If you’ve been in the market for a new car ever in your life, you know how important the test drive is when it comes to deciding if a car is right for you. But you get into that car and immediately all of your questions about it fly out of your head because you get distracted by the drive. It’s okay! We’ve all been there. That’s why we’ve put together this list of things to think about as you take that test drive – maybe even bring a friend with this list to prompt you as you drive! Anyway, here’s the list: check it out and let us know what you think!

As you drive, think about how the ride is. Is it bumpy, smooth, disconnected? Of course, you should take into account the type of vehicle you’re test driving, but is it what you expected? Does the vehicle meet or exceed those expectations?

How are the brakes? Are they touchy or easy? Do you feel like they could save your life? Try a lot of different types of braking. Slow, short, forceful, long… these are all types you should test to see how you feel. If you are test driving a hybrid, remember that they brake differently.

The acceleration should be what you want. Try getting up to highway speed (on the highway, of course!) and see how long the vehicle takes to get there. Can you get up a hill easily?

How are the steering and handling? Can you turn on a dime or does it feel like you’re driving a barge? Basically, think about what you want in a car, and think about how you drive – will the vehicle drive that way for you?

How is it inside the cockpit? Can you see out of all the windows, mirrors, and are there many blind spots? Is it noisy? Think about what you want in a vehicle – don’t be blinded by how much you think you like a vehicle aesthetically if it’s not right for you in every other respect.

Remember that if you have a question about a vehicle or want to test drive more than one (which you should be doing!) the folks here at King Kia are more than happy to help!

Do you ever find yourself getting frustrated in the parking lot? That just means that your experience is missing something. Like the Salt Bae and his spice, the parking lot just needs a sprinkle of politeness. Keep reading to find out some of the essential parking lot etiquette tips!

One of the most obvious things is to make sure you’re taking up only one space. Taking up more than one space is just plain rude! If your car has the world’s most amazing paint job, or if it’s too wide to fit comfortably in one spot, park further out instead of trying to find a place closer to the store. Walking is good for you, anyway.

While we’re on the subject, don’t walk down the middle of the lane when you’re a pedestrian. Always watch for cars, make sure you stay in the crosswalk, and stick to one side of the road or another. Walking down the middle is a surefire way to get someone in a 2,000-pound bullet angry at you, which is never a good thing.

Take turns when it comes to finding a parking spot. Stealing spots is SUPER rude and can lead to accidents. Be patient. Another spot will be open.

Park straight in the parking space. This is related to the first tip we shared here about not taking up more than one parking space. If you’re parked too close to one side of the space, or if you’re parked off-kilter, that can force someone else to need to find another space when the one next to your car WOULD have been just fine… if they’d been able to open their door. On that same note, don’t park too close to another car that’s already parked. You can risk damaging their car, and also trapping them outside of their car until you leave.

Basically, just be polite. Use common courtesy. There you go!

Are your headlights busted? If the reason they’re dead isn’t that they are missing from your car or otherwise broken due to physical damage, keep reading for some great fixes for your dead headlights!

If only one headlight is broken…..
– You probably have a burnt out bulb that needs to be replaced.

If both headlights are broken…..
– If your headlights died at the same time as each other, that’s super unusual. Check your battery.
– Have your dealer look into your fuses/relays/modules, because that could be part of the problem.
– Your wiring could also be shot, so ask your shop to look at that as well.

Your high beams or low beams don’t work…..
– It’s probably the bulb.
– Well, that or a relay, if only one or the other works. Again, have your dealer take a look under the hood.

Your headlights are just dim…..
– Clean your headlights, silly! If that doesn’t help, look into reconditioning kits. Your dealer is a great source of information on this type of thing.
– It could also be down to a charging system issue, if reconditioning and cleaning didn’t do anything about the dimness (or if it was very clearly that the bulb itself was dim). Check it out with your dealer.

