10 Most Important Items to Keep In Your Car

The Truck Life of Drew Baldridge Drew Baldridge is a country music star from Patoka, Illinois. Drew recently got a 2021 Ram 1500 from Monken Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM and we wanted to hear what he loves about the truck and more about his “truck life.” He has quite the history of vehicles, both new and old, but memories from each of them that will last a lifetime. Check out what we asked Drew and learn a little more about him! You just got a new truck, what are your favorite features about your RAM 1500? I love having the big screen, heated seats, and it rides so nice. I love having everything on the screen, it’s like two feet long. It also just rides so much smoother than any other truck I’ve been in. I can also automatically start it and it turns on my heated steering wheel and seats. We haven’t hauled anything with it yet, but I can throw all of my merch into the truck bed and it fits! Katie (Drew’s wife) loves the heated steering wheel and how happy it makes Drew! Have you had any friends comment on your truck? Oh yeah! Every one of them. Every song writing friend, everybody. They all talk about how much RAM has stepped their game up. Someone told me they’ve always driven a big Escalade, but they could see themselves driving a truck if they had one like it. Everyone comments on how clean and nice it is. Have you ever driven a truck prior to your RAM? I got my first truck when I was 16, it was an F150. Then after that I bought a RAM 1500 and loved it, but was so broke when I moved to Nashville I had to sell it. Then I bought a completely hail damaged black Chevy Cobalt. It looked like a black golf ball, but now it feels so good to be back in a truck. One of the first times I was writing at a new place, I arrived early and the door was locked so I was sitting on the hood of my black Chevy Cobalt. It looked terrible, but I was just trying to make ends meet. Then this really nice Chevy truck pulled up beside me and out stepped Thomas Rhett. He came walking up and I was telling him how much I loved his truck. He looked at me and said “What happened to your car?” I told him I actually bought it like this. So... the new RAM is a big step up! How did you get your first truck? So my mom made me a deal when I was 14 that said she would match whatever money I made to buy a truck. I worked hauling hay for my grandpa and started my own mowing business. By the time I was 16 I had a lot of money saved up and my parents were generous enough to match it, so I bought a 2001 Ford F150. What Is something fun you used to do with your truck? I remember back home when we used to get big snows. I had an F150 that was pretty jacked up and had pretty big tries on it. Then my brother had a truck that was a little bigger. So every time it would snow we would take our trucks to see if we could get stuck and then use our chain to pull the other out. Then we would find a field that was frozen over and do donuts on it. Did your family have a vehicle that you loved or dreamed to have one day? My dad had an old blue stick shift Dodge Dakota. It was one of the trucks I learned to drive stick on and it had a bench seat so we had to call the window seat. Then whoever sat in the middle would work the gears while my dad worked the clutch. There’s just a lot of memories in the old blue Dodge Dakota. Now my dad and my brother both drive RAMs. Do you have any great memories from family road trips? We used to take so many family road trips. My mom and dad used to have a minivan, so we piled in and slept in the back of it. We drove every year for beach trips to Florida and Alabama. Then we got one of those DVD players that would Velcro to mom and dad's head rest, which was a huge deal. Do you have any upcoming road trips you’re planning? I’d like to take a whole family road trip out west. They all haven’t been so I think it would be so cool to take them. Show them the Rocky Mountains, elk, different animals we don’t have, and so they can see the beauty out there. We are going to elk hunt as well. Trucks have been a big piece of Drew’s life between the memories and the traveling. We had a great time getting to know Drew more and learn about his truck life. Make sure to follow his country music journey on social media and listen to his songs on any platform!

