There are a few things that you should have in your car at all times for safety reasons. It doesn’t cost a lot, but it will be worth it in an emergency.  Driverside.com gives a list of the important items.  

1.  Owner’s Manual - people love to take their owner’s manual out in order to make room in the glove box for other things, but you never know when you need to know what a warning light is or other information that only your owner manual can tell you.

2.  Jumper Cables - I’ve wished that I had jumper cables on several different occasions and then was at the mercy of good samaritans to help me out. 

3.  Distilled Water - You could use it for yourself if you are stranded or to put in your radiator to prevent overheating.

4.  First-Aid Kit - You never know when you might need something.  We use our first-aid kit a lot for band-aids for the kids.

5.  Duct Tape and Rope (wouldn’t have thought of this) - these aren’t necessary for life-saving situations, but could just be helpful if you are transporting stuff or something in your car breaks.

6.  Updated Registration and Insurance Card - Hopefully you don’t need these, but you never know when you might be speeding or something and need to show the police your information.

7.  Blanket or Towel - this is to keep you warm if you get stranded. 

8.  Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman - multi-tools will definitely come in handy at some point I’m sure.

9.  Tire Pressure Gauge - it’s important to have the right pressure for your tires so this is really important to make sure that you have the pressures right at all times.

10.  Snacks - yet again if you are stranded or stuck in a traffic jam, snacks come in handy.

11.  Napkins, paper towels, or tissues - You need them. We eat and drink in our cars, and there will be spills. I spilled coffee yesterday in my cup holders, and there was a big puddle and I had nothing to clean it up. Annoying more than anything.

I think we can all handle buying these items. Obviously some are not as important as others, but all 11 will probably come in handy at some point.

If you don’t have a perfect credit score and you want to buy a car, you are in luck…well in better shape now.  Back in the day (well a few years back,) the approval rate for subprime borrowers (those with credit scores of below 620) was about 60%. Last year the approval rate for these guys was 5% and now it’s about 9%. Just a little more conservative in our loans these days.  

Also, subprime borrowers have to put large down payments and their interest rates will be at least 10%.  The thing is that the people with bad credit make up a huge portion of the auto sales market.   

Looking for my good news?  Well here it is.  The numbers are getting better. More people are getting approved for loans with not great credit scores.  If you try to get a loan from a local or regional bank they seem to be more relaxed in their loan approvals.  Also, the average interest rate is down about a percentage point from last year at this time to 6.3% so that’s good news too. 

Everyone in the auto market and elsewhere is still so unsure of our economy (with good reason.)  The auto industry seems to be slowly but surely making its way up and out of its troubles, but financial companies still need to be careful when offering their car loans. It’s understandable, but still doesn’t make the guy happy that has a poor credit score get the car he always wanted, or any car for that matter. Best advice, get your credit score up and then go try to get a car loan.  Good luck!

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The Smart ForTwo car is now adding a partner, the electric version.  Smart used to be a somewhat popular vehicle selling 24,622 Smart vehicles in 2008, and if more were available probably could have sold even more, and then sales have diminished greatly.  Smart has been trying to figure out what to do to put them back into the black.  One major problem with the Smart is that you can get a car for about the same price, similar fuel economy, more power, and room for more than 2 people.  The Smart really didn’t offer anything to separate themselves, other than it’s a cute looking car, as many feel. 

Now comes along a Smart electric car.  There will be 250 sold in the U.S. this fall as a trial before the electric car is officially introduced in 2012 as a 2013 model.  You can only lease these vehicles. It will cost $599/mo. for 4 years with a 10,000 annual mileage limit.  Each car will have a “black box” to collect information to work out any minor problems before 2012. 

Nothing will change with the interior or exterior of the existing Smart ForTwo, because the original Smart was designed as an electric car.  There isn’t really any power to this electric Smart.  It uses a 30-kilowatt electric motor with a horsepower equal to 42.  This vehicle has a top speed of 62 and according to some reviews, rides “choppy.”  You can fully charge the battery in 8 hours with a standard 220-volt appliance line.  You get about 80 miles between charges. 

The couple of reviews I read were not fabulous.  As I said earlier, other than the “fun” aspect of the Smart, there isn’t anything else to offer that would truly make you want to choose this car over another.  I’m not interested, but I’m sure there are some people out there that will be very interested in test driving and buying the Smart electric car.

Here’s my one stop shopping car news for the week.

GM is offering an 8 year or 100,000 miles warranty on the Chevrolet Volt battery.  This is a nice guarantee for the new owners of the Volt when it goes on sale in November.  This warranty is better than any other GM warranty which is 5 year or 100,000 miles.  GM must feel pretty confident with the new Volt battery.

