How to Avoid the Top Driving Emergencies

In Minnesota, we must be prepared for anything on our roads. Drivers of any age should be ready to get themselves out of a dangerous situation, whether it’s a problem with your car, the road, or the weather. Here are some tips to help you avoid driving emergencies.

1)     Skidding on Ice or Water

Skidding and sliding is commonplace on Minnesota roads, whether it be ice, compacted snow, black ice, or water. If you do start to slip, take your foot off the accelerator, and try to glide through it. Braking too hard will make it worse, as more weight will shift to the front tires, which is usually where the skid occurs. Steer gently toward where you were wanting to go, but don’t overcompensate. The easiest way to prevent skidding is to drive slowly in those conditions, trust your ABS brakes if you have them, and give other drivers plenty of space so you have time to react.

2)     The Brakes Go Out

This usually happens when the brake pads are completely worn out. If you hear your brakes squeaking, get your pads changed or checked as soon as possible.

First, try pumping your brakes (which most people would do instinctively). If you can, downshift or put your car in neutral to naturally slow it down. If you think of it at the time, turning on your hazard lights can also warn other motorists that something is going wrong. If you still need extra power to slow you down, try gently applying the emergency brake (hand brake or foot brake will work). If you don’t have the room or these tips aren’t working, navigate toward something you can rub the side of your car along to act as friction, such as a guardrail, fence, or retaining wall. Although you’ll have serious body damage, it is much safer for you and other drivers than if you were to hit something head-on.

3)     Sinking Car

With the many lakes and ponds in Minnesota, knowing how to escape a sinking car is essential. First, know that you’ll have 1-2 minutes of floating time before the car fills with enough water to sink. Do not open the doors. When you hit the water, unbuckle your seatbelts and unroll your windows. Calmly instruct children to unbuckle (or unbuckle them quickly once the windows are open), and let them know you’ll all be exiting through the windows.

If your windows are stuck or you don’t have the power to lower them, use a window breaker tool, or pull off the headrest as a makeshift window breaker. Take this story about a woman remembering the window as her exit when she found herself in water.

4)     Flooded Streets

Do not try to cross water that is flowing. It’s very hard to judge the true depth of water, and moving water—even as little as 2 feet deep—can easily take a car with it. If your road is blocked by floodwaters, turn around immediately and find another route. If your vehicle is stalled in the water, don’t try to push your vehicle out of the water. Exit the vehicle and move to higher ground.

5)     Stalling on Train Tracks

Check for trains from both directions. If there is a train coming, exit the car as fast as possible and run diagonally out and toward the train (if you stay parallel to where the train will hit your car, you may get hit with debris from the collision). If you don’t see a train, roll down your windows or open your door first to listen carefully for an approaching train. Only then should you try to restart your car, or put it in neutral to try to push it off the tracks.

6)     Vehicle Catches Fire

If you see smoke or flames while you’re driving, pull over immediately – preferably to a space away from buildings or trees. Turn off the car and don’t try to put out any flames. Get out of the car immediately and call or wait for emergency assistance.

Some of these issues can be solved by keeping your car in good working order. At Kuehn Motors, we are here to guide you with all your car needs and buying decisions. We hope you never have to face one of these driving emergencies, but if you do, you’ll be prepared.

Narrowing Down Your Options: Picking a Vehicle

Our last two blogs have focused on the best vehicles for college students and families. These two blogs talked about finding a car to fit your needs and budget. But really, when you are looking for a family vehicle, those factors still leave you with a lot of options. In this installment of our blog, we will spotlight a few options. Check out our guide below to help you search for the best vehicle for your family:

Best Sedan: Honda Accord

For a vehicle that is compact and delivers on both storage space and passenger comfort, the Honda Accord is a stellar steal! Interior highlights include dual-zone automatic climate control, Bluetooth connectivity, telescoping steering wheel, heated leather seats, and more. This car is a safe vehicle for families with features that include front seat side-impact airbags, antilock brakes, a backup camera, electronic stability system with traction control, and available LaneWatch system to show two lanes of adjacent traffic.

