A car headliner is the fabric material covering the inside top panel of your car. You could loosely call it your car ceiling. This fabric is mostly smooth and sleek until it begins to wrinkle then sag, and it may be a nuisance with time as it could completely fall off!

When you notice an opening in your car headliner, this is the right time to fix it before it gets out of hand. Fixing a loose headliner ensures you do not have to pull out the entire fabric off your car ceiling to replace it with a new one. Just like you would invest in the best fabric for your car seats, the headliners too should be in a good condition.

If you are cautious enough like every driver should anyway, you should go for the quick fixes to ensure you are always safe and your vision is unobstructed.  Now, if the headliner only peels off at a section of your car, some of the best headliner adhesive products like the 3M Headliner spray glue could just do the trick.

All you need to do is expose the sagging area to clean off the old glue that is worn out. Next, you will need to scrub off the area you want to glue back to position with a brush to rid it of the hardened glue particles.

Apply evenly the headliner spray glue to ensure the foam material and the fabric is strongly bonded back in place. To remove any trapped air bubbles, you may need an old credit card or a nylon roller to squeeze out the air. These tools also ensure the vinyl headliner is back in great shape without wrinkles and sagging.

In just 30-60 minutes, the adhesive should be dry and it could last years. You should avoid using contact cement, silicone or even the wood glue as these would leave an ugly stain on the headliner.

If you have a vintage car with the headliner in bad shape, it is probably because the foam has hardened and is breaking away and the manufacturer’s glue has lost its adhesive properties. Over time, cars parked in the sun experience this problem, but the solution is quite simple. You just need a few hours.

You will need to unbolt all the screws holding the headliner in place. These screws are often hidden under the rear vision mirror, light fittings or the sun visor. Carefully take out the hard-pressed cardboard together with the headliner and place it on a flat worktop.

Peel off the old fabric completely from the foam. Next, use a brush to remove the remaining dry glue particles from the foam. To make this process easier, you may need a wire brush as this will save your time and get all the particles completely removed.

Read the instructions on the headliner adhesive spray before you begin spreading the glue evenly on the cardboard or the foam. Because the adhesive is white, you are in a position to know exactly the areas you have applied the adhesive to and the remaining areas. Most of the time, one adhesive can is sufficient but when your car is bigger, you may need two adhesive glue cans for a great finish.

Place your new fabric on the evenly glued headliner and press it down with a credit card for an even and smooth look. Every so often, you should check for swellings on the fabric and expel them using the old credit card or a nylon roller.

Once it is dried and well patched back, fix the headliner package right back into place and screw back the sun visors, lighting and rear-view mirror.

Repairing your headliner has never been this easy. With only adhesive headliner spray, screwdrivers, a brush and an old credit card, you could quickly get your car back in great shape. Using counterfeit glue may only worsen the situation or make your car messy. If you don’t trust yourself enough to DIY, you should seek the services of a professional mechanic to fix your headlining.

There is no question that a lot of people are dreaming of owning their own cars. The freedom that driving our own vehicles brings is just priceless. No more waiting for buses and trains. No more ending appointments early just so we’re able to catch the last ride home. We basically gain more control over our time and ultimately our lives.

Because cars are inherently expensive, many get to own one by going after preloved cars. Owning second-hand items is not bad per se, but the selection process requires more patience and a more inquisitive outlook. Because somebody else has already used the item before, it really is important to make sure that everything is still in good working condition. For that, a buyer needs at least the basic technical know-how.

If you are buying your first second-hand vehicle soon, there are a few very important things that you should keep in mind. Aside from ensuring that the engine and the brakes work well, you should also pay close attention to the features that are added to prevent or lessen car crash injuries in case of an unfortunate road mishap. While you can always ask for monetary compensation with the help of a good accident lawyer, the severe injuries that you will sustain in the absence of these important safety features will surely make you suffer way beyond what money can soothe.

Most vehicles are equipped with airbags. These features prevent the driver from hitting the steering wheel, dashboard, and windshield in case of a violent collision. According to records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a total of 47,648 lives have been saved by frontal airbags from 1987 to 2016. Given this figure, it truly is important to ensure that the airbag mechanism in the second-hand vehicle that you are going to buy still works.

