Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with car

Winterising my car

Solomon — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:16:53 -0800

Is it safe for me to add methylated spirits to the screenwash reservoir on my car during this cold snap? Is there anything else I should or shouldn't use? I'm not so bothered by the cleaning ability as by the anti-freezing properties. I have both meths and 99% IPA on hand. Is there some other household product that I could use?

I realise I can buy winter screenwash, but that's not what this question is about.

drain on Ford F150's new battery?

Elsa — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:27:29 -0800

Help us diagnose our Ford F150: what could be draining down the (new) battery overnight? We're suddenly seeing apparent battery drainage in our pickup truck, a 1994 Ford F150. Though the truck starts up fine, the dashboard battery gauge reads low immediately upon ignition, the windshield wipers are sluggish, and the dashboard lights are dim. We thought the old battery was likely dying, so we had it replaced with a new battery... but that hasn't solved the problem. (I'm posting this for my husband, who drives the truck. Here is the problem in his words.)

It's a 1994 Ford F150 pickup. Two days ago, the battery light came on and the battery gauge on the dash was at the low end of the meter when I started the truck after work (it had been sitting for about 9 hours). I assumed it was a bad battery, so I had the battery replaced at a chain auto place.

Everything seemed fine until I got out of work that night (after the truck had been sitting for about 9 hours) and the problem was exactly the same. The alternator seems to be working, as the battery gauge goes up to where it belongs if I let the truck run for about 20 minutes. There are no lights left on (glovebox, dome light, etc). It seems that, when the truck is off, something is drawing power from the battery.

When the gauge is low, the dash lights dim, and the windshield wipers are slow and sluggish. When it's charged back up, everything is normal again.

While I'm letting the truck idle to charge up the battery, the gauge will go up slightly if I rev the engine, but goes back down when I take my foot off the gas. Once it's fully charged again, revving the engine has no effect.

Both before and after getting the battery replaced, the truck started up just fine (no problem at all), even though the battery light came on and the battery gauge was low.

Once the battery is charged up again, turning the truck off for ten minutes-a half hour has no effect; the battery is still charged normally after that length of time.

We'll be taking it in to the mechanic on Monday, but with holiday errands and visits pressing, we'd love to get a headstart on the diagnostics over the weekend.

Some specific questions

1. Aside from the things we've checked (dome light, glovebox light, ashtray light, radio), what could be draining down the battery while the truck is off? Especially, do you know of any idiosyncratic drainage problems with the Ford F150? (We're also checking the forums on a Ford-specific board, but any hints would be helpful.)

2. Are there any simple home diagnostic tests we could make? Again, anything specific to the Ford F150 would be useful, but not necessary.

The fact that the truck starts normally (that is, readily and vigorously) seems to make this a different question than previous AskMe questions (which all seem to include a car that won't turn over) about a drained battery or dying alternator... or am I wrong? If the alternator is faulty, would the car be starting normally?

Car inspection dispute

cheechman85 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:11:33 -0800

Car Inspection PA: I recently have been told by mechanic that because my driver's side window is nonoperational ( the window is permanently up, it has a blown motor) it will not pass inspection. I just can't believe that because of a window, I wouldn't pass inspection. Is this a valid claim? I have a 1999 mercury cougar.

Next Week's AskMe: I Think My Mother Has The Hots for Me

rokusan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:19:26 -0800

Doc Brown Christmas Filter: Help me get my own DeLorean, if only for one day! (Posted for a dear, dear friend, obviously. From the future.)

My company is hosting a sci-fi themed Christmas party in Tampa this year, and it would be amazing super cool if we could find a DeLorean as a 'prop'.

I've e-mailed the local DeLorean group and posted on DMCTalk in my area's forum to no avail. I came *this close* to buying a local Delorean to meet this desire, but the price was too great for the car's condition and our ability to spend time and money on a project car for such a short-time special event: one day (Dec 19). It doesn't even have to run, really, as long as there's some way to get it there.

Does anyone have any other ideas, links, suggestions, pointers or help?

Cost of a car

josher71 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:51:07 -0800

How do I calculate if getting a car is worth it? Moving from NYC, I haven't had a car in many years. However, now that I'm in Baltimore it seems that many jobs are out in places where you need a car to reach. Having never, bought, leased, cared for, or had anything to do with a car ever in my life, how much money should I expect this to cost me yearly if I go the lowest cost route possible? Currently, I've got about 200 dollars a month to put towards anything car related.

