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.

So, we all have to have car insurance. It’s important – so important that you can get into trouble with the DMV if you don’t have it. But why is it important? Read on to find out!

So, like I mentioned before, you pretty much need car insurance in order to stay legal to drive. If you get into an accident without insurance, you can be faced with a LOT of penalties from the law, including the bills from any damage caused. Not good! The insurance is in place to help not only you, but the other vehicles you might damage in a collision. This includes bodily injury as well as property damage. Your insurance will help pay for repairs to property – not just another person’s, but public property as well (for example, if you hit a sign or guardrail). If you don’t have insurance and can’t pay the bills, you can be sued.

Insurance also comes in to help if you get into an accident caused by something like a deer, or if your car is vandalized or hit by a storm. If you want to make sure you’re not in the hole on a vehicle if something happens to it that’s outside your control, you should have insurance. Simple!

You can choose your insurance policy, which affects what coverage you get. Of course, there are a lot of things to weigh in terms of what you think you need and what you can afford on your budget, but insurance companies offer things like:

• Gap Insurance

• Rental Insurance

• Roadside Assistance

• Custom Equipment

• OEM Endorsement

• Minor Violation Forgiveness

• Accident Forgiveness

These are all pretty useful things to have in your pocket when you need them, but if you’re not sure what you need or can afford, you should talk to an insurance professional to help find the right solution for you. And if you need a car to insure in the first place, King Kia has that! We’re happy to help you find a vehicle that you love – just make sure you insure it!

If you have trouble seeing the light at night, then you might have an issue with your headlamps! There could be several issues – they could be actually dying, they could be half dying, or (and this is the best case scenario) they could just be dirty! In this blog, we’ll give you some tips on how to clean up or replace your headlights so that the road ahead is no longer a frightening mystery after dark.

So, the first thing you should always do is clean your headlights with some good old soap and water, or even glass cleaner. Number one, this always cleans up your headlights on the outside, no matter what. So, this is always good to do! Number two, if your headlights were just dirty and that’s why they were dim, this is the solution to that problem. However, if your headlights still look dim, you probably need to go a little deeper in terms of cleaning or reconditioning your headlights. Keep reading for that next step!

Ah, good, you’re here still. The next step is just to get a simple reconditioning kit for your headlights. This is something that you can pick up pretty much at any auto parts store for pretty cheap. Just follow the instructions and you should be set! Reconditioning your headlights, to get into the (literal) nitty-gritty, is using an abrasive polish to literally take off the layers of UV damage and damage from things like rocks and gravel and other things that can hit your headlights as you’re driving. Hopefully this will brighten your headlights up! If it doesn’t, time for step three.

Welcome to step three! This involves replacing your headlights. You can take your vehicle to your dealer or shop and have them do it, but if you are more of a DIY-er, it can be pretty easy to replace these yourself. Check your owner’s manual for the type of headlights you have, and then check out a YouTube video or other guide that’ll tell you how to replace the lights. You can even upgrade to brighter halogens or LEDs if you don’t have either of those already!

Headlights are one of the most important safety features in your car. If you see them dimming, get that checked out as soon as you can because without headlights, you’re at a SUPER high risk of crashing in the dark. Do people actually drive after dark without headlights? Don’t do it! You will probably hurt yourself and others really badly! Make sure your headlights are working well, please!

Have you ever slid into the driver’s seat of your car and immediately sneezed, or gotten a whiff of something really foul? That is a pretty good indication that you might have to clean out your air vents – or even your whole air system, if you’re really feeling ambitious. This might sound like a difficult task, but it’s actually really simple and can refresh your whole car for a long time with just a little bit of elbow grease!

So first you should grab a vacuum, especially one with a long hose. Vacuum out the air vents of your car – all of them! Not only the ones that are directly facing the front seats, but the ones in the footwells, the ones for the back seats, and ESPECIALLY the defroster vent up next to the windshield. This one is often forgotten and can really collect a lot of dust. When this comes on, it’ll just blow all that dust into the air, which then goes right into your face. Not fun.