When we’re on the road, one of the most important tools that we have at our disposal as drivers is our turn signal. Luckily, we have two of them! The only problem is that we are generally really bad at using our turn signals, and then when we see other people using them improperly (or not using them at all) we tend to get a little irate. So, this blog today is dedicated to why we tend to not use our turn signals, and why we are WRONG and should be ashamed of ourselves, and then correct our behavior.

So, some people don’t use their signals when they’re making a right turn because it’s just a right turn. False! No turn is ever “just” a turn! You should be using your turn signals no matter what… because you’re making a turn. That’s what they’re for. Come on, people!

Another reason we might not use our signals is that there’s nobody around. Sure, that’s a somewhat valid argument, but when you don’t use your signals you create habits for yourself. And those habits can carry over into times when you ARE around other people, and then it’s super dangerous to not be using your signals.

The thing about turn signals is that they are our primary way of communicating with other drivers on the road, and when you don’t use them you are not only endangering yourself but the other drivers that you are sharing the road with. So, moral of the story, use your turn signals! And if you’re the type of person who prefers videos, check out this one on using your signals!

Looking for the perfect fall playlist? Well, we’ve got the answer for you! Of course, these are pretty largely driving-themed, so you might want to make sure that you’re in the car (may we suggest a Kia from King Kia?) to listen to this beauty. We recommend a nice fall drive to a park or historic site! Check out our recommendations!

Cake, “The Distance”

Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again”

Prince, “Little Red Corvette”

Matt & Kim, “Daylight”

Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run”

Allman Brothers Band, “Midnight Rider”

Grateful Dead, “Truckin”

Sufjan Stevens, “Chicago”

Ray Charles, “Hit The Road Jack”

Stone Temple Pilots, “Interstate Love Song”

The Beatles, “Ticket to Ride”

Smashing Pumpkins, “1979”

Albert Hammond, Jr., “101”

James Taylor, “Carolina In My Mind”
Tom Petty, “Runnin’ Down A Dream”

Winter is coming… and even though we’re in Maryland, where winter is just a chill in the air at the mildest and a little nippy at the worst, we should still think about winterizing our cars in preparation for the season. Anything can happen, and you don’t want to be that one person stuck in the freak storm without preparation. So, check out our tips for winterizing your car, no matter where you live!

1. Make sure your battery is in fighting form. This entails having your mechanic check it out, testing it yourself, or replacing it if you’re due.

2. Change out your wiper blades and stock up on wiper fluid with antifreeze. Make sure you have the all-season wipers on before the winter actually starts!

3. Consider snow tires if you’re concerned about slipping and sliding in colder temperatures. Otherwise, check out snow chains or other traction devices.

4. Be extra vigilant about your tire pressure. This not only helps you get better gas mileage, but it helps your vehicle with traction.

5. If you have four-wheel drive, make sure it’s in working order. Again, talk to your mechanic about checking this out.

6. Make sure you have an emergency kit in your car and that it’s fully stocked and ready to go. You should also keep a couple of blankets in your car, just in case you need them for any reason.

7. Have your mechanic check your oil viscosity and the belts and hoses inside your engine. If something breaks, you’re not going to want to fix it in the winter. That’s just a fact.

Winter driving can be hazardous wherever you are – make sure that you’re prepared no matter what! Come see us at King Kia and we’ll get you squared away for whatever’s in store.

Fall is a great season for not only road trips, but holidays that involve packing the whole family into the car for sometimes several hours at a time. So when you’re experiencing that joy, how can you keep everyone in the vehicle occupied? Games, of course! As Andy Dwyer so astutely said on Parks and Rec, “A game is the foot!”

While these games are not “a foot,” they will definitely keep everyone entertained until they (hopefully) fall asleep. Check them out!