I'm trying to figure out when comparing salaries what makes sense. For example I might only be able to find a job that pays 30k in the city, but there is job for 35k somewhere I could drive to. However, having a car costs 7k a year so I'd actually be losing money taking the job.

Affordable Overnight Parking in Dublin

billtron — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:55:13 -0800

I need to park a car overnight tonight in Dublin, Ireland, near the Samuel Beckett Bridge. I'd rather not spend 50 Euros, which is what the closest parking garage charges. Any recommendations? I'm arriving in the early evening and driving to the airport early tomorrow morning. Looking to leave the car somewhere for the interim.

Driving in Brazil (RJ)

tss — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:31:02 -0800

We are considering renting a car and driving from Rio de Janeiro to Paraty and back. Advice? My S.O. and I will be in Brazil for the next week or so. We are staying in Rio, but for the last few days of our trip, we plan to spend time in Paraty. We've been thinking that we might rent a car and drive there from Rio, then drive back to Rio before catching our flight home. Does anyone have any experience with this, or pointers? More specific questions (answers to any one of them would be most welcome):

1. When is the best time of day to leave Rio de Janeiro, and when is the best time to return? We imagine that broad daylight is the best time to be driving in Rio, but are there any more specific times? (Luckily there will be a lot of broad daylight this week in Rio.)

2. What's the best way to leave Rio from the Zona Sul?

3. What should we expect from the BR-101 road along the coast?

4. What should we watch out for (e.g. traffic jams) when planning our trip back---to an airline flight we really would rather not miss?

5. Is there a particular kind of insurance we should get here, before we leave, or there, when we get the car?

6. We are confident, patient drivers in the US and wouldn't bat an eye at Manhattan or downtown Philly, say, but have not driven outside of USA/Canada or western Europe before. Is this car trip advisable or should we just take the bus?

I should add that we don't speak Portuguese, although we've had some luck reading webpages and such through triangulation from French, Italian, and Spanish. Naturally, we would plan to limit the need for conversations along the road by driving conservatively, during off-peak hours, at the speed limit.

Drip drop drop goes the engine

gnutron — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:23:08 -0800

My car appears to be leaking oil..or some other fluid. Is it safe to drive until I can get to a mechanic? So the other day I was walking across a rainy parking lot when I noticed a attractive trail of iridescent spots trailing across the ground. i thought "heh, some sucker is leaking oil".... then I followed the trail to my car. Who knows how long this has been happening for....I think I just noticed b/c of the wet ground.

Here's the relevant info: 1995 Jeep Wrangler, manual trans, @130K miles, gets regularly scheduled oil changes @ every 3-4 months. Since I got laid off in April, I've probably averaged driving less than 20 miles a week, with some longer trips here and there.

Here's what else I know: car appears to only be leaking when the engine is running. I checked the oil level on the dipstick, which looks perfect. There is an oil gauge on the dashboard that indicates 50 out of a possible 80. This also seems normal (Is this gauging pressure?)

I can't get to a mechanic until Friday at the earliest. Is it safe to run errands until then? Could I be leaking some other fluid?

Considering switching to car-free

atetrachordofthree — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:04:37 -0800

Hello! I have been thinking about switiching to a car-free lifestyle and wonder what you guys think. I have never had a car or driver's liscence until my first year of graduate school. I've had really insanely bad luck with cars since then (three accidents to date...more later) and I've always hated driving. However, living in a small town in Georgia my first year of having a car, and now a mid-size city in NC, it wasn't until two days ago that I thought living car-free was a real possiblity.

My first car accident I was hit on a left turn by a car going 50mph in downtown without head light in the middle of the night. I was declared at fault. My second accident was a hit and run. Then just two days ago I was driving on the high way when someone bumped me lightly from behind, sent my car into a crazy spin across four lanes and then got hit by another car. Police said I was at fault again, even though he expressed sympathy and told me that things like that happens.

These accidents are making my insurance unusally high. It's about 130/month right now (liability and comprehensive) and I am expecting it to go up due to my recent accident. Not to mention the money poured into repair--- my first car was a ford focus, and it broke down three times on a cross-country trip, costing me about 1500 to fix. My second car is a 1999 subaru outback. It hasn't had much problem but I've still had to put in a few new parts.

