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Tesla Motors has joined
the growing list of automakers receiving federal funds. It locked up $465
million to develop
and produce battery-powered vehicles and we know too only well,
large government checks are hardly ever the answer
to problems. And one of the biggest right now is that we're seeing gas prices
climb slowly higher.
While $147-a-barrel oil
served as a wake-up call for the car-driving consumer, it was also the catalyst
that shifted the
plug-in electric car industry into "high gear".
So let's take a look at some of the major car companies' efforts so far, as well as what lies ahead for consumers.
Starting with the ridiculous,
GM has a hybrid version of the Cadillac Escalade that seats eight. While a
minuscule
market for large SUVs still exists, these US$70,350 base-price behemoths
aren't exactly flying off dealer lots in
this economy.
Even if you're willing
to choke down the expensive sticker price, the hybrid version of the Escalade
gets a mere
21 MPG on the highway... and that's only 10% better than its non-hybrid brethren
(19 MPG).
Incidentally, that difference
amounts to a paltry US$1,506 savings in fuel over the life of the vehicle,
assuming a
vehicle life of 100,000 miles and US$3.00/gallon gas.
Compare that to the new
five-passenger Honda Insight that gets 50-plus MPG and comes with a US$19,000
price tag,
making it the most affordable high-mileage hybrid on the market.
While gasoline-electric
hybrids are a small improvement over straight internal combustion engine-based
vehicles,
they've been over-hyped by the media and the car manufacturers.
Sadly, many consumers have
the perception that gasoline-electric hybrids are the answer to our oil import
problem.
Getting a feeling of deja vu?
You should be: Corn-based
ethanol was going to seriously put a dent in our oil imports, too.
Of course, it's turned into one of the biggest government-sponsored boondoggles
of the 21st century.
Like all other large, successful,
problem-solving exercises, this one is going to be solved by private industry.
The US government's role will (hopefully) be limited to providing tax incentives
for the manufacturers, as well as similar
incentives for the buying public. The wheels are already in motion on both
fronts.
Let me make a bold prediction:
In the next 10 years, gasoline-electric hybrids will go the way of their fossil-fuel
predecessors.
The automobile market is rapidly moving to all-electric vehicles, and it's
going to happen faster than anyone can possibly
imagine. Here's why...
The problem with the two
gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles mentioned at the beginning of this article
- and all hybrids, for that
matter - is that they are just that: hybrids. You still have to
visit the gas station, just not quite as often.
(Although with the Escalade, you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference
in your wallet.)
There's only
one reason hybrids have been so popular the past few years: The federal government
- and public pressure
- has forced the car companies to come up with something to give the perception
of reducing our oil imports.
Voila: the US$70,000, two MPG less Escalade hybrid.
The problem is that the
amount of premium paid for these vehicles as a whole negates the miniscule
benefit
derived by the slightly better mileage. Clearly a better solution is needed.
Fortunately, the automobile
industry is hard at work on one. Coming right behind the hybrids are PHEVs.
These all-electric
vehicles have no internal combustion engine. Instead, they sport a large
bank of batteries (yet to be developed and costed)
that store power and feed it to electric motors that power the car.
Now if you're thinking
it will take you forever to accelerate to highway speed, think again: Electric
motors have fantastic
torque characteristics that translate into neck snapping acceleration when
they're integrated into a vehicle's drive train.
Electric vehicles will
ultimately out accelerate their fossil fuel predecessors, and leave nothing
in the atmosphere in the
process. At least, that is, if the recharge power comes from nuclear or renewable
sources.
If we're still relying on coal and heavy oil, the environmental part of energy
conservation hasn't changed much.
The driving public won't have a lot of trouble making the transition from
their old gas guzzling clunkers.
PHEVs have other advantages
as well. Braking can actually be accomplished in part by turning the motor
into a generator,
and dumping the generated power into the battery bank.
This technique - referred
to as dynamic braking - puts a load or drag on the motor/generator and slows
down the vehicle.
Diesel/electric locomotives have used dynamic braking for years to help to
slow down freight and passenger trains.
While PHEVs are a potential
game changing technology, efforts up until this point have been essentially
relegated to
the automakers' development labs and display stands at auto shows.
All that's about to change:
Nissan just announced
that it will be mass producing PHEVs for sale in 2012.
That's a few short years away. Mitsubishi has unveiled a PHEV, but it comes with
a US$48,000 price tag.
