Author: tammylfinch

The invention of the modern seat belt changed the face of the auto industry and has prevented millions of deaths and serious injuries worldwide. Yet, according to the CDC, only 86% of Americans wear their seat belt, and auto accidents remain the biggest cause of death in the United States for children and adults under age 54. Ensure each passenger wears his or her seat belt in your car on every trip, no matter how short the drive is.

 

Children: Children should ride in the back seat of a vehicle until at least age 13 and should learn to buckle up every time they are in a moving vehicle. Before driving, check quickly to ensure every child in your vehicle is buckled up. Even the most reliable child may forget if he or she is distracted, so an adult should always double-check. Children are old enough to use a regular seat belt when they have outgrown their booster seat, usually sometime between the ages 8 and 12, when their legs normally bend over the seat, their feet lie flat on the floor of the vehicle, and when the seat belt fits over their lap (never their stomach) and lies against their shoulder (never the neck or facial area).

 

Teens and Young Adults: Auto fatalities are highest in the 16-24 year age range, according to safecar.gov, with 53% of teenagers involved in fatal crashes not wearing seat belts. Unfortunately, not all young drivers can be trusted to buckle up even if an adult modeled excellent seat belt usage, making it important to remind your teen of how important it is. Share the laws of your state with them and the laws for child safety restraints if there is a chance they will be driving with a child in the vehicle. Teenage drivers are also less likely to require other passengers to buckle up and are more prone to distracted driving. Although alarming, sharing statistics with your teenager about the dangers of distracted driving and the rates of auto fatalities in their age group may be one of the best ways to help them understand the importance of safe driving.    

 

Adults: Adults should wear a seat belt every time they are in a moving vehicle. The lap belt should go over the upper thighs, and the shoulder belt should run from the shoulder to the hip – never across the neck. If the belts in your vehicle don’t fit properly, consider seat belt adjusters. No one, at any age, should put the shoulder belt behind their back, as serious bodily injury may occur in an accident.

 

The key is to never take “no” for an answer to every passenger in your vehicle wearing his or her seat belt. It is especially important to model this non-negotiable attitude in front of kids and young adults – whether tweens, high schoolers, or even college-aged. Children and teens will always take their cues from adult examples, and if they see adults skipping their seat belts, even for a short trip, they will get the silent message that seat belts are optional.     

 

Would you like to test your seat belt IQ? See this quiz!

 

Turk’s Collision Center is located in Peoria, Illinois, a state-of-the-art collision repair shop achieving I-Car Gold status. Our A.S.E. certified technicians are dedicated to restoring your vehicle to its pre-accident condition, and all repairs come with a lifetime warranty.

Visit our website to learn more about the services of Turk’s Collision Service, such as:

• Our Body Shop Services
• Our Bumper Repair Service
• Our Collision Repair Services
• Our Paintless Dent Repair Services
• And More!

Call us today! (309) 928-7310

As the summer months wear on here in the Midwest, so makes the wear and tear that extreme conditions can have on your car. Keeping your cooling system running efficiently allows your car to run at optimal performance no matter what Mother Nature throws your way.

The cooling system does not technically make the engine “cold” but keeps it at a moderate level, ensuring all parts of your car run properly. All the moving parts in your engine can cause great heat. Parts can wear out rapidly without a system to keep them operating at the appropriate temperature, and your car could lose efficiency. Additionally, if your engine becomes too hot, it could cause irreversible damage to your motor.

Parts of a Car’s Cooling System

The cooling system parts are designed to operate independently to ensure that your engine is running at peak performance. Many parts are manufactured using lightweight plastic, which helps your automobile maintain fuel efficiency; however, these parts can wear out quickly if your system is not appropriately maintained. Here are some parts of the system that should be checked regularly by a trusted auto mechanic.

• Radiator – The radiator is one of the primary parts to help regulate your engine’s temperature. Coolant is pumped into the radiator to cool to the appropriate level before it is re-circulated through the engine again.
• Radiator Hoses – The hoses are the arteries and veins of your car. They move fluid throughout the engine to help maintain the correct temperature. Hoses can become brittle and cracked over time and should be checked and replaced when worn.
• Water Pump – The water pump is the workhorse of the cooling system, pumping coolant through the entire engine, much like the human heart pumps blood.
• Thermostat – Because the engine’s temperature can fluctuate depending on conditions, the thermostat plays a crucial role in regulating the flow of coolant throughout your engine. This helps control the temperature of the fluid, causing them to cool down more or less depending on what is necessary.

