Transponder Keys: My Car Key Costs How Much?

If you have bought a car recently you may have asked that very question when you try to get a copy made. Most cars now have some sort of a key transponder system. Early models had a visible resistor chip in the blade of the key. Then manufacturers went to a chip hidden in the head of the key that carries a code. When you turn the key the car goes to a computer module and checks to see if the code is in the memory. Some new cars now have a key that you can keep in your pocket. The car requests a code, then the key sends a signal out that unlocks the doors and tells the car it can start.

Now I will give you some tips that could save some time and money.

• If you're looking at buying a car ask if it has a transponder. This way you won't be shocked if you try to get a spare.
• If you buy a car ask how much it would be to get extra keys. I know when I bought a new van it was cheaper to order it with two extra keys than get extras made later.
• Try to always have three working keys for your car. This way if you lose one you still have two working keys and can add an extra key without hooking a computer to the car. Most businesses charge extra for hooking up the computer. This is not true for all cars.
• Most cars have a non-transponder key that can be cut. These keys will open the doors but will not start the car. They normally cost just a couple dollars. If you are someone who hides a key outside your car this is the key to hide. If someone finds this key they can't drive away with your car.
• If your car has a remote built into the key ask if there is a non-remote transponder key. A key with the remote can cost four times more than a non-remote key. This key will still open the doors and start the car.
• Compare prices! Don't think you have to go to a dealer for a key. Many locksmiths can cut and program transponder keys. Sometimes the dealer is cheaper, sometimes not. Do some quick checking.
• If you lose a key, ask if the memory can be cleared and the existing keys reprogrammed. This way the key that was lost will not work if found. If you find the key you can have it programmed back in.

Hopefully this will be helpful to you.

Jesse E. Piehl

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Catch a Ride to BlogWorld 2008: So You Want To Be An Automotive Journalist?

Yeh- you heard the calling in the title and how it spoke to something deep inside: you have often thought of how you would make a great automotive journalist? Details on how to break in after you read my wee monologue:

Here is the deal: my career to date was accidental and a dream but I do get the heart of the automotive industry and the enthusiasts. I make no bones about who I am, my story and how I got here.

Next week I am honored to be a panelist at BlogWorld and, after compassionate discussions with Dan Gray, aka @mpgomatic, he put together a topic near and dear to, not only my heart, but other online writers about breaking the gray-lady vein of tradition and how, as citizen/enthusiast/geeks, we can gain credibility. Co-panelists also include Scott Monty of Ford, Muhammed Saleem and Joe Neuberger.

Here is the gist of all of this:

If you are an enthusiast of cars, motorcycles, ATV’s (and that does include those who hate all of the aforementioned and just want nothing that rolls with a motor and just want to write about how you detest them all) and you think that you can put your heart into conveying a message in 300-500 words in the vein of a “new school” automotive journalist, please submit your entry to michelle at missmotormouth dot com and the 2 best entries who can be in Los Angeles at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles by 2PM Friday, September 19, 2008, will be selected to ride to BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas with me, with complimentary admission to BlogWorld, lunch to and fro Vegas (and maybe a little dinner & drinks if I find you as fascinating as my favorite upstart Andy Mrozwinski) and a ride back to Los Angeles ~ all round trip in a new GM White Diamond Acadia (yeeeah! We’ll be ridin’ like gangstas!) which I will be driving to review.

The only thing that you have to provide is your own hotel room but hey!- its Vegas- what will cost you is your cheap Vegas room and losing at the tables! (Oh and any medical care if you should need that. I can’t possibly pay for that.)

Judging of potential winners is being done by myself and 2 uber-secret people who can make or break whether you ever get cars to review in your new future career and the deadline is 11:59 PM, PST, Wednesday, September 17, 2008.

The winning writer’s will get their blogs published on Mota.net, the site where I get to edit some amazing writers and contribute to with my own efforts and give full props to giving me my start in my accidental career and, I guess you could say that I gave birth to their blog.

Start your brains-a-whirling! This contest opens now!

XOO,M

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On Breakaway Gas Pumps and Not Listening to Your Children

Okay- it wasn't so funny but read and beware if this should ever happen to you!

One day I decided that I wanted to go to a plant sale at the Huntington Gardens.

We got a bit of a late start. Dogs , kid, hair (mine)...you know how it is! We needed gas so I drove to our corner store and start to pump the daughter "helps" by smearing the dirt/washing the windows. I paid at the pump but ran inside for a soda. Then I remembered I needed the ATM. Then daughter comes in and wants bubblegum.

