You hear the weather report call for hail—and not just any old hail, either. We’re talking about monster, “golf ball-sized” hail that takes no prisoner. It’s the type of hailstorm that you wouldn’t wish upon your own worst enemy… yet your car is sitting in the driveway, uncovered, with only thoughts and prayers to keep it safeguarded from hailstones.

Wondering what you can do or use to keep your vehicle safe in a hailstorm? Here’s how to protect your car from hail and prevent excessive vehicle repair costs this spring.

12) Buy a hail car cover

Do car covers protect against hail? You betcha. If you don’t have a place to shelter your vehicle, like a garage or even a covered parking spot (that you paid an arm and a leg for), a hail protection car cover may prevent shattered windshields and hail dents on your vehicle. Or, at a minimum, you’ll only be looking at minor hail damage to your vehicle.

You have several options for hail covers, including expensive products like this inflatable car cover for hail, the Hail Protector System ($400), as well as cheaper protectors like this multi-layer cover ($70).

We recommend OEM car covers that are designed to fit snugly around your specific model. Although our collision repair centers repair hail damage in Kansas City, we’d be happy to help you find a hail-proof car cover or truck cover. Contact us for assistance.

11) Try a “hail blanket”

Purchasing a hail cover for your vehicle is an investment. On the cheap, you can try substituting that cover with a thick blanket. To ensure you have adequate vehicle coverage from hail, be sure to tuck the blanket ends into the door, under the hood, inside the trunk lid, and even in the windows. Close them tightly, ensuring you have access to door handles to reenter your vehicle once the storm passes.

Note: Do not duct tape blankets to your car! Some other “how to protect your car from hail” articles may suggest this, but it’s not good advice. The adhesive on duct tape can certainly peel away car paint, and the tape itself will be difficult to remove once the hail stops. Use the tactics above to get the best protection from hail with a blanket.

If the stars align, automakers will be tasked with finding a solution to drunk driving in the next few years. At least, that’s one of the primary goals laid out in the country’s new infrastructure bill, which has been see-sawing on “yay” or “nay” for months.

Drunk drivers injure more than 300,000 people and kill over 10,000 people a year, the latter of which equates to nearly half of all traffic-related fatalities. Considering the data indicating that only 2% of Americans drive while intoxicated, that’s a lot of unnecessary pain and death. So, even if the “nays” end up securing a “win,” it’s important to note that mandates aren’t necessary for automakers to do the right thing and start producing cars with anti-drunk-driving technology. Heck, some would argue that it’s the smart choice given our shared proclivity to, you know, stay alive.

What exactly could vehicles to do stop drunk driving? Is there already technology out there or does it need to be invented before 2026? According to some engineers and industry experts, we’re close to figuring it all out.

The Options: MADD + DADSS

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) is the project automakers and the NHTSA have developed. Their goal: Create new technology to passively detect intoxicated drivers before they can get on the road.

While automakers and the Transportation Department investigate possible solutions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has identified over 240 different automotive technologies that could prevent intoxicated driving. Some of their proposed solutions are fantastical, though others are more pragmatic and utilitarian. Below are some technologies that may prove to be useful right away.

Your vehicle’s catalytic converter has one purpose: to control the amount of pollution you emit. To do that, catalytic converters are crafted with several precious metals – this includes palladium, rhodium, platinum and sometimes even gold – that act as pollution filters or scrubbers.

Therein lies the dilemma. While these precious metals are vital to reduce your carbon emissions, they’re also extremely expensive. For instance, as of January 2022, rhodium fetches over $15,000 per ounce. Each catalytic converter has approximately 1 gram of rhodium inside it, which equates to a market value of over $500.

Thieves have taken note. Catalytic converter theft has increased by about 400% nationwide since the start of 2020 – and there’s no end in sight, even as lawmakers are enacting laws across the country to deter crooks from stealing catalytic converters. Worst of all, catalytic converter thieves can do their work in as little as 60 seconds.

If you’re worried about your catalytic converter being stolen, prevention may be your only recourse.

