I'll Notice The Dirt

As a car enthusiast I notice a lot of things, that most drivers simply over look.  Furthermore, my keen eye for the automobile allows me to help my friends, family,and even neighbors.  It's not something I can control, it's something I was born with, developed, and now is ingrained into my subconscious.  These are the things I cannot ignore and always look for, even before getting in the vehicle.

Low Tire Pressure

Yes, the first thing I look at when walking up to any vehicle, whether I'm driving or not, is the tire pressure level.  I'm not talking about having a flat, I mean I can look at most vehicles and tell if you are 10-15 lbs of pressure low.  Yes, it's important, having the proper tire pressure means more than just better gas mileage, it also translates into safety.  Furthermore, ride quality suffers if the tires are not properly inflated, which leads me to my next inspection point.

Consistency Of Drive Quality

Obviously I'm familiar with how my vehicle drives and am in tune to any out of place noise, vibration, or quirk.  But my super human abilities reach even further, I can sense issues with other peoples cars simply by riding along.  I may not be able to point out the exact problem, but I am capable of knowing if something is out of place.  This uncanny ability is both a gift and a punishment.

Body Imperfections

Another curse that I am forced to live with, the inability to ignore blemishes in automotive body work.  It tears at my brain and eyes, that smudge in the paint, that dent in the fender, I can pull my eyes off of it.  The good news is that I'll gladly suggest to you the best way to repair and buff out these problems, but rest assured, that just because you think it's not noticable, potential car buyers and enthusiasts know that it's there.

Throttle Hesitation

My wife can't tell, some of my friends can't tell, but no matter what vehicle it is, I can feel a throttle hesitation.  This is typically caused by dirty injectors, bad gas, or just a floppy pedal.  All of these are easy to remedy and can be taken care of by proper maintenace and the addition of a throttle body cleaner to your fuel system.  Being the buff that I am, I prefer running some Sea Foam through my vacum hoses and added to my fuel on occasions.

Conclusion

Just because you don't notice these imperfections, hicups, or annoyances doesn't mean others around you don't.  This point becomes increasingly important if you are looking to sell your vehicle anytime soon.  Ask a friend with super human abilities like myself, to make sure it passes the automotive enthusiast test.

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Playing video games is probably my only other hobby besidse working on the Mustang in my garage.  Therefore I'm always on the lookout for a quality racing game or automtive themed gaming title.  Today I came across the news and screen shots of the new Burnout Paradise PC game, which has me salivating.

The screen shots below are amazing, but what's more interesting is how they plan on bringing the game to market.  The developer intends on offering a full version for a small period of time, for FREE.  That way you won't have to worry about being suckered into another game purchase, only to find out that the demo was not an accurate representation of the full game.  All features, online multiplayer, and other aspects of the full game will be available on the demo.

I'm stoked and plan on checking this out as soon as it's available, which should be some time in February 09.

It is possible with a little effort to slash the amount that you are paying for auto insurance by 50% by grasping a few simple ideas and facts about how auto insurance works and how the premiums are calculated. Once you grasp how it all works, you could save significant amounts on your premium not only this year but also every year.

The first thing you need is your auto insurance declarations page, if you don’t know what that is. Its one of the pages of your current policy, that sets out the details of your coverage.

You need to read through the details and be sure to make brief, but detailed notes of certain aspects of exactly what you are being covered for at the moment. You will first need to check that you are receiving all the discounts that you are liable for.

Auto insurance discounts can be given to you, for vehicle safety features that you car has fitted. These include air bags, make a note of what kind you have front, side, head and so on. Anti theft, systems can also attract a discount, especially electronic tracking devices.

Simple items like automatic seat belts can also give you a small discount. Don’t forget other safety items such as Traction control or ABS and any other features that your vehicle may be fitted with. Note down these, any other safety, and security devices fitted to the vehicle.

Next, go to the details of any deductibles that are included in the policy, all standard policies should carry a minimum of a $500 deductible. The reason for this is simple, if your policy has a $200 deductible, altering to $500 can save you 30-40% on your premium, on average that will save you $450.
Moving you’re deductable up to $1000 will then save you $650 per year on your premium. So simple math says if you don't have an accident for two years you will have saved $1300. If you should have an accident after 15 months, you will have still paid your premium twice, even after paying the $1000 you are still $300 in pocket. It’s a gamble to up your deductable, but the odds are stacked well in your favor.