New York City just opened its first public electric charging station.  This is an effort to try to encourage NYC residents to go with an environmentally friendly vehicle.  There will be 100 more public charging stations installed around NYC between now and September 2011.

Chevrolet is allowing new owners of the 2011 Corvette ZR1 and Zo6 models to have the opportunity to help build the engines for their cars.  For about $5800 plus the cost of travelling to Detroit, you can go to the GM Performance Build Center and work side-by-side with the professional engine builders.  At the end, you can personalize your engine with your name. Definitely worth $5800!  Not sure, but I’m sure that there are definitely lots of Corvette owners that will be interested.

What else can I tell you of importance this week?  Detroit brands top Asian and European counterparts in a study of the most appealing models.  Porsche is the number 1 brand of appeal for the 6th straight year.  Lincoln and Cadillac had the highest appeal scores of the domestic brands.  Detroit’s three automakers had an average of 787 out of 1000 points in the 2010 Automotive Performance study done by J.D. Power and Associates.  This average is a 13 point lead over the average score for European and Asian brands.

I think this is all I have for you for top car news this week.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

A nice bonus of hybrids these days are the quiet rides (and of course the great gas mileage!)  The days of silent hybrids are just about over.  Congress, with the help of automakers and advocates for the blind, are adding sound performance requirements for hybrids and electric cars.  The silent hybrids make it hard for pedestrians and the blind to hear them and use those cues in order to safely cross the road, etc.  It sounds kind of dumb, but makes sense.  People know the sound of an accelerating vehicle, and then to have no sounds, can definitely cause some problems and danger for some, especially the blind that use sound cues as a way of life.

Of course there are always those that don’t feel the same way.  Those people, mostly green car advocates, say that we need to reduce the noise of the trucks, buses, and motorcycles, and then you could hear the hybrids.  Noise pollution will be increased with these new requirements on hybrids and electric cars and the green car advocates say that adding noise is not the answer.

Also as of right now, each automaker is coming up with their own sound for their hybrid.  Ford feels like the sound of the hybrids and electric cars should be a standard sound and not like cell phones with each having their own sound.  “This can cause confusion” they say. I agree. I think that Congress and groups make a decision on the best sound for the hybrids and then all automakers use it.  I like that idea the best.

Well the days of silent hybrids are over.  I guess we need to just move along and accept it. The noise will be for a good cause and I’m going to bet the sound won’t be too bad. We shall see….

The 2011 Volvo C70 is a hot car.  It may not be the top sports car out there for sale, but it is worth a look for sure.  It has a hardtop that is retractable and lowers into the trunk at the push of a button.  I personally think that IF I had a convertible I would want a hardtop.  They seem safer and I like the hardtop look better.  So, Steven Cole Smith of the Orlando Sentinel says that there is a few minors complaints with the Volvo C70, even though he recommends it.  “Instruments and controls” are alittle dated, and the seats are perfect for short people but just adequate for average people.  You lose half the trunk space when you have the top down as well.  Navigation system kindof sticks out and looks like an afterthought according to Smith.  But with these negatives, Smith says “this is a good car.”

The 2010 Volvo C70 has a base price of $39,950 with options that can make the price at least $46,550.  The 2011 C70 will have some style updates, but no mechanical changes.  The fuel economy is 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.  The Volvo C70 has a turbocharged 2.5-liter 227 horsepower five-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive and a five-speed automatic transmission.

Even though there are some imperfections, I would call it, I think that the Volvo C70 is a forgotten convertible that needs to get remembered. I like Volvos, and this is definitely one model to consider.

I thought it would be appropriate to give some summer driving tips since most of the East Coast is in an awful heat wave, as well as the rest of the country in mid-summer as well. Forbesautos.com gave some summer driving tips, and I thought of a few important ones in my mind as well.

Park Wisely -parking under trees may give you shade, but they can cause your car to be a mess as well.  Birds live in trees, they poop on your car, and bird poop can actually chip paint on your car.

Check fluid levels -this is to prevent your car from overheating.

Take your time.  Drive smoothly and use cruise control. By not rapidly accelerating and braking aggressively can save you money on gas.

Watch your weight.  If you are going on vacation, make sure that you take everything out of your car (or on top) as soon as you get to your destination. It take more power (and gas) to carry heavier loads in your car.

Rotate your tires.

Check your tire pressure monthly and/or before you go on a trip.

Take roads outside the norm.  It may take longer but travelling on Route 1 (Coastal Highway) in California or Florida’s Overseas Highway have unbelievable views that make the longer trip well worth it.  I personally love the Coastal Highway. I’ve travelled on it from San Francisco to San Diego. Absolutely beautiful.

