The Dangers of Texting and Driving (2013 Edition)

You’ve heard it all before.  Texting and driving should not mix.  We’ve all been ridiculed and yelled at for checking our phones in the HOV lane, dashing passed a red light while flicking our phone and having full blown conversations via MMS.  Texting and driving is DEADLY.  This isn’t a filtered blog with soft-spoken words, it’s a PSA for those who drive while browsing and texting on their phones.  We’re providing some scary facts on WHY LOL can lead to RIP.  Please be safe out there, fans! We care about ‘ya!

·      In 2011, at least 23% of auto collisions involved cellphones.  That’s 1.3 million crashes.

• Five seconds is the average amount of time your attention is taken away from the road.  So, if you’re traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.
• 77% of young adults are very or somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving.
•  55% of young adults claim it’s easy to text while they drive.
•  Teens who text while driving spend 10% of their driving time outside of their lane
•  48% of young drivers have seen their parents drive while talking on a cell phone.
• 1 in 5 drivers of all ages confess to surfing the web while driving.
• 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.

Drive safely!

How to Keep Warm Quickly in Cold Weather (Car Edition)

When it’s cold, everything sucks.  Your main goal is to take precaution to ensure optimal warmth.  That means, shoveling the car out of snowy oblivion, making lunches on a cold tiled kitchen, bundling up the kids and warming up the car as quickly as possible.  We feel your pain, as a matter of fact, we share it, because there’s nothing worse than freezing your butt off in single digit degree weather.  In today’s blog, we’re providing tips on getting warm as quickly as possible with quick tips from the car gurus.  Enjoy!

First, winterize your car.  Use winter-weight oil and anti-freeze to perform better in the winter and maintain your battery.  Be sure your battery is in goof working order.

Start your car normally and be patient. Now, let your windows defrost by putting the setting on high, letting your car idle for ten minutes.  To help control humidity and dampness on your windows run the blower on the floor to keep your carpeting dry, when not needed to defrost your windows. This will prevent your windows from steaming up on the inside.

Today's engine and fluid technology is designed to start working as soon as you turn the key (or at lease once your windshield is defrosted). Not only does idling waste gas and cause pollution, it can actually cause damage to your vehicle.

If you're faced with severe winter conditions, you may want to consider a block heater, which warms the engine, or a battery warmer. A battery loses power as the temperature goes down, so warming it gives it that extra boost.

Cheers!

5 Ways to Devalue Your Vehicle

So, you’ve got a reliable vehicle that’s great on gas, looks great, and gets you from point A to B in style.  You want to keep it for a long time, bu you also want to maintain a lot of the value associated with it so you can trade or sell it when you’re ready to update.  In today’s blog, we’re describing 5 ways to devalue your car quicker than you can say “junk it”  So, hold on and be prepared, it’s going to e a bumpy ride (pun intended).

1. Lack of Maintenance and Servicing

Every buyer wants piece of mind.  A feeling of tranquility when they purchase their car AND verification that the vehicle is in a good state of reliability.  Each car comes with a service book, which will be marked and stamped by the dealer, so keep ALL of your records to show prospective buyers (dealerships, too) that your car has a great history.

2. Lackluster Paint Care

DO NOT neglect your paint job.  In most cases, vehicles these days maintain their paint jobs due to the detailed precision of application during the car’s inception.  Don’t buy discount car care products.  The best wax kits include: washes, waxes, polishes, and extra protective layers.  Don’t use brushes to wash your car, but rather soft clothes.

3. No Friggin Insurance

Always get insurance for your vehicle.  Why?  Because it’s the single most important remedy for accidents that can happen when you’re driving.  It also means any damage will be fixed properly, usually by us or a reputable bodyshop. 

4.  Smoking Cigarettes

If you EVER want to resell your vehicle., don’t smoke in it.  Smoking seeps into fabric surfaces, seats, headlining and carpets and is virtually impossible to extract.  This will depreciate any potential buyers who are repulsed by smoke, or potential buyers with children

5. Not Cleaning Vehicle Interior

For some parts of the day, your vehicle is your home.  Treat it well.   Make sure you keep your car clean and vacuumed. 

The Ford Fusion: More Than a Pretty Face

It gets 47 mpg. It has class-exclusive safety and technology features. But the most important feature of the 2013 Ford Fusion is something you already know: it's got a pretty face.

 

Cool Automotive Apps

When you’re driving from Metro Ford of Madison in your new car , all of your attention should be focused on the open road. The emergence of smartphones has changed a lot regarding car safety.  Picking up the phone and taking a quick second call?  Not a good idea, but tolerable if short lived.  Seeing a person update their Facebook status on a smartphone in the middle of traffic?  That’s insanity!  Our smartphones have become an extension of us; here are some great iPhone apps that can keep you driving safely, while making your life easier in the process. 

Car Finder Plus is an app that records your position when you leave your car, tracking your location in the process.  The GPS stores this location and when you’re looking for your vehicle after running your errands, it provides a display of where to locate your car.   

Another great (free) app is Trapster.  Trapster allows drivers to scan the area for known speed traps, police hangouts, speed cameras or even stop-light cameras.  Using the GPS capabilities in your smart phone it uses reported speed traps in Trapster’s network database to give voice alerts of approaching traps.  This technology is due to a network of over 5 million Trapster users that constantly contribute trap locations.    

There are countless smartphone applications available for your phone that helps make life a tad easier.  Check out your smartphone application store for details and continue to drive safely!

Feel free to add your favorite app here: 

Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gifts For an Automotive Enthusiast

V-Day.  A day of crimson rose pedals, swooning friends and a bitter existence for the broken hearted.   It’s also a great day to share with loved ones, head to dinner with a significant other and show how much you care about the ones around you with the help of flowers, teddy bears and the occasional hard candy.  For the automotive lover, it’s also a day that can be attributed to cool FREE stuff for someone who knows you well enough to reciprocate.  In today’s blog, we provide some cool ideas for the automotive enthusiast in your life.

Shine Em Up!

Car lovers are obsessed with the look of their vehicle, Hook them up with a Gift Certificate for their favorite auto detailer an watch their face light up like fresh wax on a sports car.

Music is GOOD

Most car lovers are also radio aficionados; why not hook them up with a few CD’s, a SIRIUS Radio subscription or a new iPod for their AUX?  This gift is not only thoughtful, it’s also a practical gift for those long Monday morning traffic congested commutes.

Gas Card

Have a relative or significant other who always complains about gas prices?  Why not deliver a fresh bouquet of flowers with a gas card for their troubles.  The roses accentuate the holiday; while the gas card is practical enough to be used…it’s a WIN WIN!

Sunglasses

Sunglasses are just cool.  From the Ray Ban Wayfarer’s that Tom Cruise wore in the infamous, Risky Business to the Aviator shades Johnny Depp styled in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, nothing says I “heart” you like a pair of shades.  Plus, auto lovers HAVE to look cool during their commute.

So, do you have any gift ideas to add?