New windshield wipers can still smear if there is residue on the glass, the blades are the wrong fit or the rubber is not sitting against the windshield properly. Cleaning the glass and checking the i
On some older cars, each headlight wears a wiper blade small enough to look like a toy. It can be an amusing sight now, particularly when one blade has stopped halfway across the lamp. The equipment h
Opening a car’s hood is oddly ceremonial. First comes the lever beneath the dashboard, usually hidden low enough to require an undignified search around the driver’s footwell. The hood
Follow an SUV down a wet highway and its rear end soon develops a familiar gray coating. The bumper gets dirty. The license plate gets dirty. The rear window looks as though someone misted it with mud
Replacing windshield wipers used to be one of those jobs that made everyone feel mechanically competent. Lift the arm. Turn the blade. Unclip it. Spend several minutes questioning the little plasti
Picture a gray car on a gray highway just after sunset. From the front, everything looks normal. Its white daytime running lights are glowing, the dashboard is lit, and the driver has no reason to sus
It is a cold morning. The windshield is cloudy, the cabin feels like a refrigerator, and the defrost button has just been pressed with all the optimism available before coffee. Then the A/C light come
Fifty-three and a half percent. That’s how many roadside breakdowns come down to tires, not engines or mysterious sensors—just rubber that never got a second glance before a family pil
Depending on where you got your driver's license, certain habits behind the wheel are probably second nature. Especially safety decisions based on weather. Might have left you confused why not eve
There's this whole thing with winter weather where people either lift their wipers before it snows or they don't. Both sides think they're right. Some folks swear it keeps the blades from