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Automotive Myths

We’re not sure where some of these car myths started. Things like mixing low- and high-octane gas to get an octane level higher than high—that had to be a contest between Dumb and Dumber. The campfire-story genesis doesn’t seem appropriate either, because some myths are actually based in fact, maybe old facts, but facts nonetheless. We’ll start with that old grudge move: Sugar in the gas tank...

Auto Insurance Basics

While we generally don't think twice about our automotive insurance once we've purchased a policy, all insurance experts advise us to reexamine our coverage every year just before it's time to renew. According to these same experts, we should also do our auto insurance homework long before we purchase that new vehicle...

Suburban Diesel

Owners of big SUVs have had to rely mostly on gasoline-guzzling V-8s to power their hefty rigs, but that's about to change. For years automakers have been hinting at the possibility of offering a greater number of fuel-efficient diesels in their domestic lineups of cars and trucks (in contrast to Europe where oil burners are in the majority). The latest news is that this is finally going to happen, but it's been a long time coming...

10 Tips for Choosing the Right Tires

It's a toss-up as to which is more unwelcome, purchasing tires or getting a full physical exam. There may be more pain buying tires because most people wait until it's urgent—or even critical—to start shopping. Here are some tips on how and when to select tires...

Aftermarket Parts vs. OEM Warranties

Capitalism is rooted in making a buck. Philosophically, the less one pays, the more one keeps. Trying to get a company to part with its money can be frustrating, even if you've parted with yours based on their warranty...

Auto Recalls: Fixing the Problem

If you find out about a safety recall by reading a report in a newspaper or magazine, or on an automotive web site, don't dash right down to the nearest dealership to demand immediate satisfaction. Wait a while before proceeding. An official notice should be coming by first-class mail, directly from the manufacturer, who is allowed a "reasonable time" to make arrangements for any necessary repairs...

College and Auto Insurance

While you are packing extra long sheets, the right laptop, and other electronics for your college-bound freshman, add auto insurance to your checklist. Whether your student is taking one of the family cars, his or her own set of wheels to campus, or is going to be without wheels, it will affect the family's auto insurance. While you are setting up final dental appointments, call your insurance company and find out how your insurance picture changes when your child squeals out of the driveway on the way to the university. Taking the time to do so could mean a few extra bucks in your family pocketbook plus the assurance that you are protecting your child away from home...

Diesel and the Aftermarket

Given the building demand for diesel power, there's another side of the coin to consider. What sort of aftermarket upgrades can be added to improve performance, so an oil burner is more akin to the gasoline-powered vehicles we're used to driving?..

Emission Condition

Thanks to the fractured individual policies and personal agendas of many state politicians, automotive emission regulations sadly do not comply throughout the country. In fact, it is California that essentially sets the standards—because it can. California has the most number of vehicles and, consequently, the highest amount of emissions and corresponding pollution levels. In the past, it was always the "other" 49 states and California. However, a number of states are now starting to either follow California's example, or chart a separate course, all typically in the name of controlling, or improving the environment. For the purposes of this article, we examined California's Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) regulations...

Federal ID Card

Legislation attached to the $82 billion military spending bill known as the REAL ID Act will require all adult U.S. citizens and legal residents to trade their state driving licenses for new, national, electronically readable federal ID cards by 2008. Passed by Congress in June of this year, the legislation needs Senate and Presidential approval before becoming law. Critics of the legislation say it poses a huge boondoggle at DMV counters as well as a sharp rise in fees...

Fending Off Jack Frost

Forest creatures and retirees have the right idea. They either sleep through the winter or migrate to warmer climates. Most of us don't have these options, though we may do our best to do both. So, as daylight dwindles down to a few hours, the frost builds up on the windshield and we pull out the parkas and mittens, take a look at the vehicle you assume will carry you through the season and make sure it's ready for the challenge..

