Our Favorite Instagram Photos of the Month

Every once in a while, we’ll find some really awesome photos that deserve some recognition.  These photos embody the style and panache we aim to achieve with our vehicles.  In today’s blog, we’re providing our FAVORITE Instagram photos for the month of May.  Vote for your favorite below!

How Much Does An Electric Vehicle ACTUALLY Cost to Maintain?

The Jetsons is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of electric vehicles, not necessarily a floating utopia equipped with flying cars, but it’s definitely a wave of the future.  With countless manufacturers rolling our production vehicles and prototypes, it’s not difficult to get lost in the shuffle.  We’ve heard the conversation around electric vehicles: they’re quiet, cheap to maintain, and environmentally friendly.  Lets delve a bit deeper and get the actual price of maintaining one.

According to Edmunds: to figure out the cost of fueling an EV, start with the electric car's energy consumption rate, which is expressed as kWh per 100 miles (kWh/100m). This figure will be listed on the EPA's upcoming EV fuel economy label (the 2011 Leaf's preliminary label is shown here, complete with an erroneous 12-cent per kWh figure in the cost estimate that Nissan says it is correcting). The next figure is your home electric rate, assuming that's the primary charging site. Multiply the kWh/100m figure by the electric rate to get the cost per 100 miles. For instance, the Leaf's kWh/100m figure is 34. If electricity is 11 cents per kWh — the national average — it would cost $3.74 to go 100 miles.

Utility companies, and the time and level of use set the electricity cost.  You pay more for kWh at peak hours, making a lot of electric commuters pay more than the national average of 11 cents per kWh.  How do real individuals save on their electric vehicles? 

Tom and Cathy Saxon have two electric vehicles.  They installed separate electric meters for their EVs (electric vehicles) in July 2009 and have been tracking them since then.  The Saxton's Tesla is consuming at a rate of 30.8 kWh/100m (bettering its official EPA rating); the RAV4 is averaging about 35 kWh/100m.  They pay an average of 11.25 cents per kWh.  In other words, they drive about 30 miles on a dollar’s worth of electricity, it would be much more expensive to drive with gas.  Results do vary, depending on a couple factors like when and where you’re charging, but the true cost of filling up is a tad more complicated than expected.

Steps to Buying GREAT Auto Insurance

We’re car people.  From the accents and contours of a vehicle, to the drive and adrenaline of a fast car, we have a certain appreciation for the automotive machine.  As our passion, we’re great at finding a perfect fit for our customers.  When it comes to auto insurance, you want to be covered in the case you get into a fender bender.  So, in an effort to ease the burden, we’re providing 5 tips for finding the right coverage at the right price.  By doing some comparison shopping, you could save hundreds a year.  

Find the Right Coverage

Your first step should be to find a list of what is required in the state.  You can visit this link to find out: http://www.edmunds.com/auto-insurance/how-much-car-insurance-do-you-need.html this will provide the minimum of what is required. Once you have that, you should decide what insurance premium you need.  Your decision depends on your degree of comfort and a certain level of risk.  According to Edmunds:

“Experts recommend that if you have a lot of assets, you should get enough liability coverage to protect them. Let's say you have $50,000 of bodily injury liability coverage but $100,000 in personal assets. If you're at fault in an accident, attorneys for the other party could go after you for the $50,000 in medical bills that aren't covered by your policy.”

Also, you don’t have to buy collision and comprehensive damage, especially if your vehicle is older than 2000.

Check Your Driving Record

How many tickets have you had recently? By checking your state’s department of motor vehicles, you can have a better idea of how you stack up.  For example, if points you earned on your license are about to disappear, this will improve your driving record.  So, we would recommend you wait until that happens before you receive quotes.

Solicit Competitive Quotes

You will need:

o   Current Policy

o   License Number

o   Vehicle Registration

Check out insurance company websites and receive a quote.  It’s easy to type in your information and build a list of companies for comparative quotes.  Each quote takes about 15 minutes to complete, but shopping around can save you hundreds.  Think about the annual and monthly rates for different types of coverage, note the 800 number so you can get more direct answers, and pay close attention to the insurance company payment policy. 

These are just a few tips to get you started.  For more info visit your favorite insurance company website for details.

Are Your Tires in Dangerous Condition?

Good tires are one of the most important aspects of safe driving.  Hands down.  Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies, Inc. explains an aging tire to an old rubber band. "If you take a rubber band that's been sitting around a long time and stretch it, you will start to see cracks in the rubber," says Kane, whose organization is involved in research, analysis and advocacy on safety matters for the public and clients including attorneys, engineering firms, supplier companies, media and government.

Cracks in the rubber develop over time and can appear on the surface and inside of the tire, as well.  This cracking can cause the steel belts in the tread to separate from the rest of the tire. Improper maintenance and heat can accelerate the process.

How Long Does a Tire Last?

Lifespan differs and there is no guideline on tire aging, but tire manufacturers like Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to ten years, provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year. There’s no way to put a date on a tire because there are several factors that affect the life of the tire:

• ·      Heat
• ·      Storage
• ·      Conditions
• ·      Use

How to Determine Your Tire’s Age

All you need to know is the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) number.  Tires manufactured after 2000 have a four-digit DOT code.  The first two numbers represent the week, while the second two represent the year.  If a tire has the code 1109, it was made in the 11^th week of 2009.   After finding the tire’s birthdate take a look at the rubber.  Look for tread distortion, hairline cracks in the sidewall, and vibrations in the dynamic properties of the tire, could be cause for alarm. 

For more information, come in and see us.  We’ll do an extensive tire inspection and let you know the exact status of your tires.

7 Facts About Texting That Can Save a Life

Multitasking has increased in the last few years to astronomical heights.  With one hand and a smartphone you can watch a YouTube video, send an email, play a game, voice chat and place a call in a five-minute span.  However, with much power comes much responsibility because NOW that we have this access 24-7, it has carried over into our driving habits. 

For some time, researchers have been telling us to focus only on driving, quoting a greatly increased chance of accident, injury and death when we distractedly call a friend or answer a ringing cell phone.

Now, new research has revealed the most dangerous driver distraction of all: texting.

A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, along with prior studies by Liberty Mutual Insurance and state-funded organizations located online, reveals the shocking statistics of texting behind the wheel:

• Texting while driving increases the risk of accident 23.2 times over unimpaired driving.
• Texting while driving results in longer response times than even drunken driving. While an unimpaired driver can respond quickly to changes in traffic and begin braking within half a second, a legally drunk driver needs four additional feet to begin braking—and a driver who’s texting needs 70.
• In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spend nearly five seconds looking at their mobile devices—enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more area than the length of a football field.
• Though 95 percent of drivers surveyed said texting behind the wheel was unacceptable and unsafe, at least 21 percent admit to doing it anyway.
• Especially amongst teens, texting results in erratic driving behavior, like lane weaving and speeding up and down, increasing the likelihood of hurting pedestrians and running into other vehicles.
• Texting behind the wheel is generational: 37 percent of drivers 18 to 27 admit to texting while driving, compared to 14 percent of 28 to 44 year olds, and 2 percent of 45 to 60 year olds.
• An accident can happen in two to three seconds while texting.

Drive Safely!