Most Stolen Catalytic Converters

While any vehicle can be targeted by thieves, it appears that certain vehicle types and models are most susceptible to catalytic converter theft.

Due to their ground clearance – the more ground clearance, the easier it is for crooks to slide under the vehicle – pickup trucks and large SUVs are the most likely candidates.

Hybrid cars are even higher on the list. Because they’re built to emit less pollution, hybrid exhaust control systems, like Prius catalytic converters, have more and maintain their precious metals longer than standard car catalytic converters. That makes them more valuable when sold to a scrapyard. (Selling stolen catalytic converters can fetch as much as $700 each, while the price for a replacement catalytic converter can easily be over $2000.)

We know what you’re thinking: “Is this a joke? Can car ignition trouble really be caused by having too many keys on my keychain?”

We ain’t lying! Although somewhat rare, a heavy car key chain can really do a number on your vehicle’s ignition. While most of your vehicle is durable, automotive ignitions aren’t built for a bunch of downward pressure. Every time you go over a bump, make a wide turn or hit a pothole, each ounce of metal attached to your keyring feels like a literal ton to your ignition cylinder. Over the course of years, all that extra weight can damage those delicate internal components, like steering lock barrels, that make your car go vroom.

It’s not just the cause of car starting problems, either. A heavy keychain for car keys can lead to some very dangerous and unsafe situations that undoubtedly put your life in jeopardy. For instance, if your ignition shifts out of place, your entire set of keys could loosen and fall out – while the vehicle is in motion.

“That seems kinda cool…”

Sure, you’d have a nifty magic trick to show your coworkers. But there’s one glaringly obvious problem: How do you stop the car? If the ignition is shifted badly enough, reinserting your car keys to turn your vehicle off may become difficult if not impossible. (Guess you’ll just have to wait until the gas tank runs empty.)

It goes without saying: kids are our most precious cargo. Many of you out there have little ones who are still car seat age, but some may be shocked to learn that most children under the age of 10 or 11, depending on size, should be using a child safety seat or booster seat. In the United States alone, this accounts for roughly 50 million kids, many of whom will be injured in a car crash because of improper safety precautions.

The need for a child safety apparatus is well known, yet an important debate still remains: when should you replace your child’s car seat? The answers may surprise you.

What the Experts Say

Citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this law firm based in Kansas City that specializes in automotive-related incidents states that there may be no need to replace a safety seat after a minor crash. According to the NHTSA, for a crash to be considered minor, the following conditions must ALL be met:

• The vehicle can be driven away from the scene of the crash, unassisted
• The door nearest the car seat sustained no structural damage
• None of the passengers in the vehicle were injured
• The air bags did not deploy
• No visible damage is done to the car seat

Furthermore, the NHTSA recommends following the car seat manufacturer’s guidelines. It is important to note that the NHTSA has, in the past, recommended replacing a car seat after any collision, regardless of how minor—the organization has revised this recommendation in recent years, in part because of the tendency to buy used car seats, which are much more difficult to evaluate for safety. If in doubt, the age-old adage “Better safe than sorry” is always appropriate.

Proper Car Seat Usage

Of course, knowing when to replace your little tyke’s safety seat matters very little if you don’t take the proper precautions to protect them in the first place. Parents and caretakers must ensure that all the car seat manufacturer’s instructions are followed, in both the installation of the car seat, and the security of the child. It’s also vitally important to make sure you have the right type of seat for your little one. Missouri and Kansas laws regarding car seats, like most other areas of the country, are quite similar, and boil down to three key factors: age, weight, and height:

• Infants and toddlers should always be kept in a rear-facing seat. It’s generally regarded as best practice to keep children in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible, until they’ve outgrown them fully.
• Between the ages of 4-7, most kids are generally ready to move to a forward-facing seat with a safety harness.
• Children age 8 and above, who weigh less than 80 pounds and are under 4’9”, are usually considered ready for a belt-positioning booster seat in combination with the factory seat belt.
• Once the child is big enough that the seat belt lies snuggly across the lap and the shoulder belt hits below the neck/face area, additional safety equipment is no longer considered necessary.
• As it always has been, the back seat is the gold-standard safest option, for kids under 13.