Of course, the newly restructured
GM introduced the Chevy Volt with much fanfare. It remains to be seen, however,
if GM
can pull it off - and how much the restructuring process will affect its
introduction schedule.
And there are other PHEVs
that will be announced over the coming years, as no major manufacturer wants
to be left
out of the game.
The bottom line is that
car buyers in the next few years will have a number of PHEVs to choose from,
with prices starting
in the US$30,000 range. This puts them just above the high volume, mass-produced
car market.
To put it in perspective,
however, any investment with PHEVs as a focus should be viewed with a five
to ten year
time frame. It will take at least that long for the sector to flesh out the
winners from the losers.
"Did you see the news
item on CTV National News re the lady in
Apparently her automatic transmission failed and BMW told her they do
not import parts to fix transmissions.
They replace the whole Unit .
Cost is $10,000 and they are firm.
She has parked it on their lot until a more reasonable arrangement can
be found.
Amazed they let her put it on national television".
Me? Screw around with you? No, really?
ON a hot summer trip the minivan
did a peculiar thing. After an hour on the road, it began to bake the
children.
Mom and Dad were cool and comfortable up front, but heat was blasting
into the rear of the van and it could not be turned off.
When three dealership visits,
days of waiting and the cumbersome replacement of mechanical parts failed
to fix the problem,
the owner took the van out and drove it until the oven fired up again.
Then he rushed to the mechanic to look for a software error.
Indeed, the high-tech comfort
system was confused. The rear temperature sensor of the van had gone
bad and was
sending a signal that the children were freezing at 32 degrees
Fahrenheit. The loyal van was doggedly trying to warm them up.
The minivan's problem was unusual
only in the specific form it took. Owners across the country and around
the globe have posted
anguished cries to Internet forums about electronic gremlins that
stop windows from rolling all the way up, that unexpectedly dim the
interior lights, that drain batteries or that make engines sputter.
While most automakers have had problems, quality rankings for some -
particularly technology-intensive German luxury brands renowned for engineering
- have plunged.
Not only are the glitches annoying,
their root causes can be hard to find. Problems are often fleeting and
may not be recorded
by on-board diagnostics systems.
The complexity is increasing and there's just a lot more electronics.
There is more software, too, and it comes from many sources.
It's one of the biggest quality
issues the automotive industry is dealing with, the problem is that
most of these applications in the
vehicle are being supplied by a lot of different suppliers.
The auto industry was not yet
very good at integrating software, so buyers inherit fumbled systems that
can interfere with one another
- just as installing incompatible programs can make a personal
computer malfunction. A niche might soon emerge for companies
that integrate various software systems before they go into a vehicle,
in the way that companies like Dell sell PC's with the operating
system and important programs already working in harmony.
32 percent of warranty costs could be attributed to dealership service visits at which no problem was found.
I.B.M. predicts that by 2010,
almost all cars will have essentially the same mechanical systems.
What will make the cars different will be software that operates
the systems in ways specific to the brand of car.
With so much of a vehicle's identity riding on computer code, carmakers
must get the software right.
That would be fine with one frustrated
consumer, who bought a fully equipped Mercedes-Benz C230 in 2001,
she has suffered through a string of hard-to-diagnose electronics
problems.
She recounts episodes of her car shaking uncontrollably and sounding as if it's stalling. In October, on a freeway, it simply shut down.
"I take it down the street and it just shakes, people are looking at me, wondering what I'm doing."
This lady has kept a log of
the problems, which sent her to the dealership 14 times in three years.
Despite all that scrutiny, technicians haven't found a digital
explanation.
"Probably I'm just not used to driving the car," she says she was told.
She has made friends online with
five or six other C230 owners, including one in South Africa, who are trying
to
diagnose shared problems.
While she has considered legal action, she says what she really wants
is simply for her car to work.
"Everything is a sensor," she
said, reading from a list of attempted fixes:
"They replaced the fuel-level sensor three times. Replaced the
main fuel filter two times.
Replaced crankshaft position sensor two times."
Among the electronic flaws on
her car, the software-based service system that sends out maintenance
reminders
went haywire, telling her at 12,000 kliks that the car needed its
16,000 klik service.
There have been no more reminders, though the mileage is now 65,000
Km.
As more electronics and software
make their way into all sorts of vehicles, hard-to-diagnose problems
have
cropped up repeatedly.
Late last year, Ford warned its dealers that software might disable
the continuously variable transmissions in some
30,000 of its new Ford Taurus sedans and Freestyle sport wagons.
