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!

 

 

 

 

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.

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. 

  

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.

 

 

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.

 

     

Hybrids are good for some and no good for others. There are times when hybrids are the right choice and then other times maybe not.  Reilly Brennan of autos.aol.com gave 5 reasons when a hybrid makes sense, so here they are.

1.  When gas is expensive - that’s not rocket science. Hybrids are great financially, so when the gas is high as it was last summer, hybrids were the best option for sure.

2.  If you drive a gas guzzler - a hybrid definitely makes sense for someone who owns a truck or SUV.  You may be able to double your gas mileage if you get rid of it and buy a hybrid. If you own a sedan, you may improve your gas mileage, but probably not by too much, definitely not double it.

3.  If you are a city driver, you benefit alot more with a hybrid. Hybrids aren’t great on the highway, many times getting the same gas mileage, so if that’s your driving habits, a hybrid isn’t for you.

4.  If you are environmentally active, then you really don’t care as much about the fuel economy and just that a hybrid is good for the environment, so a hybrid is always a good idea for you.

5.  There are tax credits out there if you buy a new hybrid, so that could help make your decision if a hybrid is right for you as well.

Hybrids are probably right for a lot of people, but just make sure you pay attention to the details before investing in a hybrid. 

 

Yes I know I wrote the blog yesterday about Chrysler and how maybe people don’t even care about the incentives on a new vehicle this time of year because there are other expenses that people have, and then I read this article today on autos.yahoo.com about how Black Friday is the best day of the year to buy a car according to truecar.com.  Some analysts studied the day-by-day car pricing for the last several  years, and Black Friday, on average, had the best prices.  The big difference is that you won’t know the deal that you are getting until that day as you are negotiating your new vehicle.  On average, the new car discount on November 27 is 7.5% and the day before and day after is alittle over 6%.  On a typical day throughout the rest of the year, the average savings below sticker price is 4.7%.  So, if you just look at these numbers, Black Friday is the day for buying new cars!  Truecar.com predicts that you should be able to pay about 28% off the sticker price of a 2009 Suzuki SX4, 26% off a 2009 Nissan Titan or Ford F150, and 20% off a 2009 Hyundai Sonata. Who knows how Truecar.com has projected these savings, but they sound pretty good to me.  Dealerships are in crunch time now anyways. It’s the end of the month and they need to get rid of the 2009 vehicles, before they are really “old” after next month.  So, I guess you guys better get out on friday and buy some new cars!

 

The Chinese automarket is hopping these days even though the rest of the world is having a horrible year sales wise.  There are many differences with the Chinese vehicles, but according to an article by Patrick Hong on yahoo autos, there are five vehicles that “could make it to the U.S.”  Here they are:

Brilliance GT - This is a sporty 2-door compact car with a 1.8-liter engine with a 167 horsepower and a 6-speed manual transmission.

Great Wall Gwkulla- This is an electric car that has about an 100 mile range between chargings. 

Great Wall Hover H7 -  This is a midsize sport SUV with a 3.0-liter V6 engine with a 6-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.  It has a lot of high-tech stuff as well.

Roewe MG6 - Remember MG?  Well, this is an MG. Hong suggests that the company should consider a 4-door of this vehicle instead to entice more customers.

Roewe N1 Concept - This is a midsize sedan with sporty headlamps and many stylish details on the interior that would help make it stand out for sale.     

So, none of these are currently available in the U.S. and for that matter may never be, but these are just the Chinese vehicles that Hong thinks could make it. We’ll have to wait a few years and see if he is right on any of them.