Safe driving should be a prerequisite of having a driver’s license. However, it’s a sad fact that not all legal drivers on the road bear justice to their license. How many jerks do you happen to come by on the road? Or perhaps your a jerk as well.

This even raises the question as to whether legislators should raise the driving age to 18, just to minimize the number of hormonally-charged (emo?) drivers out there. But as with a lot of things, one can simply try to follow some core road rules to keep yourself and everyone else on the road safe.

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I really appreciate these kinds of investigative reports. They just seem to be so Mythbuster-y. Auto Express recently tried out the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion to check whether their claimed benefits would be worth the extra buck you have to pay for the eco badge.

Here’s what they found out – it can take as much as six years to get back the premium you pay for the eco model from what you save at the gas pump. Seems like it’s pretty much like the trade-your-SUV-in-for-a-hybrid case where it would take you a long time before you break even on an investment.

Auto Express picked a range of eco cars and compared their prices to the standard list price and factored in how long they need to recoup the premium driving 12,000 miles a year. On the average, eco badges add £1,230 to the list price while offering a few more MPGs.

While the higher MPGs strike buyers as a catch, for the Polo Bluemotion, for example, it takes more than six years to recoup the premium damage even if the Bluemotion version adds 20 more miles to the gallon! In their test, only the Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi i-Blue offers demands no premium at all .

Price / Model / Time taken to difference recoup price difference

• VW Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion / £1,085 / Six years, six months
• VW Passat 1.9 TDI Bluemotion / £750 / Six years, two months
• Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic / £250 / Five years, four months
• VW Golf 1.9 TDI Bluemotion / £540 / Four years, six months
• SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive / £1,230 / Four years, three months
• Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI ecoFLEX / £295 / Two years, five months
• SEAT Leon 1.9 TDI Ecomotive / £325 / One year, 11 months
• Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI Greenline / £205 / One year, nine months
• Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi i-Blue / None / Zero

Source: Auto Express

I haven’t really considered this question since I have yet to buy a brand spanking new car for my own from a dealership. But I am aware of the whole boatload of options sales people over at the dealership would pitch to you.

Some showrooms are said to offer “Protection Packages” that are supposed to help to preserve your car’s finish and charge $600. While the transfer price to the buyer is huge, material costs are usually only $10 for the fine wax. Having the same wax job elsewhere costs around $30.

So if you happen to shopping for a car and the salesperson offers you protection for hundreds of dollars, ask first what they’d be putting on your car for that much buck especially if these packages claim to protect your finish for 5 years. No amount or wax applied over the paint can do this.

Source: PR Log

Our sister blog, Money Crashers, ran this post commenting on Smart Money’s take on the 5 Best Cars to Buy for College Students. But who comes up with such kind of “smart” advice anyway?

Come on! Buying a brand new car for your college kid? Sure they based their take on Kelly Blue Book’s list of cars to buy both used and old. But picking brand new cars for their list? Not all parents can afford $40,000 a year and throw in $15,000 (minimum) for a brand new car? This is just the reason why there’s a growing culture of kids expecting cars from their parents.

Gone are the days when getting a broken down Chevy Nova bought for a few hundred bucks complete with the “Sure it’s old, but it’s got character” motivational speech upon handing a kid the keys. No wonder kids are a lot brattier these days.

View Smart Money’s picks with my comments after the cut.

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Planning your trips and routes to take does help a lot in helping you get the most out of every buck that you decide to put into the gas tank and out through the exhaust. TripAdvisor, that directory, of getaway-related information has launched this service that lets you see which trip-worthy destinations are accessible from within the range of a full tank of gas.

The service is pretty straightforward, just enter your starting point (city/town) and select the range of where you’d want to go with choices ranging from a quarter, half and full tank of gas. Now this is great for those looking for accessible getaway points for those wanting to go on a mini-road trips.

However, one lacking feature to the equation is the car’s fuel efficiency and capacity. Obviously, the places you can get to if your car only has a wee tank or guzzles gas like an alcoholic on a binge. Oh not to mention traffic flow through certain routes. Oh well, yes, I’m nitpicking.