Now move on to the property damage clause, let’s say that you are insured for $150,000. This covers you for damage to ‘property’ such as a house, a wall, a mailbox. So let us assume you hit a house, not common, but it can happen. How much damage would you have to inflict to need $150,000 worth of repairs? If you hit a wall how much could that cost, $5000? $10,000?

The truth is that this kind of risk is not very liable to amount to a huge bill; in reality, $50,000 should cover nearly all ‘property damage ‘possibilities.

Another thing to consider is if you have little or no net worth then your risk is minimal anyway, so maybe you should reduce the cover even further, down to your states minimum level.

Bodily injury liability will be next on your list; it covers all drivers and passengers of your vehicle and any other vehicle that you may collide with as well as all pedestrians.

The best way to calculate how much bodily injury cover you should have is to calculate your net worth; your insurance should be equal to that figure. You may currently be covered for $150,000, your net worth, what you are worth if you sold everything you own, may only be $30,000. So why would you need bodily injury that is several times what you are worth on paper?

The last thing for you to review is your uninsured or under-insured motorist cover, this cover increases your premium by around $200. The perception is that you will be covered if you are involved in an accident with a motorist who has little or no insurance.

This is incorrect if you have a comprehensive policy you are already covered, you don’t need this additional, double coverage. If your state doesn’t require that type of insurance, cancel it, if it does then reduce it to the minimum.

That is how four minutes can save you hundreds of dollars one your auto insurance premiums. There are other ways to make savings if you contact an online agent he will be able to show you other simple ways to save lots of money on your auto insurance premium.

Toyota is doing another push for the love it or loathe it Scion, with the special edition Scion Hot Lava xD.  This will be a very limited edition Scion with Toyota making only 2,000 units.  The Scion marketing ploy will entail 12 major cities, Website Banner Ads, and Newspaper ads all over the US.  This week it will be hard not to see some face of the Scion in your day to day life.

"Release Series vehicles give us the unique opportunity to communicate what our brand is about but with a twist," Jack Hollis, Scion's vp, said in a statement. "The smoking mobile billboards and street teams wearing the protective heat gear will engage consumers and bring additional awareness of the Scion brand and excitement to the xD RS 1.0's distinctiveness."

The Scion xD release marks the 5th Anniversary for Scion in the US and frankly it's being met with mixed reviews.  As far as a collectors car, time will tell, but for the giddy car lover in me I don't want one.  Of course, i was never one for the go-cart driving feel of the Toyota Scion.  But for a teenager who gets everything, $17,169 delivers the Toyota Scion Hot Lava xD.

The Honda FCX Clarity is starting to get some bad publicity, considering it's not as green as it seems.  According to industry analysts the Honda Hydrogen-Powered small size car is not the answer to our fuel problems and may be more disaster than relief.  First thing that comes to my mind is the famous fire ball known as The Hindenburg.

Furthermore it appears that Honda may be producing the FCX Clarity as nothing more than a publicity stunt.  Honda is planning to produce a very limited number of the Clarity, meaning 200, all pre-sold to actors and other big wigs.  Smells like they are looking cook up some advertising, but actually solve our addiction to gasoline...no.

After some closer inspection of the technologically advanced hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity, you realize your not really saving fossil fuels.  Electricity is still required to produce hydrogen and as we all know the majority of our electricity is still coming from burning fossil fuels.  Industry experts call this a displacement of pollution, not actually making it green at all.

Obviously none of this sounds nearly as good as just saying that the Honda FCX Clarity emits water from it's tail pipe instead of carbon dioxide.  Like most minorities, the cuter ones always get the most attention.

Hyundai has announced that they will be releasing a Lithium-Ion Hybrid Elantra model by next year.  To me that says they will have this giant energizer bunny that seats 4 available by January 09.  The problem is that I've seen dates like this come and go and if released too early causes nothing but battery recalls.

Despite all the technology it's only expected to produce less than 40mpg.  Don't get me wrong, this is great, but guessing at what the price tag will be I could still buy a lot more gas by buying a cheaper car than what this thing could save me.  $4 per gallon hurts, but if buying a $10,000 less car means I can put gas in my existing car for a further 8 years, so be it.

Spy photos of the next 2009 Nissan Maxima during testing this week. A few things to notice about the 09 Maxima is that it will be slightly larger than previous years and a redesigned flat grill. There may be more lurking under the camo, but that's all we can see for now in this upcoming Maxima.

Thanks to Edmunds for the leg work on the spy photos.