After you’ve vacuumed, get some cotton swabs dipped in a cleaning solution like Windex, or even white vinegar if you’re living the non-toxic lifestyle. Water will do as well. You’ll definitely need a few swabs, because you’re going to really go into your vents with them and get off anything that didn’t come up when you vacuumed. This can be caked on stuff like dust and pollen, which can not only make you sneeze but also smell kind of bad, especially if there’s any mildew in the vents from moisture.

If your car still smells kind of bad, you should check your cabin air filter. You can take your car into a dealership (I’m going to suggest King Kia, of course!) to have them take a look, or if you’re more of a DIY-er, you can find tutorials on the internet and do it yourself. If your cabin air filter looks gross, replace it! It’s a cheap fix and really really helps.

If there is STILL a smell, and it’s kind of musty, that might mean that there’s mildew in your AC evaporator. Drive a little ways out from your home and run the air (no AC, just air) on as high as possible for a few minutes. This will circulate air through the evaporator and dry up any moisture that’s causing mildew.

The final steps are just to Febreeze or get an air freshener and voilà! You’re all set! Air vents are easy to take care of, so make sure you maintain them and they’ll keep your car smelling fresh and feeling cool for a long time to come.

Hi there! It’s me, your check engine light. I know, I know, you’re not really my biggest fan. I get it! Usually, when I appear on your dashboard, you have to go get your vehicle serviced. It sends you into a big panic – trust me, I see when it happens. I just wanted to give you some reasons why I might be appearing, because that might help you know what’s going on a little better, which will make you less anxious, which will help you drive safely and not worry so much. It’s a big cycle. Anyway, here are some of those reasons why I show up from time to time. And no, none of those reasons are to “ruin your life.”

So, first of all, this isn’t the same as the “maintenance required” or “service” light. Usually, when I appear, it means there’s a problem in your engine. I’m just here to tell you about it so that you don’t end up in an accident or with super costly repairs on your hands. If I show up, you should take your vehicle into your dealer or garage as soon as you can afterward. But, there are some things you can do to check yourself before you take your vehicle in for a check by a professional.

First, you should check to see if your gas cap is loose or not on all the way. This is a common reason why I show up – a loose cap sends an error message to your vehicle’s computer, reporting a leak in the vapor recovery system, which is a part of your vehicle’s emissions system. If the gas cap is loose, tighten it and keep driving. If I don’t go away after a little while, then you might have to dig a little deeper.

There are other reasons why I might come on as well – the O2 sensor, which monitors and adjusts the air-fuel mixture; an issue with your catalytic converter (or cat, as some like to call it); a problem with the mass air flow sensor, which also monitors the amount of air mixed in the fuel injection system; or your spark plug wires might have something happening with them.

You should always take your vehicle in to your dealer or your garage when I show up on your dash! It’s not an everyday occurrence, but it is important to take note of when I’m around. You can bring your vehicle into a dealership like King Kia and have it checked out if you’re worried – or if I’m illuminated at all. They’ll take care of you and your vehicle and have you back on the road in no time.

Top 3 Kid-Friendly Kia Models

When you have a family, you might have a different list of priorities when it comes to your car. I know that our family did. Children want and need space to spread out (for our sanity and theirs), storage areas for snacks and toys, and entertainment… a lot of entertainment. Parents want a vehicle that is safe and has features that make life a little easier. Honestly, parenting is hard enough. Parenting while in a small space in motion is on another level entirely. King Kia knows what is on your family car check list and they are here to deliver all of these things and more to make your driving experience excellent!

1. The Spacious Sorento

If the phrase “Mom, he’s hitting me” means anything at all to you the Kia Sorento may well be the answer to your travel problems. The Sorento seats up to seven passengers, so as a crossover it’s large enough to compete with minivans in terms of capacity. The entertainment system also offers voice command options which make traveling easier, particularly when the kids have decided that they no longer want to watch Doc McStuffins and wish to move on to Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Arguing with a 3-year-old that “Mommy doesn’t have enough hands to do that right now” isn’t super productive so voice command is a life saver. An available roof rack provides extra space for cargo on extended road trips. Integrated safety features such as traction control, airbags, and blind spot warnings protect families from accidents.

