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Before you start the process of searching for your first car there are many factors to consider before finalising anything.

Aside from the cost of insurance which is always considerably higher for younger drivers, there is also the question of how you are going to maintain it. You may want to opt for a used car as you are likely to get a good deal on price if you find the right car at the right place and can negotiate effectively. The money you could save in comparison to buying new, plus any depreciation you may have suffered, could potentially be put to alternate use. Continue reading ‘Cars For Young and First-Time Buyers’ »

This may be old news to some of you but the automotive industry is not what it used to be. The days of car manufactures making new cars, slapping an expensive price tag on them and then watching happy go lucky customers drive off the lot in large numbers has passed long ago. With the economy being in the worst shape that it has been in in a very long time, people just don’t have money to waist on vehicles the way that they did once upon a time.

In recent months thing have began to stabilize a little more than the last twelve months. In what was being called the automotive crisis many people lost jobs as almost no cars were being sold. Household names Like GM, Ford, and Chrysler all looked to the government for help. A big reason that the crisis took place was because the automotive industry was weakened by a substantial increase in the prices of automotive fuels. With virtually no fuel efficient models to offer consumers the “Big three” of the American automotive industry watched their sales quickly decrease. Continue reading ‘Changes in the Automotive Industry’ »

Winter driving can be challenging enough without having someone tell you to drive in reverse, but that’s exactly what I’m going to recommend for rare situations when driving forwards with front wheel drive just doesn’t cut it.

Admittedly, the idea of driving backwards is a bit odd, but in special circumstances it works better with a front wheel drive vehicle than going forward. The special circumstances are deep snow and going uphill.

For those of us who live with a steep and long driveway, it can be challenging to make it uphill in deep snow, even with front wheel drive. Going backwards with a front wheel drive vehicle can help overcome the difficulty. Here’s why:

* Your drive wheels are lower, so gravity shifts more weight on them for better traction.
* You have to drive more slowly to maintain control of direction, and that tends to promote traction instead of wheel spinning.
* The front wheels of the car are now on compacted snow (thanks to the rear wheels) instead of loose snow, so that provides added traction. Continue reading ‘Winter Driving Tip – Go Backwards With Front Wheel Drive’ »