Live Music, Vendors, Car Show
4:00 Showdown LCQ 50 Laps
5:30 Pro 4 Main Event 40 Laps
6:30 Opening Ceremonies
6:45 Start Your Engines for Summer Showdown – 200 Laps
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE – ABOVE EVENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
 With all the hype about Summer Showdown.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Thrill of the Indy 500

You Don't Have to be a Race Fan to be a Fan of This Big Race

I'm a car guy, but I have never been a race guy. I don't begrudge those people, and I understand the importance racing has always held for the entire industry, but it's never held my attention that much. I use the RAM in my brain for other information.You can only imagine the innocent insults I cast over drinks when I mistook an Indy car for an F-1. What? They're not the same thing? It was as if the sky had fallen.So I approached Chevrolet's invitation to attend the Indy 500 with a little apprehension. I mean, it was Memorial Day weekend, and I could just enjoy a three-day weekend at home. And although I'm not a racing fan, I do appreciate its importance, and even I can understand the hallowed Brickyard and significance to the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. Wow. I was wrong. Racing, and Sunday's race in particular, is incredible. The drama of the last 100 laps was nerve-racking, and I didn't even know which driver I was really pulling for. (Turns out it was Tony Kanaan, whose pit crew fixed the understeering problems his car experienced at the beginning of the race, and he found the wall just outside of Turn 4.)
Better yet, the crowd at the race was incredible. Their constant cheering sometimes drowned out the roar of the engines. Everything was thrilling about the race. Chevrolet was particularly thrilled, as well, taking the top four spots and eight out of the top 10.Before the race, I walked down to the pits to watch the crews prepare their vehicles. There's an Indy tradition that some people in the crowd get to walk among the cars as they move into their starting positions. The crews never stopped tinkering, adjusting, testing. I watched one engineer trace his finger over every edge of ever seam on a car. He was looking for even the slightest uneven space. Something that might throw off the car for the tiniest of moments is checked with surgical diligence.In pit lane, some crewmembers practiced connecting the fuel connector. Another rehearsed connecting the compressed air valve to the car to actuate the lifters. No one wants to be the guy to screw up and cost the team a second in the pits.I returned to the pits during the race and watched the crews in action. Seeing it live is incredible, especially the way they let out a collective sigh after the pit runs smoothly. But then it's back to work. Measuring tire wear, discussing aero adjustments, and figuring out anything that might give their driver the slightest advantage.
Al Oppenheiser, the chief engineer of Camaro and a race junkie, was standing down in the pits and watching with a master's eye."I love just listening to the engineers," he said. "They're just looking for ways to go faster. It's exactly what I do."It really is.The pit crews have to change wheels of Indy 500 cars about every 33 laps. That means they'll go through six or seven sets of tires during the 200-lap race. When the wheels go on, they are smoother — and stickier — than a baby's bottom. When they come off, they're smoking hot, chunks of rubber thrown off them. Someone will then measure the tire and see if there's anything they might be able to do to help with the next one.Fans know all of this. They know the drivers. They understand the stress of 200-plus miles per hour puts on a person. The fans slather themselves in sunscreen and roll their coolers from campgrounds to bleacher seats, where they watch the race with as much passion as any other sports fan. With more than 250,000 fans at the race, it is truly a spectacle worthy of all of its fanfare. Next year will mark the 100th Indy 500, it will be even that much more thrilling.I don't know if I will ever become a race guy. There are a lot of other things I like to devote my energies to. But I do have a new appreciation for Indy racing and the people who follow it.

Woman warns others after purse stolen during Mariners game

Lee Keller's SUV's back window was smashed in and her purse was stolen from under the seat.
SEATTLE — 
A woman says she and others had their cars broken into during a Mariners game Sunday afternoon.

Lee Keller says she and her husband paid $30 for a parking spot in a Diamond lot just south of Safeco Field.

“There's glass everywhere,” said Keller, who spoke to KIRO 7 about what happened.
Her SUV back window was smashed in and her purse was stolen from under the seat.

"Horrible. I feel horrible," said her husband Mike Rusch.

Lee Keller says she feels violated, though she knows she shouldn’t have left her purse in the vehicle.

"The police officer helping us said, you know, this happens after every single Mariners game,” said Keller. 

Police couldn't confirm that, though they are investigating what happened.

We looked at SPD crime stats for the area after the last five home games and didn't find any car prowls.

But in the last two months, we found 12 car prowls within a block of the incident, according to SPD crime maps data.

Keller says she knows of at least three cars that were broken into in the same parking lot during the game.

On Sunday night, a Good Samaritan called Keller and told her that he’d found her purse in the Central District with its contents strewn about. Not long after, she got her purse back, though the wallet was gone.

Keller had about $50 cash in her wallet. Worse, she says, is all of her credit cards that were stolen because she says she’s getting alerts from her credit card company that her cards are being used.

We at Dealership.glass, Helped Keller out by replacing her windows by donating them with free race tickets. We are a family owned company and we wanted to give back to the community. 

We take pride in our community and with this sad instance of a bad taste in her mouth about how the police and the way they handle it .

 We wanted to reach out and help her by doing this to show her that there are people whom care.