From Storage to the Street

If Indiana Jones were a car guy, his idea of lost treasure might have been automotive artifacts instead of the lost ark. Even though "Raiders of the Old Car Barn" may not have quite the same ring to it, there is a bit of adventure and resourcefulness required when working on a rusty antique. Where do you begin on such an expedition, and what sorts of dangers lurk in the shadows? Well, the greatest risks you're likely to find are a nest of mice in the tattered upholstery or an exhaust belching black smoke. As for what to do first, the steps to follow are fairly straightforward...

Getting Out of Upside Down

Upside-down means you owe more on the car than it is worth. You may ask, "How can that be—" Easy. Let's say you buy a new car with for a price of $35,000. The various taxes, license and fees will add, as a rough rule of thumb, about 10 percent. The total is now $38,500. You write a check for a down payment of $3,000, which leaves $35,500 to finance. Over 60 months, depending on your credit rating and what sort of interest rate that allows, you will have monthly payments of, roughly, about $750, for a total of around $45,000. Add in the down payment and, by the time you're all done, assuming you keep the vehicle until it's paid off, you will have spent about $48,000...

Help Your Mechanic Help You

Even though it may seem like your mechanic speaks a different language than you, explaining your vehicle's mechanical problems doesn't have to be a challenge in translation. There are number of things you can do to make the process of getting your car fixed easier and less expensive...

High-Tech Good Samaritans

A high-tech fleet of OnStar good Samaritans is adding 2.5 million pairs of eyes to the search for a missing child when the AMBER Alert is sounded. GM's subsidiary OnStar joined up with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to put its GPS satellite and wireless technologies and the expertise of its call center advisors on the AMBER Alert network. This unique collaboration marks the first time that an in-vehicle safety communications system using GPS satellite technology and private citizens has teamed up to help NCMEC locate missing children...

Lower Your Car Payment

If it's important that you reduce the monthly payment, or the down payment, there are a variety of ways to make that happen. For a lot of reasons, which will probably be obvious, most people don't want to hear about them. But, here they are...

Out of Body Shop Experience

Not that anyone ever wants the experience, but chances are at one point in your life, despite every precaution you take, you will probably get into an accident. Whether or not it's your fault, that will be the moment when you're going to need to enlist the aid of one of those myriad body shops you've driven past over the years. It seems they're on every corner, especially in some parts of your community, but when you need them, they're booked up (especially after rainy weather)...

Power Window Dangers

Most parents are unaware that the power windows in their automobiles can kill or injure young children. Typically, the child has his or her head out the window of a parked car and accidentally leans on the window switch mounted horizontally on the armrest. Power windows can exert up to 80 pounds of pressure—enough to choke a child, or break arms or fingers. Initially a luxury item, power windows are on 80 percent of the vehicles sold today...

Rear-View Camera Install

Have you ever tried to hook up to a trailer without someone spotting for you? If you avoided scratching your paint or dinging the hitch, consider yourself a talented estimator of distance. For the rest of us, though, a rear-view camera can make this task and others much easier...

Sound Suspension

Doctor Amar Bose is a quiet man. Yet, when you listen to the tone of his voice as he explains the newest direction his ultra-premium sound company is turning, you see intensity in his eyes. This same intensity is what makes "The Mountain," the hill on which the company headquarters sits, continually buzz with excitement. The excitement that exudes from Dr. Bose is the passion that has molded the company into what it is today...

The Fiery End to a Favorite Car

When a gearhead looks at an abused or neglected car, the urge to rescue it from the brink is powerful. Some tender attentions levied upon the saddest of basket cases will affect resurrection if enough cash and clock are applied, so says the rule. There are exceptions to that, though, as the horrible end of this melted, torched-within-an-inch-of-vapor Miata will attest...

Timing is Everything

Real world experience: A mini-truck was cruising a rural road. The engine died mid-shift. One minute it was purring right along, the next minute the only sound was the wind whistling in the open window. Turn on the ignition and nothing, absolutely nothing...