The mechanical parts are fine, but a computer
control meant to detect dirty transmission fluid was putting some
cars into sluggish "limp home" mode.
Ford had to rewrite software to fix the problem, which it says was
caught before any vehicles reached customers.
But luxury cars packed with electronic
features suffer more because they adopt new technology earlier.
And the gremlins may be especially galling to luxury buyers who
expect their cars' pricey "surprise and delight"
features to delight them, not to surprise them in unpleasant ways.
Some complaints turn out to be
not failures, but features that are difficult to use. Systems that combine
many tasks
into a single controller, like BMW's iDrive system, draw lots of
complaints.
BMW says it takes an ordinary
driver about a month to become comfortable with iDrive.
To help new owners, the company suggests that they bring their
cars back to the dealer after two weeks for an
intensive training session.
Mercedes-Benz had to replace
many of its early Comand integrated control systems because of failures,
and has
since worked to simplify the controls. The company has eliminated
600 electronic functions in its cars, to improve
quality and make the remaining functions easier to use.
Complex systems that are hard
to learn can frustrate early users, but are ultimately accepted.
Other systems, though, tend to crash, just like computers. When
that happens, drivers can be maddened by failures
that force them to stop the car, then restart it; that illuminate
the "check engine" light; or that send the car into
limp-home operation.
One common problem comes not
from software, but from pollution controls. On cars with second-generation
diagnostics, a sensor often interprets a loose gas cap as a failure
of the evaporative emissions system,
tripping the "check engine" light.
Often, problems that seem like
electronic failures are actually owner oversights. Read the owners' manual.
When you've got all this complexity, the first thing you have to
do is spend half a day with the book.
The Honda Beat is a mid-engined
two-seat roadster kei car produced from in May 1991 to February 1996.
The Beat was the last car to be approved by Soichiro Honda before
he died in 1991. The total number of cars produced
was around 33,600. Most of the production (around two-thirds)
occurred in the first year, and then production and sales fell
drastically. The design of the car originated from Pininfarina,
who then sold the design plan to Honda.
The Beat was one of many cars designed to take advantage of Japan's
tax-efficient K class.
There were two mainstream models
of the Beat (the PP1-100 and the PP1-110) and a couple of limited edition
versions.
Variations on the first model were just cosmetic updates. Only
the second model had any real mechanical differences.
All the cars were offered with the option of a driver's side airbag.
In typical Honda fashion, the
Beat's engine did not utilize a turbocharger or supercharger. The 656 cc
(40.0 cu in) engine
was modified with the MTREC (Multi Throttle Responsive Engine
Control) system, which included one throttle valve for
each of the three cylinders, to produce 63 bhp at 8100 rpm.
Only a manual transmission was available.
The MTREC design would filter down to the 1993 Honda Today kei
car.
The Beat was part of a wave of
kei car-sized sports cars in the early 1990s; its competitors included the
Suzuki Cappuccino
and Mazda's Autozam AZ-1. Together they predicted the arrival
of the Smart Roadster over a decade later, while Japan
would not see a new model of the genre until the recent Daihatsu
Copen.
The design plan for the car was sold to MG by Honda, which was then used to build the MGF.
The Suzuki Cappuccino
is a small 2-door, 2-seater hard top roadster produced by Suzuki Motor
Corporation.
The vehicle was designed to meet Kei car insurance in Japan. Weighing
just 700 kg (1543 lb), the Cappuccino is powered
by a three-cylinder, all-alloy 657 cc DOHC engine (just under
the 660 cc maximum displacement allowed for a Kei car).
Its dimensions also conformed to Kei car regulations on length
and width, being 3295 mm (129.7 in) long and 1395 mm (54.9 in)
wide.
Front-rear weight distribution is claimed to be 50/50% when both seats are occupied. Layout is front mid-engined and rear-wheel drive.
Three removable roof panels mean
that the car can be used as a closed coupé; T-top; targa; or, on retraction
of the rear window
and roll bar, a full convertible. Roof panels stow in the trunk,
and the rear window/rollcage assembly retracts into the body behind
the seats.
It was originally equipped with
the F6A engine: later models were fitted with a K6A engine which was
lighter and had chain-driven,
rather than belt-driven, camshafts. Both are DOHC 12-valve, inline
3-cylinder engines that were turbocharged and intercooled.
Power output was a claimed 63 hp for Kei car purposes.