I am flustered. I jump in the car, make sure everyone is in, tell daughter to stop talking to me until I get out of the station. She was saying, "Momma! ....Momma!......MOMMA!!" I start to drive away and hear a WHAP! as the pump hose snaps because it was still in my gas tank. She was trying to tell me that the pump was still in my gas tank. I had not listen to my daughter tell me that the pump was still in the gas tank.

And the plant sale starts without us.

I have to be honest here- this was the second time that I had done this. The first time the attendant told me to wait while the manager reattached the hose because if I left my info and hurried away red-faced I would get a $200 whether I had damaged it or not. That time I hadn't damaged it and didn't have to pay because I waited around. If you ever do this, if you fill out the form that they have for these occurances, make sure to write on it that you will not accept charges for damages nor will your insurance company until they reconnect and test the pump in front of you or someone from your insurance company.

This time I followed my own rules but this gas station would not attach it in front of me! Thinking that I am on to their little ruse I pester them that they have to call me when they put it back together again. When they rang I ran down the street to find a repairman replacing the entire hose. Wait! These are made to break away! Turns out, as he patiently explained to me, that in California the law is now that they have to replace the entire hose all the way into the tank every time this happens because of environmental concerns. Next thing I know I have a bill from the parent company for some ungodly amount of money. Fortunately my car insurance covered it.

We did make eventually make it to the Huntington and we made some great purchases that made our hearts happy. And the hour we spent waiting in line to pay was a great reminder that we need to just slow down some days.

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Motachanic: Car Battery Corrosion and Cleaning It

What should I do about corrosion on a car battery?



Don't eat it.

Seriously, though. Despite the fact that it looks vaguely like powdered sugar, the white fluffy stuff that you see attached to the terminals of your cars battery should not be used to sweeten your coffee, or used as a topping for your favorite pastry. First off it tastes terrible, it isn't sweet like anti-freeze is. Second it is extremely toxic and can cause chemical burns because it is basically concentrated sulfuric acid with lead residues in it.

The technical stuff: The reason why you have powdered acid on your posts is because as the alternator of your car charges the battery the water/acid catalyst inside of the battery can become very hot. The water will evaporate and the acid will become a vapor which, due to the polarity of the battery terminals, will stick to the battery posts and other parts of your engine compartment. Over time the corrosion and powdery build up caused by this will disrupt the connection between the battery and the terminals preventing you from starting your car.

There is a really easy way of taking care of it though. You will need the following:

-1 pair latex or nitrile gloves..
-1 wrench to remove battery terminals..
-2 battery post corrosion preventative felts, preferably saturated with NCP-2 preventative compound (Noco part# D313). .
-1 can battery acid detector/ corrosion removal spray (Noco part# E404). or 1 box baking soda and a cup.
-1 wire brush
-1 pair safety glasses or goggles
-A water supply.

1. First, ensure the engine on your car is off and cool.
2. Open and secure the hood.
3. Locate the battery.
4. Put on gloves
5. Remove anything that prevents access to the battery posts. (battery covers, heat shields etc)
6. Using the appropriate wrench, remove the negative battery terminal.
7. Using the appropriate wrench, remove the positive battery terminal
8. Put on safety glasses
9. Using Acid detector/ corrosion removal spray or a thin paste of baking soda and water, apply liberally to all white powdery residue areas.
10. Using wire brush, brush battery posts where the terminals connect.
11. Using a modest stream of water, rinse off battery.
12. Put one battery felt on each post
13. Attach positive battery terminal to positive post. Tighten until terminal cannot be wiggled
14. Attach negative battery terminal to negative post. Tighten until terminal cannot be wiggled
15. Rinse off battery cover, heat shield, etc
16. Re-install battery cover, heat shield etc
17. Clean up your mess
18. Remove gloves and safety glasses.
19. Close hood.
20. Crack open a cold one, you're done!

Oh, and by the way, the spray and/or baking soda neutralizes the acid so don't feel bad about washing the battery off.

Rags and wrenches,
The Motachanic

p.s. Anti-freeze does taste sweet, but it is deadly. Do not drink or taste it. So just take my word for it.

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$4.00 A Gallon Gas Has Arrived

Taken on yesterday at the corner of Wardlow and Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach, CA.



