Do you remember what your first car was? Did your parents buy you that sports car you were dreaming of or did they give you a “Grandma” mobile? As high school is coming to an end and your teens are getting ready for college you may be wondering what kind of car to get them. Well The Wall Street Journal ‘s Joe White thinks it should be practical, safe, boring, used, and cheap.
We all know that teenagers think they are invincible and we all know that 9 out of 10 teenagers are a menace on the roads. So why spend the money on a sports car or pick up truck that they may wreck? One of his recommendations is the 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu. His reasons? It’s safe, reliable, has good crash test ratings, and of course boring…. But is the Chevy Malibu really boring? I certainly don’t think so.
KBB.com says that you will like the Chevy Malibu if:
The 2009 Chevrolet Malibu’s bold, attractive sheetmetal and stylish interior touches are backed by confident handling, a quiet ride and an overall level of refinement competitive with the category’s best. Unlike some competitors, the fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine is available on all Malibu trims, not just the entry-level model.
So head on over to your Texas Chevy dealer and let your teenager test drive the very NOT boring 2008-2009 Chevy Malibu. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
There are only a few things more irritating than being stuck in a traffic jam. I often see people in the cars next to me screaming, hitting their steering wheel and generally looking extremely irritated. Then I see the people that are relaxed, jamming to the stereo and they look so calm and collected. How do they do this?
Well there are a few things that you can do to remain “calm” during traffic jams. Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist wrote a great blog on how to cope with traffic jams and I thought it has some pretty great tips in it so I thought I’d share. When I am driving to work now or when I am driving home and I get irritated with traffic jams I hope I can remember Eric’s tips.
Get a comfortable car with a good stereo, satellite radio and an automatic transmission.
If you spend most of your time behind the wheel staring at the bumper of the car in front of you, what’s under the hood of your car matters a lot less than how comfortable the seats are, how well insulated the interior is — and what kind of stereo rig you’ve got.
A plush sedan may be just the ticket — not the sporty car you can’t really use anyhow. Horsepower and 0-60 times are much less important in the bump and grind than having lots of leg and elbow room, seats that don’t make your backside go numb and — and most important of all, something to keep your mind off the debacle all around you. XM or Sirius satellite radio and their myriad programming options (or an iPod/MP3 player hook-up you can use to download podcasts and so forth) can help you forget that you haven’t moved more than a couple of yards in the past 15 minutes.
This is also why an automatic is essential for a commuter car. I love stick-shift cars, but in traffic, constantly having to push a clutch in and out gets tiring fast. It’s also much harder on the clutch and related components, which will wear out faster — and thus, cost you money.
Adjust your schedule.
Depending on the type of work you do, you may be able to get your boss to change your work hours slightly, enabling you to avoid the times of day when the roads are at a near-standstill. Instead of coming in at 9 and leaving at 5, see if you can get your boss to let you come in at 8 and split at 4 instead. In some cases, being able to leave at 4 vs. 5 may cut 30 minutes or more off your daily grind.
Another possibility is to work through lunch so you can leave an hour “early.”
Bottom line: Unlike asking for a raise, asking for slightly different work hours doesn’t cost the company anything. That makes it more likely your request will be granted.
Telecommuting and flex time.
The next step is to work on your boss to let you work from a home work station some of the time — or even all of the time.
Computers and the Internet opened this door — and today’s networking capabilities and affordable high-speed access (DSL, Cable) make it easy for many white collar and information workers to do everything they need to do from a remote location, such as a home office. More and more employers are becoming receptive to this arrangement, too — especially if you make a strong pitch based on how it will make you more productive and thus a better employee.
Point out that it doesn’t do the company any good for you to be spending two or more hours per day sitting in traffic; that you’d be much more productive if you were able to log on from home and be available immediately and virtually any time. Point out that you could handle unforeseen situations at odd hours and weekends. Present a “business plan” outlining every aspect of the work-from-home arrangement; suggest a trial period to make sure everyone is comfortable with it. You might even consider sweetening the pot by offering to take a pay cut in return for being able to skip the commute. Keep in mind that if they agree, you will save a great deal of money on gasoline, vehicle upkeep and maintenance — and so on. Taking a five percent pay cut may not actually cost you anything on balance — but it will likely be very appealing to your employer.
Try to be Zen about it.