My personal favorite car game is called “My Cows.” The rules are simple – if you see cows in a field, you point at them and yell “MY COWS.” The cows now legally belong to you. The object is to see the cows and yell about them before anyone else in the car does. If there are multiple herds of cows right after each other, they are only separate if separated physically by a fence. To divest other players of their cows, you need to point at a cemetery and another person with cows and yell “BURY YOUR COWS.” Their cows are now dead. If you see a place of worship and you want more cows (presumably because your greed for livestock knows no bounds) you point and shout “MARRY MY COWS.” Your cows are now married and can, presumably, create more cows with the blessing of whatever deity they believe in through the sanctity of cow marriage. Do not count your cows. This is pointless. You only need to know if you have cows or do not have cows, and you need to enjoy shouting.

Another fun game is the license plate game. Try to point out a license plate from each of the 50 states on your trip. This gets incredibly hard the fewer you get, especially because Alaska and Hawai’i are the rarest of them all as they are not actually connected to the mainland USA. Keeping a tally of what you’ve seen is a great idea for this one. If you have kids in the car, quiz them on the capitals of each state you see. The only time I have ever gotten this game totally done is one time when I was driving to Minnesota, and we went to the Mall of America, and everyone from everywhere was there.

The third game I will discuss is the Quiet Game. This is a good game if you are a person who does not have very much patience with noise. I remember this game a lot from when I was a child. My mother always used to buckle me in and then say “Honey, I need you to be quiet for like. For five minutes. Please.” And then I would try to be quiet. This game can potentially extend further than five minutes – sometimes it even continues until adulthood.

Best of luck on your road trip!

Wiper blades are what keep your windshield working the way it’s supposed to work – which is to say, it’s supposed to let you see the road. When your windshield wipers are working properly, this is what happens! When they’re broken, however, you don’t get what you need out of your wipers, which is vision. So, how do you take care of your wipers? First, you need to know when they’re broken and what the signs of broken or worn wipers are. When you check your wiper blades (which should ideally be every month or so), check for:
– Broken frame – you’ll see this manifest as the frame arms are disconnected at the joints or connection points.
– Metal Corrosion – take a close look at the joints and claws of the wiper frame.
– Tears, cracks, and chunks missing out of the edge of the squeegee.

In order to check on the health of your wipers themselves, do these things:
– Flex the squeegee back and forth to make sure it’s flexible. If the squeegee is too old, it won’t conform to your windshield and it won’t bend as easily.
– Make sure the edges of the squeegee are sharp and not rounded. If the edges are rounded, they are too worn down and won’t make good contact with the windshield or wipe correctly.
– Give the wiper a little tug to make sure that it’s firmly attached to the wiper arm.
– Make sure the squeegee is tightly fitted in the wiper frame.

Wiper blades deteriorate just like everything else in our cars. Things they’re exposed to every day can destroy them over time, such as:
– The sun can break down your wipers through ultraviolet light and even ozone exposure.
– The oils in car waxes and exhaust can deteriorate the rubber of your wipers.
– Things like dust, sand, salt, mud, and any other kind of airborne particles can stick to your wipers and break them down.
– Saltwater and acid rain can break down your wipers – no matter if you’re on the coast or inland.

Make sure that you’re cleaning your wipers every time you fill up your gas tank with the solution in the things at the station and a clean paper towel. This will keep them clean of the aforementioned dust and grit and will let them live even longer.

When it’s time to replace your wipers, don’t put it off. Just take care of it, and your windshield will stay clear and you’ll know that you’re seeing the road as clearly as possible. If you want help with wipers and finding out which are right for your vehicle, come see us here at King Kia!

If you’ve ever experienced a tire blowout, you’ll know that it’s pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you. It’s not just a flat tire, which can sometimes be temporarily repaired with a patch kit. Oh, no. A blowout is when half of your tire, all the way around your tire, separates from the other half. Your tire is literally blown in half! When you come across those giant long strips of tire on the highway, those are remnants of truck blowouts. Safe to say, you don’t want this to happen to you. But, sometimes it’s unavoidable. This blog is here to tell you what you should do in the event of a blowout happening to you – and let’s hope it never happens!

