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Cars:
Read your car's owner's manual and follow the maintenance schedule listed there.
You'll find that you very likely don't need to change your oil more often than every 5000 or 7500 miles.
Use the recommended grade of gasoline. Regular is fine for most cars. Unless your owner's manual says to use premium, or your engine is knocking, higher grades offer no benefit whatsoever.
The correct inflation pressure for the stock tires on your car is the one recommended by your car's manufacturer, not the maximum listed on the tire, and is usually found on a sticker inside the driver's side door or glove compartment.
How to check tire pressure:
Best way:
Get a good tier guage. Check tire pressure cold, at home, before leaving to go to where you add air. Make note of the pressure. Driving the car heats up the tires and subsequently the air inside, which increases the pressure; this is supposed to happen. When you reach the air station, check the tire pressure again before adding air. If it has increased, note the difference between the current pressure and the cold pressure reading you got at home. Add this number to the desired cold pressure, and adjust pressure as needed. After the car has sufficiently cooled, check the pressure again. If it's still a bit high, let out some air.
For example:
The sticker inside your door says 33 psi. You check the tire pressure, and find it is 27psi. After driving to the air station, it reads 29psi or 27 + 2. Adding that extra two psi to your goal of 33, you get 35, which is the pressure to which you would add air. When your tires have cooled, you'll very likely find that they're at the correct 33 psi.
Simple way:
Stop at air station. Inflate to about 2-3 pounds over what you want the actual pressure to be. Park the car and let the tires cool, say at work. Check the tires again, and release any excess pressure.
If you change your oil yourself, you need to take the used oil to a proper disposal station; it should never go in a storm drain or dumpster. Just about any oil change place or garage can dispose of it for a small fee.
A child safety seat must fit your car and be properly installed to be fully effective. If you're not sure which seats are appropriate or how to install them, go to the closest dealership for your make of car. They should have seats custom matched to your car and will usually install them for you. If not, many fire stations would be happy to inspect your car's child seat installation and teach you how to do it properly.
Children too large for a car seat may still need a booster seat or belt clip. A shoulder strap that crosses the neck is dangerous.
Always wear your seatbelt, even when in the front seat with an air bag. In an accident. a person not wearing their seatbelt can submarine, or slide under the air bag and end up severely injured as a result.
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~Steven Colbert
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