Entries Tagged 'General' ↓

Are you one of those people that is crazy about keeping their vehicle clean? While studies have shown that most vehicles resale value is enhanced if the cars are clean at time of sale, one has to wonder just how much it is worth for all the effort and energy associated with washing and vacuuming your car every weekend!

The statistics will indicate that all things being equal except the cleanliness factor of a vehicle, the dirtier car will only have a price depreciation of about 7%. That’s seven percent less than the sparkling clean car.

If we break this down to dollars, let’s see what we get. On a vehicle that resells for $20,000, seven percent is right at $1400. If you owned that car for 3 years and only washed it once a month (the really clean folks wash it every week!) and you paid for the cheapest wash, say $10 how much did you spend? Approximately, $360.

So far so good. But you are most likely one of those folks that go beyond the cheap rate, so once every 3 months or so, you get the $30 super detail package. That’s $120 a year, times 3 years, so another $360.

We’re up to $720 now. And we’ll stop there; round it down to having spent $700. Subtract that from the $1400 and for all that work, you made $700 more than the slob who washed his car once a year, whether it needed it or not!

People always talk about how the Internet brings the world to our fingertips, and all that sort of thing.  I’m not about to deny that, because it’s certainly true, but I’d like to point out that much overlooked facet of the economy of online shopping.  The wealthy have always had the ability to track down and buy whatever they want.  The Internet doesn’t make that possible, it just makes it affordable.  Say you need something for your car.  You can always find a shop that will sell you Toyota parts. 

The old way even allowed you access to obscure and outdated supplies.  The shop owner could order what you’d need; you’d just have to wait for his next shipment to get in.  But of course that shop keep would be another middleman to your Toyota accessories, and they’d cost that much more.  Now you can get genuine Toyota parts directly from the Toyota factory-or whatever else you might ever want to buy.   Instead of a supply chain, where the cost increases significantly at each link (since the person in that link needs to make a living), there’s a web that connects each potential buyer and seller directly.  And that makes it relatively inexpensive to order obscure things.

There is a revolutionary new grilling system that actually rides on the outside of your car or truck. It attaches to any vehicle and has a swinging arm that extends when you are ready to use it. When you get to your destination, simply unlock the safety arm lock and you are ready to start grilling. It is fully functional with a 20,000 BTU burner of stainless steel and a cooking area of 352 square inches. It is truly an awesome grill that attached to a dual receiver hitch and will allow you to also haul your boat or camper at the same time.

An excellent additional purchase would be a Jobox storall or one of the sturdy truck boxes to keep grilling supplies in so that you will always be ready to grill at a moment’s notice. The Freedom Grill is great for picnics, sporting events and kid’s games; ultimately anywhere that you want to have a tailgating adventure. It can be removed also for table top grilling or can be used while it is still attached to the vehicle. The swinging arm allows you to still easily access the back of your truck because it swings out 180 degrees. The Freedom Grill makes any tailgating party an instant success and is one of the best truck accessories that you can buy.

Well, I hate American made cars.  I think they are absolutely awful, outrageously cheap buckets of scrap metal.  Another car broke down on me.  I knew last time I should have gotten a Toyota, except for that awful sale that the American retailers were having, and my wife starts laying into me about supporting our national economy and this is not the time to be buying foreign cars.  Turns out it’s EXACTLY the time to be buying foreign cars, because foreign cars don’t break down inside of a year! 

The repairs are going to be insane, and I’ll be covered under warranty, but I’m never setting foot in that vehicle again.  I’m selling it for whatever pittance I can get and I’m buying a Toyota.  I drove one while they were working up the initial estimates; I got it from an easy rent a car location, and they had some really cheap car rentals in florida; I could have gone to the Miami car rental and gotten a better deal, but it was too far away. 

Now I know, this is the car I want.  I will never go back on this, and I’m not even listening to my wife on this one.  I’m in a blind rage about that terrible car.  The rental place let me drive first a Corolla (little too small) and then a Rav4.  I love the Rav4, it will be mine!

One of the things that people usually consider when they go to buy a car is how difficult it will be to get that car fixed. For some vehicles, it can be really tough to fix something as simple as a busted headlight. For others, these parts are readily available in the rare case that something breaks. This brings up an interesting question, though. Are companies like Toyota put at a disadvantage because people feel that they cannot ultimately get them fixed if it comes down to that? The truth of the matter is that the internet has changed the way we do business now. Getting Camry parts is no longer some daunting task like it used to be.

When you go to buy a car, know that you will probably be able to find what you need no matter what brand you buy. For those who go Toyota, wholesale Toyota parts are even available online these days, making the price even lower than it would have otherwise been. This takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the car buying process and gives you the power to know that in the unfortunate case that something bad happens, you will have the ability to get your car back up and running again.

These days, the perfect car is frequently one that gets high gas mileage — and almost everyone will agree on that.  With gas over $4 a gallon in many areas, and steadily rising, many people are beginning to panic about what the rising gas prices mean for our way of life.

One thing is for sure — it’s caused us to value different things.  High gas mileage is now one of the best features a car can offer.  But what do you do if you don’t want to buy a new, more efficient car — if you need to make do with the one you have?

One of the biggest gas hogs is the pickup truck.  Luckily, there are things you can do to lower your fuel costs, such as:

• Installing a tonneau cover. Tonneau covers mean better fuel economy because they reduce the amount of wind resistance (which slows you down and makes you burn more gas just to maintain the same speed).  The bed of a pickup truck creates a lot of drag, so covering it and making it smooth can really help your gas mileage.
• Removing bug shields and ventshades. I know they look good, but they also create some drag.  I’ve heard of people improving their mileage by about 2 percent by removing just the ventshades.  Of course, this may not be enough of an improvement to make it worthwhile for you, but at least think about it!
• Taking the sandbags out of your bed. Having extra weight to haul around makes your truck heavier and makes you burn more gas to get it going.  Extra weight such as what’s in your truck tool boxes may be necessary, but at least get rid of anything that isn’t!

If you can’t or don’t want to get rid of your pickup truck, there are things you can do to at least help out with the gas mileage a bit.  Eventually, though, you should plan on getting a different vehicle — unless you need the truck for work, of course, in which case you might want to consider working more locally!

Technorati Tags: high gas mileage, rising gas prices, tonneau covers, better fuel economy, wind resistance, pickup truck, bug shields, ventshades, sandbags, truck tool boxes

Is there such a thing as a perfect car?  Many car enthusiasts would say yes, yet they would all differ on what they thought that car was.  It might be a certain favorite make or model, or a car that requires lots of work (a project car), or a car that requires no work at all.

My perfect car used to be a Nissan Z-car without rust.  Rust is what killed my first baby, a 1981 Nissan 280ZX.  (Well, technically it was getting rearended by a hit-and-run driver that killed her, but it was all the rust that made her not worth fixing up again.)  Now my perfect car would be a Z-car that doesn’t break down or need work.  My second car, a 1983 280ZX, has been parked for the last year and a half, because I work from home and don’t need it often enough (or have enough time) to want to work on it and get it running.

Whatever your idea of the perfect car is, you’ll find plenty of information about cars here.  Dig in and enjoy!

Technorati Tags: perfect car, car enthusiasts, favorite make or model