Blog | Lev Kia of Framingham

You usually think of sandpaper as a way to smooth wood and other materials, and insect repellant is used to keep insects away. It's pretty basic, right? But you might not know that there are some unique ways that you can use these items on the headlights of your car to get rid of oxidation that makes headlights yellow and foggy.

The sandpaper method can be effective, but it requires some skill and patience. First of all, you'll want to use coarse sandpaper to sand off most of it. Then, use a finer grade of sandpaper to smooth…

Here at Lev Kia of Framingham, we want to keep families safe when they take their campers out on the road this summer. As a result, we have put together a short guide that explains some of the things that you will need to do to prepare.

If you are expecting it to get a little bit windy during your drive, you will no doubt want to avoid dealing with trailer sway. The best way to accomplish this is by installing a sway bar. This useful tool will help to provide your trailer with support and stop it from moving…

As of 2018, federal law mandates backup cameras on vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. We here at Lev Kia of Framingham think backup cameras are the best thing since wheels, but we're surprised at how many of our customers don't know about them. Here's a brief intro.

Dear Reader: Meet the Backup Camera

Backup cameras are mounted discreetly on the backside of your vehicle, typically hidden in the trim. The camera provides a view to the area behind your vehicle, usually above and/or below trunk level.

The camera's feed goes to a monitor…

If you want to drive for Uber, Lyft, or some other ride sharing program, you will need the right vehicle. It will have to be something that is fuel-efficient and durable, but it shouldn't be a luxury vehicle since you will be putting a lot of miles on it while driving strangers to their destinations. It should also be in good shape, as Uber and Lyft generally don't want vehicles that have any visible damage.

If you're not planning on driving large parties of people around, a good four-door sedan will be just fine. Some good options…

We enjoy informing drivers like you at Lev Kia of Framingham. Let's talk today about a fascinating and useful automobile feature, auto-dimming rearview mirrors. They help you drive safer at night.

Between dusk and dawn, we have all experienced other drivers' headlights reflecting off our rearview mirror and distracting us. Auto-dimming mirrors solve this problem. They also prevent a related issue, the Troxler Effect or post-glare blind spots.
 

 

The terms oversteer and understand are terms to describe the way that a vehicle responds to the steering mechanism as it relates to the dynamics. As the name implies, oversteering is when the vehicle turns more than the driver initiates while understeering occurs when the vehicle turns less than the driver commands would expect.

Oversteering is more likely to occur in vehicles that are equipped with rear-wheel-drive. Conversely, understeering is more likely to happen when driving a front-wheel-drive vehicle...
 

 

If you drive in winter conditions, having winter tires on your vehicle could allow you to have more traction in cold, snowy, and icy conditions. Winter tires are made from a softer compound than all-season ones and are more flexible under colder conditions. This, combined with the deeper tread designed to deal with snow and water, can allow the tires to grip more effectively in difficult conditions.

To further improve traction, winter tires are made with a tread with more biting edges and higher sipe densities. These tiny little slits in the tread allow the tires to grip better on…

Your car's battery performs at its best when it maintains 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Extremely cold or warm weather causes this perfectly balanced temperature to fluctuate, which is bad news for your battery. Extreme heat causes the chemical activity in your battery to accelerate while extremely cold temperatures cause your battery to run slowly.

During seasons when the weather is cold, warm up your car before going somewhere, but make sure you're not warming your car up in an enclosed garage. Make sure your garage is clear of debris, such as trash and storage items.  

When winter comes, it is important to have your vehicle prepared for snow and ice. At Lev Kia of Framingham, we try to help our consumers prepare for harsh road conditions. When it comes time to choose your next set of winter tires, there are three performance categories.

Studdable winter and snow tires are manufactured to provide drivers with maximum traction on ice with an optional metal stud. You can use these tires without the stud for driving on the snow, but it is best to have the stud in place when you are driving on the ice. 

A motor oil's viscosity is a measure of how fast it moves. Generally speaking you want oil with a higher viscosity when the engine is warm. This is because oil will get thinner as it heats up. Therefore, it needs a higher initial viscosity to ensure proper coverage of engine parts.

Conversely, you want a lower viscosity oil when the engine is cold because it will flow fast enough to avoid becoming too thick. On a bottle of motor oil, the first number that you see is the viscosity when the engine is cold. The second number is the…