April 26, 2022

Essential Tire Safety Checklist
Tires play an important role when it comes to both vehicle performance and safety. Maintaining your tires will increase their lifespan, saving you time and money. The wear and tear on your tires are under your control, based on how you drive and care for your tires. Basic knowledge of tire maintenance could be key to keeping you safe and extending the life of your tires. Here’s an essential tire safety checklist to help guide you through routine tire maintenance.
Check Tire Tread
Once a month, you should take time to check the tread of your tires for wear and tear. Tires that are bald or nearly bald won’t offer as much grip on the road and may cause you to lose control when driving. A good rule of thumb is to perform the penny test each month. Take a penny and place it in a vertical groove of each tire with Lincoln’s head face down. If the crown of Lincoln’s head is still visible to you, then it’s time to get new tires. This test will show if the tread on your tires is less than 2/32nds of an inch, which most states consider to be worn out legally.
Check Tire Pressure
Another task to complete each month is checking your tire pressure. Proper tire pressure extends the lifespan of your tires, keeps you safer, and maximizes fuel efficiency. You can purchase a tire gauge to check the pressure yourself or take your vehicle to a local tire retailer and ask an expert to check your tire pressure. They will often perform this service for free. Newer vehicles may have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), and while this is a good way to keep an eye on your tire pressure, it’s still recommended to check your tire pressure once a month.
Check for Irregular Wear
A healthy wear pattern on a tire shows tread loss evenly. You should take the time to check for uneven wear on your tires when you check the tread. Irregular wear patterns include:
  • Flat-spot wear- Hard braking or leaving a skid mark can lead to flat-spot wear on your tires.
  • Feathering and cupping-  Cornering aggressively or driving a vehicle with worn-out suspension parts can cause this type of pattern.
  • Underinflation- The shoulders of your tires will show excessive wear.
  • Overinflation-  The center of your tires will show excessive wear.
While all tires will eventually wear down, it’s important to keep an eye out for these irregular wear patterns to increase the lifespan of your tires and keep you safe on the road.

March 04, 2022

Spring fever is settling in, along with its most visible emissary. Pollen.
If you walked out to your car in the last week and saw the yellow coating it  received, you aren’t alone. Pollen is everywhere, and what you may not know is it’s more of a problem than just looking ugly.
What looks like a thin layer of yellow dust is, on a microscopic level, more like a field of tiny hooks and needles. All those hooks and prongs are how pollen clings to your clothes, your dog, and the pores in your car’s paint. 
The worst part about pollen is acidity. The acidity of various pollen is commonly activated when it comes in contact with water, so just waiting for a rain shower to clean off your car won’t cut it. Acidity can do everything from stain your car to accelerate the spread of rust. 

So what can you do?

  • Wash your car with soap. Remember, water can activate acidity by itself. It’s important to use soap in order to safely encapsulate pollen before you wash it away. Take your time, get to know your car, and give it a nice sudsy massage. Also, if you just try to get rid of the pollen by wiping it down with a cloth, you can end up scratching the paint by rubbing the abrasive pollen against it.
     
  • Wax on, wax off. Just like Mister Miyagi taught you, a fresh coat of wax after you wash your car will replace a caustic coating with a protective one. The wax will make it harder for the pollen to stick on, and that way a simple rinse will work.
     
  • Change your cabin filter and keep your windows closed. The benefit to having a clean car on the outside will mean that less pollen will find its way into your car, but there are other steps you can take, too. If you aren’t in the habit of doing so, you should change your car’s cabin filter. This will keep your ventilation system from bringing pollen in from the outside. 

These are just a few simple and logical pointers to help you get rid of pollen. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us! 

February 28, 2022

I know it can be intimidating to buy a used car but not all used cars have skeletons in their closets. Actually, most of the vehicles sold in the U.S. are used. Here are a few water cooler tidbits that we found about used cars! 

  • Three out of four automotive transactions in the U.S. involve previously owned vehicles.
  • The average vehicle will likely have three owners in its lifetime.
  • There are more used Silverado pickup trucks for sale than any other model (nearly 120,000 throughout the U.S.)
  • Chevrolet tops the list of most-available brands in the U.S. (with about 450,000 available), followed by Ford (425,000). There are "only" about 280,000 Toyotas on the market at any given time.
  • Automatic transmissions outnumber manual 10 to 1 in the market for used vehicles.

