Autos From USA – New Cars Review , Auto Insurance and Car Rental In USA

Before you buy a car, whether from a private seller or from a car dealership, you need to follow a few tips. This will help you get the best deal for your money and make sure that you get a car that you can rely on.

Know Your Needs

The first thing that you need to know is what you need from a car. Do you have a large family or is it just the two of you? This will affect the type of car that you need. There is no point in looking at a two seat sports car if you have a family of four or five. At the same time, you do not need a people carrier for jus the two of you. Determine your needs before you start shopping around for a car.

Set Your Budget

You need to determine the amount of money that you can spend. This will help to determine whether you need car finance and also the type of finance that you opt for. It will also determine the type of car that you are looking for.

Once you have your budget, it is time to shop around to find the best deal for your budget. Look around at different car dealerships to find out what is on offer for the money that you have available.

Avoid the Scams

Unfortunately, there are a number of private sellers and dealerships who sell bad cars. This is commonly seen with used cars that are on offer for extremely low prices. Look out for any signs that there is something wrong with the car – including the odometer being wound backwards, the car being stolen and the car not being roadworthy.

Never be afraid to have a mechanic look over the car for you and ask the seller to see the reports on previous owners and any work that has been done. You should also check the vehicle identification number to make sure that the car has not been stolen.

Electric cars are taking over the market, there’s no denying it. If you’re thinking about buying a new car, here are seven good reasons to buy electric.

The Environment

The electric car promises zero emissions and allows you to feel good that your driving is not contributing to global warming. Although they do create some emissions indirectly when coal is burned to generate electricity the environmental impact is still much less than the carbon emissions produced by gasoline engines.

High Gas Prices

Electric cars don’t need high priced gasoline. You can save money every week and slowly pay for your vehicle’s higher price tag. Every night you’ll go home and plug the car into your charging station and then do something else while your car charges. Never spend another minute in the cold pumping gas.

Rebates and Discounts

Most dealers are offering rebates for their electric cars because they want your business. This means that it is a buyer’s market. You can do some wheeling and dealing and end up with a sweet deal on an excellent ride. There is even a tax credit. On top of that, many car insurance companies offer discounts for drivers of electric cars.

Smaller Is Popular

Smaller cars are very popular because they maneuver better in traffic, and they park with much greater ease. If you are a commuter, you will appreciate your new found freedoms. Except for the Smart Car, which seats two, you will still have four seats and even a fifth plus a hatchback for storage.

Prestige

There’s a certain amount of prestige in being first. You’ll find yourself smiling with pride when people want to look over your engine or instrument panel. They’ll be lining up to ask you about your unusual and environmentally positive car.

Techno-Geek Fun

If you are the type to want the latest IPOD or smartphone, you’ll love being the first to own some sophisticated technology. Most electric cars come equipped with every modern convenience. The cars will ‘talk’ to you, giving you advice on extending your battery life and pointing you to the nearest charge station if you are taking a long trip. Techno-geeks will love experimenting with all of the new instruments that come with the new technology. It’s like ownership first new iPhone or running the latest version of on your tablet.

Free Parking

Many cities now offer free and reserved parking for electric cars as a way to help curb pollution. Forget circling the block in a gasoline engine. Save time pulling up right in front of your destination and charge your car during your visit.

Everyone has had their favourite car gadgets realised in the last 10 years as technology on the road has advanced at an exponential rate. You don’t have to spend a fortune nowadays to own a car packed full of gadgets such as automatic windscreen wipers, MP3 connectivity, park distance sensors and hands free telephone functionality. This is my count down of my top 5 car gadgets which are making driving more fun and some even making our journeys safer.

5.  Stop-Start engine

Stop-Start engines have made an appearance in the last 3 years to a lot of affordable, environmentally friendly cars. The technology involves the engine turning itself off when you are in traffic or at lights, then restarting when you go to the accelerator to pull away. The feature saves fuel and in turn causes the car to emit less Co2 gas so it does not cause as much pollution. It can be found on many modern small cars and expect to see it even more in the future!

4. Heads-up displays

These give the driver a view of certain information projected onto part of the windscreen from the inside. The obvious information to project would be your speed. These are sneaking into some new cars and are in attempt to make the car safer as you can see you speed or other relevant driver information without looking away from the road. There is a video here of the new BMW 7 series using this technology:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w44b8fykG9c&NR=1&feature=fvwp

It will be exciting to see what other possibilities this technology will allow. Augmented reality could be used to feed streams from social media and weather information straight to the driver’s display.

3. Wireless Internet

There are some premium cars on the market, for example the Audi A7, that feature in-car wireless internet capability linked to media screen on the dashboard. This internet stream can display the weather, traffic updates and information on the stock exchange. The technology also allows the screen to the used as a news feed for any world affairs and even the possibility to stream your Facebook and Twitter status feed in real time. Although criticised as being a driver distraction, rather than aid, it’s great to see cars embracing wireless communications like so many other platforms in the last 3 years have.

2. Auto brake

This great feature is a superb safety addition to modern cars. It was first featured on the Mercedes S Class and has since been included on other models such as Volvos. The technology uses infrared to detect when the car needs to be brake to prevent hitting a pedestrian. It is designed to work faster than human reaction times are able to and the use of it is being adapted to create adaptive cruise control which brakes and speeds your car up in alignment with the vehicle in front of you.