At the moment I just really don't want to drive a car ever again. Not really, but it's very stressful for me to think about all the money that goes into insurance and repair.

I have also always been an avid cyclist. I have just saved up enough two months ago to buy myself a 1984 lotus road bike and I have loved every second of it.

After the accident two days ago, I realized that I hate owning a car and all the cost associated with it. I did some research and found my place has a 75/100 walkability score. If I sell my car, I will also have money for a touring bike (that I've been wanting) for heavy load commute or long distances and/or a utility bike. If I want to go out of town, renting occasionally will be cheaper than insurance now.

Did I miss anything in my consideration?

Is there a track set without batteries or winding?

rahnefan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:58:23 -0800

Is there a track set for Hot Wheels that doesn't require batteries or winding or special cars? My kids have gotten really into Hot Wheels. Seems I remember having had a track set on which my brother and I used to race our normal, unmotorized cars by using some sort of lever-controlled action (meant to resemble a gear shifter?), and none of it required batteries or winding or special cars if I recall correctly. Kinda like slinging a plane from an aircraft carrier only it's a car, and is meant to stay on the track rather than fly.

I checked hotwheels.com and found it entirely unhelpful. They have one of the trick sets but those don't loop, they just set off a series of actions. Trick tracks I am not interested in. I'm looking for something continuous, possibly with a loop. Their "starter set" is motorized, which I find disappointing.

Did I invent this memory and if not, is there nothing like that available now? It can be made by anyone if a standard diecast car will fit the track.

Car insurance in New Orleans

goneill — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:24:44 -0800

I bought a car!! It is a 1993 Honda Civic. I need to buy insurance. I will be driving my car about once a week, to buy groceries - otherwise I will be riding my bike around New Orleans, Louisiana. I don't know anything about car insurance. I am 34, have a perfect driving record. Can anyone help me figure out what kind of insurance I should get? I will be fine if the car is totaled or stolen and I cannot ever drive it again. I have health insurance for myself so I do not need to protect myself in that way.

I need help in just understanding the basic terms that insurance companies use, what I should look out for, and how much coverage I should get, and any other information that I'm not thinking of!

Thanks!

Older car, cold weather?

Richat — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:12:40 -0800

My car's getting older, and I have recently moved to a new place with no garage. I'm worried about it starting in cold weather. More details inside! I've got a 2000 VW Golf, gasoline, not diesel. I've had a garage for years, and so never bothered with a block heater, which is pretty standard issue hardware in Northern Ontario.

I'm wondering, I suppose, if there is a better approach to the old block heater idea, which warms the oil in most I've seen. My battery is orginal as well. So far, at -15 celsius, the car's starting ok, but beginning to sound like it's not liking it too much.

Up here...we'll hit -25 to -35 Celsius (which is down to -31 F) eventually. Part of me would like to avoid a solution that means sucking electricity all night.

Any ideas?

Can anyone identify this 3-wheel car?

MrToad — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:28:55 -0800

Can anyone identify this 3-wheel car? I happened across a picture of this car and was curious if anyone could identify it. I checked the referenced website, FFFFOUND, but couldn't find the subject picture.

As always, any help is appreciated.

Thanks!!

I need the name of this small motorized friction toy truck. Please!

orehek — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:59:00 -0800

I need the name of this small motorized friction toy truck. Please! Hi All,

Around 3 Christmas' ago, I saw a small toy trucks sold at Walmart. They were in the same aisle as MatchBox cars. These toy trucks were packaged within a cardboard frame (packaging was around 9" x 5" or so) with a rigid clear plastic cover. There was also an opening in the plastic to permit one to place their finger inside so that one could propel the truck and you would see it move by way of friction...no batteries.

The truck was actually housed inside a circular ring. So when examining it in the store, you pushed the truck from behind and it would begin to scale the ring/surface which it was house in for demonstration purposes. The truck had a low gear motor which allowed it to move at a slow consistent speed yet had a great deal of climbing power due to the low gear ratio.