As you can see it is not uncommon to buy a used car! Needing a place that’s reliable and that you can trust? Come see us today! 

January 24, 2022

If you don’t have the cash on hand to buy a car up front, you’re not alone. Most folks turn to financing their car purchase with an auto loan. For those with a relatively weak credit score or little credit history, this can make the process frustrating. So if you’re struggling to get approved for an auto loan, here are things you can do to boost your credit score so you can get your loan and get on the road. 


1. Lower Your Credit Utilization Ratio. A good target is to fall below 30% utilization of your available balances. 


2. Make Multiple Payments. Instead of waiting for your balance to pile up over the month before you pay, make multiple, smaller payments throughout the month. This will show as lower credit usage. 


3. Avoid Hard Credit Pulls. Things like applying for a loan, a home lease, or a new credit card trigger “hard” pulls on your credit report. Hard credit pulls can temporarily decrease your credit score. So if you’re planning to apply for an auto loan either avoid applications that can trigger a hard pull, or do them at the same time as your auto loan application so your credit report gets pulled before your score gets dinged.

 
4. Ask For a Higher Credit Limit. If you trust yourself to use your lines of credit responsibly, ask your lenders to increase your limit. If you have more available credit but keep using the same amount as before, that will lower your credit utilization ratio.

If you need any help during this process don't hesitate to ask us! We are here for you! 

 

December 16, 2021

Believe it or not,  Winter is one of the best times of the year to buy a car. In fact, if you ask people, many of them might tell you winter is an especially bad time to buy a car but the present moment favors the idea that buying when others are not buying is a smart move. Instead of waiting for spring and battling hordes of other car buyers for the most popular vehicles with the most desirable equipment, you can get into the market early and pick off a good deal without tripping over other car buyers in the dealership.

In days gone by, car manufacturers were more content to wait out winter with the expectation that sales would inevitably pick up in the spring. But today’s market is too competitive and too dependent on continued cash flow to sit out a couple months of sales or even let them slip markedly. So, to keep the sales going in the face of miserable weather, the carmakers get more generous with the incentives they offer consumers to get them to buy or lease.

The typical dealership depends on foot traffic, and when poor weather prevents potential customers from going out car shopping, dealers are more eager to close deals with those few customers who do brave the elements. That means they are often more willing to take less for a car so a shrewd negotiator has more leverage in the winter than in the beginning of summer.

What are you waiting for?? Go get that car for Christmas! 

 
November 22, 2021

Buying a used car can be difficult when you don’t know what you should take into consideration.. You could buy new but with the average price of a brand new car these days, that may not  might not be in the budget. Thankfully, it's never been easier to find a quality pre-owned car.
How easy is it? Follow these expert tips for buying a used car to help ease the process...


1. Weigh Age Against Price
Buying a used car is all about finding a balance between price and reliability. Too new, and a vehicle will be expensive; too old and it could require several repairs. Buying a used car that is around five years old should be in good shape and could cost up to 40 percent less than its newer counterparts.

2.  Consider A Certified Used Car
Does the prospect of expensive repairs make you nervous? Then look for a certified pre-owned vehicle. These used cars are inspected by dealers and must pass inspection requirements such as: Maximum mileage and age thresholds, restrictions in the presence of aftermarket add-ons, and the condition of the vehicle’s transmission system.
These requirements are determined by manufacturers and come with extended warranties. Combined with dealer warranties and you won’t have to worry about paying for a new transmission a year from now. 

3. Do Your Homework
Back in the day, figuring out the value of a used car could be difficult. But online services make researching what others paid for your vehicle easier than ever. Check to see if the car you’re looking at has been in an accident. 

4. Don’t Get Emotional
As with any major purchase, it’s important to think with your head and not your heart. When you’re buying a used car, try to avoid fixating on a certain model or color. Read reviews online and aim for pre-owned cars that have a history of reliability. Don’t overlook obvious problems just because you like the look of a vehicle. You don’t want to be satisfied with a new-to-you car in the moment only to regret having to drive it for years to come.


Happy Hunting! 