Is this really so shocking? I don't think it is that shocking except 2 blocks away there was another gas station with premium at $3.49 and people were still filling up with $4 gas just down the street! Perhaps that shouldn't be as galling to me as it is because this station is just off the 405 freeway and so people who don't know the area might not know any better. What really scares me is that there were probably some patrons who didn't notice or didn't care.

From a recent New York Times article:

The increases could not come at a worse time for the economy. With growth slowing, high energy prices that were once easily absorbed by consumers are now more likely to act as a drag on household budgets, leaving people with less money to spend elsewhere. These costs could exacerbate the nation’s economic woes, piling a fresh energy shock on top of the turmoil in credit and housing.

What does this mean to the auto industry? Probably sales of new cars and cars that don't get good MPG will really start to falter now but not because buyers are making good choices but because they want to not care rather than they having to be more practical.

The people who didn't drive 2 blocks down for the cheaper gas will probably still keep buying new and don't care or won't notice.

A good discussion of the NYT article is on Jalopnik.

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Motachanic: Shaking Steering Wheel Issues

Question: When I get my car over 70 mph, the steering wheel starts to shake. What does this mean?

There are several problems that can account for this problem. Without actually riding in the car myself, I can't know for sure exactly what problem you are having, so I will try to cover as many as I can given the information that you have provided to me.

• Loose lug nuts: Check your lug nut torque. Typically it is around 80 ft-lbs for most passenger vehicles. If you don't have a torque wrench available, just make sure they are all tight.
• Low or flat front tire: Check the tire pressure in your tires. Inflate the tires to the pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire where it says "Max psi (cold)"
• Dented wheel: Do you view curbs as suggestions? Do speed bumps make you speed? You may have a dented wheel. Check both sides of all the wheels for any flat areas along the area of rim where the tire meets the rim (bead). If your wheel is dented see your local wheel specialist to see if it can be repaired.
• Road flotsam on halfshaft (front wheel drove only): look in between the engine and the wheels. Notice the straight steel bar that connects the two? Those are your axle halfshafts. Ensure there are no rags, clothing etc caught on the axles. The rubber boots at either end of the axle are supposed to be there.
• Irregular wear on tire: If the tire is worn irregularly, or if there is a deformity of the tire such as a broken radial cord. Take a look at the front two tires on your car, check the side opposite the lug nuts too. If there are any deformities, replace both fr4ont tires and have your struts replaced and get an alignment performed.
• Improperly balanced tires: Have a reputable shop check and re balance your tires for you. Wheel weights do fall off sometimes so don't assume that the last mechanic who mounted your tires screwed up.
• Severely warped brake rotor one one side: If the problem gets worse when you apply the brakes, have your brake rotors turned and your pads replaced
• CV Joint damaged (front wheel drive only): Look in the front fender wells. If there is an excessive build up of black sticky goo everywhere then you probably tore a CV Boot a while ago and didn't know it. Take your car to your local mechanic and have him replace the CV Joint and boot.

If none of the above have resolved the problem then take the car to your local mechanic.

Grimy Handshake,
The Motachanic

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Flashing Oil Engine Light- The Motachanic Speaks

Your car is equipped with an oil level sensor that lets you know when your oil level is very low. The sensor is either a hydrostatic or float type sensor depending on make/model/year of your vehicle. The hydrostatic sensor detects oil pressure and is usually mounted in the engine block oil gallery or plumbing after the oil pump. A float type sensor detects the level of oil in the crank case itself.

Hydrostatic: When there isn't sufficient oil in the engine to produce oil pressure then the light goes on (most common)
Float: When the oil level in the crank case drops below a certain level, the light goes on. (older cars)

The oil in your crankcase is sucked up through the oil pickup tube by the vacuum created by the oil pump. Once past the oil pump it is distributed throughout the engine to lubricate every moving part before returning to the crankcase.

Just like trying to get that last bit of soda out from the bottom of a glass with a straw, once the oil level drops below a certain level the oil pump cannot create enough vacuum to suck the rest of the oil up.

Basically your car is low on oil. The oil level is just barely higher than the oil pickup tube in the crankcase. When the car is in being driven in a straight line or is idling and stopped there is enough oil to still have circulation. Cornering forces are typically stronger than acceleration forces for non-competition driving so when you turn a corner the oil sloshes over to one side of the crankcase and for a brief moment the oil pickup tube has no oil to suck, causing the oil light to illuminate.

Every time the engine is starved for oil the loss of lubrication causes damage to the engine so this should be fixed as soon as you can.

