green living, smart spending
Winter driving requires more space between you and the vehicle ahead, more attention to changeable road conditions and more time to get to your destination safely. Winter driving also requires less speed on icy or slick roadways, less dependence on technology like anti-lock brakes and traction control, and less trust of other drivers.
If you are making New Year’s resolutions for 2025, add these common sense ones that will help keep you and your passengers safe and prevent accidents.
Car maintenance tips for Valentine’s Day: Your car does not want flowers, balloons, or even candy this Valentine’s Day. It just wants a little love in the form of tender loving care, such as an oil change and tune-up. There’s no debating the value of preventive maintenance to keep Old Breakdown from living up to its name, and
Read more
Use your nose to avoid big car repair costs. Your sense of smell can help you avoid car trouble. Simply, paying attention now to strange smells from under the hood or from under the car can be the difference between a fast, inexpensive fix now or a costly repair later, or even mechanical failure or
Read more
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic is GM’s newest addition to what’s called the 40 Plus mileage club. The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic delivers an EPA-estimated 40 mpg on the highway, it’s fun to drive, and has a starting price of just $14,995. No wonder sales of this well-designed subcompact are booming. Also, it just happens to be
Read more
The 2012 Nissan Versa is the least expensive car in North America, with a starting price of just $10,990 MSRP and a budget-saving fuel economy of 33 mpg combined city/highway. Now that I have your attention — The 2012 Nissan Versa is no upholstered roller skate, no stripped-down entry-level tin can that you’d be embarrassed
Read more
The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is an icon, a bargain, and fuel efficient,too. The redesigned third generation of the classic “people’s car” will start at just $18,995, for a stylish, sporty, four-passenger car that’s fun to drive , and loaded with what I call creature features. The 2.5 liter base model has a 170-horsepower in-line five-cylinder engine
Read more
Some people say it’s funny looking, but there’s nothing funny about the price of the 2011 Nissan Juke crossover — $19,570 MSRP for a model with the handline and perfomance of a sports car and the cargo space of an SUV. The 2011 Nissan Juke offers a sporty driving position and handling, thanks to a
Read more
The all-new 2011 Kia Optima has been collecting notable awards that would be impressive even for a sedan that costs a good bit more than this class-leading, family friendly, fuel efficient sedan with a starting price of $18,995. Most important for my money is that the 2011 Kia Optima is the first Korean-built vehicle to
Read more
Simply, the 2011 VW Jetta is great car. This is a family-friendly, budget-friendly sedan that does double duty as a peformance sedan. This all-new, redesigned model is precision German engineering and safety features, lots of cabin and cargo space, and what I call ‘creature features’. Combine that with fuel economy of up to 42
Read more