 
October 29, 2021
 
Did you know that several of the world’s largest automakers have taken their naming cues from Mother Nature. Toyota Corolla refers to the crowning portion of a flower and Highlander to the Scottish Highlands. The Toyota Sequoia is named after the tree while Tacoma comes from the Salish Native American name for Mount Rainier.
In the 1970s, Volkswagen went through a phase of naming its new vehicles after different types of winds. Jetta is German for jet stream, Golf translates to gulf, referring to the Gulf Stream, and Passat is short for passatwinde, the German word for trade wind. One of the most famous cars is the Camaro. Where did that name come from? It was made up! When Chevrolet unveiled its debut pony car in 1966, the company claimed Camaro was a French slang term for friend. It then changed its story, stating a Camaro was “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.” (The Ford Mustang was the car’s biggest competitor.) It was neither, just a fictional word picked from a list of 2,000 potential names.
 
 
September 17, 2021
 
When choosing a vehicle, we know looks aren’t everything, but they still count for something! Here are a few things to keep an eye out for when buying a preowned vehicle:
  • Body work, paint job, car frame: Look out for scratches, dents and rust on the surface of the car. These can be minor but could cost a considerable amount to fix and that is something to take into account. 

  • Windshield, lights, rear view and side view mirrors: Are there cracks on the windshield? Do the headlights seem foggy or discolored? Are the rear view and side view mirrors clear and working correctly? All of these things are minor but need to be in good working condition! 

  • Wheels and tires can be a considerable amount to fix so always check each wheel for dents, and make sure they’re not bent. Take a look at the tires, too, to make sure they don’t need to be replaced before you buy the car. When test driving make sure to pay attention to the way the tires feel on the road. 

While it’s much more important to buy a car that’s mechanically sound, serious problems on the outside—like a rear bumper held together by duct tape or massive rust stains on the car door—can tell you a lot about how the owner treated the car. You want to make sure to be thorough when inspecting and ask the dealer what repairs they did to the vehicle and what they found. Happy Hunting!! 
 
August 27, 2021
Great news for today’s buyers! The quality of modern cars is better than ever. Even a vehicle that’s several years old can have plenty of life left in it. 
 
According to Kelly Blue Book here are the top 5 used cars to buy that are under $5,000! 
1. The Pontiac Vibe: This car  is stylish, affordable, and roomy. The Vibe’s hard plastic cargo floor and 115-volt outlet make it perfect for people with active lifestyles.
2. 2008 Mazda Mazda3: Sharp styling and road-hugging handling are standard, as is a long list of uncommon options such as DVD navigation and Bose audio!
3. 2004 Lexus ES 350: If you want a lot of luxury at a reasonable price, this might be the car for you. You also get the proven dependability of a Lexus product.
4. 2008 Scion xB: A 4-door car that comes with loads of standard features. With fold-flat rear seats and lots of cargo space, the xB works for people with a small family. 
5. 2011 Kia Soul: is a funky alternative to low-cost economy cars. It's a well-equipped, surprisingly roomy hauler that offers good fuel economy and fits just about anywhere.
 
There are several other wonderful options that can fit your budget and needs. Come see us today to see how we can help you get into your new car! 
 
August 20, 2021
Have you been wanting to buy a car but are finding it hard to find any- let alone one you like? You might have noticed that people are paying above list price and are having to drive (sometimes out of state) to get the new car they want. There is a global shortage in semiconductor chips. These are necessary components of newer vehicles and this has caused production of new cars to slow way down. Even if you are not wanting a new car, this shortage has caused people to run to the used car dealership. 
 
If you are in need of a car now, here are some tips to find what you're looking for...
 
1. Don’t go to the car lot expecting to make the same deal you would have pre-pandemic. Research what a good deal looks like in this current climate. 
2. Have a local dealer watch out for the make and model you want. When you partner with a local dealer, give them your budget, and let them know you're a serious buyer; many times they can find what you need at auction. 
3. Be ready to move quickly when you find the one you like. If you're hesitant you stand a good chance to miss out with the current climate of the auto market.  
4. Don't get too picky about brand or color- focus on the value of the cars at hand. 
 
We know these can mean a lot to some, so if that is you, let us know if we can help. Patience all around will help with finding your perfect match. 
 
 

 

*While every reasonable effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions contained on these pages. Please verify any information in question with Dealer.