Sometimes, work in the real life version slows things down in The Garage. Over the past week, we’ve been dealing with month end, year end inventories and the like which means I haven’t had an awful lot of time to keep up on all the happenings in the blogosphere. That’s one of the nice things about the CoW. It let’s everyone keep up to date with a few of the weeks hot topics. So, without further ado, let’s strap in for a hot lap around the auto blogs.
First up, Jeff Fisher is reporting on Car & Driver’s report of a press day road test of a JDM Mitsubishi Evo X. Even though it’s not the same as the cars we’ll see here in North America, it’s still pretty cool. This is kinda fitting for us here in The Garage, because if all goes well tomorrow we might have some special Evo stuff to share with our readers.
Mike from Hybrid Car Review has posted some pretty interesting stats regarding the number of Prius’ the Toyota has on the road. It means that somewhere, there are an awful lot of environmentally responsible motorists happily commuting in their Hybrids. The funny thing is, Mike mentions: And you thought you were imagining things when you thought you saw the Prius everywhere you go. Here in the Toronto area, I find it’s the opposite. I rarely if ever see them on the road. Weird, but they must be selling them somewhere else.
Car insurance. You can’t live with, you certainly can’t live without it. The problem is that some people pay as much for insurance as they do for car payments. Why is that? Because insurance companies sometimes take advantage of the fact that people don’t shop. You’ve used the same company for years, and your rates go up, so you pay them. Sometimes though a bit of shopping can save literally thousands of dollars a year. Over at Grad Money, they’ve compiled a great list of discounts you should be asking for that can save you a bundle.
Newcomer to the CoW is Doris Chua from Doris Goes Shopping. This week, Doris is sprucing up her tired old (3 years old is old?) car with some new seat covers. Because she’s getting tired of that old jalopy, Doris is checking out a cool vehicle selector tool.
Another newcomer is The Digerati Life, where they’ve discovered the true cost of keeping a vehicle on the road. Some of you might be surprised. I’ll give you a clue: vehicle ownership ain’t cheap!
Over at RaceDriven, Brian has a few words about the state of NASCAR’s points chase. Also, it sounds like there has been some question as to what cars the Busch series will be using in the future. Brian thinks DW might have the answer with the surplus of about to be obsolete Cup Cars.
Few racers will disagree that the easiest, safest way to begin in motorsports is to attend an autocross. It really is amazing how much one can learn from zinging around a lot full of cones in 2nd gear. One of the Patrolling Pansies, Henry has put together a killer list of things a new autocrosser should be doing at his first few events. I’m having a lot of fun reading these guys each week.
Every now and then, the blogging world surprises me with some good old fashioned news reporting stuff and this week it comes from Sheila Scarborough. The Edmund’s blogger had a sit down with non other than Ashley Force. The two talk about women in racing, team dynamics and the rock star factor. The interview took place one day before Pappa John had a scary accident that left him with some pretty severe injuries. One thing is for certain though, this family will continue to be a strong Force in drag racing. Pun intended.
That’s it for this week’s Carnival of Wheels, it’s been a fun one. Be sure to visit again next Sunday for the Canadian Thanksgiving edition. Bloggers, be sure to get your submissions in by Saturday at Midnight.
6 comments ↓
Hello,
Thanks for including my post. But it seems like there is no link to it :). I hope you can still include it! Thank you very much
-SVB @ The Digerati Life
Oh pls. scratch that ! I realized the link was already visited so it wasn’t appearing! Thanks again for including me. I appreciate it. I’m linking back now. Best,
SVB
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I enjoyed the article titled, “Do You Really Know How Much It Costs To Own Your Car?” and it is very well written but I respectfully believe a more important question would be, “Do You Really Know How Much Return You Are Getting Compared To Others Who Don’t Properly Maintain Their Cars?”
Having been on the opposite side of the counter for many years I have witnessed a lot, much of which could be useful when contemplating whether or not to repair a car or walk away. There is far too much to write in a single post however my thoughts towards customers who do not realize the importance of keeping a vehicle’s maintenance schedule current speak for themselves.
Back in the old days, (as little as 15 years ago) the average domestic vehicle had pretty much served it’s purpose when it reached 90,000 miles. The common phrase was, “Put a fork in it. It’s done.” Just like with today’s vehicles, there are typical items listed on the schedule in the maintenance handbook but a few years ago it was considered foolish to waste good money performing many such services. “Why should I waste time and money servicing my transmission or my brake fluid on a car with 80,000 miles when it will probably go to the wreckers next year?”
The truth of the matter is it used to be a reasonable statement/question. However, today a vehicle with only 90,000 miles on it is just getting broken in and most can easily perform well in excess of 300,000 miles. For this reason neglecting services such as flushing cooling systems, transmissions, changing timing belts and more can drastically affect the return on your investment down the road. It’s far less expensive to change a timing belt and water pump at 90,000 miles than it is to repair bent exhaust valves or a blown head gasket at 120,000 miles. In retrospect how much would it have cost to replace this vehicle as we used to do when it reached 90,000 miles?
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard customers reply when asked if they want to perform the 90k service with, “I was told it’s not important and besides it’s running perfect right now. When it begins to act up, then I will bring it back.” That makes about as much sense as telling the dentist, “My teeth don’t hurt and they’re not falling out right now so I’ll get them cleaned later.”
Owning a car should not be looked at as an expense… It’s an investment and one that can either earn you dividends or one that can break the bank. Customers are the ones who make that decision. Like anything else, knowledge is wisdom.
Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportioned to my skill to deal with it. Tomorrow, when I know more, I recall that piece of knowledge and use it better. Mark van Doren
Hi Gary,
Thanks for including my Ashley Force post. I felt pretty strange asking her whether life could get any crazier, and then John Force’s wreck happened the next day.
Maybe I should revamp my interview questions.
Gary…you are 100% on the mark.
Sheila, I’m sure that was pretty weird. Still, great interview.
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