Visit TripAdvisor’s Tank of Gas service here.

The first-aid kit. Most cars released in the past decade include a first aid kit and I do believe that some nitpicky concourse judges look for them. But they’re not there only for show. They’re there to be used. Mishaps happen both in your garage and on the road. And mind you that these pre-packed first-aid kits aren’t fully equipped. So why not build one on your own (or supplement what you have). It pays to be prepared.

Usually, these kits are equipped with the common things like a variety of bandages, a tweezer, a pair of scissors, a roll of surgical tape, topical antibiotic cream, burn cream, and some antiseptic meds. But having those do not cover all the possible road emergencies you might face.

Here are a few more things you can consider adding to your kit: cotton balls, cotton swabs, petroleum jelly, calamine lotion, plain unscented soap, aspirin, antihistamines, antacids, a bottle of distilled water. Remember that some of these things have expiration dates, so be sure to swap out the expired meds with some new ones.

Ever had that temp guage needle spike up on you? I guess an overheating engine is one of the more common on-road problems that you might experience as a motorist. So what do you do?

Pull over. Pull over to the shoulder for an emergency pit stop. Turn the engine off and pop up the hood. If pulling over isn’t possible, turn off the A/C, open the windows, then set the heater to maximum. This will help dissipate engine heat. Just pay attention to the needle. Most modern cars have a failsafe feature where the engine will shut-off just as before the temperature reaches the red. The radiator cap also has a release valve to release excess pressure. If you have steam coming out of your hood or if your temperature continues to spike, pull over!

Wait for the engine to cool off a bit. One common mistake panicky drivers do when faced with an overheating engine is that they try to pop open the radiator cap to slosh in some cooling agent (water or coolant). Don’t try opening the radiator cap. A lot of pressure (from steam) has built in the radiator. Opening it would give you a nice scalding steam. Or worse a good shower of boiling water.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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Okay, back to car maintenance basics with this posts with a simple illustrated guide to checking your engine oil level. I know a lot of drivers who just don’t like the idea of popping up the hood before starting the car and rolling off to somewhere. Believe me, I also know a lot of cases where cars conked out just because of this.

The engine has a lot of moving parts and to keep them running smoothly, lubrication is needed. Running the engine without oil is mechanical suicide. Here’s how to check you engine oil level.

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For the health conscious and those who wish to kick their junk food habit while driving on long trips with the family. Here are a few tips on what to eat. It ain’t a nature trail but, it sure does come close to it. By the way, the driver should always keep his or her attention on the road and not on the cooler.

Keep a small cooler in your car. You car might not be a camper with a fridge or a limo with a minibar but a small cooler can always be accessible. Fruit slices like apples, bananas, and pears make good snacks. Dried fruits can also be an option.

Be sure to check that they’re the more healthy variety. Vegetable sticks like carrots and celery are another option. Grapes, cherries, and cherry tomatoes need not be sliced. Kids may prefer to have dips with their sticks so keep yogurt and low fat dressing in the cooler as well. Some cheese and mini sandwiches of cream cheese and peanut butter can also do the trick for the tots.

Instead of candy, pack some trail mix. Try the one mixed with chocolate. You can also mix your own granola at home before leaving. Include lots of dried fruits and nuts!

If you’re the kitchen-type of person, why not bake a batch or two of oatmeal cookies the night before the trip? Include this in your snack pack.

Here is a bit of a guide on what to attach to your car when you need that extra space. They need carrier racks but if your car doesn’t have one, there are car clips available in your local automobile accessories store. These babies can be hooked to the ledges on the sides of your car. There are also carriers that already have special straps that can be attached through the inside of the car.

Car back carriers are large cargo bags that can be hung from the luggage rack. Good news, they are easy to load. Bad news, they won’t work with sedans and are of use only to wagons, vans, and SUV’s. Afraid they’d be in the way of your vision when driving? Don’t be. They hang under the rear window.

Car-top carrier bags are basically the same as the one above. The only difference is that they are attached by straps to the rack on top of your car. Choose carrier bags that are UV resistant and waterproof. The only downside to this is that you have to pack them full so they don’t flap in the wind.

