I found an article on autoweek.com that talks about a study done in July by DriverSide.com and Kelton Research.  The survey found that even though 90% of Americans think that they do everything right to keep their cars in great shape, they don’t at all. Actually according to the survey, only 41% of those that responded followed the scheduled maintenance plan from the manufacturer, 31% waxed their cars regularly (geez that truly seems high to me), and only 16% actually repaired dents and scratches in a timely fashion.  Cracks in windshields and warning lights that go on in people’s cars were ignored quite often.  The moral of the story is that people don’t do anything with their cars until there is a problem. 

My neighbor is one of the 41% that always does the scheduled maintenance AND actually washes and waxes his cars often too, and maybe that’s why both of their cars have over 100,000 miles on them and you would never be able to tell. Anyways, driverside.com has added a diagnostic tool to their website to help the majority of us. It helps you to figure out the cause of the problem with your car and sometimes can even give you a how-to to fix the car yourself.  If not, you can ask one of their mechanics a question online. This diagnostic tool was just launched this week and is free…..yes I said FREE.  Actually when I just went and checked out the website, I signed up and added my car to “my garage” on the website to keep track on maintenance. Great idea, so pass the word on! 

Did you ever wonder and consider trying to run your vehicle on wood and not gas?  Well if you did, good for you to be so environmentally friendly but the majority of us just go to the gas station and fill up our tanks and call it a day. Well, a man in Connecticut, Dave Nichols, is currently running his 1989 Ford F-150 pickup truck on wood, leaves, cardboard, and other ”biomass” material that gives off virually no pollution.  This process is actually called gasification.  Gasification could also heat and power homes. There are a lot of possibilities for this, but according to Nichols and others is very “easy to achieve.”  Nichols’ truck seems to work like any other truck that can reach 40 mph and above on local roads and go 80 mph on the highway.  The big and very noticeable difference is that right behind the rear window there is something that looks like a wood stove. It’s actually a metal barrel. Gas is captured from the barrel and then a vacuum system sucks it through piping that runs under the truck to the engine.  Nichols says that he has driven 10,000 miles without gas including a 600 mile trip with 400 lbs of wood in the back.  A pound of wood will fuel his truck for 1 to 2 miles, which equals out to costing about 8 cents per mile to fuel compared to 19 cents per mile if you used regular gas.  Nichols is trying to perfect the fuel system and according to him he is close.  He says that an electronic system that would allow drivers to push a button instead of having to use a propane torch to start it is the final part needed.  Nichols started a company called 21st Century Motor Works to work on his gasification system. 

Of course there is always a downside. Larry Baxter, a chemical engineering professor at Brigham Young University says that there are two problems. One is that the gasification process can produce materials that can damage engines and the other problem is that it’s impractical to load up your car or truck with pounds of wood and other materials to drive.  Nichols disagrees with the first problem saying that he’s found a way to produce a clean-burning fuel that would save people thousands of dollars to fuel their cars and heat their homes.  I guess time will tell if this company or others can get the gasification process perfected and who knows maybe soon all of us will be using wood to run our vehicles and not gas! Alright, that’s far-fetched, but fun to think about!

I thought I’d get everyone up to speed on the auto news from the last few days.

For starters, new details on the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost were released today.

www.lincah.com

The new Rolls-Royce Ghost that is due out the middle of next year is a nice looking vehicle.  It has unbelievable power with a 6.6-liter, turbocharged V-12 engine that puts out 563 horsepower and 575 lb ft torque.  The top speed is 155 miles per hour and the Rolls-Royce Ghost can get from 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds.  This “smaller, entry-level model will share a platform with the new BMW 7 series.  It has an 8 speed automatic transmission.  The starting price will be somewhere in the low $300,000. A bargain!

More news.  Toyota has announced today that it is no longer profitable in the United States. Toyota has been extremely successful in the last several years in the U.S., but Toyota actually had a full year of operating loss. Not good for the auto industry. They are considering closing a warehouse in California.

The revival plans of the Aston Martin Lagonda, which was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show, have been put on hold and there is a good possibility that the project will be cancelled. 

Mercedes-Benz has done well with their fuel economy on their E-Class Sedans for Europe.  The diesels are getting 45 miles per gallon on average and the gas is getting 33 miles per gallon, which obviously is a lot less but has more power with 184 horsepower and a top speed of 144 mph, compared to the diesel of 136 horsepower and top speed of 130 mph.

And last but not least, General Motors has introduced “Remote Ignition Block” through OnStar.  A few years ago, GM introduced “Stolen Vehicle Slowdown” which would allow OnStar operators to remotely slow down the engine power of a stolen car at the request of police. Well, now they have outdone that with the Remote Ignition Block.  The OnStar operator can remotely access the vehicle’s computer and disable certain functions such as locking the vehicle’s ignition, so once the car is turned off it cannot be restarted.  This would help find stolen vehicles quicker, since the car cannot go anywhere after its turned off, and also hopefully help to prevent high speed chases.

