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Avoid Getting A Flat Tire This September With These Tire Tips From King VW | Gaithersburg, MD

Summer has officially come to a close and with the changing of the seasons comes a dramatic shift in weather! With temperature varying it’s a good idea to check up on your tires PSI! Properly inflated tires can make your tires last longer, can improve handling and control, reduce the risk of accidents and blowouts, improve your fuel economy and even reduce your carbon footprint! So take a look at our tire tips below and make sure your PSI is up to standard! Not into DIY? Schedule your service appointment at our Volkswagen Service Center and let our certified technicians take care of your ride! What’s the right PSI level? The recommended PSI for your vehicle’s tires is determined by the vehicle’s manufacturer and the recommended tire size. You can find this information in your owner’s manual or on the placard inside of the door edge, glove box door, or fuel door. In most newer vehicles, your vehicle will alert you when your vehicle’s tires fall below the recommended PSI Do NOT use the max PSI that is printed on the tire sidewall. The pressure amount on the tire is normally the maximum allowed pressure. Over-inflation can lead to poor handling and comfort, overheating, and blowouts. How to properly inflate your tires. If you do not have air at home, most gas stations have an air pump for you to use. Remove dust caps from the tires’ valve stems. Insert your tire gauge into the tire valve and leave it in for a few seconds When you remove it, the gauge will provide a PSI reading If the tire gauge’s recorded reading is higher than the manufacturer-recommended rating, press the gauge tip on the valve stem until you hear air leak out. Check the tire pressure again. If the reading is lower than recommended, you will need to fill the tire with air. When filling the tire, firmly press the air-hose into the valve, as you did with the tire - gauge When you think you’ve added or let out enough air, check the pressure a few times with the gauge. Return the valve dust caps.

Clean Your Trunk: It’s About Time

Summertime is finally here, the kids are out of school, and we’re ready to head out on a road trip. But where are you going to put all your luggage? Your backseat is full of pillows, blankets, and the kids’ toys. And even your trunk is jam-packed with unnecessary items that you may have been hoarding through the winter months. Now is the time to clean out your trunk - that storage space is crucial for road trips and no one wants to sit on top of the cooler, am I right? We have you covered with our DIY trunk cleaning guide, follow along below! Beginning any cleaning project we must start with a clean slate. Seriously, we’re talking totally clean, just washed, good-smellin' type of slate. Pop that trunk and get to tossing all those items into two piles. One - keep, two - toss/ donate. Decipher what items are totally necessary to keep and which ones you can truly live without. Trust us, you can recycle that plastic bag full of other plastic bags. When your trunk is clean, give it a good vacuum and scrub-down. We’re pulling out all the stops on this one - vacuum, spray, scrub, vacuum. There you go, we got a clean trunk. Next up, comes the organization hack. Now that you know which items you’re keeping, decipher which ones are necessary to live in your vehicle. Choose to keep items like windshield washer fluid, oil, jumper cables, a blanket, a first aid kit, and a sweatshirt/ jacket. These are the items I find that is more important to hold onto in the event of an emergency. Pick a way to organize your items. Whether it be something as simple as a shower caddy or something designed specifically for the trunk, get yourself one and stash your items in there. This will allow you to store items around the caddy on those long, luggage filled road trips. Plus, you’ll know exactly where something lives and where to go to get it. We hope you follow our tips and tricks to keeping a clean and organized trunk and use these for miles to come! Got any tips of your own? We would love to hear what organization tips work best for our customers, leave us a comment! Get A Clean VW Today!

Get That Fresh Spring Air You Deserve

If you’re dedicated to the concept of spring cleaning, then think about cleaning out the air vents and air system in your vehicle as part of your war on dust and grime this spring. Because the season is here officially, there’s no time to waste! Take a look at our tips on making sure your air smells as fresh as springtime ought to smell. Your first task is cleaning the physical vents that are in your vehicle, the ones you see and adjust every day. You’ll need cleaning solution, white vinegar, a vacuum, and Q-tips. Give your vents a vacuum to get any loose dust out. Then you want to take a Q-tip that’s been dipped in a cleaning solution and really work it into the crevices and hard-to-reach spots. When the Q-tips you’re using come back clean, you know you’ve gotten all the grime. Then, take another Q-tip dipped in white vinegar and just go over it all again to get rid of any lingering odors. The vinegar smell doesn’t last long, and when it disappears it takes odors with it. Give the vents one last vacuum and you’re done! Make sure you’ve gotten them ALL, including the one that’s right up next to your windshield (we often forget about this one). The next step is to take a look at your cabin air filter. Your owner’s manual should cover how to access it, and if not there’s always YouTube. The cabin air filter is your barrier against everything that’s floating through the air that you drive your car through - pollen, dust, smells, stenches - and it’s often a forgotten part of the vehicle. Take a look, and if you think it needs changing then schedule an appointment with us to have our service department take care of it! Finally, if you still smell a little something-something in the car when you run the air, you might have mildew in your A/C evaporator. It’s easy to dry that up! Just drive about a mile away from home (that’s enough time to warm up your engine, you see) and then roll down all your windows and turn the air on full blast. Don’t use the A/C! Just regular old air will do. Keep it running for a minute or two, and that should be enough time to circulate air through the evaporator and dry up any residual moisture. We Have Air Filter Replacement Services!

The Life-Changing Magic Of An Organized Car

I’m a huge fan of organization. I watch all the TV shows where the lady comes into people’s houses, tells them that their lives are messes, and then proceeds to magically organize everything. I got that book about Japanese organization the day it came out. I fold my grocery bags into tiny triangles. It’s crazy! So, my wife suggested that I share some tips on organizing your car as a kind of… outlet. I have to say, having kids definitely makes organization a little harder. You’re focused on them instead of on cleanliness, and so it can be hard to find a minute to tidy things up in all the hubbub of life with children. One of my strategies is to use the headrests of the front seats for hanging organizers that hang down into the backseat. That way, all the kids’ stuff is off the floor and seats and within easy reach of their little hands. Even when the kids aren’t in the car, these organizers are useful for storing things like pens, maps, spare change for tolls, and anything else that usually ends up on the floor. Another great place for stuff to collect is the center console of the car. Mine definitely used to resemble a black hole more than anything, but ever since I cleaned it up it’s been a great place to keep things handy. I went to the store and got some cord keepers to tie up things like phone chargers, headphones, and GPS cords to keep them from getting tangled together into a terrifying mess. I also got little bins that fit inside the console to organize things like my tire pressure gauge, a compass, a flashlight, and anything else that I might need to be super handy. The glove compartment is a danger zone for a lot of people, but as long as you make sure you’re not using it as a catchall for receipts and trash (looking at my wife here - love you honey!) it shouldn’t get too bad. What I try to do is go through my car for trash at least once a week, just to make sure what’s in the vehicle is what needs to be there, and so that the important stuff doesn’t get buried. If you’re a fellow DIY organization lover, my best tip is to go to the store and pick up a bunch of little bins and organizers and keep them in strategic spots around your car. My mother always used to say - “a place for everything and everything in its place,” which I take to mean that nothing extra should be rolling around my car and that what’s there should have a home where it’s easily accessible. I hope my tips have helped! Happy organizing! Keep It Clean With A New Volkswagen From King

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