Thank you, car driver, for seeing me on my bicycle and not hitting me! That’s the message an LA-based Kickstarter campaign aims to get out through a series of tshirts, stickers, and car decals. [More]
cars
Car Experiences Top List Of 10 Biggest Consumer Complaints
By 7.29.11
No wonder car salesmen get a bad rap: it’s very much deserved! At least that’s according to a new report by the Consumer Federation of America of the top 10 consumer complaints. “Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars, lemons, faulty repairs, leasing and towing disputes,” top the list. It’s almost enough to make you want to switch to a velocipede! [More]
Should It Have To Be Disclosed If A Used Car Was Smoked In?
By 7.28.11
You get into the seats, place your hands on the wheel and sniff. That’s not new car smell you’re getting, but the faint notes of incinerated tobacco leaves. Perhaps they’re peaking out from a cloying cloud of freshener, like a bra strap from a tank top. Dangit. You thought you found a good contender and wasted all this time to come out and check the car out, and now it turns out someone used to smoke in it. Reader Ethan wonders if this isn’t something that dealers should have to disclose, or at least something that should show up on CarFax. [More]
Study: Fancy Cars Make Us Happy, Briefly
By 7.27.11
In an amazing breakthrough for both Science and the study of consumer behavior, researchers have determined that the pleasures of having an expensive car is fleeting and quickly replaced by thinking about the anxieties of day-to-day existence. [More]
Cool Your Car Down Quickly With This Trick
By 7.22.11
The summer sun has a way of transforming cars into ovens, and it’s no fun sweating while you wait for the air conditioner to provide some relief. You can speed things up with a bizarre yet apparently effective little trick. [More]
Study: People Love Their Cars Because They're Lonely
By 7.22.11
Why do people love their cars? Like really really love love LOVE their cars? More so than any other possession, cars arouse deep emotions in their owners. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research went to five car shows and interviewed car enthusiasts about their passion to try to figure out why. The most far-reaching of their conclusions is that people who love their cars do it, essentially, because they’re lonely. [More]
IIHS Crash Test Video Library Provides Edification, Entertainment
By 7.22.11
Have you always wanted to visit a web site that combines all of the fun of a demolition derby with all of the usefulness of serious research for your next vehicle purchase? No, you probably haven’t, but it exists. It’s the Consumer Reports crash test video player, loaded up with about 300 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash-test videos for various makes and models of cars. [More]
Upset At Being Sold A Lemon, Man Crashes It Into Six Cars At Dealership
By 7.21.11
A man who upset over getting sold a lemon by a dealership decided to vent his rage in an unusual fashion. After the salesman wouldn’t accept a return, the man waited until midnight and then drove back to the dealership. Then he revved the engine and began smashing it into the cars on the lot. [More]
Quick, Easy Ways To Maintain Your Vehicle
By 7.10.11
Sure, it’s easier just to pretend your car doesn’t need any tender lovin’ care, but neglecting your vehicle’s needs can only work to your detriment. Many spot checks and maintenance routines are quick, easy and less intimidating the more you do them. [More]
GM Giving Out 1 Free Year Of Auto Insurance With New Car Purchase
By 7.7.11
To try to lure customers back into the dealership, GM is trying out a novel idea. They’re giving new car buyers a free year of car insurance with their purchase. [More]
Predatory Car Sales Tricks To Watch Out For
By 6.24.11
Effective car salesmen have a sizable bag of tricks from which to draw when moving in for the kill. To avoid falling prey to the ruses, you need to know how to spot them. [More]
Oil Prices Drop 4.5% As 60M Barrels Are Unexpectedly Released
By 6.23.11
Expect some much-needed relief at the pump! The US and its industrial allies unexpectedly announced that they’re releasing 60 million barrels of crude oil from reserves over the next 30 days. The move came after a recent OPEC meeting failed to result in increased production. Oil prices immediately kicked down 4.5% on the news. Time to fill up the ‘ol SUV and do some donuts before the market realizes it overreacted and prices go back up! [More]
Car Theft Dips To Lowest Level In More Than 40 Years
By 6.23.11
As a line of criminal work, car thievery isn’t what it used to be. Thanks to added security measures, including technological advances in vehicle security systems and more effective law enforcement, the U.S. car theft rate has braked to its lowest rate since 1967. [More]
Porsche 911s Recalled For Wheel Hubs Wearing Down
By 6.20.11
For want of a nail, a kingdom was lost. And for want of durable wheel hubs, high-powered Porsche 911s were recalled because the could lead to a compromised wheel-retention system and a crash. [More]
Decreasing Demand, Falling Oil Prices Lead To Gas Price Dip
By 6.13.11
The road trip activity that goes hand in hand with the end of the school year tends to drive up gas prices, but drivers are instead finding a bit of relief at the pump. Thanks to a drop in demand, an expected increase in production and fading crude prices, U.S. gas prices have dropped 4 percent over the past three weeks. [More]
How To Avoid Flood-Damaged Used Vehicles
By 6.10.11
Disastrous flooding, such as what the Midwest and Southeast has recently suffered, tends to, well, flood the used car market with damaged vehicles that pass the eyeball test. There are ways to avoid falling victim to unscrupulous resellers try to move water-addled rides, though. [More]
New Fuel-Economy Stickers Actually Display Car's Fuel Economy
By 5.25.11
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency have rolled out the biggest redesign of the car window stickers that display a vehicle’s estimated fuel efficiency since the labels were introduced. The new stickers, designed to be easier to read and to provide more information about fuel savings and costs, will be required for all 2013 cars. [More]
Car Of The Future Will Sense When You're Having A Heart Attack
By 5.25.11
Some people feel so attached to their vehicles that it seems their minds and hearts are locked into the same wavelength as the machinery. The feeling could one day become a reality. [More]