So, there you have it. Alittle car information for your reading pleasure!

Have any of you heard about the new idea of pay-as-you-go car insurance that is being thrown around in California?  Well, it’s true. I found an article on autoweek.com that says that California is seriously considering doing this and as early as November.  What would happen would be that you could buy insurance coverage by the mile.  This way the consumer could just pay for the insurance that they use and save money.  Another thought of lawmakers is that people would drive less, therefore there would be less emissions, which equals healthier air, etc. 

So, how it works is that you can prepay for a specific number of miles. You could buy a blocks of miles for a certain amount of time, if you need more you can buy them.  There will be discounts available to you if you use this new insurance option.  Part of the plan can be that you report your miles to the insurance company and their insurance agent or repair shop will check your odometer. 

This pay-as-you-go insurance option is definitely not worthwhile for the commuter with a lengthy commute or people that drive a great deal one week and then not so much the next. It would be too hard for these consumers and probably cost them a lot more.  I guess it’s a good idea if it truly works out like California is hoping that it does. I don’t know if people will truly drive less to save some money.  I’m sure there are some people that will do that, but a great number of them?  I don’t know. I know I probably wouldn’t.  I don’t love to drive now, I do it when I have to, therefore nothing would change for me with this new pay-as-you-go insurance.  But that’s just me, I’ll be interested to see if it does begin in November, and how many people choose to go this route. 

I found an article on MSNBC.com that talks about yet another technology advance for automobiles.  The new technology is called the Ford Work Solutions, which is a built-in, theft-proof computer.  No more stolen or broken laptops.  This system is currently available for the Ford F-150 light-duty pickups, the Super Duty pickups, and the Transit Connect commercial minivans that will be available soon.  Some of the components will be available to consumers that already own these trucks. 

The Work Solutions system allows you to have hands-free for your cell phone and uses a Garmin navigation system.  The Work Solutions system has a 6.5 inch touch-screen, 4 gigabytes of RAM, a memory-card sot, a USB port, and a wireless keyboard.  The in-dash computer costs $1195 and the internet access costs between $25 and $50 a month.

There is also a tool tracking system. This lets the user compare the tools on the truck to a tool list for the scheduled job to make sure that you have all the tools needed for the job, and then you do it again at the end of the day to make sure that you don’t leave any tools at the job site. That’s pretty helpful, right?  It will definitely save companies a great deal of money in misplaced tools, I would assume. 

I think that this new technology, the Work Solutions, seems like a great new advancement that will be very helpful. I see how it is cost efficient, because it saves companies from stolen and broken laptops. My only hesitation (and it’s alittle one) is that no one knows the costs of repairs for this in-dash computer system. That can’t be cheap to fix. I guess we’ll have to wait and see when as the technology is used more often.

Cox Newpapers has written an article talking about yet another auto technology specifically for the safety of drivers and other cars on the road as well.  The technology is called the Owner Compliance Key (OCK),  which is a device that is part of the car’s key, that turns cell phones of when the car is turned on.  This key was made by Try Safey First Inc., and the key was first launched in 2007.  The key prevents outbound calls and sends inbound calls directly to voicemail.  Emergency calls to 911 will still work.  The Owner Compliance Key also requires you to have your seat belt fastened before you can start the engine.  The usage of the OCK is voluntary, because it’s on the spare key.  Also, passengers in the car can use cell phones. The key only works in the area of the driver.  This technology was designed for parents and employers.  Teenage drivers are particularly vulnerable to accidents period, especially when cell phones and text messaging are involved. 

According to the article, there is a lot of competition with this technology, and Try Safety First is also having a hard time because automakers’ are now making hands-free communication systems that are built into the cars.  Currently, you can only buy the OCK as an aftermarket item, and the company would like to see it factory installed, though it isn’t currently happening.   

I don’t know how I feel about this. I guess if I had teenage children, I would really like it. I think that the hands-free systems in cars are safe, and this technology seems alittle extreme to me. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me though.      

So, I found an article on cars.com that breaks down the different car options available and which ones are worth the money in terms of resale and which ones are not.  According to Automotive Lease Guide, ”any non-practical standard feature that you add as an option to a new car will improve its resale value.”  Here’s a disturbing statistic….you ready?…..on average a five-year old car is worth only 28.5% of its original value. Yuck!  So, here are some of the best options to add and then some not-so-good ones as well.

Highest Return Options:

Cruise Control -89.2% return on resale - most cars have it so if you don’t, you are really driving an outdated car.