Dual-zone automatic climate control and rear air conditioning knobs are very important words particularly when you have more than one kid. No one can ever agree on a temperature so being able to customize the temperature a bit is helpful! Little ones love the sun shades for the second-row seats and the cup holders and other small storage areas throughout the cabin. With stain-resistant cloth seats, I don’t have to worry about letting my toddler have her juice in the car.

2. Saving with the Sedona

Where are all of my budget-conscious families at? The Sedona is a minivan that offers every member of the family a smooth ride without gouging your bank account. With the SXL model, passengers in the second row get lounge seats that recline, that’s some fancy stuff!. The second-row middle seat has slide-and-stow capability, so when you have fewer people and need more storage you can make those adjustments quick and easy.

The front console has a bunch of little storage areas for all of your kids’ random things. At any given time I can reach into the center console and find a ring pop, 3 Polly Pockets, a Hot Wheels car, and 27 elastic bands courtesy of my kiddos.

As per usual, safety is an important part of the Sedona’s design with options like a rearview camera and parking sensors. The UVO emergency communications system alerts first responders for you if you’re involved in an accident. The Sedona earned the highest rating for protecting passengers in government crash tests, which I find endlessly comforting.

3. Happy Kids In A Kia Soul

With its boxy shape, the 2017 Kia Soul is so roomy my kids can’t even play the “Mom, he’s hitting me game”. It’s absolute bliss. This design is ideal for small children because the thresholds are low enough that most kiddos don’t have to step up to get in or jump down to exit. Choose one of the higher trim levels and you get Kia’s signature entertainment system which makes the long road trips WAY easier. If I have to play Eye Spy one more time I may rip my own eyes out, so having the kids quietly watching a movie is pretty nice. Keyless entry and ignition will save you time when you know you grabbed your keys but aren’t positive if they’re in the diaper bag or in one of the kid’s backpacks. You will eventually need to find those keys, but you can do that later.

Parenting is hard, fam. Let’s not pretend that’s easy, because it’s not and really it’s ok if you don’t have it all together, or even figured out. That’s why Kia is here, to make it a little bit easier for you and your family! Stop by King Kia today to make your life easier today!

It’s never a good idea to focus on anything but the road when driving, but something that’s become an increasingly serious problem on the road is drivers who text while operating their vehicles. 9 Americans are killed every day from motor vehicle accidents that involve distracted driving – something that encompasses not only texting while driving but also using a cellphone in general or eating. The probability that a cell phone was involved in a motor vehicle crash is an astounding 1 in 4, and using a cellphone while driving increases the risk of a crash by 4x. Texting while driving is banned in 47 states, including the District of Columbia, and talking on the phone while driving is banned in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The statistics speak for themselves – texting while driving is incredibly dangerous, not only to yourself but to the drivers on the road with you. Some solutions to needing to use your phone while driving are:

1. Let people know that you will be driving and unable to answer your text messages while you are doing so before you get behind the wheel. That way, nobody will worry or get mad at you for not texting back.

2. Utilize text stops, parking areas, and rest stops along your route. Many states have places for drivers to pull over, turn off the engine, and check their messages safely while on the road.

3. If you have a co-pilot, have them take custody of your phone for the drive. If an important message or call comes in, have them use your phone for you to answer.

4. Utilize your car’s Bluetooth capability for phone calls. You’ll be hands-free and able to pay attention to the road while using your phone.

5. Put your phone away for the duration of your drive. As the old adage goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” If you can’t see your phone, you won’t feel the urge to use it while driving.

Texting and driving is a huge problem these days, and it’s up to us to set an example and follow the letter of the law when it comes to cellphone use in the car. You could save not only your car, but your life and the lives of other drivers around you.