Not for your girlfriend. Not for your parents. Not for anyone. Co-signing a car loan (or any loan for that matter) means that you will be partly responsible (together with the other person) for the payments. This is often done when the other party doesn’t have a good enough credit standing to be able to get the full loan needed and you are kind enough (or dumb enough) to lend the credibility of your credit standing to help out.

Erik, writing on our sister blog, Money Crashers, pointed three reasons why you should never subject yourself to such a predicament. To summarize:

• If the bank thought that the person should have a loan, they would have granted it.
• You might end up paying for it. If the other person has been responsible enough with his/her finances, then his/her credit standing would’ve been good. And often times, people who aren’t good with money, would pass on the burden to the responsible one. Guess who that is?
• Usually, you only know about what’s what when the shit hits the fan.

And who has cash to spare to pay for other person’s loan, anyway?

Source: Money Crashers

Owning is a car is complete pleasure – not. The moment you drive it home, you will be reminded by the many responsibilities and documents you’ll have to accomplish to register it. And of the many things a car will cost you, one of them is the insurance. You know how hard it is out there on the road. One can be too careful, but when disaster strikes, you’d hope you had car insurance. If the cost bothers you, take heed of these suggestions so you can be wiser about it.

Compare insurance deals. Just like any insurance deals, don’t take the first proposal you receive. Instead, look around for insurance companies that offer the best rates. It also pays to read the policies fully so that you will be knowledgeable of the insurance’s coverage and limitations. You’d want an insurance company that doesn’t give you any hassle during a claim. You could also ask your colleagues for referrals on car insurance.

Once a proposal interests you, bombard the agent with all the questions in your head until you’re a hundred percent sure that the coverage gives you the most advantages, as compared to the others. Read the fineprint!

Use the insurance for major damages. (Or, if your car gets stolen.) It would be unwise to avail your insurance just to cover a little scratch. Most insurance policies would demand a participation fee, which, oftentimes is more than the cost of having a small ding or scratch repaired.

Choose your car wisely. If you were to buy a car, don’t just think of its coolness factor or how shiny it is. It would be more practical to look at costs a particular car will have you paying in the long run. Usually if the car is kick-ass, the higher you will tend to pay for it because it’s more prone to theft. There was a time when hatchback safety records were so poor that insurance for hatches were a killer. So try to find out which car would have the best premium buck per bang.

If you’re shopping for a new set of shoes (tires) for your ride, then you might be baffled by the sheer selection of tire types in the market today. You have a whole selection of touring tires, all-weather, ultra performance tires, etc… So which one should you choose?

The thing is, it’s pretty much the same with a lot of things out there - it’s simply a name game. Understanding for which purpose a particular tire type is would help you in choosing what suits your need best.

All Season - Probably the one that most would recommended and rightfully so, given its versatility. If your car is simply a daily driver, all season tires would probably best for you as you only need one set of tires to use all-year round.

Summer - Ideal for dry climates. These tires are optimized to give you grip for dry surfaces and the heat caused by traction on such conditions.

Snow - These tires give you the best grip on low-traction surfaces of wet and icy roads. They aren’t really prescribed for summer driving since the added grip on dry surfaces causes immense wear.

Touring - Touring tires, while attractive, are the best ones if you’re in a budget. They provide a cushy ride and long wear but performance and grip is somehow compromised. Don’t plan on using them if you want to delve in street racing as, aside from lackluster performance, these might be unsafe for the stress of racing.

Dual performance/Track and competition - The choice of the weekend track racer. These perform well both on the street and track conditions. Ideal if you drive your car to and from the track.

Ratings - Depending on the types mentioned above, you might also find added labels. From best rated to least, they are: extreme performance, max performance, ultra-high performance, and high performance.

The first caveat of doing car repairs on your own is basically, can you really do repairs on your car? If you aren’t too sure, then you just might have to consider doing the pre-driving checks and maintenance yourself but leave all the repair work to the pros. However, I’ve learned long ago that some routine repairs can be easily done in one’s own garage without having to shell out money for service and that there are certain repairs that you can safely do without risking f*cking up your car. But before you do work on your car, observe these few safety rules.

Make sure that you have plenty of working and breathing space in you garage. You should be able to maneuver freely without having to worry about banging your elbows. Some of the car fluids can release fumes so be sure that you also get enough ventilation.

Wear protective clothing. No need for super sanitary gear, though some overalls would. Grease and dirt usually gets everywhere so it’s usually a shame to get some on your new jeans. Take off all jewelry, watches, and accessories. If you have long hair, tie it up or keep it in a bun. You don’t want your lovely locks get tangled somewhere in there.

Also, make sure that you work on a level surface. Ever had those nuts and bolts roll to some nook and cranny you won’t be able to reach? Now how about having your car roll somewhere? Be sure that wheels are blocked before jacking the car up.

Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of street racer wannabees often forget the importance of tires. I’ve seen a lot of ricers out there who sport 18-inch rims on their Civics and yet sport the cheapest rubber there is. There’s a reason why you should get good tires for your car plainly because they take a lot of abuse from the forces acting on them. To avoid being Bill Nye here, let’s just focus on some of the key ideas here.

There are three main forces acting on your tires when driving - 1) transferring power to the ground, 2) stopping your car when braking, and 3) providing grip against forces when cornering.

These are awfully powerful forces. For the first one, the power from the engine is channeled by the transmission to your wheels. Not getting enough friction and contact between the wheels and the ground (and that’s through the tires) would greatly affect the efficiency of your acceleration. When speeding up, weight shifts to the rear so cars built for drag racing are usually rear wheel drive cars.