With your engine off check the oil level on the dip-stick. Consult your owners manual for what viscosity oil you should add. Add that oil to the engine through the oil fill port on the top of the engine in 1/2 quart quantities until the level on the dipstick reads full.


Your Wrenchmeister
The Motachanic

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What Color Car is The Best and How To Take Car of It?

Ah, the age old problem: You are looking for a car, but you want it to look good with the minimal amount of effort. I have seen and experienced black car ownership and it can reduce a normal person to a neurotic mess. There are actually 2 ways to go about maintaining the look of your car, and when you use them together you can be assured that your vehicle with always look it's best.

1. Color. White is hands down the cleanest color choice. There is a reason why a vast majority of the fleet vehicles in service today are white: It is low maintenance. A white car hides dirt, grime, water spots and the like better than any other color with the exception of camouflage. And MY2008 marks the first time in over a decade that white is the most popular color for new cars.
Typically the darker the hue of paint, the harder it is to keep clean. The scale rises exponentially between gray and black simply because black acts very much like a mirror. It reflects and magnifies everything including smudges, over spray, fingerprints etc.
If you are set on a gray color, try to find a lighter gray as it will be less maintenance than a dark gray. Nonmetallic cars are easier to keep clean, especially in dusty conditions as they do not sparkle. A metallic car must be kept very clean to get full benefit from the metal flakes in the paint.

2. Upkeep. Every six months have the exterior of your car detailed. You will be surprised at how much less effort you will have to put into your car's appearance when you have a pro apply a high quality wax and buff it to a shine. Even if it rains it is not uncommon to not have any water spots on a black car provided it was properly cleaned, waxed and polished prior to the rains. Detailing is expensive but worth the expense if you can afford it.

There are a few products available that will help you keep your car looking factory fresh. 3M makes a clear adhesive coating that is applied over clean paint to guard against rock chips and the like. It must be applied by a professional but it is a lot cheaper to replace than getting the car repainted. American Racing offers wheels that have Teflon baked onto the surface of them which almost eliminates brake dust (which is why the front wheels on some cars are much darker than the rear). Meguiars makes a clear plastic polish that helps take small scratches and light oxidation out of clear plastic (i.e. headlamp lenses)

Naturally, all of these products and services cost money and/or time so it is up to you to decide how clean you want your car to be, once you decide on a color, that is.

The Motachanic

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Spoiled? Car Debt and What it is Costing Our Parents

There has been some devastating news coming from the mortgage industry of people over borrowing for their homes or getting into loans that they did not fully understand. But this crisis is not limited to the housing market: it is quickly becoming a problem with the way that we buy our cars.

In a recent article in the LA Times(subscription required) and summarized in Kicking Tires, it was pointed out in an ominous way that the amount of people who couldn’t pay their car payments for 60 days was up by 20%. Additionally the average car loans are now much longer than in the 1980s and 90s- 45% of all car loans are for 6 years or longer. It is becoming common that these longer loans are in reality for more than one car because buyers are driving cars for 4 years or less and then trading in that car, debt and all, for newer and more expensive cars. The debt owed on the old loan is rolled into the new loan and the cycle begins to spiral from there with some consumers these days paying for 3 loans or more in a single car loans and owing, in some cases $30,000, in debt on a single car worth far less.

These statistics may begin to uncover an inevitable time bomb for the spoiled babies of the Baby Boomers but a similarly frightening reality is beginning to reveal how this affects the parents that raised these consumers who expect so much for themselves!

Another study done in the UK by MoneyExpert.com shows that almost 25% of parents have had to help their adult children with their car debt when they have become delinquent in their payments. The expensive reality of raising a child has now extended beyond childhood, into adulthood and threatens parents who are now in their 50’s to compromise their hard earned savings and their ability to maintain their retirement and health care needs. The real irony is that adult children today are beginning to literally spend their own inheritance at the cost of compromising their very alive parents.

So what is the solution to protecting our Gen X dollars, and more importantly, our parent’s money? We should take a ticket from their book: our parents drove their cars for much longer after they were paid off and took on much shorter loans. Today it is common to get financed on a car for 6-8 years but our parents usually had 3-4 year loans, reducing the amount that they were paying in heavy interest. Also, cars are expensive these days so foregoing a need to have a brand-spanking new car and instead choosing a car that costs less, is 2 years old at least so has lost the majority of it’s depreciation and has a loan that is realistic for long term goals.

