I wasn’t very surprised by the results of the most/least expensive cars to insure that Forbesautos.com had on their website.  Before you read below, take some guesses. See if you can come up with any of the most expensive cars to insure. I would come up with a few.  See if you can do better.

Least to Most 

1.  Porsche 911 - $1819 - I thought this would be more expensive to insure.

2.  Lexus ISF - $1881

3.  Hummer H2 - $1912

4.   BMW M5 - $2020

5.  Audi S8 - $2071

6.  Mercedes-Benz G Class - $2088

7.  Ford Shelby GT500 - $2186

8.  BMW M6 - $2236 - Just be ready to pay big bucks to insure if you buy a BMW I guess!

9.  Dodge Viper - $2446 - I guessed this one!

And the most expensive car to insure is……………………………….

10. Nissan GT-R - $2533

As I’m sure none of you are surprised by the fact that these cars are extremely expensive to buy as well as insure. But I guess if you have the money to buy these sports cars for the most part, then you don’t care about paying more to insure them.  Happy driving!

 

 

 

 

An article on Yahoo! autos.com gives advice on what not to say when you buy a car IF you want to get a good deal.  It’s kindof like when you buy a new house. You need to have a poker face. Anything less is not acceptable. The owners/dealers will know that they can get you to eat out of their hands. Not good.  The article went to the big dogs in car consulting (AAA, Kelley Blue Book, and NADA Guides) for some advice as to what not to say.

Keep your mouth shut as much as possible. Do not go into the dealership and tell them what you can afford to pay. The salesman will then use that as a baseline and then you will probably end up paying more after fees, extended warranties, add-ons, etc.  Supposedly nine out of ten times telling the salesman what you can afford to pay will be an advantage to the dealership and not you. Talk about what cars you are interested in and the overall price of the cars, not the monthly payments that work for you.

Also, do you tell anyone that you have bad credit up front (if you do.)  Eventually if you are serious about getting a car at the dealership, they will run a credit report and see that you have bad credit.  If you tell the salesman up front about your credit problem, they will get the mentality that if they can get your credit, you will then pay what they want you to. If shows that you are vulnerable.  If possible, try to get financing from a bank or credit union before you even go looking for the car then you can tell the dealership that you have outside financing, and they may even try to give you a better deal to get your financing.

If you plan to pay in cash (good for you if you can!), don’t announce that up front either. Then the dealership may try to charge you more since they won’t be making any money on you with a financing plan.

Basically you just need to research the vehicles that you are interested in and know what you can afford.  There are really good deals out there and most salesman just want to sell cars as you just want to buy a car, so you are actually looking for the same end result.  Keep your mouth shut and know what you are talking about and you should be just fine buying a car.

I’m alittle late for those of you that live in the Midwest to be giving winter driving tips, but these tips will probably come in handy nonetheless, especially for those lucky enough to not have had the big time snow yet.  Yet is the key word.  Here are the 5 tips to make sure you are ready for winter driving.

1.  Get a checkup - hurry up and have your car checked out. Make sure the fluid levels are good, the exhaust system, defroster, antifreeze, climate control and battery are working correctly.  Checking the battery is extremely important to do.  The battery loses 60% of its strength when the temperature is 0.  Make sure the mechanic checks the belts and hoses too to ensure there are no signs of wear. 

2.   Pump them up - Check the tire’s pressure regularly.  A 10 degree drop in temperature will cause your tires to lose 1 to 2 pounds of air.  If your tires are under inflated then the tire’s grip will be less.  Make sure the tread is good as well.  Here’s what you need to do to make sure the tread is good.  Place a penny into the tread’s groove. Lincoln’s head should face downward. If you can see the top of his head, then it’s time to get yourself a new tire.

3.  Consider switching tires - You might need to think about getting snow tires especially if you drive a sports car or sports sedan as well as other cars too. 

4.  Check lights - Inspect your headlights, tail lights, fog lights, and turn signals to make sure they are all working correctly.

5.  Be prepared - Make sure you have an emergency kit in your car.  Make sure that your spare tire is properly inflated, that you have an ice scraper, snow shovel, flashlight, blanket, extra clothing, candles, matches, bottled water, snacks, and any medication that you might need. Cell phones and chargers as well. You might want to consider putting kitty liter or sand in the trunk for better traction.

Good luck to all of you out there that are just beginning the terribly long months of winter driving. I know that I do not look forward to this. Take the necessary steps to help you if you get into any trouble driving this winter. Also, start counting down to spring!

 

 

So, all your car-care myths will be answered in the following blog.  Yahoo! Autos actually is the one answering your questions, but I’ll break it down for you with the basics questions and answers. 