There are signs that will tell you if the airbag in your potential car has already been deployed. Check the airbag cover. If it’s repainted or there is some unevenness to it, it might have just been repaired after an airbag deployment split it in the past. 

Data collected and processed by the NHTSA also show that a total of 359,241 lives have been saved by seat belts from 1975 to 2016. Had it happened that all passengers who got involved in accidents within those years were wearing seat belts, an additional 384,156 lives would have been saved. These figures convinced many agencies and policy-makers that seat belt use is among the most effective ways in mitigating the harmful effects of road crashes on passengers and drivers. Because of this, it is imperative for you as a buyer to make sure that the seat belts in your potential car are still sturdy enough to do their job.

You also have to take note that there are now a lot of seat belt innovations. For one, some belting systems of today have adjustable upper parts. This additional feature allows you to adjust the position of the shoulder strap in order to accommodate a bigger driver or passenger. This makes the seat belt more comfortable, and therefore less of a hassle to use, especially during long rides.   

Safety features advance together with car technology. More recent models now have reliable electronic stability controls incorporated in their systems. These controls are able to detect when a car is already oversteering or understeering. Under such circumstances, an automatic brake is applied, increasing traction so that the car does not crash further into whatever is nearby. This feature can be checked during test runs with your seller.

Many car buyers go with pre-owned vehicles in order to save money. But saving money doesn’t have to mean putting safety in jeopardy. Making sure that the car is still equipped with the necessary safety features is always worth the hassle.

Since 1950s, car manufacturers introduced the use of catalytic converters to reduce the emissions of harmful gases into the air. Before then, all the hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and the Nitrogen oxides were released directly into the atmosphere.

Of course, this was not good for the environment as it resulted in more smog and acidic rains, on top of destroying the ozone layer. In 1975, catalytic converter was conceived to reduce this by half. This was later enacted into law in the Americas and Europe.

A catalytic converter is usually made of two ceramic blocks. Inside, there are thousands of cellular channels. The cat converter surface made from Rhodium, Palladium and platinum speeds up the conversion of hydrocarbons into water vapor and Carbon (IV) oxide.

If you notice that your car is “running rich”, this is a red flag indicating that your catalytic converter is on its way to kaput. Similarly, you won’t want to be pulled over for failing the emission test.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​When there is a major build-up of carbon particles on the inside of the catalytic converter, it is the duty of the cat converter cleaner to expel these impurities to restore fuel economy, optimal engine performance and ensure compliance with the emission standards. Most of the best catalytic converter cleaners have acetone and solvents which are added to your fuel tank. As the fuel is used up, the byproducts are Carboxylic acids, active peroxy oxides and Aldehydes.

These compounds help to clean and unclog your exhaust, catalytic converter, cylinders and fuel injectors. The overall result is an optimal engine performance, fuel efficiency and a green light for having successfully passed the emission test.

You may be asking yourself the question: How can I know my catalytic converter’s performance is below par? Here, there are two ways.

For years, the catalytic converters have helped to break down the carbon build-up on the inside of catalytic converters, car exhausts and fuel injectors. In spite of all these, a section of car owners have had a different experience. Some have even gone to extreme lengths to label the cat converter cleaners a snake oil!

But nothing can be further from the truth. The catalytic converter cleaner absolutely works!  One of the most common problems a section of car owners may have is expecting just one can of cat cleaner to break down decades-old particles in the engine and converter.

There is a valid reason why specialists recommend the application of the cat converter cleaners at least four times a year. This regular maintenance of the engine ensures there are no build-ups that may clog the converter.

The other concern is that cars which barely run long enough to heat up the engine may not reap the full benefits of the cat converter cleaner. Most catalytic converters are placed near the engine as this place generates more heat to speed up the reactions that help to purify harmful emissions produced by the engine.

From the discussion above, it is evident that catalytic converter cleaners work. It is important, however, to use more than one bottle of cat converter cleaner in the event that your car has built up more carbon particles over time.

Likewise, we have gathered that the ODB2 error codes of P0420 or P0430 may not only be caused by a clogged catalytic converter but also faulty spark plugs. After 50,000 miles or so, you should get yourself a new set of spark plugs as the faulty ones make your car run rich and clog the catalytic converter.

It is, therefore, more economical to buy a few more bottles of cat converter cleaners than a new catalytic converter which will set you back several hundred dollars, with a few more bucks for installation.