This truck did not wound back. You simply pushed it firmly forward and it would start to really scale the ring it was contained in. To be clear, the ring was not part of the toy, it was just part of the packaging so that one could see how the truck worked. I think it came to two sizes but the one I remember was about 2.25" long and about 1.5" tall. Lastly, they had robust rubber tires for good traction. Does anyone have any idea as to what this toy truck product and/or series was called? And is it still on the market? Thanks so much.

Kia Spectra Alarm system

jesirose — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:25:25 -0800

2005 Kia Spectra Alarm mysteriously going on and off. I have a 2005 Kia Spectra EX. A year ago I was involved in a minor fender bender, and after that whenever I would lock the doors, it would no longer honk & flash the lights. (maybe 1 out of 100 locks, it honks once.) It still does when I unlock it.

About 6 months later the alarm problem started - not sure if it's related.

The car will randomly start going off. It seems like if it's going to start for the day, it starts about 3 minutes after I lock it and walk away. I can come back and turn it off with the remote, or if I wait 10 minutes it stops. It will start again in a few minutes. It does this until it drains the battery and I have to jump start it.

I tried taking it somewhere to disconnect the alarm, and they couldn't because it's factory. I called Kia and it's going to be at least $90 just to diagnose it, and it's out of warranty.

What is the best option? I am broke, but I can't keep relying on someone to be able to help jump start the car. Would a new battery help? The current one is 2 years old.

Would you like to play internet mechanic? Bonus points if you can recommend a mechanic or Hyundai dealer in Chicago.

nooneyouknow — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:09:21 -0800

Would you like to play internet mechanic? My car is having problems, one involving the brakes and two mystery problems. Bonus points if you can recommend a mechanic or Hyundai dealer in Chicago. My car is a 2004 Hyundai Elantra Sedan. FYI, I have 17,000 miles on the car. I don't know if this is important, but I read somewhere that not driving your car a ton was a bad thing.

Brakes - The amount of pressure I have to apply to the brake pedal varies a lot. Sometimes I only have to press the brake pedal down a little, sometimes I have to press it all the way to the floor, sometimes it's anywhere in between those extremes. This first started happening some months ago. I thought it was because of wear on the front pads so while I was at the dealer for a different issue I had them look at the brakes. They said the front brakes were fine but the rear brakes needed to be adjusted. After that, it was okay for a while, but the amount of pressure needed started varying again. So, I took it back to the dealer and said "My rear brakes need to be adjusted". They acted like I was speaking Greek. They looked at my brakes and said the rear brakes were at like 50% but didn't say anything about adjustment and offered to do some work on my front brakes for $250.00. That seemed quite expensive so I declined and took it to Meineke. The mechanic at Meineke said my front brakes were fine and that my rear brakes needed to be adjusted. So they worked on them and the brakes worked okay for a bit but now they are acting up again.

So, what does it mean that the rear brakes needed to be adjusted? Why doesn't adjusting them keeping the problem from reoccurring? Am I looking at having to get new rear brakes? Any idea how much that would cost?

Mystery 1 - In October, I took the car on the expressway for the first time in some months, and once I hit about 60 mphs it started shaking like it stole something. I don't know if the whole car was vibrating but it felt like it. The steering wheel was shaking so much that my entire forearms were vibrating. Any clue what this could be about?

Mystery 2 - When I turn the steering wheel to the left, there is this noise, it kinda sounds like metal on metal. But, it's not constant, it's noise-silence-noise-silence, like a record skipping. Sometimes its loud, sometimes it's quite soft. This only happens when the car is in motion and it never happens when I turn the steering wheel to the right. Any clue what this could be about?

I used to take it to the dealer where I bought it for service (which only involved getting it inspected every year and routine maintenance, I haven't had any problems with this car prior to the ones listed above), but I'm reluctant to take it back there since they acted like they had no idea of what readjusting the brakes meant when they had done it previously and suggested brake work that it seems I didn't need. So I would appreciate any recommendations for a decent mechanic or Hyundai dealer in the Chicago area.

My car steering is making a weird noise.

greensalsa — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:26:38 -0800

When turning corners in either direction my car makes a loud humming/vibrating noise. It is not a sharp or neccessarily grinding noise. Any guesses as to what it may be? Can I pretend nothing is going on and ignore it longer? I have a Volvo AWD wagon '01.