Take it slow if you are towing a boat. It takes a lot of gas to travel on highways at high speeds, run the A/C, and tow a boat. Slower uses less gas and therefore saves some money.

Make sure you have the right tires. Basically make sure the snow tires are away for the summer.

Make sure you have a gallon of water in your car….just in case.  It will come in handy if your car happens to overheat or your A/C breaks and you are ridiculously hot.  My sister-in-law had a car that had no A/C and to prevent overheating, she drove with the heat on. She needed a gallon of water to drink in order to survive!

Enjoy your summer and travel safely!

So, I try to only give you the summary of auto news about once every few weeks, but I found some interesting stuff over the last few days that I wanted to make sure all of you saw too.  So, this is part 2 of my car news for the week.

There is a company, Terrafugia, that says that it will be selling a car-plane to us by the end of 2011.  This car-plane will have wings that will unfold for flying (this will only take 1 minute to do) and fold back up for driving.  You will need a runway to take off and land, but then you can fold up the wings and drive yourself home!  The base price is about $194,000, but realistically it will cost a great deal more if you want a radio, transponder, or GPS.  You can also get a full-plane parachute which might come in handy.

Are you looking to buy a Chevy Volt?  Well, if you live in Texas, New York, Connecticut, Washington DC, California, Michigan, or New Jersey you may be in luck.  GM announced that California, Washington, Austin, TX, and New York City will be the first ones to see the Chevy Volt in November of this year. GM expects to quickly run out of them and then Michigan, NJ, CT, and the rest of TX and NY will receive the Volt in 2011.  All 50 states will get the Volt in about 12 to 18 months from the debut.  The Volt will be about $32,780 before tax credits.

Edmunds.com says that in many cases it’s cheaper to buy a new car than a used one.  The prices for used cars are high and you can get subsidized loans for a new car, whereas used car loan interest rates are usually high.  Here’s a crazy statistic….the average price of a 3 year old car is 11.1% higher than it was last year.
Happy 4th of July by the way!  Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend.

I was thinking about used cars today and how to get the best deals without dealing with salespeople at dealerships and used car shops.  I hate salespeople trying to win you over. Then I thought about eBay.  Anyone ever bought a car from eBay?  I’ve bought a lot of things from it, but not a car.  I do know someone, personally, that has bought a few vehicles through eBay.  He’s had no problems and would probably recommend to anyone.

Before I starting researching eBay and car buying, I would never have even given a thought to buying a vehicle from eBay. I just think that I would need to see the car and possibly drive it before making this huge purchase.  Now, I have changed my opinion somewhat.  If you go to eBay and check out any of the cars available for sale (there are tons of vehicles,)  each vehicle must go through a pretty extensive screening through AutoCheck, so that makes you feel better.  People do this all the time.  If you make sure that you go with a seller that has good feedback and I would make sure they’ve sold quite a few vehicles, why not. What really makes it different than going to some used car dealership?  You find out a tremendous amount about the vehicle. The couple that I checked out gave elaborate details of things that were wrong with the cars too. I really like that, and that’s probably why there were 31 bids on a vehicle that needed some motor work.  People like honesty.  I think I am seriously going to consider buying a car from eBay next time.  Maybe you should think about doing it too. No salespeople involved!  That may be enough reason for me!

Edmunds.com has compiled a list of the top used vehicles from 2003-2008 based on safety, reliability, value, and availability.  These are the kind of lists that I really like. I like to see lists of good used vehicles.  These days people need and want used.  So, here’s the list of the top used vehicles.

Compact: Hyundai Elantra 2003-2008

Midsize Sedan: Toyota Camry 2003-2008 (before pedal problems)

Large Sedan: Hyundai Azera 2006-2008 - weird choice to me but what do I now I guess.

Coupe: BMW 3 Series 2003-2008

Convertible: Mazda Miata 2003-2008

Wagon: Pontiac Vibe 2003-2008

Compact SUV/Crossover: Honda CR-V 2003-2008

Midsize SUV/Crossover: Mitsubishi Endeavor 2004-2008

Large SUV/Crossover: Chevrolet Tahoe 2003-2008

Minivan: Honda Odyssey 2003-2008

Compact truck: Toyota Tacoma 2003-2008

Large truck: Ford F-150 2003-2008

Luxury: Infiniti G35-2003-2008

Hybrid - Toyota Prius 2004-2008

So, if you don’t have the money for a new car at this time, I would trust Edmunds and take a look at one of these used vehicles.