Best Minivan: Toyota Sienna

The best minivan on the market, the Toyota Sienna offers excellent seating capacity to fit the whole family plus all their sports gear, band instruments, bags, groceries, carpool group, and more. With traction control, brake assist, electronic stability, dual front impact airbags, and anti-whiplash front head restraints, the Toyota Sienna provides maximum safety and security for you and your cargo.

Best for Large Families and Teams: Buick Enclave

For a modern and mid-sized luxury vehicle, pick the Buick Enclave. This vehicle delivers in spaciousness, sophistication, and plenty of seating for your family. With all-wheel drive, a touch-screen display and USB port, emergency communication system, heated seats, interior air filtration, and SiriusXM Satellite Radio, this SUV delivers on technology, sophistication, and comfort.

Best Car for Your Teen Driver: Ford Fusion SE Sedan

Safe and teeming with efficiency, the Ford Fusion SE Sedan is a great pick your student driver. This car is easy to steer and maneuver and safe to drive. With high consumer ratings, this vehicle is the perfect fit for your new driver. It also makes for a great pick to send your responsible student off to college!

The search for a car that best suits the needs of your family can be a time-intensive and stressful process. Whether you need plenty of cargo space or want high-tech features to monitor teen drivers, use this guide to search the market for your dream car. Look to Kuehn Motors as another resource in your car search endeavors. For hours and to contact us directly at kuehnmotors.com.

Prepare Your College Student's Car for the New Semester

The new college semester has begun. Your student may have their dorm room decked out and their academic supplies all checked off, but have you taken a closer look at their car? College students can spend a lot of time in their car between the commute to campus, weekend trips, and journeys home. Make sure their cars are ready to drive safely with the following checklist:

Maintenance Check-up

A routine maintenance checkup will help your child’s car perform like it should on the road. Get everything from the brake pads and engine to fluid levels to airbags checked. Do the whole gamut to make it safe for those short rides from the dorm to the coffee shop or for those long rides home. Guarantee their safety by reminding them to get it routinely checked.

Teach Them About Car Maintenance

Even though help can be a phone call away, you don’t want your young adult to be without the skills necessary get them out of a pinch. Teach them how to change their own oil, how to change a flat tire, how to check tire pressure, when to take a car in for maintenance, etc. These essential skills will help them feel safer and more capable on the road.

Talk About Car Loans and Insurance

If your child bought their car or is in the process of doing so, talk about the responsibilities that come with it. Help them work towards financing a car on their own or developing good credit if they need an auto loan. This will be an excellent opportunity to help them understand financial responsibility before they head to the next phase of their life. Also, search for student discounts on car insurance for money-saving incentives.

Prepare an Emergency Kit

Emergencies happen. Prepare your student by having an emergency stash in their trunk. Keep an extra phone charger or battery, a first aid kit, reflective triangles, flares, a lighter, jumper cables, a flashlight with extra batteries, a multipurpose tool, a tow rope, water, snacks, and whatever else works for your climate. In the winter, pack extra blankets, warm clothing, a shovel, a windshield ice scraper/snow brush, and cat litter. This can seem like a lot, but being prepared for the worst will help your child in the event of an emergency.

If your family is in the market for a car for your student or is in need of a thorough service check, contact Kuehn Motors today.

Snow Hacks: What To Do If You Get Stuck in the Snow

Getting your vehicle stuck in snow and ice can be a very likely possibility with winter driving. To prepare yourself in the case of a winter emergency, read the following tips to prepare yourself in case you get stuck in the snow.

Be Prepared

Ready your car for the brutal winter driving season by ensuring that it is in peak form. Have it serviced at the beginning of the season, switch out your tires for winter tires (or, at the very least, make sure they are in excellent condition), check that all lights are working and that all fluids are filled, and never drive with less than half a tank.