This too shall pass — and working yourself into a futile rage every morning and every night is about as sensible as Elvis shooting the TV whenever Robert Goulet came on. Banging on the wheel, making faces, muttering hate and death under your breath won’t get you there any faster — just as Elvis blowing away his Zenith didn’t much hurt Robert Goulet.
The best way to cope with traffic today is to make a plan to escape it tomorrow. So long as you know the nightmare is temporary — that in three years, let’s say, you’ll have moved, arranged new work hours — whatever your plan is — you’ll be able to deal, just like a con who knows he’ll be out of the clink in “x” number of days.
When you are ready for a new more comfortable car make sure you check and see what your local Fort Worth Chevy dealer has to offer. There are some amazingly comfortable cars in the Chevy line up. Check out the Traverse or the Malibu just to name a few.
What do you guys think? Think these tips will help you?
Are you a multi-tasker? Are you constantly on the phone working a deal or dealing with clients? Do you work on a tight schedule? Insurance.com did a study and found that the people that are most easily distracted on the road are those who are multi-taskers whether it be judges or attorneys. If you need to be in constant communication i.e. texts, emails and phone calls then you are a menace to the roads…. Ha ha.
Insurance.com tallied their results based on accident claims as a percentage of insurance quotes. When they asked Insurance.com for a car insurance comparison quote, 44 percent of lawyers and judges claimed a previous accident. Want to know who the least dangerous drivers are? Athletes (17 percent) and homemakers (24 percent). The homemakers one is pretty impressive to me because as a parent I know how distracting your kids can be in the car. So kudos to all the mom and dads taking it easy on the road.
The Top 10 Most Dangerous Drivers by Profession
1. Attorneys and judges
2. Financial professionals
3. Government employees
4. Bartenders and waiters
5. Business professionals
6. Dog groomers
7. Advertising and marketing professionals
8. Barbers and stylists
9. Coaches
10. Nurses
It’s dangerous out there and with recent recalls across the board I think it’s important to know what you can do to improve safety in your new or used car or truck. Here are a few things that you can do to be proactive in your own safety. The streets of DFW are busy busy. Better to be as safe as you can than sorry.
Buckle up. This is a no brainer. You should always wear a seat belt no matter how old you are or if your in the front or back seat. Fifty-five percent of those killed in passenger vehicle occupant crashes in 2008 were not wearing a seat belt. Sixty-four percent of those killed during the night were unrestrained, compared to 45% during the day.
Stop drinking and driving. Alcohol was involved in nearly 12,000 fatalities in 2008, or 32 percent of all highway deaths. Try getting a designated driver or calling a cab. The last thing you would want to do is hurt yourself, your passengers or someone else on the road.
Ignore those distractions. Cell-phone use can slow a driver’s reaction time as much as having a blood-alcohol concentration at the .08 percent limit. Nearly 6,000 deaths were attributed to distracted driving in 2008. Don’t talk on a cell phone or send or read text messages, or perform any other activities that take your eyes or your mind off the road. This includes eating, putting on makeup, changing CDs, reading…..You’d be surprised at what people try to get away with in their cars.
Go the speed limit. You should always try to drive at the posted speed limit in optimum driving conditions and slow down when weather conditions such as fog, wind, rain, snow, or ice can make driving hazardous.
Know your car. Would you know what to do if your car suddenly accelerated or if you lost braking ability? Be prepared for anything and make sure you know how your car is going to react whether it be driving on black ice or what to do if you car starts accelerating on it’s own.
Watch out for your tires. Keep your tires properly inflated it’s an easy way for you to avoid a flat tire or a nasty blowout, which can result in losing vehicle control. Driving on balding tires is dangerous, as well.
Just be careful out there. If you have any other tips you’d like to share let me know.
Cell Cease(TM) Phone Application Wants You and Your Teen Driver To Keep Your Eyes On The Road….
I’ve written to you guys before expressing my concern with kids and even adults texting while driving. It’s never been a more serious issue than right now. In addition to CD’s, passengers, makeup, food etc., teens can be easily distracted. Texting has become a very fast, easy way to communicate these days. I have friends that don’t even call me anymore. If they want something they just text me, and I’m ok with that, but not while they are driving. A new cell phone application has decided to tackle this distraction in the car head on and I think it’s awesome! It was designed specifically with teens in mind but I believe it may even be an awesome tool for adults to use. Cell Cease(TM) will prohibit your teens from texting while they are driving. It will also allow them to continue to receive phone calls from approved phone numbers, which you as the parent can completely control. It will also always allow calls incoming and outgoing from 911 so no need to worry about that one.