Can I wait a little longer to fix my car?

oinopaponton — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:08:24 -0800

Is waiting a few more weeks to get my car's wheels aligned stupid and/or dangerous? After being told over and over by my old mechanic that the death screech my car made when driving over bumps was nothing, I found a new, more competent mechanic via Yelp. Turns out that when I hit a huge pothole that tore my tire open back in the spring, I broke a strut and knocked my front wheels out of alignment. The strut's replaced and the loud squeaking noise is gone, but I haven't yet taken my car in to be aligned.

The next couple weeks are very, very busy for me. I can't take time off work, it's finals crunch time for my night class, and I'm preparing my graduate school applications to go out over the next few weeks. Am I destroying my car by waiting until I have a little more free time to get it aligned? It's been over six months since I hit that pothole-- can I wait another month to fix it?

Mechanic filter: Car alarm going nuts, how do I find out how to disable the alarm system temporarily so that I can drive the car to the mechanic?

BasileusPY — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:14:04 -0800

Mechanic filter: Car alarm going nuts, how do I find out how to disable the alarm system temporarily so that I can drive the car to the mechanic? I have a 1998 Toyota T100 2WD and the previous owner put in a security system. Don't know if it was factory installed or an aftermarket.

When I was out of the country for awhile, I let my mother use the truck and she told me that one night the alarm went off when the truck was inside the garage (nothing fell on it, no animals/people involved) and that the remote would not turn it off. She ended up disconnecting the battery. We have a back-up remote, so my mom took apart the one she was using, thinking that that might have been the problem, and started to use the other remote. Problems stopped.

But now the same thing happened to me with this other remote. Cannot even start the truck since when the key goes in the ignition, security system locks up the car and prevents starting along with going nuts and scaring women and children. Had to disconnect the battery again.

SOO... I want to be able to disable the alarm so that I can at least drive to the mechanic instead of getting it towed. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Low Mileage on a New Honda Civic?

entropicamericana — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:37:10 -0800

Unexpectedly low MPG for a brand new Honda Civic? The wife and I bought a 2010 Honda Civic LX last month and we are getting much lower MPG than I expected. We both drive the car (different days), and our commutes are short (about 4 miles of city driving each way).

Our first tank of gas came out to 19.3 MPG. (I topped off the tank after picking up the vehicle to ensure an accurate result.)

This seems way, way too low. Are my expectations out of whack?

I bit off more than I can chew. Anyone want a bite?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:12:50 -0800

Help me get rid of my car. Back story:
A year ago I traded in my sedan on a monster SUV. Sounds silly, I know, but at the time it made sense. New job, nice paycheck, we live in a snowy place, we play outside, dogs, etc. It's exceptionally nice, but between payment and insurance we're out $510 a month. ($360/150 respectively.)

Fast Forward to Today:
The job was horrible, I hated it, was awful, I quit. We moved back home. She now has a job and I do too, but our combined incomes are only about $50,000 gross. Yea, gross. I am starting to do some side work, but realistically it's only going to add $200-$500 a month for the forseeable future, if that.

We have decent credit, me about 680-700 and hers a steady 777. Today we will close on our first home together. We'll have about a 20 mile commute to work daily. We can afford all our bills, that's not the issue. The issue is that we're trimming all the fat from our budget because we want to do more and we want to save more.

We owe about $14,500 on the truck, the last trade-in offer we got was $12,000. We potentially have some cash for down payment on something else, but probably not $2,500, at least not yet. Blue book is right at $15,000, but it's not surprising we can't get it.

So even if we keep the same approximate payment but greatly increase our gas mileage (now...about 12-15 in town and 18-21 highway), we'd have more money. Or if we could vastly drop our payment, we'd have more money. We've shopped insurance until our brains fell out...and it IS going down because of the house, but it's still too much. No accidents or moving violations, this state's insurance is just nuts.

So...what do we do? Do we trade it in on something 8-12k and go that route? Do we try to do something new and go for ultra-low interest? Do we stop paying it and let them take it away, and then buy a beater with cash? (Mostly joking there, I know that's not a good idea.) Do we try to sell it privately and start even? (I'm not ok with strangers driving my truck.) We can potentially refinance the truck, but idk how much that would help us. It's an 05, currently paying 8% (which is stupid high for a car but about average-to-good for used 'round these parts.)