Image by Michael Pereckas via Flickr

If you don’t already have an emergency snow kit in your car, compile one now. At a minimum, you should have a windshield scraper and brush, spare windshield washer fluid, clothing (extra sweatshirts, gloves, scarves, hats, boots), chemical hand warmers, traction aid (sand, rock sand, kitty litter, cardboard, metal cleats), and a shovel. See more tips in our "Winterizing Your Vehicle" blog.

Stay Calm

As with all emergency situations, it doesn’t help to panic. Remain calm and proceed with a clear and calm mind. A level head is the first and best tool you will need if you get stuck in the winter.

Clear the Tailpipe

This step is essential in preventing deadly fumes from entering your car. snow spit up from spinning wheels or slippery ice can accumulate and block your tailpipe without you realizing it.

Try Digging Yourself Out

Do what you can to clear as much snow away from the tires as you can. Remove packed snow and ice and be careful not to puncture your tires. after you remove as much as you can, add sand, rocks, or kitty litter to the ground behind your tires to create traction.

Rock Yourself Out

If possible, engage your all-wheel or four-wheel drive and set your car on the lowest gear. Slowly try to back up or drive forward. If you are making even a few inches of progress, keep at it until you have enough traction to drive out. Be careful, though. If your tires are spinning, stop immediately, as this will only dig your car in deeper. Rocking your car back and forth should be done carefully, and only as a last resort as it could seriously kill your transmission when not properly executed.

Turn Your Wheels

Another way to find traction is to turn your steering wheel in different directions as you try to drive your way out. This can give you extra traction, but it can also dig your tires in further, so don’t overdo it. When possible, add more sand or kitty litter to the marks from your tires.

Important Tips to Remember

• If you can, remain in your car with the heat on. The dangers of being outside can include frostbite and possibly getting hit by a passing car.
• Know when to rest and know when to stop. Don’t exert yourself to the point of exhaustion, and don’t do extensive damage to your car.
• Less can be more. You shouldn’t need to slam on the gas to get unstuck. You might be surprised at how little power and pressure you need to get out.

Once you have pulled yourself out of danger, drive to the nearest rest stop or gas station to assess any damage. For more tips on what to do if you get stuck in snow, read these Winter Survival Tips from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Avoiding Winter Weather Mayhem

Although winter hasn’t officially hit yet, it is creeping ever closer. Each year there are nearly 1.5 million vehicle accidents that are associated with the poor weather conditions - a statistic that is very preventable, just by being a prepared and knowledgeable winter weather driver. Here are five tips for being a safer winter driver to help you prepare before the snow flies:

1. Do not use cruise control while driving on slippery or wet surfaces. This will only slow the reaction time if you come into a situation where you need to take control of the vehicle.

2. Keep your gas tank at least half full. This way if you are in an accident you can keep warm while waiting for help. Keeping half of your tank full will also help prevent your car pipes from freezing.

3. Whenever possible, let your engine and heater run enough to remove the chill. Waiting in the driveway for your car to heat up may seem like a waste of gasoline, but this will help conserve gas while on the road and prevent any damage to your vehicle.

4. Check that your windshield wipers are in proper working order. Wipers with rubber blades will help prevent ice from forming and allow for proper usage in winter weather.

5. Know your car! Every car handles differently in winter weather. You should know what your car can and cannot handle in the snow. Know if your car has front wheel, rear wheel, or four wheel drive and make sure you understand how it handles in the winter weather.

The best way to prepare for winter driving is to educate yourself. Knowing what to pay attention to when winter approaches helps to avoid those nasty winter accidents. If you have any other questions about winter driving, check out our website at kuehnmotors.com.

Choosing Tires for the Right Season

Winter is getting closer, and that means snow and ice will be on the roads. It’s important to ask yourself whether or not you have the right tires to get you through the season. There are three different types of tires: winter, summer, and all-season.

Winter Tires

Winter tires are great for the same season they are named. They can be easily identified by the deep, jagged grooves and squared off shoulders. However, the most striking difference is something you can’t see with the naked eye. Winter tires use a special rubber compound that does not harden as the temperature gets colder, making the grip on snow and ice much better than other tire options.

