Make Sure That Your Child's Safety Seat Is Installed Properly

If you find yourself bringing a new baby home soon, purchasing a safety seat for a developing child or swapping out a car seat that has been affected by a wreck, picking out the right seat for your youngster is just half of the task.  The really big struggle is ahead still – having it set up correctly.

NHTSA, the National Safety Council and Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri provide the tips below to help parents make sure that their child safety seat is installed totally safe.

•Make sure that your baby is rear facing. Although the scene might be dull for you, it assures that the baby will be in the safest position possible in a collision. The rear facing position severely decreases the probability of the child experiencing neck/spine trauma.  Many experts say that it's important to keep the baby rear facing until they reach six months and or 22 pounds. However, know that there is no harm in waiting longer.
•   Use the right kind of seat for your child's age, weight and height. If you have leather seats, get some non-slip rubber shelf liner or purchase a "seat saver" to put under the car seat. These will help you by keeping your vehicle seat clean and preventing the car seat from sliding around. (Depending on your child safety seat, though, a seat saver may interfere with installation, so hold on to the receipt.)
•   Read both the car and child seat manuals thoroughly, and always follow the car seat manufacturer's advice. If you have any questions about your car seat, call the car seat or vehicle manufacturer. Your local dealer may or may not be up to speed on your installation questions.
•   Rear-Facing, Infant-Only Seat — LATCH Install -- Many parents of newborns tend to go for the type of infant car seat that comes with a separate base. The base remains installed in the car while the baby carrier itself can be taken out and snapped back in at will.  Infant seat bases generally have flexible LATCH connectors — essentially belts with hooks at the ends.  Locate the lower anchors in the second-row window seats. Make sure the child safety seat lays flat against the seat's bottom and back, between the two lower anchors.  Hook the LATCH attachment that is furthest away from you onto the anchor. Then, if you can safely do so, climb on top of the seat, putting your knee on top. Using your weight to fully compress the vehicle seat, hook the other attachment to the anchor and pull out the slack. If you can't get on top of the seat, use all your strength to push down on the seat while hooking on the second attachment.
•   Rear-Facing, Infant-Only Seat — Standard Shoulder and Lap Belt Install
There is always the possibility that your car or car seat is an older model that does not feature LATCH. Or it may be true that your car's seat cushions or anchor placements make LATCH installation impossible. If that is the case for you, you're pretty much left with doing a standard shoulder and lap belt installation, but don't worry, it's still perfectly safe. The first step is pretty obvious: thread the lap and shoulder belt into the correct slots, known as the "belt path." If you have a car seat that has the ability to reverse from forward-facing to rear-facing, be careful to choose the correct path; it will be clearly marked.

Connect the latch plate or male end of the seat belt into the buckle or female end, then, utilizing your weight as above, totally tighten up the belt. Ensure that all of the slack is removed from both the lap and shoulder belt. Also keep in mind that using a locking clip will secure you car seat installation even further. If you are wondering what a locking clip is, it's an H-shaped piece of metal that comes with every new car seat or may be requested of the manufacturer. To use one, plug in the seatbelt, making it as tight as you can, then unplug it again while you hold the belt tightly. Wind the locking clip around the belt as closely as possible to the latch plate, then plug it back in again. You might find yourself having to bounce down on the seat a few times to get it closed. This certainly will not be easy, but it will give you a totally sturdy installation.

Keep in mind that a rear-facing infant car seat should always sit at around a forty-five degree angle to lessen the possibility of the baby slumping and to keep their airway open. Take a look at the instructions to see if your seat has an angle adjuster; if it does, use it. If not, a small piece of a swimming pool "noodle" stuck beneath the seat is the safest way to get the same angle. If you are wondering why a noodle, you should know that you can also use a tightly rolled towel, but towels do have that tendency to compress over the course of time, while the material in pool noodles doesn't. If you decide to use a towel, check it every once in a while to see that the angle has been maintained.

The experts at Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, MO, who also serve the people of St. Charles, O'Fallon, and Lake St. Louis, try at every turn to offer a top-quality, trustworthy repair for every customer and want to extend that commitment to even the youngest passengers in our customers’ vehicles. Those who have put their bundle of joy in a car seat know exactly how much trust you put in the car seat.  They are happy to help parents as they seek to protect their kids, either during daily driving or after an accident.

For more information on the CARSTAR Child Safety Seat program, visit www.auto-body-st-peters-mo.com.

There’s Snow Time To Waste!

Winter months will take a huge toll on the family car, even when the snow, ice, rain and tough driving conditions are a thing of the past. These straight forward guidelines from Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri can make sure that your car is free of winter damage and help maintain and safeguard one of your biggest investments. CARSTAR is North America’s number one collision center and specialist in automobile exteriors.

Salt, sludge and road debris can all slowly eat your paint job and exterior. And let's not forget about the dents and dings that seem to automatically come with driving on slippery roads. So, it's easy to see that Ol’ Man Winter really is pretty hard on your automobile. Just a few quick tips from Jungerman CARSTAR experts can really help motorists remove wintertime problems more quickly than they can set aside their cold weather coats and get their automobile ready for springtime, while also bettering the looks, functionality and even the long term value of their vehicle.

The secret is having your vehicle completely washed and restored, getting rid of saltiness and fine sand that may cause rust and damage a car’s finish, then assessing small dents and dings which can become major headaches when kept in disrepair. Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, which also serves St. Charles, O'Fallon, and Lake St. Louis, Missouri, has the following suggestions for eliminating wintertime grime.

1.    Give your vehicle a bath with car wash cleaning soap to get rid of winter saltiness, fine sand, dust and grime without stripping it of wax protection.
2.    Clean out the engine bay to remove harmful residue and maximize performance. The first thing that you must do is warm up the engine for a couple of minutes, then spray water throughout the whole engine compartment with a hose that has an attached nozzle. Also spray the underbody of the car and all of the wheel wells to remove any built-up salt and sand.
3.    Remove tar and debris built-up on your vehicle with a simple adhesive and wax remover. Just wipe it on with a micro-fiber towel, leave it be for a minute or so to loosen all of the dirt, old wax and tar, then just wipe it off.
4.    Clean wheels and tires to eliminate brake dust, salt and highway grime.
5.    Tires can get their brand new finish back with a tire restorer. Just spray on and wipe off for a profound ebony luster.
6.    Give the automobile a nice preventative coating of synthetic wax that will chemically bond with the clear coat finish to make sure that the car’s finish continues to look good.
7.    Lube up the door, hood and trunk hinges, locks and any additional moving parts with a lubricant that is spray-on that lubricates, permeates, resists infiltrating liquid and generally fights the effects of rust.
8.    Clean the glass inside and out for truly sparkling car windows.
9.    Wash and shield the upholstery from wear with a leather and vinyl restorer, which restores the natural gloss and soft feel of the factory finish.
10.    Clean the carpet of your car to get rid of winter salt and dirt.

Jungerman CARSTAR experts would like to remind drivers that there’s one other step in the spring cleaning endeavor. That is examining for external damage, triggered by winter road debris, potholes and icy conditions, which all can leave dings, dents and scuff marks hidden below your car’s wintry weather coating of gunk. They suggest carrying out a detailed inspection of the vehicle from bumper to bumper and that you take careful note of any new damage that you find. Don’t forget – simple scratching and minor dents can turn into rust spots and perhaps even bigger problems if left untreated.

The certified professionals at Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri can offer a comprehensive “spring cleaning” regimen for the car or truck that you own, with a paint touch-up, dent and scrape repair and a lot more, at a budget-friendly price.