1.  Myth: Engine oil should be changed every 3000 miles.  Reality: Supposedly under normal driving conditions, you should be able to go 7500 miles between oil changes. The extreme driving, such as constant stop-and-go driving (though most people do this I feel like), frequent trailer-towing, dusty conditions, or mountainous terrains, should have the oil changed every 3000 miles. I drive in severe driving conditions I guess since I am always in stop-and-go driving, so I guess I need my oil changed every 3000 miles, but for the rest of you, you are spending too much money on oil changes. Just wait.

2.  Myth: Inflate tires to the pressure shown on the tire’s sidewall.  Reality: The pressure shown on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure that the tire can safely hold, not the recommended pressure, which will provide you with the best balance of braking, handling, gas mileage, and comfort.  The tire pressure that you want is usually on the doorjamb sticker, glove box, or fuel filler door. You should check your tire pressure monthly when the car has been parked for a few hours or the tires are cold. 

3.  Myth:  If the brake fluid is low, topping it off will fix the problem.  Reality: If the brake fluid level drops to or below the Low mark, you have a problem. Either the brake pads are worn out or the fluid is leaking. Either way, you need to get it serviced right away.  When you rotate your tires every 6000 to 7000 miles, you should have your brakes checked as well.

4.  Myth:  If regular-grade fuel is good, then premium must be better.  Reality:  If your car is made to take regular fuel, stick with regular.  All premium does is costs you more money. It will not improve your car’s performance.

5.  Myth: Flush your coolant at every oil change.  Reality:  Don’t do it. It is recommended that you do it every 5 years or 60,000 miles.

6.  Myth:  Let your engine warm up for several minutes before driving.  Reality: I just talked about this the other day, you don’t need to do this. Maybe older cars, but you don’t need to do this with modern day cars.

7.  Myth:  If you want your warranty to be valid, you need to have the maintenance performed at the dealership.  Reality: Not true.  You can have the regular maintenance done at an auto repair shop. Just make sure you keep receipts in case you need it.

So, there’s some helpful information I think. I learned something. Hope you did too!

      

There are as many as 50 models that will be discontinued by different automakers over the next few years.  Some of them will be worth buying if you can negotiate well and get a steal, but the majority of these discontinued vehicles will not be worth anything in 5 years.  An article on Yahoo! Autos gives a list of 5 of the top 10 discontinued vehicles that Kelly’s Blue Book says are not a good buy.  Here they are and if you are looking for more details about each of these cars and why you shouldn’t buy them, check out the article. I’ll just give you the basics.

1.  Kia Spectra - the starting price is $14,000. It is being discontinued this year and the 5 year residual value is just 15%.  Yikes!

2.  Saab 9-7x - starting price $40,000 and being discontinued 2010, 5 year residual value 16 to 18% depending on trim line.

3.  Chrysler PT Cruiser - $19,000, being discontinued 2010 and 16% 5 year residual value

4.  Mercury Grand Marquis - $30,000 leaving us in 2011 and a 16% residual value

5. Hyundai Azera - $25,000, discontinue date unknown, 16% residual value

So, these are the worst discontinued cars. Just steer clear of them.  Not worth it.  There are sooo many good deals out there right now, no need to buy these cars.

I just read in my paper today about a debate that is taking place between General Motors and environmentalists over whether you should start your car and let it sit idle in your driveway or not.  GM says that you need to warm up your car because a warmer car gives off less bad emissions.  GM gives their reasons for this theory and then in return the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) says that cars these days do not need much warming up and “cars run more efficiently when they are being driven rather than idling” according to Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club’s Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign.

Then on the flip side again, the AAA says that cars are “sluggish” in cold weather and need to be warmed up to let the car “comes to its senses, so to speak, before you put it in gear.”  You also need to warm up your car alittle bit to get the frost off your windows and possibly melt ice and snow.  Also, people need to be warm. I know that I can’t stand to get into my freezing cold car and start driving. My instincts are slower, my hands and feet don’t work as well.

I understand and see the other side saying that warming up your car is just a waste of gas and puts emissions into the air that don’t have to be there, but I think that the benefits or warming your car outweigh the negatives. Interesting tidbit….the city of Madison, WI and some other cities in Wisconsin have anti-idling ordinances to reduce the greenhouse gases and in Toronto, it’s actually illegal to allow a car to idle longer than 3 minutes!  Just think about it, how many of us idle for longer than 3 minutes like 10 times a day??!  I know that I do.  As I said, I understand their reasoning of trying to reduce pollution, I’m just not sure that this is the best way to do it.