The Cappuccino featured 4-wheel
disc brakes, possibly the first production iteration of electric power-assisted
steering,
aluminium double wishbone suspension and rear wheel drive. Production
began in 1991 and ceased in 1997. The Cappuccino's
closest competitor of the time were the Autozam AZ-1, Honda Beat
and the Daihatsu Leeza Spyder.
(The Autozam AZ-1, Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappuccino were together
called the Sporty K-Car's ABC.)
Now they're at it again with
nitrogen enhanced fuel. Last years' little deception didn't work,
so now they're back.
All gas stations have to distribute
gasoline that includes additives designed to clean important engine
parts
-- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires it.
But if you've watched television or driven by a Shell
gas station recently, you may have noticed advertisements
for a special kind of gasoline with a fancy, vaguely
scientific name:
Shell Nitrogen Enriched Gasoline.
In March, the Shell gas company began pumping this gasoline
at its stations and
emphasized the fuel's formidable
cleaning power.
As fuel prices continue
to jump around only to settle back down unexpectedly, many drivers
are looking for more
efficient ways to use and conserve fuel. There are several
driving habits people can alter or improve, including paying
attention to local speed limits and avoiding hard braking
and rapid acceleration.
But taking care of your car's
engine is important, too. The performance of your vehicle's engine
is a big factor in fuel
economy. A properly maintained, well-cared-for engine will
give you better fuel efficiency, and therefore you'll spend
less time watching the prices tick away at the pump. The
types of gas you use could possibly affect your engine, too,
and Shell would like you to think that its particular blend
of gasoline will affect your engine positively.
So, how does Shell's nitrogen-enriched
gas work in a car's engine?
Does Shell's gas really perform better than other types
of gasoline, or are they simply jumping onto the efficiency
bandwagon with a gimmicky advertising campaign?
A major by-product of combustion
is carbon deposit build-up, or what Shell has hereby dubbed in their
ad campaign "gunk."
Gunk is essentially what it sounds like -- it's black soot
that can harden on the cylinders, pistons and valves of an engine.
If too much collects, this gunk can negatively affect engine
performance, causing your car to burn more oil, overheat and
even burn gasoline less efficiently. Valves inside an engine
are designed to let in a specific amount of air and fuel,
and when this process is interrupted by carbon deposit build-up,
your car won't be performing up to its potential.
So what does Shell's nitrogen-enriched
gasoline have to do with this?
The nitrogen formula in this specific type of gas functions
as a detergent. Special detergents or additives are added to
fuels to help clean engines. When Shell's nitrogen-enriched
gasoline runs through your engine, it is supposed to pass over
and comes into contact with the system's valves. Even
though the air being pulled into the engine is already
78% nitrogen - go figure.
Shell claims that nitrogen-enriched
molecules chemically react with carbon deposits that have collected
on the valves.
These nitrogen-enriched molecules then clean the valves
and permit maximum gasoline and air compression within the cylinder.
So, is Shell's nitrogen-enriched
gasoline a big deal?
Is it really something to get excited about?
When Shell launched its advertising
campaign pushing the new fuel, a series of commercials ran on several
major channels,
including MSNBC, Oxygen, USA, A&E, the Discovery Channel,
ESPN, Speed and the Golf Channel.
These ads, part of what Shell dubbed the "Passionate Experts"
campaign, featured goofy, somewhat aloof scientists
promoting the nitrogen-enriched fuel. And repeating animations of those silly
scientists are there, too, trading secret
handshakes, playing rock-paper-scissors and generally being
inane.
Shell's engine-cleaning gas isn't
technically anything new, either, since all gasoline products have been required
by the
EPA to include a minimum amount of additives and detergents
[source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency].
However, Shell's gasoline, along
with many others, does meet and exceed TOP TIER Gasoline Detergent
standards,
which is a voluntary standard that several major automakers
including Audi, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota
and Volkswagen created in order to improve the quality of
gasoline.
At the same time, you crank up the air conditioning and wait for the temperature transference to take place.
Only it doesn’t.
Hot air blasts out at you.
If you’re like me, you will knit your brow quizzically and try another
setting in case it’s just the “high”
setting that is wonky.
Maybe you’ll tip the little vents another way, in case the cold air is just blocked or something.
When none of this works, you will drive home all sweaty and do the only thing that makes any real sense.
You will get in your car the next day and try it all again. Because it just has to work.
Nobody wants to deal with broken air conditioning. There’s a good reason we don’t want to deal with it.
It’s expensive. * (see below).
It can be time consuming.
And it’s often frustrating.