A properly maintained cooling system is integral to keeping your car at peak efficiency. If you have questions about your cooling system, contact the experts at Turk’s Collision Center. We are a state-of-the-art automotive body repair shop serving Peoria and the surrounding Illinois community. Call us today at (309) 884-1330

Craigslist was started by Craig Newmark back in 1995. Back then, it was just an email distribution list for friends and families that featured local events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since the year 2000, it has grown to become a web-based service that acts as an online classifieds website. It is used in over 700 cities in 70 countries, and supports 13 different languages (source).

Craigslist has done a lot over the past sixteen years to make it easier to connect people who want to sell their belongings or find work, housing, and even relationships. It’s not without its dangers, though. People using Craigslist to buy or sell items are urged to use caution when meeting with strangers, and it is often recommended that any business dealings go down in a police station parking lot. Craigslist has more than its fair share of scammers out there, so buyers should be extra wary. Sellers need to be wary as well, since there have been reports of a well-organized multi-state car-buying scam.

According to CNN.com, the National Insurance Crime Bureau says there have been as many as 100 incidents across the Midwest where a scammer would purchase a car with what appeared to be a very legitimate bank/cashier’s check. Since Craigslist sellers will often give buyers the option of making large purchases with a bank check instead of cash, scammers have begun to make counterfeit cashier’s checks, leaving the seller without their car, without the money, and in some cases still on the hook for whatever is left of their car loan balance after the transaction is complete.

If you’re looking to sell your car on Craigslist, you’ll want to take certain precautions to ensure you won’t get scammed:

1. Ask for cash only. This might not be completely possible to stick too, as many buyers don’t want to carry around large amounts of cash at the risk of being robbed.
2. Conduct the transaction at a bank. If a cashier’s check is involved, this is your best bet. Bank employees will be nearby to confirm the authenticity of the check, and the location alone may be enough to ward off the scammers.
3. Don’t sign anything over until you have cash in hand. Don’t sign over your car’s title or hand the keys to a buyer until you’re actually paid, with the funds having cleared and cash in your hand or account.

If you successfully purchased a new car on Craigslist and it needs some bodywork, or if you need to fix up a car you’re planning to sell, contact Turk’s Collision Center!

Vehicle collisions are often traumatic and hectic.  Several steps should be taken if you have been involved in a collision.  First, check to make sure everyone involved is okay.  If someone is hurt, seek medical attention right away.  Next, call the police to assess the scene.  Once you have informed the authorities, you should call your insurance company and explain the situation.

If you have been in a collision and your vehicle needs repairs, there is only one auto shop in the Peoria area you should call!  Turk’s Collision Center is a state-of-the-art auto body repair shop specializing in collision repair through professional service and quick turnaround times.  Located in East Peoria, Turk’s Collision Center strives to be the leading auto body repair facility in the area by providing excellent workmanship, advanced training, and superb communication with our customers.

We provide various services, including paintless dent repair, auto painting, and collision repair services!  In addition to being an I-Car and ASE-certified facility, we also offer lifetime warranties on all repair work, pick-up, and delivery of vehicles, shuttle service, and direct billing with insurance companies.

Turk’s Collision Center is known for providing excellent service and great attention to detail on every vehicle that comes through our shop.  This is partly because of our professional team and cutting-edge facility.  Our 13,000-square-foot shop has 19 inside working stalls, 65 outside parking stalls, a CAR-O-LINER computerized frame measuring system, and a complete painting facility.  Bring your car into Turk’s Collision Center for a quality paint job with a heated down draft spray booth and BASF paint for a perfect match and OEM quality.  Your car will look better than ever when you drive out of our collision repair shop!

 

If you have recently been in a collision, call the specialists at Turk’s Collision Center at 309-694-2905 or visit us online at www.turkscollision.com for more information!