You are driving to work just like its any regular day, the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and the traffic is light. When the traffic is light you think you must be lucky, because usually at this time of day, traffic is really bad. Then all of a sudden up ahead, you start to see the flashing of brake lights. What is going on? Traffic must be getting bad, or maybe there is an accident. Who knows? Anyway, the traffic starts to slow and people are stomping on their brakes. Now stomping on brakes causes a chain reaction. For miles and miles, the traffics are slowing down. Why is this? You just can’t figure it out. You hope that there is an accident or something. Not that you want anyone to get in an accident, but you want an explanation for what is going on. You drive for miles and nothing, just stop and go traffic. Then, up ahead in the distance, you see it. On the side of the road, hiding behind a group of trees, is a traffic cop. He is just sitting there with his radar out. Now, I know that he is just doing his job, but I think that there is a more honest way of catching speeder, than sit there on the side of the road and check the speed of every driver. He is causing traffic problems and congestion for miles, all I hopes of catching just one person who is late for work. I think that there should be a law against this type of speeding trap during times of heavy traffic. All it does is freak people out and make them nervous. When you get nervous you drive bad. And bad driving causes accidents. Cops are one of the main problems of traffic jams.
We all live and love on this big blue marble, but how many of us actually care about what we are doing to it? If we all showed some concern with the pollution, maybe we could change the way we live. You would not drink a glass of water that was murky, so why do all agree to breathe air that is hazy. Hazy is not a weather element it is from pollution. That is why I decided to run my car on water, it leaves nothing but water in emissions. If everyone drove a “green” vehicle, it would be easier to breathe.
When my husband told me he wanted to convert our cars, my first thought was oh no. But I did come around and I wanted to know what it would take to run my car on water. I did not even know that was possible. My husband explained the process to me and showed me a website about it. He even showed me how much money it would save us in the long run. We could pay down our debt with the amount we would be saving in the long run. I agreed that it was a good idea and I watched the savings start rolling in.
People are always asking me what the most reliable car is to purchase. You know it took me quite a while to figure this out as I grew up mainly because I grew up in a family with recessive genes when it came to purchasing vehicles. My grandfather (the one who would sing Italian love songs after a glass of wine on my dad’s back patio) was in love with Cadillacs. Picture this 5′, 6″ graying guy who looked like the typical image of the Mafia boss driving his 43-foot long El Dorado down the street and you start to understand what I’m talking about.
My grandfather had almost no problems with those Cadillacs since he bought a new one every 2 or 3 years. But he didn’t seem to get the idea that was a very expensive approach to car purchasing (the biggest hit to depreciation in a car’s value is usually in the first 3 years as most of us know). But it made him happy and that’s what mattered. And he had a ready source to purchase the aging vehicles. My dad.
Back in those days Cadillacs tended to hold up pretty well. Although they did come with a lot of new fangled gadgets such as one my dad referred to as “an electric eye” that would automatically dim the lights after about 5 seconds of blinding the oncoming driver. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s something that Cadillacs came with or my dad installed it aftermarket. What I am sure of is it didn’t work all that well as can be evidenced by a string of oncoming drivers that drove off hair pin turns after being blinded by my dad’s “cool” technology gadget.
Today, though, I don’t own any Cadillacs. My mother and sister also finally gave up their Cadillac addictions through a 12-step program. We’re pretty much an all Lexus family at this point for our primary vehicles - since even auto repair shop owners get tired of having to have their vehicles serviced. Lexus vehicles hold up really well. But let’s take a look at my personal experience with my current set of vehicles to really get under the hood of this question.
I have a 1998 Lexus LS400, a 1999 Range Rover and a 1993 Mercedes 300e. So let’s compare how well they have held up. The Lexus has 102,000 miles on it and over the last 8 years I’ve put maybe $3000 retail equivalent dollars (meaning what a person who doesn’t own an auto repair shop would pay) into it, including 2 rounds of tires and all the services it requires. It has never broken in any way. The Ranger Rover has 110,000 miles on it and I’ve put in the equivalent retail service dollars of about $3,000 in the past year alone! The Mercedes has probably had an average of about $3000 total in the 7 years we’ve owned it. It has 132,000 miles on it. I’ve also owned a 1987 Mercedes 300e with 60,000 miles and a 1989 260e with 60,000 miles. Those cars cost me $2500 each every year I owned them! But neither of those cars ever broke down (the money was in things like air conditioning, interior lights, maintenance and leaks). Go figure all that variability
But that speaks to how I would answer folks when they ask about our shop’s experience with different vehicles. In our shop the Lexus’s still reign king for less problems than any other vehicle that comes into us. They are just amazingly well built cars. Every other car that comes in has been variable and fairly dependent on how it was treated by it’s owners. Of course some brands are seemingly more prone to problems than others. As they say, “your mileage may vary”.
Frank Bellucci is the President of Performance Motors in Austin, Texas. In addition, he likes to think of himself as a rather funny person. His wife doesn’t agree. But that’s OK. Frank seems to have limitless funny experiences with cars, one of his great passions in life. You can catch Frank driving down 183 in Austin in his Land Rover. He loves his Rover more than wine. And he really likes wine (just not at the same time). Anyhow, look for articles that have good information with a bit of humor in the coming months! Visit Frank at http://www.perfmotors.com
Funny as it may seem, the most neglected thing in a car are the
seat covers. Most people are fascinated with what their cars
look like but tend to neglect its interior facilities; much less
its auto seat covers. Basically, auto seat covers were not
invented without any purpose. Auto seat covers are just as
important as any other part of your car. Do not wait until you
car seats are already soiled from dirt and another harmful
elements. Go get your car seats the best auto seat covers so as
to keep them in top shape.
- Universal, Standard Covers
One of the fittings of the auto seat covers is the Universal
fit. As its name implies, universal fit covers is ideal to
almost all kinds of car seats, whether it be a low-back or a
high-back bucket seat. Universal auto seat covers are very easy
to set up and they are easy to remove as well. The only thing
that needs to be considered is the fact that the universal seat
covers are not suitable for car seats with side-impact airbags.
- Custom Covers
The next type of fitting auto seat covers is the custom auto
seat covers. As it name implies, the custom fit auto seat covers
is tailor-made for every specified and measured car seats. These
custom fittings are precisely patterned according to the make-up
and measurements of the car seats. Thus, every details of the
car seats are considered and mulled over. Among the three
fittings of auto seat covers, custom fittings are the perfect
items that are specifically designed to make a properly covered
car seats.
- Hybrid Semi-Customs
For those who cannot afford custom fittings of auto seat covers,
there is one other type of fitting - the semi-custom fit.
Semi-custom fit covers may not render the same features as that
of custom fittings but, nevertheless, they are good enough to
protect your car seats from harmful elements that may destroy
the durability of your car seats.
1. The soft touch
The most common and widely-used auto seat covers are made of
poly-cotton. This type of material offers a soft touch while at
the same time rendering optimum shielding against harmful
elements.
2. Sheepskin
The next material common to most auto seat covers is the
sheepskin seat covers. Because of their capability to warm
occupants in cold conditions and cool occupants in warm
conditions, this type of material is often claimed to be the
thermostat of nature.
3. UV protected sheets
The next best material to consider for your auto seat covers is
the Velour seat covers. Like the Poly-cotton seat covers, the
Velour seat covers also render soft velvety touch to its user.
What makes it different from the others is that it is treated
with an exceptional amount of ultraviolet coating. This, in
turn, will protect your car seats from imminent color fading.