So, you’re driving along and suddenly you hear a loud booming noise and your car starts to go all over the place. The first thing you should do is stop (safely, and on the side of the road). Put on those hazards and get out of the car to investigate. If it’s a blowout, no patch kit is going to save you. Make sure you’re in a spot that’s far enough away from traffic, then get out your tire changing kit.

Jack up your car per the instructions in your owner’s manual – this is important because there are specific places on your car that are reinforced just for the express purpose of putting the jack there! If you put the jack in the wrong place, you could damage your car. Anyway, jack that puppy up and remove the old, blown out tire. You may want to keep it as a fun souvenir to show everyone. I mean, you’re gonna have to keep it anyway, because to leave it would be to litter, but you know what I mean. You’re going to have to keep the tire rim anyway if it hasn’t been damaged by the weight of your car.

Hopefully, you have a spare tire, and if you do you should put it on. If not, call for roadside assistance as soon as you’re pulled over! Put that tire on and you’re good to go – straight to a garage! If you’re close to home, take your vehicle in to your dealership. Yeah, sure, we are a dealership, but we’re stressing this because pretty much universally you know that technicians at dealerships are specifically trained in your make’s maintenance. That means you’ll get the best service possible, and you’ll get advice and help with avoiding any more blowouts.

If you’ve had a blowout or just want someone to check up on your tires, come down to King Kia today and we’ll help you out. We’ve attached some rockin’ service coupons as well – just for you!

Are you fast approaching the time to renew your vehicle’s registration? Do you think about renewing your registration and kind of cringe a little bit and then try not to think about it until you really have to? Yeah, me too. But I am here to tell you that renewing your registration in Maryland is actually a lot easier than you might have initially expected! In this blog post, I am going to lay down the FACTS for you so that you will not be scared of the MVA! Check it out!

So, you’ll get a registration renewal notice about two months before your registration is set to expire. On this notice will be:

• Your renewal fee.

• Renewal deadline date.

• Emissions check requirements, if applicable.

• List of red flags, if applicable, that will prevent the MVA from renewing your registration. This might include lack of car insurance or an unpaid parking ticket.

You will get this in the mail unless you’ve chosen to receive it via email. If you didn’t get a notice, call the MVA! You still have to renew your registration before it expires, even if you don’t get a notice. If you’ve moved, you have to tell the MVA what your new address is.

You can renew your registration in four different ways – in person, at a self-serve kiosk, by phone, or by mail. Here’s how to do it each way!

To renew your registration in person, you can visit any one of the following four offices:

• County treasurer’s office (charges an extra processing fee).

• Title service agent (charges an extra processing fee).

• MVA mobile office.

• Full-service MVA office. You must use this office if you have any outstanding issues―unpaid traffic tickets, car insurance coverage questions― listed on your registration renewal notice.

Have with you when you arrive:

• A completed emissions test certificate, if required.

• Your registration renewal notice. If you don’t have one, bring your current registration certificate.

• Proof of car insurance coverage.

• Cash, check, credit or debit card to cover registration renewal fee. Call before visiting to make sure credit/debit cards are accepted. Not all offices accept them.

At a self-serve kiosk, you’ll need:

• Current registration card or registration renewal notice.

• Proof of car insurance coverage.

• Your eight-digit title number and license plate number.

• Check, Visa, MasterCard or American Express to pay registration fees.

These kiosks are at all MVA offices, so they’re pretty easy to find!

To renew by phone, dial (410) 768-7000 and have at the ready:

• Your registration certificate or renewal notice.

• A valid credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express).

To renew by mail, you should follow the instructions on your registration renewal notice and:

• Enter any corrections or changes, if applicable.

• Double-check that the listed car insurance information is correct.

• Complete any included certifications.

• Submit all documents and payment (check or money order) in the provided envelope. The check must include your preprinted name and address. The MVA requests that you write your driver’s license number and work phone number on the check.

See? Easy. Just pick one way to renew and all the steps are right here! And remember: if you have any more car-related questions, stop on in to King Kia and we’ll be more than happy to help you! And if you want to get into a new car, we can definitely take care of that super easily. Seriously.