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Archive for August, 2007
Driving a rented leased car? If so, here’s one way to avoid getting whacked for exorbitant wear & tear charges once your time is up. The leasing company wants to be sure they’ll get the vehicle’s assigned residual value. [How much the car is worth at the end of the lease]
The “Excessive Usage” charge for either tires and/or rims obviously runs a lot higher than the cost of a complete set. The most common lease agreements require the stock tires (or a new set) be returned with at least 4/32″ of tread depth - and be evenly worn. Pretty hard to do when unless you’re only using the car to drive the kids to school and pick up groceries.
So many of today’s cars have improved performance capabilities - and besides, it’s just so tempting to squeal the wheels in your new ride!
And, if you do happen to burn the stock tires down to exposed Kevlar status, you’ll need to outfit your car with the original equipment specs. (size, speed rating, etc) This only adds to your ownership expense.
A new wheel/tire set is an easy add-on; it’s the best way to spice up your ride - and even improve performance.
Want better handling? Snap on low profile, plus sized tires & larger rims. Improve your traction with upgraded winter tires to get the most out of SUV or truck’s performance.
Take off the original tires and stash them away until you turn in the vehicle. You’ll have the piece of mind knowing your wheels and tires won’t ding you for any extra charges.
Plus - you’ll have a killer wheel set once you drive home your next used car.
The ‘Net Generation loves driving their cars. They also love their mobile devices.
Unfortunately, they love doing them at the same time as if they have suddenly acquired, and mastered, ninja-like skills.
Nearly 30% of the respondents to a AAA & Seventeen magazine survey said they text message while driving. I live, and work, near malls and I know that I see a lot more than 30% of younger drivers using their mobile devices while cruising around in Daddy’s late-model Lexus.
One 18 year old survey respondent said, “I do it all the time. Drive with one hand, and I text with the other one and look back and forth. But I’m used to texting because I’ve been doing it for over over four years. ”
That’s four years experience texting - two years driving. Scary.
Other kids tried to rationalize it by saying it’s the same thing as changing the radio station. And it doesn’t just stop there.
Some of their cars are loaded up with so much extra entertainment gadgets it looks like a mobile display unit for Circuit City. DVD screens, Navigation units, Playstations, iPod’s, back-up cameras, extra gauges and on and on. (You don’t need to drive the car anywhere - just sit in it, you’ll have a good time sitting still.)
Another survey found that 89% said text messaging while driving should be banned; students in driver’s education have listed text messaging as their top distraction.
Just recently, here in Rochester NY, five high school graduates died tragically when their SUV ran into a truck. Phone records showed that the driver’s cell phone had received and sent text messages seconds before the head-on collision.
More states need to ban cell phones and text messaging while driving. Washington state banned texting while driving. Virginia recently banned both devices for drivers under 18. New York already bans cell phones and is considering the text message ban as well.
Tell younger drivers to put down the mobile device…pls txt me ltr:)
So stylish and so fun.
A suspsension engineered a-la BMW, a 6-speed manual transmission and 168 hp & 162 lb-ft of torque sums up this go-kart on 16 inch wheels nicely. (The suspension borrows a lot from the 3-Series’ elements)
Sticking with British tradition, the Mini Cooper S was designed to be affordable, compact, stylish and fun to drive. And that was back in 1959. Today’s technology outfits this little road-rocket with run-flat tires, seat-height adjustments and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Everyone always comments about it’s size and how it would hold up in an accident. The standard side airbags, head curtains for the front and read passengers and the fixed roll bars were all put there for a reason: 4/5 stars for frontal impacts, 4/5 stars for side impacts and the “Best Pick” rating in IIHS frontal offset crash testing.
My favorite part of this 2005 Mini Cooper S is simply the interior styling - all glitzted up in silver…everywhere you look and yet it’s not gaudy or cheesy at all.
Still plenty of time to enjoy this (eventual) classic. Put the top down, grab some friends and enjoy the rest of the summer in one of the best used cars you can find.