This may sound like everyone should purchase some winter tires and throw them on their vehicle, but there are actually some drawbacks that will make you think twice. The price of the better grip on the roads is that you will have poorer handling, and stopping distances will be increased. Your tires will also wear more quickly, and will cost more as you must replace them more frequently. Cars.com recommends that if you are generally driving on roads that are plowed and dried, winter tires are probably not for you.

           

Summer Tires

In contrast to winter tires, summer tires have shallow grooves that seek to maximize contact with the pavement. On the other hand, summer tires also use a softer compound which seeks to increase contact with the road surface as well. However, this does not mean the compounds are the same. Winter tires go soft in the cold but are too soft when it is warm. Summer tires are soft in the heat but become hard and stiff in more frigid temperatures. The maximization of contact with the pavement allows summer tires to have great handling and high grip. Once again, these benefits come with trade-offs. Summer tires will wear more quickly than all-season tires, and can also be very noisy at times.

All-Season Tires

All-season tires sound like they might be the best of both worlds. However, this is not necessarily the case. As Cars.com states, “They do everything reasonably well though they excel at nothing in particular.” The main benefits of all-season tires are that they aren’t as noisy in the summer and they are up to the challenge of snow and ice in the winter. An added benefit is that they last longer than single season tires, which saves you some money because you won’t have to replace the tires as often.

What Tires Should You Use?

If you’re buying tires, Edmunds.com has two guidelines they suggest you follow. The first is to know what your needs are and the conditions you drive in. If winter is approaching and you live in the country where the roads are often unplowed, winter tires may be a good idea for you. The second is to find a source that you know is knowledgeable and trustworthy to recommend which tires may be best for you.

Basically, you should do your own research on tire types as well as tire dealers, and narrow down some of your options, and know your needs. Once you have that information, a dealer can help you make sure you have the right tires for the right season. For more tire and car maintenance tips in an season, head over to our Facebook page.

Care for Your Vehicle Year Round

With every season change, it is common to perform different maintenance checks  to keep your house running well. You clean and store away your patio furniture in the fall. You check the fireplace to make sure it runs for cold winter nights. You spring clean and declutter your home to start anew in the spring. What steps can you take to take care of your vehicle so it runs just as well as your home year round? Stay on top of general and seasonal maintenance with the following tips:

General Care

Perform regularly scheduled maintenance and lubrication checks using the manufacturer's recommended care. No single step will help your engine last year-round more than regular oil and filter changes. Change out and refill all other fluids that are necessary with the recommended type and viscosity. Flush the cooling system and change coolant once a year to prevent corrosion and residue from building up. To keep the exterior surface of your car in good shape, wash it regularly and apply a coat of wax every six months. Inspect and clean your tires, brakes, and wheel bearings to prevent any potential damage. To protect the interior, keep your car free of excess trash and dust.  Considering keeping a trash bag and quick wipes to clean spills immediately. Wipe and vacuum down your seats and mats to keep your car clean and smelling nice. For specific part-by-part care, check out the Car Bible.

Image courtesy of Bob n Renee on Flickr

Seasonal Care

If you live in an area with extreme seasonal differences like the Midwest, you understand that both summer and winter can wreak havoc on your vehicle. As a car owner, you understand that your car needs different care depending on the season.

For spring and summer care, start by fixing all the damage the winter season has done to your car. Get a detailed car wash and wax to prevent rust and body damage. This will loosen any gunk that has accumulated on your car throughout the winter, both cleaning the underside of your car and possibly revealing any potential problems that escaped your attention through the season. If you have seasonal tire sets, switch back to your summer set for better fuel efficiency and a smoother journey.

To prepare for the deep heat of summer, service your air conditioning and perform a coolant check to protect your engine from heat. Remember, heat can do as much damage to a battery as frigid temps can. Check for signs that your battery needs to be looked over, like a bulging or cracked battery case or corrosion buildup on wire connections. Lastly, change your air filter. No doubt it has clogged up with various leaf and plant debris, dirt, sludge, and road salt. A dirty air filter will diminish the productivity of your car and lower your fuel efficiency by as much as 10%.