“According to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 25% percent of U.S. teens aged 16 to 17 who have cell phones admitted to texting while driving, and twice as many say they have been in the car with someone that has. This and other driving distractions have been the cause of a reported 5,870 fatalities and 515,000 injuries in the past year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting has been found to be so dangerous, professional truck and bus drivers who “text and drive” can be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.” Cell Cease(TM)
Keep in mind that since this application is constantly running it will eat your battery life up. If you or your child is just a passenger and not the driver they are still unable to use their phones as long as the phone is moving faster than 5 mph. I think it’ll be very interesting to see how this works out for folks.
Let me know what you guys think and drive safely out there.
Accidents can happen anywhere, and at anytime. Wearing a seat belt is so important to your safety and the safety of your passengers. Did you know that 63% of people killed in car accidents are not wearing their seat belts? Education alone is not going to help this issue. Statistics show that males between the ages of 18 and 25 are the least likely to wear their seat belts. We’ve talked before about how teenagers think they are invincible and nothing can happen to them. That’s why I find it absolutely vital that you talk to your kids, you show them videos, you let them know what the consequences are and then you yourself do exactly as your teaching them to do. Your kids wont wear a seat belt if they see you driving without one. It’s not only an expensive ticket to pay but nothing is worth risking your life or the life of your children.
Here are a few reasons why you should wear your seat belt.
The most important reason for wearing a seat belt while driving is that it reduces the chances of injury by 50% if you are in an accident.
Seat belts provide maximum safety if you meet with an accident. It will prevent you from getting jerked to the sides or front if an accident occurs.
If the driver applies an instant brake to the vehicle, he and the passengers are thrown forward due to the law of inertia. Wearing a seat belt will prevent this to great extent.
After getting into an accident, if it is found that the person has suffered injuries because of not wearing a seat belt, he is equally responsible for his injuries.
Seat belts can protect a person’s vital organs like head (brain) and chest (heart) from getting injured if he gets into an accident.
Many people complain that they would prefer being thrown out of the vehicle if in an accident instead of being stuck inside. It is safer for a you to be inside the vehicle cause you can’t be sure how you will land, if thrown out of the vehicle.
Seat belts also help people to avoid injuries caused in an accidents due to drunk driving.
Here’s a video that I found from Consumer Reports that shows why you should embrace the use of your seat belt.
Ok so I know….We’re in Texas. This black ice stuff doesn’t happen all that often here, but I think we can all agree that when it does happen we Texans can’t drive very well in it. That’s why the whole metroplex shuts down for days after an ice storm. Heck some of us can’t even drive in a heavy down pour. I think if we all knew how to drive in it we wouldn’t be so scared of venturing out. And maybe just maybe there wouldn’t be some many cars and trucks in the ditches on the side of the highway, if we only knew how to drive on the stuff. There’s nothing more frightening then sliding around the highway thinking you are about to crash. The side roads can be even worse than the highway…. Try getting out of my neighborhood!
Here are a few tricks to avoid ending up on top of a curb, car, or ditch while attempting to drive on black ice, or ice in general.
As soon as your car begins to slide on black ice, take your foot off the gas pedal. The very last thing you want to do is give your car more gas. It’s very important to go extra slow when you’re driving on black ice or in any other winter road conditions. And by all means DON’T panic!
Look for and be aware of trouble spots ahead like bridges etc. If you have an idea that there may be black ice ahead (if you see other cars fish tailing and sliding, for example), downshift to a lower gear before you come onto the black ice. There’s a big bridge on my way home and when the weather gets bad I see people from a mile away sliding all over that thing. I cross it going like 3 mph and I’m fine. Just be prepared.
If your car does begin to slide around on the ice, turn the wheel in the direction of the skid. This is very hard to remember when you are sliding all over the road but it’s very vital to remember. This helps steer your car back on the right track.
No tailgating, make sure you keep plenty of space between your car and the car in front of you. When driving on black ice road conditions, stay well behind the car in front of you (at least a couple of hundred feet). Even if you feel like you can handle it, that doesn’t mean that everyone else knows how to. Believe me it’s not something that many Texans know how to do.