Of Course, a Safe Car Doesn’t Hurt!

The McCarthy family of auto dealerships near Kansas City has been supplying vehicles that are top-rated for safety features to the good folks of the heartland for decades. As safety innovations from automakers are being updated year after year, your best bet for safety is a new vehicle. Visit any of our car dealerships in the Kansas City area for more information about our fleet of safe and amazing new car options.

Remember: Some Things Can’t Be Replaced

Here at McCarthy Collision Centers, we’re dedicated to getting your ride looking good, and restoring it to safe, road-worthy condition. We see people on some of their worst days, and we pride ourselves on unbending the fenders and giving your car a new life. Some damage we just can’t fix, but we can offer our clients information and resources to help make sure that the worst never happens.

Stay safe, Kansas City!

So, you found the perfect used vehicle – a sporty, red convertible with tan leather seats and a manual transmission – that you’ve always wanted. Surprisingly, it’s been on the market for three weeks, yet you’re the lucky soul who gets to bring it home. Hooray!

You’ve seen the ads for that CARFAX fox and heard horror stories about buying “lemons” in shady back-alley deals. Falling victim to one of those scams isn’t on your itinerary, thank you very much. You’re not about to make a mistake with your dream car. So, you’ve got some research to do on that convertible.

That dream screeches to a halt as big warning signs flash in front of you – there’s an accident on your convertible’s history report! Buying a car that has been in an accident doesn’t seem like a great idea, you think. Then again, you really want to show off to the nosy neighbors across the street. What do you do?

Pump your breaks, friend: An accident report doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to scratch that particular vehicle from your consideration and restart your search. That report should, however, prompt you to look even more closely at that vehicle before making up your mind.

Here are a few suggestions to explore as you ponder whether buying a car with an accident history is worthwhile.

Severity – Just how bad was the accident?

This may seem obvious to some of you, but not every accident is serious. Some minor car crashes needn’t disqualify a vehicle from the running.

What major incidents should stop you from buying a used car that was in an accident in Kansas City? Keep an eye open for Airbag Deployments on the history report. Those are generally indicators of more serious accidents and worth an exploration of the details of the incident. While it’s possible for airbags to accidentally deploy, that’s rarely the case. It’s more likely that a pretty good impact occurred and required airbag replacement service.

Buying a car with a small accident on CARFAX isn’t as big of a deal. It’s common for fender-benders, which require minimal autobody repair work to show up on a vehicle history report. Those incidents are typically present when insurance companies are involved, so don’t lose hope. Dig deeper. That exclamation mark could only represent some minor touch-up work, like paintless dent repair, performed by a professional.

How does it look?

A detailed visual inspection is always a great idea before a purchase. It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking delivery of a brand-new vehicle, a couch, a $100 hooded sweatshirt, or a simple bell pepper at the grocery store.

Open the driver’s door of your new convertible, grab the hood release lever, and pop that engine bay open. Take a good look around the engine compartment to see if there’s anything out of the ordinary.

Check out the bolts that hold the fenders on; those bolts should never come in contact with a wrench under normal circumstances, so the paint around the area should be intact. If it’s not, ask the seller if and why work was done on the fender.

Take a good look at the paint across the body panels. Even slight differences in color can indicate a repair that’s been cleverly hidden by a quality car paint shop.

You can also check the alignment of the body panels – there are few perfect vehicles on the market but keep an eye open for huge alignment issues that may be caused by pothole damage or a previous accident.

Another spot worth checking is under the carpet in the trunk, as that’s a great way to discover rear-end repairs or previous flood damage. Get a flashlight, pull as much of the trunk floor up as you can, and look around for welds or sloppy paint work. You should also look closely for rust or pooled water while you’re exploring the trunk. as it’s not uncommon for leaks to occur after a car accident.

Who repaired it?

You’ll probably struggle to determine the exact body repair or paint technicians involved in past repairs, but you can start with the company that performed the work. Ask your seller for that information, or check the vehicle history report to see if details are available.