1. Auto parking

The best car gadget around at the moment is definitely the auto parking feature sneaking into some cars at the moment. You simply have to align your car to the space, input the area into the car computer and sit back. The car automatically drives and steers you into the outlined gap. This is great for nervous parkers and is becoming more widely available. The latest Ford Focus features this technology as many cars by Lexus already do.
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Americans are fascinated by celebrities, and with today’s 24-hour news and “infotainment” cycle, images of our favorite TV, movie, sports, and music stars constantly surround us. Unfortunately, some celebrities are notorious for behaving badly, particularly when they get behind the wheel. Although millions admire them, these fabulous people actually make terrible role models when it comes to vehicular safety, and their driving habits would make any car insurance provider cringe. The following list comprises the “Hall of Shame” for the worst celebrity drivers of the past decade.

1. Lindsay Lohan

Well-known for her hard-partying ways and substance abuse problems, Lindsay once crashed her car into a telephone pole… and abandoned it there. The actress has been in court time and time again for DUI and violation of probation.

2. Paris Hilton

After one arrest for DUI and another shortly thereafter for driving with a suspended license, Paris finally went to jail, where she served 23 days. Luckily, her family has plenty of money to pay for her doubtlessly astronomical car insurance rates.

3. Britney Spears

In early 2008, Britney left her white Mercedes in the middle of the road when she got a flat tire. Spears has also allegedly committed a hit and run, driven without a valid license, and run over a paparazzo’s foot. Fans have spotted her driving with her baby on her lap, and later, installing a car seat incorrectly. Her extremely poor judgment eventually led to her legal restriction from driving with her sons in the car.

4. George Michael

George plowed his Range Rover right into the front of a photo store in London. Police arrested him after he failed a sobriety test, but later released him on bail. Michael has a history of driving under the influence, and at the time of the accident, he had just gotten his license back after a two year suspension for a previous DUI incident.

5. Nicole Richie

Cops caught Nicole driving the wrong way down a freeway. She admitted to being stoned on pills and marijuana… but insisted she wasn’t drunk. This was her second DUI, and she served a whopping 82 minutes in jail.

6. Billy Joel

In the early 2000’s, Billy had a string of several serious accidents on Long Island. The first was in East Hampton in June 2002, the second occurred a year later, when he crashed his Mercedes into a tree, and the third when he plowed his 1967 Citroen into a house. His record has been clean ever since. It would be interesting to find out what Mr. Joel’s automobile insurance rates are like after those repeated incidents.

7. Shia LaBeouf

Shia was involved in a drunk driving accident in which he almost lost the use of his hand. It was later determined that he had not been responsible for the crash, but a judge suspended his license nonetheless.

8. Lane Garrison

In a more tragic case, the former “Prison Break” actor’s SUV hit a tree and killed his young passenger. He subsequently pled guilty to drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter.

9. Rebecca Gayheart

In June of 2001, the actress was driving down a street in L.A. when she hit and killed nine year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr. The cars in front of her had stopped to allow the boy to cross the street. Gayheart wanted to avoid having to stop, so she veered around the cars and struck the child. She was also talking on a cell phone at the time of the accident.

10. J.R. Smith

Basketball player J.R. Smith swerved around a vehicle stopped at a stop sign and preceded through the intersection right into an oncoming car, killing his passenger, Andre Bell. Smith had seven previous traffic infractions and had his driver’s license suspended five times in a nine-month period. Authorities cited Smith for a number of traffic offenses, but they did not charge him with vehicular manslaughter. He served just 24 days of his 90-day jail sentence and performed 500 hours of community service.
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When it comes to putting oil in your car, there are a lot of choices stacking the shelves of auto stores. So if your car needs a top-up or a complete oil change, it pays to remember that not all oils are the same and what works well in your car may not necessarily be right for another. If you get a car service in Sydney, a car service in Melbourne or anywhere else for that matter, your mechanic is going to know exactly what’s right for your vehicle. Using the wrong oil may even void engine warranties, so simply adding any old oil to the engine is not always going to be best. Put it this way – you get the car insurance that suits your vehicle, so why not get the right oil?

What does oil actually do?

Firstly, it’s worth understanding what oil is and what it does. In a nutshell, oil lubricates your engine and prevents wearing. Modern oils lubricate differently depending on the weather also. In winter it will be quite viscous, or thick, and in warmer weather, much thinner. The oil you put in your car will be multi-viscous, meaning it adapts to the temperature to give your engine the best protection.

What do all the numbers mean?

Motor oil is referred to by weight, such as 20W-50, and relates to its viscosity with the “W” meaning winter. The lower the number before the W, the better it will flow in colder weather. The higher the number, the better it flows in warmer temperatures. As you can see, the type of oil you use will also depend on what temperatures your car operates at.

Confused by synthetic, conventional and additives?

Just when you had the whole viscosity thing worked out, in come a few others things to add to the confusion. Should you get synthetic oil or go for a conventional blend? And should you get oil with additives to make your engine perform better? Synthetic oils will cost more but research has shown that they will ultimately protect your engine better. They can be mixed safely with conventional oils as well. Additives help engines cope in more extreme circumstances as well so it is worth considering an oil of this type if , for example, you cover a lot of kilometres.

When should oil be changed?

If you have your car regularly serviced then the mechanic will change the oil as a matter of course. But if you do lots of driving, it is worth changing the oil more often to ensure the engine has adequate protection. Changing the oil can’t hurt the car – but changing it too often will hurt the hip pocket. Refer to your car’s user manual for a more definitive guide.

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