Buying smart not only protects your hard earned money but the savings of your parents.

A great series this week at CreditWithdrawal.com about saving money as we age for retirement.

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Auto Insurance Requirements and the California DMV

Dear Miss Mota Mouth,

I went to the movies last night and when I came out, my car was gone. I called the police and they said that it had been impounded because the registration was suspended because my insurance has lapsed. All of my insurance is up to date! When I moved a few months ago I paid my insurance in advance while I was in the agency office! What do I need when I go to the California DMV to prove that I have insurance?

Mary in El Segundo

Dear Mary,

Sounds like you got caught in a misunderstanding between the California DMV and the insurance company. According to the state financial responsibility laws in California that require insurance for every motor vehicle, the DMV now is updated on a monthly basis by all of the insurance companies to confirm that you are current with your policy. Unfortunately if you moved then your records at the DMV probably do not match the records at the insurance company and since there was no match, the DMV regards your vehicle as being uninsured. Believe it or not, they are not matching just your name and VIN to the policy and if any notifications were sent to your old address, you wouldn’t know that you were getting ready to be suspended. No fun.

What you will have to do is go to the DMV, show you proof of insurance, driver’s license and a proof of residency (a bill will do). They will have you do a change of address on both the registration and your driver’s license to your current address. And here is the really unfortunate part: you will still have to pay the towing fees to the towing company and any daily storage fees that they charge. You will probably be able to appeal the fees after you pay them or may even be able to get your trusty insurance agent to help you with an appeal so that you can get the fees back but they will make you pay first. It isn’t innocent until proven guilty in that world.

From now on, always try to keep any new addresses up to date when you move. Make a list as you notify them and keep that list around for the next time you change your address so that you don’t forget any one.

Good luck!

M

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How Leases Work

Dear Miss Mota Mouth,

I am trying to understand how leases work. BMW Finance has told me that if I lease another BMW that he will knock 100 points off of my new lease with them. What are these points and why does it matter on an expensive car like a BMW? Should I roll into a lease with the same manufacturer?

Dani in Santa Clara

When you lease a car, you are making payments on the amount that the car is expected to depreciate during the time of the lease. The points are the fees that the dealer writes into the lease to cover acquisition fees, loan fees, etc. These are not always clear in the terms of the lease.

What it would save you is the total capitalized cost of the car that you are leasing so if a $50,000 car can be negotiated down to a total cost of $47,500 (much like negotiating the total cost of buying a new car) then your monthly lease payment will be based on the amount that the car is predicted to depreciate over the length of the lease you choose. So if the BMW is worth $37,500 (depreciated value) in 2 years, your monthly payments would be $10,000 (the depreciation) divided by 24 months (the length of the lease) = $417 x interest per month.

By telling you that they will knock 100 points off they are automatically telling you that they are willing to negotiate a good price for you because you are staying with them- they are implying that at another brand they will be less likely to give you as good of a discount because you will be a new customer. Every bit of negotiation on the cap cost will affect your monthly payment beneficially so take advantage of any offers they make and negotiate for more!

Taking out a lease is a bit of a gamble because you have to decide which make and model will depreciate the least. German cars typically hold their value well as do Japanese cars so sticking with BMW is probably your best bet.

Good luck!

M

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Brenda Priddy Charity Auction for Gearheads

Just wanted to share a link to a charity auction on eBay hosted by spy photographer of the auto industry and concept car espionage specialist Brenda Priddy (featured here in MotorTrend).

Brenda has secured a Dodge Crew badge (a brief name for a crossover SUV that is now known as the Dodge Journey) and is offering it up along with a discarded piece of camouflage from the concept car, a Dodge Rubik’s cube that was given out on press day at the recent LA Auto Show and best of all, a 12” x 18” Brenda Priddy Co. photo of the Dodge Journey test vehicle.

Are these collectible items? Heck yeh! The emblem is a limited production item and piece of short history from Dodge that will never be reproduced and the photo is something that gearheads and Jalopnik geeks will swoon over.

Without further ado, jump to the auction HERE.

Bid well and enjoy a lot!

