Finding the best family car remains a high priority as families take more road-trip vacations, children’s activities fill up the daily schedule and vehicle technology takes another giant leap forward.
Kelley Blue Book’s 2010 Top 10 Best Family Cars is a diverse list of vehicles including large size SUV’s down to smaller, more economical wagons. Ford and Chevrolet took up six of the ten spots with three vehicles each.
KBB.com considered four factors when selecting the Best Family Car winners:
Fuel efficiency/economy
Kid-friendliness
Overall vehicle capabilities
Resale Value
Top 10 Best Family Cars:
Chevy Suburban
Honda Odyssey
Chevy Traverse
Ford Flex
Subaru Outback
Chevy Equinox
Honda Accord Crosstour
Ford Taurus
Ford Fusion Hybrid
Hyundai Elantra Touring
Now, here’s how you can be the ultimate family hero:
Do your research & find the vehicle that fits your family’s activity level, space requirements and most importantly your budget.
Schedule a test drive with your entire family. Don’t drive it alone – this has to make everyone happy.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Simply order the exact vehicle you want. Yes, you can actually order a car.
Compare:
A 2010 Chevy Suburban has an MSRP of $41,585. A used 2007 Chevrolet Suburban is only $27,388. That’s $14,197 in savings you’ll need sooner rather than later. You know it.
GM’s new Camaro is striking; having the 6.2 liter, 426 horsepower monster dressed up as a police car is simply daunting. Police departments could just park one on the side of the road to deter speeders. Plus, imagine the economic boost to GM if police departments across the country purchased one. (Or, the potential savings if they picked up a used Chevy Camaro). Who knows, maybe it could be enough to inspire more recruits with hopes of getting behind the wheel of a Camaro cop car.
The new Camaro has already appeared in many different forms: As a Transformer, the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Concept model, the Camaro GS Racecar Concept, the Camaro Black Concept, the Camaro Chroma Concept, the Camaro Dusk Concept, the Camaro Graphics Concept and even the Jay Leno Camaro. So – why not as a real Camaro Cop Car?
Here’s four examples of municipalities who made the switch. (Notice one is even foreign)
Once you get past the size, interior color and the need to re-charge your battery, could you learn to enjoy driving an electric concept vehicle without a steering wheel?
Rinspeed seems to think you will, with their new concept vehicle called the UC? Clever.
So many of our customers have basic car maintenance questions and just don’t know where to turn for trusted information. After several conversations with our service department manager, Scott Pfluke, I realized the answers to our customer’s concerns are a lot closer than they realized.
Have you ever had the chef, in a fine restaurant, ask you how the meal was? This changes the entire experience; the chef is a professional, he cares about the meal and knows the importance of your feedback. He also knows the power of your voice if you aren’t happy. Well, Scott is our service Chef with over 20 years of body shop, parts and service experience. He’s ASE certified, Ford Certified and received the GM Mark of Excellence award for service – he knows his stuff.
Scott recently told me about a customer’s timing belt issue. He lost me at timing belt. Here’s two simple items that Scott pointed out that drivers commonly overlook.
Did you know that not every car has a timing belt? Timing belts are simply a rubber strip that helps control the timing and motion of your entire engine. It’s little wonder that this eventually wears out and needs replacing. (Some vehicles have a timing chain which doesn’t need to be changed.)
Unfortunately, changing a belt isn’t a simple task due to the number of parts which rely on the timing belt itself. In most cases, the engine needs to be pulled apart to replace the timing belt. Each car has a different maintenance schedule. Recommended maintenance suggests to change it every 60,000 miles. It’s very important you adhere to this routine; a snapped timing belt can spell the end of your engine. It’s not recommended you change a timing belt yourself – this is definitely the time to turn to a trusted service professional.
One of the biggest car maintenance tips will always be the oil change. A lot of people don’t understand why this is – and no, it’s not to sell more oil. Changing your oil every 3-5k miles stops the engine from getting sludgy and helps other vital engine parts work together and prevent premature engine aging & damage. Oil changes are a simple DIY project. If doing it at home, consider replacing your oil filter as well. If it’s been a long time between changes, have a professional look at it to ensure it hasn’t caused any additional problems.
Keep your car safe and in the best condition possible.
Let us know of you have any car maintenance questions Our Chef is always happy to help…
n most cases, the engine must be almost completely pulled apart to replace the timing belt. Each car will have a different timing belt maintenance schedule; however the average is to change it at around every 60,000 miles or 100,000 km. It is very important that you adhere to this routine as a snapped timing belt can spell the end of your engine. It is not recommended to change your timing belt yourself; however this car maintenance tip is vital so I felt I should mention it here.
Obviously one of the biggest car maintenance tips involves changing the ENGINE OIL This should be done every 3000 miles or so (5000 km). Changing the oil stops the engine from getting sludgy. When this happens the parts will not fluidly work together, which can cause a whole stack of problems. Oil changes can be done yourself and generally cost no more than $20 for the oil. You will want to change the oil filter every second oil change as well. These can be bought for around $15 or less, depending on your type of car.
Tires are another important car maintenance tip. Your tires should be regularly inspected for wear and punctures. Tires should be replaced every 2-3 years, depending on tire type and what sort of surfaces you drive on.
These are just a few car maintenance tips which hopefully will help you to keep your car in safe and perfect condition!
Every industry has its own futuristic visionary-type of person. Automotive concept car designers are tasked with a formidable challenge – trying to put their finger on the pulse of future automotive technology, consumer behavior and design trends. Sometimes they nail it and others are simply awful.
Here’s an impressive collection of concept cars that just didn’t [...]
Kudos to Cars.com. They’re the first A-list, third party site to push out an iPhone automotive app for new and used car mobile shoppers. Their official announcement highlighted these features:
The Cars.com automotive app gives mobile car shoppers access to the most popular functionality on the Cars.com website. Shoppers can:
Insurance.com decided to put together a snarky list of the Top 10 Most Dangerous Drivers by Profession:
Attorney/Judge
Financial professionals
Government worker
Bartender or Waiter
Business Professionals
Dog Groomer
Marketing/Advertising professionals
Barber/Stylist
Coach
Nurse
And which drivers are the least dangerous? Athletes & Homemakers. Is your job on the list? Does it make you a [...]
Motor Trend launched their own automotive iPhone app and this has quickly become one of my favorite automotive apps.
Within two clicks you’ll have access to Motor Trend automotive news, vehicle reviews, photos, images and extras like images of upcoming, future cars.
The loading screen is a slick dashboard design and provides a simple navigation to six [...]
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