Power Windows & Power Locks - 77.1% and 74%  return respectively. Yet again, if you buy a car without these options you are driving an outdated car and tougher resale.

Air Conditioning - 68.2% or 76.6% if you have the rear air conditioning as well.  This is another pretty standard feature, but now the better air conditioners have the dual controls and for the front and rear. You need these for resale I think.

Some good options for resale:

Power Seats - 59.6% - people like convenience

Automatic Transmission - 55.8% - if the car comes with stick, you may want to upgrade to automatic.

Tilt Steering - 50% - this is becoming more and more standard, so once again, if you don’t have it and don’t buy it, you will be behind the times!

Options not worth it:

Rear Entertainment Systems - 27.7% - every year there are new, better systems coming out. In five years, DVD players might not even be in existence (that may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.)  Not worth the money.

Navigation Systems - 26.1% - for years, these systems have been depreciating faster than the cars they are in.  You need to update the systems with current map discs, and even if you do this, the technology becomes outdated and you are stuck with the system since its in your dash.  Skip it.

A couple of other options were mentioned in the article, but for the most part, you will lose at least half of the money it costs for the options due to depreciation.  That’s hard for me to swallow, and I will remember this next time I’m asked at a dealership if I want to upgrade. Hopefully you will as well. 

www.prlog.org

I found an article written by Matt Nauman of the San Jose Mercury News that talks about the new Volvo XC60 cossover utility vehicle that has a technology available so that the car can brake itselft to avoid a fender bender.  The technology is called City Safety, which is a low-speed collision-avoidance technology that comes with the new 2010 Volvo XC60.

Here how City Safety works.  a windshield-mounted laser sends infrared rays out as far as 18 feet in front of the vehicle.  Then a computer analyzes the rays reflected back from any object ahead of the car, and if the computer decides that a crash is imminent, it automatically brakes the vehicle.  Interesting, right?  The City Safety should help to prevent low-speed crashes that happen when a driver fails to notice that the car in front of them stopped or slowed down.  The system does not require any input from the driver.  Volvo thinks that this system could reduce the number of low-speed collisions by half.        

There are several newer technologies in cars such as telling you if you are falling asleep at the wheel, or if a car is in your blind spot.  If you drift from your lane, the car warns you as well.  The good news is that all of these technologies are saving lives, and I’m sure there is better technology to come for us in the future that will become standard in vehicles just like airbags are.

So, you are just a few days late on your car payment. What’s the big deal, right? Well, it is a huge deal and as a matter of fact, your car can be shut off, meaning the engine is turned off.  This could happen if you are late on your car payment. Now, I guess I would assume that if you are late one time, this probably isn’t going to happen, but be careful. I wouldn’t fool with this. How embarrassing. You are on a dinner date, and after dinner you go to drive her home and wham! your car won’t start. Oops!

There are several companies out there that make these shut off devices according to aol.com.  One manufacturer’s, Passtime, sales have gone up 33% this past year.  They are selling about 2000 units a month, but expect that to go up to 14,000-15,000 a month by the end of the year.  Right now, the shut off devices are mainly being used for subprime auto loans.  That means loans that are given to people with bad credit.  They are higher risk loans. Therefore, it makes sense that something needs to be done in order to try to ensure that the lending company doesn’t lose too much money on these loans.  Another feature of these shut off devices is a GPS system.  That way, if needed, the company can find these vehicles easier when they are repossessed.  I won’t be surprised though if more dealerships and lending companies start using these devices as well. Why wouldn’t you really?  I guess they are probably expensive to install, but it definitely lowers the risk.  Also, there are more and more people that are having problems paying their bills. Unfortunately times are changing and maybe in the future it will be standard to have a shut off device on your vehicle.  Who knows…..   

How the world is technologically changing.  I found an article on autoweek.com about WiFi becoming available in vehicles. The advances are somewhat overwhelming, because today its one thing but by tomorrow something much better is even available.  Starting next month, the new Cadillac CTS will have an option available for dealer-installed equipment that will allow people in or around the car to use laptops and get on the internet.  The equipment provider is Autonet Mobile Inc.  The target users are the back seat passengers. They do not need DVD players anymore. They can just boot up their laptops and use Facebook instead! 

The system works by using a router to get internet signals through cell data networks.  The system costs about $499 and then there is a monthly fee of around $30 for the internet service.  Not too bad, especially if you travel a lot.  The front seat driver can use the system too in order to streamline music if they wanted to. One little problem could happen with this WiFi system….distraction. Technically, the driver could surf the internet while driving, but Autonet Mobile and Cadillac hope that people are smarter than that, and save the surfing for the front passenger or the back seat passengers. What a nice piece of technology that will be available on these cars. I bet they will be popular when they become available for sale.