M

PS- If you win, you can choose the charity you want or choose from the following: Make A Wish Foundation,
American Heart Association, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, Fisher House, Shriners Hospitals for Children

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Fun at the LA Auto Show

The 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show is over for this year. Like so many LA events, it was beyond crowded and Black Friday was a busy day at Staple’s Center. Just finding parking was a feat in itself. After driving in circles trying to find a lot with open spaces that wasn’t in West Hollywood, I spied a valet lot while at an intersection where I couldn’t do a U-turn. I asked the traffic cop how to get to the valet and he proceeded to give me very complicated directions on how to get to the valley. Deciding that I really did want to go to the auto show, I turned left, closely followed by a young couple on a Hog-styled Honda. I went to do the right/right/right turn to head back to the valet and they pulled up behind a cargo van in the left lane. Closely. The cargo van, for no apparent reason decided to back into them and smashed the front end their bike. As I watched the young woman scream obscenities she was parroting from her boyfriend, I was reminded of why my Grandmother said that women should not cuss. It is most unattractive and looked silly.

So the valet story is almost over- I promise- but I have to write down all of this because it is probably more interesting than anything I saw inside Staple’s Center. As I pulled into the valet lot, the attendant looked briefly at me then pointedly looked at my first edition 1999 Z3 Coupe, glanced over at the row of fancy-parked Lamborghinis, Mercedes and a sweet M5 and told me that I should have washed my car first. I paid $30 for the privilege of being told to wash my car! He took my keys and then hid it in the back of the lot so that no one would see my shame.

Once inside after paying 1/3rd of the valet cost to enter, the first car I saw was that Tesla that keeps getting trotted out for events. I guess that being 2 years behind in production led them to understand that lending the old showgirl to Yokohama tires was better than paying thousands for a booth. The interior was still the concept version with bits of exposed wires connecting the starter and I wondered if I plugged it into an onion if it would start.

On the main floor, the first thing that grabbed me was the Ford Flex. It let go of me pretty fast after staring at it for a bout 30 seconds so I decided to have a look at the Mazda RX-8 with its “freestyle” doors. Yes, that is correct. Suicide is officially a Very Bad Thing and will henceforth be referred to as Freestyle. It makes sense in the automotive world. A brave driver in a souped up tuner would never consider themselves to be suicidal but would probably like to think that the interpretive dance called drifting that is all the rage is Freestylin’. It’s just like Bob Fosse on wheels!

On to the concept cars, which were tiny, and will never be produced as seen at the show. Kia, VW and Chevy all made almost the exact same versions of the Mini and I wish that I could have put every one of them in my pocket and taken them home. I especially like the Chevy BEAT because the badge font made it look like it is called the BERT. VW did give me a little car to put in my pocket and take home. It is made of recycled plastic and it is a blue SUV and has a little hole on top to put, um, a pencil? A single pencil. Wow. It sort of seems like a waste of recycled plastic but maybe it will sell a lot of those Touregs for them. It was about this time that I overheard a kid tell his buddy that Ferrari is better than Lexus.

In the dungeon-like lower level, there were throngs of people looking at the auto accessories for sale and I even peeked at the big bubble that I could zip around my car to protect it from that shameful dust. I think that they will only work when you are starting in a clean zone and my parking space is a dust bowl so I moved on. The one vendor that I bet was bored out of his gourd was the guy selling something to help you get ice off of your windshield. Did no one tell him that the bus was stopping in Los Angeles, California?

In all it was an eye-glazing overload of people and cars and just further cemented in my mind that I am happy with my dirty little Z3 until I find that next little used car that doesn't mind being dusty and I can’t live without.

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Spilled Milk in the Car

Dear Miss Mota Mouth,

Help! An entire gallon of milk exploded on the way home from the grocery store and is all over the carpet in the back of my mini van! It is starting to really smell and we were going to sell this and get a new van. What can I do?

Judy C., San Ramon, CA

Dear Sad in San Ramon,

You must be one of those mini van drivers I see cornering on 2 wheels! Don’t despair though. You can be back on the racetrack road and odor free in no time.

The first thing that you should do when you discover spilled milk is get to a car wash and grab the high powered vacuum. Suck up as much moisture as possible. Do not add any water to the mix because that will cause the milk to penetrate further into the fibers (especially on upholstery) and you will have an even more difficult time escaping the stench.

Once you are confident that you have gotten as much moisture out as possible, head to the pet supply store and buy a protein-based enzyme cleaner. Follow the directions and if necessary, repeat the process a couple of times.

Your buyer should be able to breath freely in the mini van during the summer months. If there is any chance that it still might smell even a little, you should be honest with the buyer. Also, for your next mini van you may want to consider getting a cargo net to hold your grocery bags upright or at the very least, use an old (ahem) milk crate.

Better days,

M

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