With so many of us keeping cars longer, taking care of our vehicles will become a priority. There are some things you can do yourself and others that are best left to the experts. I asked Jody Victor to give us some more tips on keeping older cars (as well as newer ones) in top shape.
Jody Victor: Even if you don't plan to keep your present vehicle for a long time, you can use these tips. The better your car looks when you trade it in or sell it yourself, the more you are likely to get for it.
Dent Removal - Minor dents and dings in body panels can be very unsightly, but getting them fixed at a body shop can be costly. One viable alternative is so-called paintless dent removal. This type of servie, which is sometimes franchised under names such as Dent Doctor and DentPro, uses special tools to massage out small dents from the inside. You can usually find a dent fixer by talking to a local mechanic or body shop, or checking the Yellow Pages. Figure on paying about $50 to make a golf-ball-sized dent disappear.
Fixing Window Glass - It's very common for a windshield to pick up "star" or "bull's-eye" damage from a flying stone. Sometimes those chips are merely cosmetic annoyances, but in other cases, if left unaddressed, such damage may grow worse. As with paintless dent repair, there is a cottage industry in auto-glass repair.
A glass repairer uses a suction-cup device, tiny drills and special sealers to fill and fix a damaged area. This can shrink the blemish from pea size to pinhead size and stop the damage from spreading. Again, figure $50 to treat a small glass ding. Of course, if the damage is more than minor, this sort of repair won't work and you'll need a new windshield or side window.
Thanks, Jody! More good tips to keep in mind!