And then what kind of car should we be looking at? Front wheel is mandatory (snow) or awd/4x4. Mileage is important, and obviously that $12,000 looms big as well. We live in a mountain-y place too, so something like a swift or a metro just won't cut it either.

Anonymous gmail account at smashingsuccess@gmail.com if you don't want to respond here, although I don't know why you would. I should point out that we do have a beater right now as well, but my lady steadfastly refuses to learn to drive a stick and it's old enough I don't trust it to do 40 miles a day a whole lot longer.

My speeding citation has turned into a shit snowball.

desjardins — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:19:22 -0800

Please help me navigate a mess involving an expired car registration, a speeding ticket, a lost insurance card, a license held as bond and a omg I can't even think. This involves Illinois and Wisconsin. 1. My car is registered in Illinois and I have an Illinois driver's license. The registration expires today; the license is good for awhile.

2. However, I'm (technically?) a Wisconsin resident, in that I have a lease on an apartment there, but I work in Illinois and sleep half the week in Illinois and the other half in WI. This is meant to be as temporary as humanly possible until I can stay permanently in WI.

3. I did not renew the registration yet because I was planning to get my Wisconsin license & registration this coming Friday, and hopefully avoid getting caught for the next 3 days while it's expired. Before I can register it in IL I have to get an emissions test. Of course, there will now be a late fee.

4. I got stopped for speeding today in a suburb of Chicago, I could not find my insurance card, and so I received another citation for that & my license was taken as bond. My court date is at the end of December. My driving record is otherwise clean.

5. So, I can't register my car in WI or get my WI license until I have my IL license back, correct? It's my understanding that if you have a valid license in another state, you have to forfeit it to get a WI license. I don't know about registering the car.

6. What's the ABSOLUTE CHEAPEST yet legal way to handle this? I am broke, like really broke, and the thought of having to pay to register my car in Illinois and then re-register it in WI when I get my license back is really disheartening.

7. I am freaking out and not thinking clearly, see above about being broke.

On The Road To Feeling Weird

mmmbacon — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:27:26 -0800

Why do I feel so weird when I return home from a long car trip and how can I prevent these feelings? Every time I take a long car trip, I feel very out of sorts when I get home. I always feel tired, restless, emotionally drained and generally icky. This never happens when I arrive at my destination, no matter how long the trip there is. Also, I feel just the same whether or not I am doing the driving.

how to get rid of a car quick

paultopia — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:23:42 -0800

How do I get rid of a car in the SF bay area? Slightly above junk level... Simple question. I'd like to quickly and easily sell my car, ideally in the next week or so. I have the title sitting around somewhere, and there are no liens on it. The car needs a few grand of work, and it's not worth much even before work, so it's not something I could take to the private party market. At the same time, I think I could do better than just sending it to a junkyard for parts.

This would be a perfect moment for Carmax. Except: I live in Palo Alto, CA, and the closest Carmax is 60-some miles away in Modesto. I'd really like to take it somewhere accessible by public transportation so I can just drive it over there, sell it, and take the train home.

Does anyone know anywhere Carmax-like but actually in the bay area? Or have any other bright ideas? Should I just craigslist it?

How to find a taxi/care service to get parents from Jersey City to Long Island on Xmas?

anitanita — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:47:29 -0800

Shot in the dark filter: Does anyone have any ideas about how I can find a taxi/ car & driver service who can get my parents from Jersey City, NJ to Long Island for Christmas? Hi all,

Since you never know until you ask, I was wondering how I could find a car service that can get my folks to the family christmas party at my cousin's in Long Island this year. When I visit them for christmas, I usually drive, but this year I probably won't be able to make it. I know there are public transport options, but the folks are hitting 80 this year, and my father has sight issues, so I'd rather find another way.

I've never hired a car service before, and can imagine that getting someone on christmas must be like hitting a lottery ticket. But, I thought I'd ask the hive mind.

I'd just need them to get out there, and they could stay overnight. I could hire a different car service/taxi cab the next day (I think it might be easier to hire a taxi/car service on the 26th).

Bonus points if you have any ideas about how car services charge? If I can do this, it is easier just to give them my credit card up front and make sure my parents have money for tip? Money isn't really the issue, their comfort is.

Anything else I should be thinking of?

Thanks All!