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The most common electrical problem that a car-owner encounters is the battery wearing out. Depending on brand and design, a car battery can last between 3 and 7 years.

Another common electrical problem is having a bad alternator. This can be indicated by dimming of headlights when your car is idle. Better take your car to a garage. If the alternator cannot produce enough electricity, the car battery has to compensate for this, which will then wear it out. If your car immediately loses juice despite a brand new battery, try to have your alternator checked. It might not be charging your battery during use. Don’t be surprised if all you hear is a “tick” when you try to start your car.

If the interior lights and the dashboard lights are not working, then the problem might be the fuses. There is a fuse panel in the glove box under the dash or one beside the air intake (common located) in the engine. Discoloration of the fuse means that has blown. Replace and test the system not working. Just be sure that you are using fuses with the same rating. Or if not, just check the bulbs. Bulbs wear out quite commonly. However, if your bulbs burn out quickly, have your system checked for any short circuits.

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Rust is the number one enemy of a car when it comes to its body. It will eat your car away and if you’re thinking of reselling your car rust diminishes the value a great deal. Still, a few points on car care would help you prevent body rust from developing. Here are a few tips on how to keep the body of your car in tip-top shape.

Keep thy car clean. You car can only tolerate so much dirt and dust, debris, salt, and moisture! Wash your car and don’t forget to “scrub” the underside too, most especially during and after the winter season. Build up of salt from the roads (which are used to melt the ice on the roads), will erode the protective layer of your car paint which will then make it prone to rust.

After washing your car, a little waxing on-and-off will also protect the paint from elements, my little grasshopper. But if you have the time and money, why not get extra protection by rust-proofing your car? Undercoating is a must too! If your car is still new, then this will be a very easy job. However, older cars with some rust on them will need more work.

Allow water to exit the ledges around the trunk and hood of your car by making sure that all the drain holes around them are clear. Don’t forget to check the weather stripping for rips and tears to prevent water from sneaking in.

Any object, no matter how small and light it is, can feel like a ton if hurled at a speed of at least 60 mph. Many car injuries are actually caused by loose objects that get flung in collisions. If you’ve paid good attention during your high school Physics class, you’d remember that force is exerted when a speeding object is subjected to sudden deceleration. So imagine how much damage it would cause if you have say, canned goods in the grocery bag?

The more disturbing thing is that, people and pets, which are not strapped well into their seats can become loose objects too! No wonder most fatal injuries occur when drivers or passengers are not wearing their seatbelts.

So what to do? Take a good look around the interior of your vehicle. Secure all heavy objects in the trunk of your car or at least safe under a fixed cargo net. Avoid putting unnecessary objects on your dashboard. If you have passengers with you, may they be babies, children, adults, or pets, make sure that they are well strapped with seatbelts before driving off. And don’t forget to buckle up yourself.

Car overheating? Then one (or more) of these could be the source of your problem:

Your car’s water pump may not be doing its work well. How do you know if this happens? If you are observant, you’d notice that there is a strong coolant odor while driving and there would also be small spots of coolant under the car. If the damage is worse, you’ d hear a tinny screeching noise and a very telling leak from the front of the pump or under the car.

The hose or the fan belt is broken. Hoses and fan belts do wear out and break and once they do, coolant will not be circulated through the engine which will then lead to overheating.

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This is for pet lovers who can’t help but bring their pets with them in their car trips. Choosing the right restraint for your pet dog depends on several factors which include the breed and size of the animal and the type of the vehicle you are driving.

The quickest way to deposit your dog in your vehicle is through the use of a pet seat belt system. It can be a harness which attaches to the car’s seat belt, or it can have hooks which you can install in larger vehicles. This allows more freedom and comfort to your pets, as they are made with nylon that are padded and adjustable, making sure that pressure is does not suffocate your pet. The cost of this safety contraption can go up to $60.

Pet car seats, which cost from $40 to $80, are also like the seatbelt but it also gives more prevention from injury in case of accidents, as most are framed in sturdy steel.

