Reilly Brennan of aolautos.com wrote an article on three cars that will be available to us in the near future that will give us great gas mileage without the hefty price tag of hybrids.  Brennan was actually pretty down on hybrids. He made some good points though.  The lowest priced hybrid you can get is about $20,000 and that’s a base model and the price goes up to $100,000.  You are basically paying for the hybrid engine but when you actually number crunch it will take you a long time to recoup your money for the hybrid technology.  I know that’s not the only reason that people drive hybrids. I get the whole environment aspect, Brennan and myself for that matter are just saying that hybrids are an expensive car and are only about 3% of all new cars.  Anyways, the three non-hybrid cars that Brennan talks about are the talk of the auto industry these days.  I know I’ve talked about them on this blog, but I’ll touch on them again anyways.

2011 Ford Fiesta - supposedly will get 40 mpg when it is with a 1.6-liter 4 cylinder engine.  This car has been winning numerous awards in the rest of the world for sometime now, and the starting price is $13,320.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze - you will get 40 mpg from the “high-efficiency model.” Not sure what the non-high efficiency model gas mileage will be, but you would think not a lot worse.  The price has not been determined but it should be in the mid-teens.  1.4-liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine. This car will compete with the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. 

2010 Fiat 500 - not a lot of information available could be available to some metropolitan areas in late 2010 and might be priced in the low $20,000s though this is speculation at this point.  1.4-liter 4 cylinder engine that will be like the Mini Cooper or Smart Forwo getting 38 mpg. 

So, there you have it. Check out these cheaper cars with great gas mileage. Might be worth it.

Cars are expensive enough and just like when you buy an appliance or electronic, the salespeople are always pushing you to buy the extras.  Well, Yahoo!autos wrote an article about the 5 things that you should not buy from the dealer.  Even though it may not be too expensive as part of your monthly payments, it will still cost you more money that you probably don’t need to spend. So, here are the 5 things not worth buying.

1.  Extended Warranties - there are several reasons why you don’t need the warranty. Most automakers are giving longer warranties like 5 year/60,000 miles or 5 year/100,000 miles. You can also buy extended warranties after the fact, and you can shop around for the best warranties for the best price, which will probably not be from the dealer. Also in some cases, the fine print will make you service your car at that dealership which could be a problem for you down the line.  The moral of the story - just don’t buy the extended warranties!

2.  Fabric and Paint Protection - Fabric protection for your seats and floors is just not worth it. According to Yahoo!, you can buy Scotchgard Auto Interior Fabric Protector for like $10 which will work the same.  Paint Protection can be done by you if you wax your car once a year. That will be much cheaper than what the dealers will charge for the Paint Protection.

3.   Rustproofing - most of the new cars come with good, “lengthy rust perforation warranties” and unless you plan on keeping your car for decades, the rust protection that you have should be plenty.  “That makes rustproofing one of the biggest rip-offs a dealer can entice you to buy.”

4.  Maintenance Plans - These plans cover fluid changes and other regular maintenance items which will be part of your monthly payment. The thing is that you have to do the maintenance at the dealership, which might be more expensive than just a repair shop.  You definitely need to do some homework. Plus several automakers throw in the maintenance plans for free when you buy a new car.  Volkswagen and Volvo offer plans that last 3 years/36,000 miles.  BMW offers 4 years/50,000 miles, and Scion will give you the first two maintenances for free.  You could probably definitely negotiate these plans for free.   

5. Ding Protection - this is a cost you pay for upfront that you may never use. It could cost $650 for 3 years and only covers dings and scratches that are 4 inches or less. Just doesn’t seem like a logical expense to pay especially when you don’t know if you will need it.

So, when buying your new car, don’t fall into the salespeople trap and buy these extras!

Each week Yahoo! Autos brings you the top 10 most popular economy vehicles.  I thought I would give you the top 5 and you can check out the entire list on the Yahoo! Autos website if you want to. The rankings are determined by the number of visitors that view each new car.

1.  2010 Chevrolet Camaro

2.  2009 Smart Fortwo

3.  2010 Dodge Challenger

4.  2009 Honda Civic Sedan

5.  2009 MINI Cooper Hardtop

Not my first choices but interesting nonetheless.

I think it’s kindof sad that I am writing about this today. I guess sad is not the right word.  I just can’t believe that there is now new computer software, DriveSafe.ly, that will read incoming text messages aloud, which of course then allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road. Crazy!  First of all, it’s against the law to text message while driving, but then again that doesn’t necessarily stop people from doing it, so I guess that’s why I am writing about this. In today’s society, we need a computer software that will allow people to get their text messages read to them while driving. They NEED to have access to the texts.  Anyways, then the software will send a message back to the person with a pre-recorded message of the driver’s choice such as “Hey, I’m driving, txt u later.”  It’s even got the text language as well!  

There are also some applications out there that will let you know when you are speeding or a voice will warn you that you are approaching a red-light camera, speed traps, school zone, or something else that might catch you up while you are driving. This software system is called PhantomALERT.  This system is like a radar detector but supposedly better.  You should never get a speeding ticket again…at least that’s their motto.   

I don’t know all of this seems kindof crazy to me. Just turn off your cell phone or use a bluetooth or handsfree headset. I’m not naive, I know that we are a mobile-device addicted nation. I get it because I am as well, so we’ll see how successful these computer software programs become as they become available across the country.  I’m sure they won’t be cheap.

Alright now let’s talk about the LA Auto Showthat began for the media today.  The show is open to the public on Friday the 4th through next Sunday the 13th.  There were be a ton of small cars that will take the spotlight at the show.  Fuel-efficient cars and crossovers will be the stars of the show.   The LA auto show will feature 30 world and North American debuts of vehicles and more than 900 vehicles in general.  The 2011 Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 (subcompact cars) and the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze (compact car) will be at the show.  Many crossovers too such as the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sorento. If you look at websites like autoblog.com you will find reviews on many of the cars at the show.  General Motors and Ford Motor Co. need to show off some good cars at this show to try to sway customers back to them. Hopefully they can succeed with doing that. I’ll have more to come on this show as the weekend approaches and media opinions start to come out. Stay tuned…..

Did anyone miss Centercaps.net’s blogs for the past week????  I missed doing them. I feel out of touch. Just got settled after moving. I thought buying a car was hard, moving is the worst!  Anyways, we are back to blog and perfect timing with the LA Auto Show opening up today.  Before I give you some details about the auto show, I thought I’d give you the top 10 2010 cars according to caranddriver.com.  There were “58 contenders, $2.5 million in total price, 12,000 test miles logged” to get to the top 10.  Here were the criteria to be even considered for the top 10 best 2010 vehicle.  1. The price had to be below $80,000 and 2. All 2009 10 Best Winners were invited back as well as any new or ”significantly altered” 2010 model that will be on sale no later than January 2010. So there you have the simple rules for this honor and here are the top 10 best vehicles for 2010:

1.  2010 Audi A4

2.  2010 BMW 3-Series/M3

3.  2010 Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

4.  2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

5.  2010 Honda Accord

6.  2010 Honda Fit

7.  2010 Mazda MX-5 Miata

8.  2010 Mazda 3/Mazdaspeed 3

9.  2010 Porsche Boxster/Cayman

10.  2010 Volkswagen GTI

You matter which group comes up with their top 10, many of these vehicles are the same on each list. An easy way to review vehicles. Just find out how many different top 10 lists the car you are interested in is on.  Right?  Not really any surprises. Kindof the same old I guess, but good to know nonetheless.