As for cornering, remember Newton’s Law of Inertia? Steering forces your car to deviate traveling from a straight line, and again, much of the force needed there is through your tires. Stopping, is well, stopping. Aside from having a decent brake system, if your tires would not be able to handle the friction, you’re likely to skid.

The technical term to the area where “the rubber meets the road” are contact patches. You have four wheels on your vehicle so that would mean, that you have 4 contact patches. Generally, your car would more or less distribute its weight evenly among the tires. However, modifications like weight distribution, tire pressure, aerodynamics, would alter the area of these contact patches affecting overall performance.

Not all cars on the roads have them and not all cars coming out of the factory can have them as standard. But there’s a reason why anti-lock braking systems or ABS has been around as a safety feature. If you’ve driven a car without an ABS, you might have experienced wheel-locking when braking one time or another. Slam too hard on the pedal at a certain speed and your liable to screech to a halt. ABS prevents that. In most four-wheel ABS systems, this allows you to maintain steering.

Without being too technical, ABS is basically a system of a computer and sensors monitoring the speed of each wheel. When you press down on the pedal, the system kicks in and it takes over how each wheel should slow down to prevent unnecessary skids. If you’re new to the whole ABS thing, you might not notice anything strange at all save for the occasional pulsing of the brake pedal when the system kicks in.

However, this isn’t a foolproof system that would guarantee that skids won’t ever happen. Definitely, you have to consider other factors like the condition and grip of your tires. The road surface will also be a factor. Oil and tar on the blacktop will definitely give you less grip than a paved concrete road. Your speed and direction would also play a factor. The ABS doesn’t necessarily shorten the stopping distance of your car too.

You might want to test the system out in an empty parking lot when you get the chance. You might notice that driving on wet surfaces would affect overall handling but you will notice a difference when the ABS is working. You ABS usually just continues to work silently (unless your car has some options to turn it off). Usually, when it fails, it means that the system is not active (and the amber ABS light on the dash lights up). Usually, your brakes would work just fine, it’s just that you won’t have the ABS to help you out. But take it to a qualified mechanic as soon as possible for repairs.

Another trademark of a defensive driver is to drive by the book. Boring for the daredevils out there, but this is a surefire way of lessening accident risks. This means that if you have developed a driving plan towards a particular destination, stick to it.

As part of planning ahead, you should be able to give yourself ample time and space to position your car in the appropriate lanes so you can predictably make a turn or any other move at the right moment. Mind your blind sides (especially if your car doesn’t have the newfangled camera systems). Avoid tailgating and keep driving within the minimum and maximum speed limits. Even slow driving can be dangerous at times.

If you are not familiar with the area and need the aid of a map, then pull off to the side or a parking lot and not stop in the middle of the road. Be aware of your turn signals. Don’t forget to switch it back (if it does not auto cancel) to normal if you fail to make a turn. Do not confuse other motorists as well.

Every seen the set of tools that come with cars? Forget about them. They might contain the barest necessities but you shouldn’t be content with them. Unless of course, you’re McGyver and can survive a 10 years in a deserted island with a toothpick. So better invest in some tools and one set of tools that any car owner should have is a good set of socket wrenches.

Socket wrenches are heaven sent. Depending on your locality, you might have to choose between SAE and metric-measured socket wrenches. A decent enough set can even be had for $50 or even less.

Here are some of the sizes that your wrench set should have - 1/2, 9/16, 3/4 inch ones get the most use. For metric measurements a set that includes 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 mm heads are essential.

Some sets would come with two ratchets with different-size drives (that square knob where you attach the socket heads). This might prove to be useful in many instances but a set with adapters would do. Some ratchets even come with flex heads to allow you to work at different angles. And get a set with ratchets that have no-slip grips and fit comfortably in your hands. For ratchets, there’s such a thing as teeth count - those that go click when you turn the socket wrench. Higher teeth count is almost always better.

Extension adapters are also useful parts of the set. There are nooks and crannies where you might need the extra reach. A spark plug remover adapter for example is one tool you might find very useful if included in the set.

Quality comes with a price though. Those $50 sets can probably do the routine jobs. But just in case you’d need to have tools for more demanding work - stuck up nuts and bolts can be really stubborn requiring brute force - then better invest in better tools. Here’s a clue for a good brand - the ones featured in Iron Man.

Just to understand more about your car, especially if you are a newbie:

The coolant, or anti-freeze, is the substance that not only prevents freezing but it also acts as a lubricant for your car’s water pump. The coolant is generally a mix of water and ethylene glycol. It must be changed on a regular basis, especially its PH level as it is important to keep your coolant from eating metal.

The water pump is the shaft in your car with a pully on one end and a pump rotor on the other it. What it does is that it moves the coolant from the radiator throughthe engine and then back to the radiator. The water pump is aided by the fan belt or the timing belt.

The thermostat is important in the cooling system as it controls the flow of the coolant through the engine. If the thermostat fails in an open position, your car’s engine may have bad gas mileage as it makes it run too cold. On the other hand, if the thermostat fails in a closed position, it will cause your engine to overheat as no coolant will be distributed to the engine.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is no avoiding car repair. One way or another you’ll ust have to go down that line. Now what pisses me off is when I am not only inconvenienced by a malfunctioning car, but when the guys with whom I entrusted to revive the darn thing rips me off too. So this are just some tips to avoid rip offs.

Be prepared. Learn how your vehicle works and try to identify common car problems. Know your own vehicle well especially its quirks. With a little car knowledge, you won’t be intimidated by smart asses when they use technical terms in assessing so-called problems.

Read the rest of this entry »