For cats and smaller dogs, pet carriers can be the best option. Not only they offer the freedom of the seatbelt and the protection of the car seat, but they also offer a more reassuring environment to pets that are not used to traveling. For larger pets, a more spacious version of a carrier, a pet crate is more advisable as they can be placed in the back of SUV’s and station wagons.

I get headaches when driving at night and that’s not just about incompetent drivers and frustrating traffic jams. It’s the glaring headlights of other vehicles! For other motorists such as moi, here are a few tips on how to not get these halogenic problem get to you.

First of all, it is illegal to turn bright lights on in the face of another driver. In some states, it is even a law to dim bright lights within a specific distance of an approaching vehicle or from behind. But in any case that you encounter such a fiend, do not lose yourself to the temptation of flashing your lights at him as well. One visually handicapped driver is bad enough, and when you make it two we’re talking about an impending disaster.

What you do is you avert your eyes instead making sure that you move them a bit downwards to the right. This will still enable you to use the fog-line (or the white stripe that outlines the edge of the road) as reference to keep the car aligned with the road, even if you are slightly visually impaired at the moment. Just make sure that you still keep aware if the vehicle with the ignoramus driver start to drift into your lane.

One of the most neglected parts of a car is of course the wiper blades. If you observe most vehicles, many blades would look ragged and tattered. Some may pass the appearance test, but when they are put to the test, they give out a loud screech and could barely do their job. Not only are malfunctioning wipers annoying, they can also cause accidents because without them doing what they’re supposed to do, you are prone to having poor vision.

It is very easy to replace wiper blades. So easy in fact, that you can do it yourself. You can buy the whole blade assembly but there are also refills available in the market. Measure first the blades so you won’t commit the mistake of buying too short or too long blades. Some blades are vehicle-specific so be careful with that. Just squeeze the locking tags at the end of the blades and they will slide or slip out of the holder. Fit the new blades, and they should fit snugly. Some generic replacement blades might require some trimming.

There are also blades that are perfect to swipe snow off your windscreen. Winter blades are commonly available in automotive shops but they can be slightly more expensive than regular ones. You might also have to find blades that are to your car’s specs.

Just as a guide, replace your wiper blades every six months to a year. But if you start seeing some difference in driving visibility or when the blades no longer make proper contact with the windshield surface.

Surveys say that many people aren’t really tire-smart, meaning a lot of people are not really keen on how many PSI their tires have. Having poorly inflated tires hastens tire wear and even heighten fuel consumption by creating unnecessary drag.

Here’s a quick guide on checking proper tire inflation I wrote for LifeSpy some time ago:

• Invest on a good tire gauge.
• Check the tires in cold inflation, meaning just before you start driving. When you drive, the wheels get hot. Your readout may not be accurate when you measure them hot.
• Unscrew the protective caps of the air valve.
• Press the gauge against the valve and check the readout.
• Compare with the recommended.
• Add or let out air as need.
• Screw the protective air valve cap back on.

Some other things that you have to monitor would be tire wear. Are the treads still packing grip? You might have to rotate your tires every 6,000 miles. It’s National Tire Safety Week and this here is an interesting video on a lot of people not being tire smart. View the video after the cut.

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Remember that person who bought a BMW she can’t really afford? How about you? Have you said, “I’m broke!” How many times did you hear yourself say that? Money goes out faster than it comes in so you just can’t seem to hold on to it for a long time. If you can only track where most of your expenses go, you might be surprised that your car has been eating up a big slice of your income pie. And since we both know you love your car next only to yourself, you might have overspent on it on some days. Can you afford this?

There is a clear economic mechanism behind ownership of cars. The question of buying new or buying used is an age-old issue. Buying new means that you make enough to make the monthly payments. Sure you get a 3 to 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. But would that cover the huge depreciation of cars per year? Buying used means that you gamble on reliability in exchange for more mileage and a much lower sticker price.

The moment you own a car, you also sign up for a lot of costs. So before you drive home those wheels, ask yourself practical and reasonable questions. Do you really need a car? If you hate public transportation, you might think you have to get a car soon. But don’t forget you have alternatives such as car pooling with your friends. If you really feel the need to drive, you can still save loads by getting one of those slightly-used cars instead of getting a super shiny and super expensive SUV.

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