The new 2010 Porsche Panamera S is a 4-door Porsche with a lot to offer.  This is the first four-door sedan ever made by this company in 61 years in the business.  Do you wonder why now?  I kindof do. I guess they needed to follow the trends for their customers’ needs, but Porsche has been well Porsche for 61 years with no help needed to attract their customers.  You have your choice between rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, and you also get 16 cubic feet of trunk space.  This car has a tremendous amount of power. The rear-wheel drive has a 400 horsepower  4.8-liter  V8 engine that can get to 60 miles an hour in 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 175 mph. If you get the all-wheel drive, everything is the same except you should be able to get to 60 miles an hour in 4.8 seconds.  If that’s not fast enough for some of you, you can get the turbo engine which is a twin-turbo that has 500 horsepower and gets to 60 in 4 seconds.

Alright, now that you are excited about the Panamera S and its four doors, let me give you the bad news.  It’s expensive. I mean really expensive.  The base price is $90,750 but with the options and all its going to cost you $108,000, and then if you need the turbo engine that STARTS at $132,000. I don’t know how many of you can afford the Porsche Panamera S, but if you can it sure looks nice!

So, this information isn’t totally about automobiles but it is related to them and I thought it was valuable enough information to pass along to you guys.  There are new energy-efficient traffic lights (well actually they aren’t really too new. They’ve been around about a decade.) Anyways, some states are just introducing them and when the weather is bad, such as snow and wind, the traffic lights don’t work correctly, or really at all. Drivers cannot see if the light is red or green because the lights aren’t bright enough to melt snow and ice that may get on the lights. Normally, the lights will melt the ice, but the new LED, energy-efficient lights are not bright enough to melt the snow. There have been dozens of accidents and 1 death that is to blame on these LED lights. 

Of course the problem is that these traffic lights save money and quite a bit of it.  In Wisconsin, the Transportation Department says that they save about $750,000 a year with these lights. That’s a lot of money. Some states report that the traffic light problems only happen every so often when the snow and wind are perfectly aligned to cause the problems and by the time they get out to the light after a complaint has been made, the problem has fixed itself. Then other states say that they people need to actually clean off the snow by hand, which is somewhat of a problem I think. 

The moral of the story is that drivers need to be aware during a snowstorm that the traffic lights aren’t always working properly and really what you need to do is if the traffic light is hard to see then just assume it’s like a stop sign and STOP.  Simple solution to the problem, right?  Energy efficient is not always the end all be all I tell ya. 

 

I know that some people need to get their parts and things from their dealerships, but I just quickly searched wheels, rims, car parts in general, and the choices you have on the internet is amazing. I’m sure that obviously some websites are a lot better than others, but if you spend enough time researching these websites you can find some awesome aftermarket wheels and rims.  I did just doing a quick search.  Of course if you need centercaps or hubcaps, you know that centercaps.net is the best for that!  LOL.  I know that most of you are definitely probably aware of this information, but I just thought I’d possibly remind you guys that there is sooo much out there to spruce up your vehicles. What could be better than some aftermarket rims that will get people noticing your vehicles on the streets?  That’s cool. 

  

I feel like a broken record discussing electric cars yet again, but this is the talk “around town” shall I say.  The LA Auto Show had electric cars on its mind and now I just read an article today about the problems that electric car manufacturers are facing in terms of recharging stations.  This is a big problem and a real problem.  Specifically, Nissan and General Motors are getting ready to release their electric cars the Leaf and Chevy Volt, respectively.  Nissan and General Motors are trying to figure out ways to get the recharging stations built.  They are asking for $124 billion in government incentives over 8 years which includes$13.5 billion for tax credits to build recharging stations.  “This is a lot of money to ask of the government, but it pales in comparison to the cost of U.S. oil dependence, which has huge environmental, economic, and national-security costs” says Sam Ori who is one of the authors of Electricification Coalitionreport.  I was actually thinking the same thing before I read what Ori had said. I do think this is a tremendous amount of money to be asking of the government, especially when the government has their hands full right now, but at the same time, in the long run electric cars will be better for all of us. 

Along with the problems with the lack of recharging stations comes some serious anxiety of customers that buy these electric cars.  People will not be without worrying when they are set off in their new electric cars. The fear of batteries running out of power on the road somewhere is high.  Yes, you are supposed to charge your cars at home, and then get around 100 miles, but what if you are out somewhere and the battery dies. If you run out of gas, you get to the nearest gas station which won’t be far, but if you own a Nissan Leaf the nearest recharging station could be too far to talk about.  The big difference between the Leaf and the Chevy Volt is that when the battery dies in the Volt the gas engine will start up, therefore if there is a gas station around, you will never be stranded. That’s a huge plus…..but of course this doesn’t come without a high price tag.  Both electric vehicles will be expensive, but the Volt will cost more due to the gas engine.

I don’t know, either way, it seems to me that if you own an electric car, at least for the next 5 years, it will be more of a hassle than anything else.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see if I’m right, though I think I am. Maybe I just have a bad attitude about electric cars……….and I rambled too. Sorry!