Summer is coming to a close, kids are back in school and families are starting to focus on getting things done other than blowing up pool floats. Fall is a busy time for all of us, but it’s also the perfect time to slowly start getting your vehicle ready for the winter, (yuck, the ‘w’ word), months ahead. Getting a head start in the fall means that you don’t have to scramble in once winter does hit and it may be too late. The following are our Fall Car Care Tips to help get your vehicle ready for both fall AND winter. No need to have all these done at once. Spread the cost out over the fall so that by winter you’re safe and ready to drive! Here are our September Service Specials for Toyota, Chrysler/Nissan, and Chevy Buick GMC. Check your Tire Tread – you can visually check this yourself. The easiest way is to grab a penny and insert the penny into a tire groove on each one of the tires. Make sure that Abe Lincoln’s head is upside down and facing you. If you can see ALL of Abe’s head, it’s time to replace your tires. This isn’t a fool proof test though, depending on your tires, so if you have doubts, definitely bring your tires in to be checked by a service professional. Check ALL your Lights – it will start getting darker sooner and you don’t want to be caught out driving at dusk with lights that don’t work. Grab a family member or friend and have them help you check to see that your brake lights, turn signals and high beams all work. Check fluid levels – most vehicles will now alert you when you need to replace fluids or if there is a fluid leak, but if you have an older model vehicle, you will need to check for these manually yourself or have a service professional do an inspection. Washer fluid – this is an easy issue to rectify yourself and washer fluid is inexpensive. But oftentimes people forget to refill this and then find themselves in a scary situation when “winter” weather creeps into fall months without warning. Heating and Cooling – checking the HVAC system is something that is a little bit more difficult to do at home. Obviously, you can tell if your AC/Heat has completely stopped working, but if the system is on it’s way out, you may not notice right away until the temps drop drastically. But at a service center this is a quick test and they can tell you exactly how adequately yours is working. Tire Pressure – air pressure in a tire decreases 1-2 pounds for every 10 degrees of temperature change. This is something that you will want to check a few times each season. And the nice thing is that putting air in your tires is free! Not just to help ensure your safety this fall and winter, keeping your car properly tuned can improve your gas mileage by an average of 4%* - everybody likes saving on gas money! *source: The Car Care Council

Warranties are for new cars.  Service contracts are when the factory warranty expires, and a customer purchases an additional warranty for their vehicle. Here are some warranty details we found on CarsDirect. Extended Factory Warranty Tips All new cars and trucks come with a factory warranty.  Moreover, all new vehicles will generally come with a bumper-to-bumper warranty that lasts a minimum of 12 months or 12,000 miles. However, most manufacturers now offer bumper-to-bumper warranties that last for a minimum of three years or 36,000 miles—whichever comes first. Federal laws do make certain requirements that must be met for new car warranties regarding emissions systems and the warranties that cover them. According to federal law, vehicles must provide warranty coverage for the emission system for a period of five years or 50,000 miles. Warranty information for your vehicle will generally be listed in a manual type book similar in appearance to your owner's manual. While all warranty manuals may appear similar in appearance, the warranty information contained inside may vary considerably depending upon the manufacturer. Basic New Car Warranty Information With all new car warranties, most major systems and subsystems of a vehicle are covered for a specific period of time and provide warranty protection against malfunction or defect for most parts on a new car. However, consumable parts, or parts that generally need to be replaced periodically, such as windshield wipers, fluids, belts, and accessories are generally not covered under any manufacturer's new car warranty. So, you should check your owner's manual for specific warranty information for your vehicle. In some cases, tires on your vehicle and car battery may be covered but, you should be aware that some manufacturers may not. Also, different car manufacturers provide various levels of warranty coverage for accessories, like air-conditioning, sunroofs, premium sound systems and other options. Some manufacturers include them for coverage under the terms of the new warranty while some require you pay for replacement parts while the manufacturer pays for labor. Almost all new car warranties cover the drive train, or engine, driveline and transmission. New Car Warranty and Emissions When reviewing your new car warranty, you should pay particular attention to the emissions control section. This is the part that guarantees emissions performance for your vehicle. An important note, because many states have minimum requirements for pollution control and carbon emissions released from your vehicle. If your vehicle fails to meet the standards of your state, you may be prevented from driving on state roads and highways. Also, repairing a damaged or defective emission control system can turn out to be very costly. So, you should always check to see if there is coverage. If you feel the warranty protection is inadequate, you might want to consider purchasing an extended warranty or mechanical breakdown policy to supplement your new car warranty. Maintaining Your New Car Warranty While all new cars and trucks come with a manufacturer's warranty, you are required to perform certain steps in order to make sure your coverage remains in effect. For example, you will need to make sure you follow the manufacturer's directions for having oil changes and routine maintenance performed. If you fail to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for changing your oil or performing routine maintenance, the car manufacturer will many times simply choose to void your warranty. Under the terms of your current warranty contract agreement, the manufacturer has the right to cancel your warranty if you do not reasonably take good care of your vehicle.