For autumn and winter months, you want to prepare your vehicle to handle snow, ice, and extreme temperatures. The quality of your tires and battery are especially essential this season. Switch to your winter tire set for better traction and check to see that your battery is up to quality. Check that your heating system and oil filter are running smoothly and that all of your fluid levels are sufficient. Especially important, check your brake system, shocks, and struts, and replace them sooner rather than later because you certainly don’t want to be stranded in a snowbank.

Much of your yearly and seasonal car maintenance is to keep your car running well for whatever trip or journey you choose to embark on, but regular car maintenance and care can prevent dangerous accidents and save you thousands of dollars in damage repair. Nothing will let you enjoy a last-minute road trip more than being able to set off in a beautiful, well-maintained car.

Summer Road Safety

As Minnesotans are well aware, winter can do quite a number on your vehicle. However, most people do not think about the issues that can arise in the summer months. Summertime issues, though just as dangerous, are not as obvious to drivers. Before you head out on your next summer road trip, think about these summer safety tips:

Vehicle checklist:

• Tires

Low tire pressure is the leading cause of flats and low gas mileage on your vehicle. Some may say that low gas mileage is not necessarily a safety concern, but anyone traveling with small children may disagree. Be sure to check your tire pressure and tread while your tires are “cold”, which is to say three hours before you drive.

• Belts, Hoses, and Wiper Blades

The summer heat makes rubber more susceptible to bulges, blisters, cracks, and cuts. Check your belts, hoses, and wiper blades for wear and tear before hitting the road to prevent issues down the road. Also check hose connections to make sure they are securely in place.

• Fluids

As with any time of year, it is important to make sure the fluids in your vehicle are filled. Summer means certain parts of your vehicle may be prone to overheat if not properly maintained. Check the water and coolant levels in your radiator, as well as brake, power steering and transmission fluid, oil levels, and windshield washer fluid.

• Lights

Summer nights can lead to a more active night-life out on the roads. Be sure all your lights are functioning properly to warn animals and fellow drivers alike. Check headlights, brake lights, turn signals and emergency flashers.

• Air Conditioning

Perhaps considered a luxury, check your air conditioning system before heading out on any long road trips especially if you are traveling with small children or elderly family members who are more susceptible to heat exhaustion. A child’s temperature, for example, rises 3 to 5 times faster than an adult’s.

Summer Driving Tips:

• Drive Attentively

Summer trips can be especially distracting. The warmer weather brings all sorts of new traffic to the roads. Inexperienced teens are out of school, vacation drivers add more congestion, and motorcycles and bicycles share much more of the road during the summer months- not to mention the added number of pedestrians. When you are behind the wheel, you should always keep your full attention on the road.

• Minnesota’s Second Season

There is a joke in Minnesota about 2 seasons; winter, and (that’s right) road construction. Not only can this add delays to your route, but extra potential hazards as well. Be attentive and obey the changes in road restrictions in construction zones.

• School’s Out

Teens flood the roads during the summer months, visiting friends and basking in their extra freedom, but also be wary of other children playing outdoors. Especially smaller children, kids are not as concerned with watching traffic as they are chasing after a runaway ball or being the first of their friends to make it to the pool. Keep a special eye out for the presence of extra children enjoying their summer break.

• BUCKLE UP!!

This goes without saying; you should always wear your seatbelt. Every time. It is recommended that children under 13 should always ride in the back of the vehicle, and the smallest should be equipped with a car seat or booster. If you need help installing a proper seat for your child, check out the child seat inspection locator to find a location near you.

Lastly, many people equip themselves for winter driving when the snow and ice arrive, but you should keep an emergency roadside kit in your vehicle for the summer months as well. Important items include:

• Cell phone and car charger

• Work gloves and a change of clothes

• Nonperishable food, drinking water, and medicines

• First aid kit

• Emergency blankets and towels

• Flashlight or road flares

• Jumper cables

• Tire pressure gauge

• Basic tools for repair  

• Tire jack and a spare tire

• Extra windshield washer fluid

• Map or Atlas