Were repairs completed by a dealership tied to the brand of your vehicle, an established auto body shop, or perhaps a friend doing the owner a favor on a Sunday afternoon?

A good method to check for shortcuts in the collision repair work is to look closely for mismatched paint or body panels that don’t quite line up. Some attempts at cost cutting also produce vehicles with the wrong badging or even a lack of any badging at all.

What does the Title look like?

You should always see a vehicle’s Title before making any purchase decision. This will often give you a clear view of the number of previous owners, as well as if it’s a Salvage or Rebuilt title.

A Salvage title is a flashing “Stay Away” sign for many vehicle shoppers and essentially means the vehicle has been deemed a “Total Loss” by an insurance company. The insurer, who evaluates how accidents affect car prices, determined the repair cost would be more than the vehicle’s market value, which is a great warning for anyone unwilling or unable to perform extensive repairs on their own.

A Rebuilt title is similar in nature except it applies to a Salvaged vehicle that has been repaired. You’ll want to think long and hard before purchasing a vehicle with a Rebuilt title.

What does your mechanic say?

Many of you have a trusted mechanic who’s known your family for years. We’re all for getting a second opinion from them when it comes to buying a pre-owned vehicle with an accident on CARFAX.

Go ahead and have your convertible put on a lift and ask your mechanic to take a good look around. Are there any parts that are obviously much newer than the surrounding equipment? What about sloppy welds or rust? A peek under the body of a vehicle is a great idea, and you’ll appreciate an experienced eye helping you out.

With the approach of fall, deer rutting (mating) season will soon be getting into full swing in Kansas and Missouri. According to Outdoorlife.com, the estimated population of whitetail deer in Kansas is around 685,000 statewide, with approximately 53,000 mule deer predominately in the western part of the state. In Missouri, there are approximately 1.5 million deer statewide, with whitetail being the predominant species.

In other words, that’s a lot of deer to contend with here in the greater Kansas City area. And, as rutting season heats up, the chance of hitting a deer who is crossing a road or highway increases dramatically. According to the Kansas Dept. of Transportation, there were more than 10,700 deer-related car accidents in 2018. The agency notes that eight people were killed and 556 people injured in deer-related car accidents in 2019.

Attention Kansas City Drivers: Deer season is here!

According to the experts, deer are most active in the morning and at dusk. Deer mating season continues to accelerate throughout October, November, and December. This means that more and more deer are on the move during these fall and winter months.

Here are expert tips from State Farm Insurance on how to avoid hitting deer or other animals:

• Slow down! Reducing your speed, especially at dusk and dawn, gives you more time to react if you encounter a deer on the road.
• Buckle up! Not only is this the law, but it’s also common sense. If you hit a deer without a seatbelt on, you’re increasing your chance of serious injury.
• Heed deer-crossing warning signs! Deer-crossing warning signs are often placed where there have been reports of known accidents involving deer. These signs indicate that there may be increased deer activity in the area and, therefore, the potential for deer crossing the road or highway is increased. Nevertheless, you should still drive defensively through rural or wooded areas regardless of whether there are any visible deer-crossing signs.
• Use your high beams! Give yourself the best chance of spotting deer in the road by using your car’s high beams. Be sure to dim your high beams when you see oncoming traffic.
• Don’t be a distracted driver! Anything that takes your eyes off the road, like changing a radio station or even grabbing a sip of soda, can result in you not seeing a deer darting out in front of you. The more vigilant and focused you are behind the wheel, the better chance you have at avoiding a costly deer collision.
• Avoid swerving to miss hitting a deer! While this advice might sound counter-intuitive, swerving abruptly to avoid hitting a deer could cause you to lose control of your vehicle, resulting in a more serious accident. Apply the brakes but be prepared to hit the deer rather than swerving into traffic or hitting a tree.
• “Deer Whistles” and other gimmicks don’t work! It’s easy to be misled into thinking that gimmicks such as deer whistles will help alert deer to your car’s presence. Recent deer-whistle scientific studies demonstrate that both air-activated and electronic deer whistle devices are ineffective.