National Good Car Keeping Month on May, 2024: Car paint questionrepaint?

May, 2024 is National Good Car Keeping Month 2024.

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If you want to get a good paint job, you can go to MAACO car shop.

It is a good place to get a new and great car appearance from car shop in low cost paint job.

MAACO is a national low-cost chain that can often paint a car for between $250-$400.

Middle of the road auto body shops often will quote prices between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on the amount of work.

Custom body shops can charge $4,000 to $8,000 if it involves removing many parts, changing the color of the car, detailing the engine, rebuilding mechanical parts, chrome plating, etc.

Tip: Be sure to ask about a shop's warranty. Bad paint jobs are notorious for lasting less than three years. Warranties can run five years. A place like MAACO might offer a six month warranty against peeling.

Additional costs:

There are many possible upgrades. Even at a discount shop such as MAACO, some customers will choose to upgrade the paint to a higher-quality one. Customers may also choose additional layers of paint (more than two) or a layer of clear coat.

When cars are repainted, sometimes they need body repairs beforehand. Small repair jobs (dents, etc.) can run $200-$500.

An advice for keeping your new paint car from scratch.

It's better to prepare special quality car cover for protection. It will keep your car against rain, dust, scratches from pets, tree branches and slight collision, bird droppings and so on.

car seat question. is a convertible car seat ok to get for a newborn instead of an infant seat?

Yes

Its not a 'needed' stage in car seats it doesn't last babies very long. Only 4-7 months! And then you have to purchase a convertible car seat, and somewhere down the line a booster seat.

Carriers aren't as convenient as they look anyway. They should NEVER be placed on grocery carts.

We are seeing rampant developmental delays becuase babies are in these carriers (and swings, and bouncy seats...) so much. Look around everywhere you go and instead of holding their babies, people have them in these carriers. When on their back and harnessed (and any time a child is in a carrier, he needs to be harnessed, even though its not in a car!) they can not work the muscles they need to develop to crawl, sit up, and walk. In the manuals for these carriers, it even says specifically 'for use in cars and strollers only'! But we all seem to miss that part.

So I highly recommend skipping the carrier phase.

OK - so if you choose to skip the carrier phase, be careful about the convertible car seat you choose, b/c not all will fit newborns well. You want it to have low bottom slots.

Perfect options:

The Evenflo Triumph Advance (not the original Triumph, make sure it says Advance) is a great seat. Top slots 17", harnesses to 35lbs rear facing, and 50lbs forward facing. Wide open belt path, easy to install. The harness adjusts at the front of the car seat, you don't have to take the car seat out of the car just to raise/lower the straps. It has infinite harness adjustment so the harness always fits perfectly until its outgrown. You tighten and loosen the harness using knobs on the side of the seat. It can be used in a recline position even in forward facing mode.

Cosco Scenera - $50 at Walmart/Kmart/Target. Great seat for the price. Goes up to 35lbs rear facing, 40lbs forward facing. Great rear facing seat, but is outgrown very quickly forward facing b/c of short top slots and short shell. You'll still get you're $50 worth out of it, though, as it will last most kids to at least 2 years, quadruple the amount of time of an infant seat!

As you're shopping, remember these rules about seats:

1)the BEST seat is the one that fits your child, fits your car, and will be used correctly 100% of the time. (This is why convenience features DO make a difference and ARE worth the money! If its easy to use, you're more likely to use it correctly.

2)Children should stay rear facing AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!!! The 20lbs/1 year rule is outdated and provides a bare minimum for turning kids forward facing. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration both recommend keeping kids rear facing as long as possible, up to the limits of their seat, preferably until at least 2 years of age. For good reason: A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age. A child's vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone. In other countries, rear facing 2 - 3 - 4 year olds is standard, they understand that its safer. Here, we turn them as soon as we get to, seeing it as a right of passage thing or something. Ridiculous. All current convertibles rear face to at least 30lbs many to 35lbs.

3)Once forward facing, they need to stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible. 4 years/40lbs is the minimum for riding in a booster, and most 4 year olds have no business using one yet. If they can't sit upright for an entire trip, they need the harness of a car seat still. And, even if they do sit properly, a 5 point harness is safer, so you want to keep them in one as long as possible. This is important to consider b/c most car seats only forward face to 40lbs. My son just turned 3, and is in the 95th% for height and weight - 40" tall and weighs 41lbs. He outgrew the 40lbs seats shortly after his 2nd birthday. It was a total waste of money. He now has a Britax Marathon, which goes to 65lbs, and will be able to fit it for some time yet. If I'd have bought it when he was born, I could have had one car seat this whole time instead of the 3 I wasted money on. They are more expensive for many reasons, this is one.

As far as not fitting, a convertible seat for a newborn may or may not solve the problem. Any seat for a newborn whether convertible or infant seat, will take up a lot space b/c it must be at a strict 45 degree recline angle to prevent baby from suffocating himself since he has no head control as a newborn. If the angle of recline isn't 45 degrees, his head could flop forward and cut off his airway and he won't have enough strength to move it until about 6 months. A convertible seat will have to be installed at 45 degrees for a newborn, too, so will still take up considerable space.

Here's som

Im thinking of buying a nissan sentra is it a good car?

Any car will give good service regardless of make if it is properly cared for by changing the oil at proper intervals and checking the oil level dip stick every second tank fill with gas or at least once every other week. Keeping the tires properly inflated and checking the transmission fluid, power steering fluid and brake fluid once each month. Do a light check of all lights at least once each month including brake lights and turn signal lights.

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When driving do not accelerate rapidly from a stop. Give your car only enough gas peddle to accelerate smoothly (practice and find out how little the accelerator needs to be pressed to accomplish this) Plan ahead also for lane changes and stops. Do not Jam on your brakes, except in an emergency, it can build enough heat to melt iron.

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Right now may not be a good time to go into debt purchasing a car. If you have any debt try and get out of it rapidly. With the national economy as it is right now (in the USA) There could be a major melt down within the next several months. You could be holding a big bag (car payment) with no way to pay for it. This is what I am hearing on the government level.