Don’t think you’re invincible just because you drive a truck or a big sports utility vehicle. While 4-wheel drive vehicles are great for driving in heavy snow, you’re on your own when it comes to driving on black ice. In fact, 4-wheel drive vehicles have no advantage over regular cars when it comes to driving on black ice, so be sure to take the necessary safety precautions no matter what type of vehicle you are driving.
In the late 80’s automakers began installing airbags in cars for safety reasons. And over the past 30 years, airbags have saved thousands of lives. But, it is critical to know that airbags are designed to protect average-sized adults, not young children. This is why airbags pose a serious risk to children who ride in the front seat.
In fact, according to research conducted by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, CHOP, children exposed to airbags during a crash are twice as likely to suffer a serious injury. The American Academy of Pediatrics state children under the age of 13 are safest sitting in the back seat of a car.
This is why all children under the age of 13 should be seated in the back seat of a car. The following are some safety guidelines for children riding in a car.
Infants seated in a rear-facing safety seat should never be placed in the front seat of a car that has an airbag – When the airbag engages, the force of the airbag is directed right at the infant’s head as it comes out of the dashboard.
Children seated in a forward-facing child should not be placed in the front seat of a car that has an airbag. – Again when the airbag engages, the child’s head is in the path of the airbag as it emerges from the dashboard.
Remember for children 13 and under: The safest place to be in a car is the back seat.
For children ages 13 and up riding in the front seat remember:
All children should wear a lap/shoulder belt.
Move the front seat as far back as possible from the dashboard.
Make the sure the child doesn’t lean forward.
Have the child sit upright against the seat at all times.
Note: Engineers are constantly improving airbags to improve safety. Known as 2nd-gereation or depowered airbags, these airbags are still NOT designed for children. Children are best protected in the rear seat.
The Children Hospital of Philadelphia, CHOP, has put together a great video on airbags and keeping children safe. To Play the Video – Click Here
Have you ever cracked your windshield? One summer when I was younger I got a small crack in my windshield. I’m not even sure how it got there in the first place but it started out as a small little 1 inch crack. Well I thought it was no big deal and it wasn’t in my line of sight so I didn’t stress to much about it. Until one hot Texas summer day I decided I was going to wash my car. Little did I know that the water in the water hose was cold and it was 100 plus degrees outside and my car was in the direct line of the sun…. Needless to say once the water hit the windshield that little crack turned into a big massive crack that went from one side of the car all the way across the other side. At this point it was way to late to seal the crack myself. I needed a whole new windshield. My parents were furious with me.
If you have just a small crack that is less than two or three inches long you can try to fix the crack yourself. You can get everything you need from a local automotive repair store like O’Reillys or Auto Zone. They have small kits that are designed for this type of simple windshield repair job. Just tell the sales associate that you need a kit for that nasty crack in your windshield and they can direct you to the right section in the store.
The next best option is to take your car to a car repair facility that advertises professional windshield crack services. If the crack is more than 2 or 3 inches and growing this is most likely where you should take your vehicle. These professional places will have the correct equipment to not only analyze the damage but make the repair for you.
You can always bring your vehicle to the dealership and let us take a look at it. If we feel like you can take care of it yourself we can direct you to the correct sealing compound to fix it. If the crack is not fixable we’ll let you know the next steps that need to be taken so you can get a new windshield. If the crack is in your line of sight and can affect your driving you should come in ASAP.
As your children hit the streets of Dallas Ft. Worth you more than likely share the same feelings with many parents, I hope they are safe. Most new drivers certainly listen to their parents about driving safely. But every little bit helps. If you’re looking for a video to stimulate some conversation I’ve got one here. It’s done by students for students. It’s short, clear and focuses on the basics.
It’s a simple message but right to the point. Let me know what you’ve done to stimulate conversation with your kids about driving safely. Everyone wants to keep their kids safe.
Hi, I'm Hagen Durant, General Manager of Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine, TX - I am a huge car and truck enthusiast and love talking cars. I'm a cyclist, health nut, father, geek, and drummer. I look forward to giving you great information about cars and trucks, driving tips, maintenance and so much more.
If you have any questions or would like to make suggestions feel free to email them to me at hagen@classicchevytexas.com
Do you remember what your first car was? Did your parents buy you that sports car you were dreaming of or did they give you a “Grandma” mobile? As high school is coming to an end and your teens are getting ready for college you may be wondering what kind of car to get them. Well The Wall Street Journal ‘s Joe White thinks it should be practical, safe, boring, used, and cheap.
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