But if your system is blowing hot air, it’s because you have a leak.
Your Freon has escaped, and like a bike tire, there is no
point filling it up without finding and fixing
the leak.
And unlike a bike tire, it’s not just air escaping,
it’s a gas that is rumoured to be wrecking our environment.
Your air conditioning system is made up of three main parts: a compressor,
a condenser and an evaporator.
They are connected with a system of lines and
hoses. The challenge is locating where the leak is,
but it’s not a challenge in a good way.
The only way to find a leak is to pressurize the system with nitrogen,
a first step diagnosis that is the only way to find the
problem and begin to fix it. We charge about
$30 for this basic test; but wherever you go for analysis,
make sure you use
a licensed technician.
Forget waiting a year or three. Moisture will set in to form hydrofluoric
acid and lead to severe component corrosion.
Which is why used A/C parts from a scrap yard
are not usually a good idea.
In a best case scenario, your technician can tell you where the leak is
— sometimes it’s as easy as using a soapy
solution and looking for bubbles. It’s fixed
and your system is recharged with R134A, the governmentally
regulated
Freon that’s been in use since 1993 to replace
the older, less ozone-friendly R12.
If a leak isn’t easily detected (after charging, there is no discernable
drop in pressure), he may recharge the system
but put a dye in the Freon. As it leaks out
slowly, again, you come back and the dye will let him see where
the leak is.
The compressor and condenser are fairly easy to access if a leak is detected.
The evaporator, on the other hand, requires the entire dashboard to be
pulled out.
Labour costs money, and seeing the innards
of your car on a shop floor can be a little distressing.
But let’s say all goes well and your system is doing a happily ever after
on the first go.
It’s probably still a cost of about $500 to
$700, on average.
These sealed systems are expensive to repair.
The problem? If a leak was in your compressor, there is nothing to prevent
a leak a month later in say, your condenser
or your evaporator. All the parts are the same
age.
Sometimes it’s just easier to put down the window.
Get your initial diagnosis. Then consider carefully.
*Here are some typical prices for the components involved and this does not include the considerable
As you are no doubt
aware, new car sales are way down
and going lower, whilst used car
sales
are on the upswing, which
happens every time there's a downswing
in the economies of the
Western world.
Our business blossoms
in the car repairs category and also
in the area of used car inspections.
Because I cannot emphasize
enough, and as many of my clients now
know from sad experiences,
how important it is to look before
you leap when buying a car (or a
house, for that matter).
When we carry out a
used car inspection, one of the questions
that is most often asked is,
"Can you tell if the odometer
has been turned back?"
In the good old days,
when speedometers were driven by a
cable and the numerals rolled over
mechanically, it wasn't
all that difficult to see if those
numerals lined up properly and if
there were
minute scratches
on the numeral faces, where a tool had
been used to manipulate each circle
of digits.
Then electronic odometers
arrived, driven by a pulse from the
VSS (vehicle speed sensor) and a
second mileage recorder
was secretly hidden in the black box
that controlled the transmission.
OK, we thought, game
over, these new systems are tamper-proof.
I should be so naive.
You can't keep a good thief
down and now, it seems, times have
changed once again.
It is one of the oldest
dodges in the book. Buy a high mileage
car, wind the odometer back and
sell
the car for a useful
profit.
In the past such shenanigans
were carried out in a back street garage
and involved removing the
entire
dashboard from the
car. But new technology has meant that
today's crooks don't even need to
scrape
their knuckles.
No wrenches are needed
and neither is a shop. Instead, roaming
rogue technicians armed with
a
laptop can visit you at
home and rapidly increase your car's
value while you wait.
Apparently, the whole
operation can be achieved in less than
ten seconds and business is good.
In the UK, a recent study
by a vehicle information company showed
that more than one and a half
million used
automobiles - almost one in 10 - shows
a "distance discrepancy", suggesting
that their
odometers had been
turned back.
This practice seems
to be spreading through the luxury
car sector. The more expensive the
car,
the more winding back
the mileage increases the value, and
high build quality means there are
fewer
give-aways that the
vehicle has been driven hard. The key factor behind
this operation
is the move from
analogue to digital
odometers. As I have said, the old
methods of manual manipulation involved
quite a
lot of work in removing
the instrument from the dashboard.
Manufacturers tried to combat these tricks by
installing on-board
computers that recorded the car's
details, including the mileage,
which could not
easily be altered.
But now, someone who
wants to alter the mileage can just
plug a laptop into the car's diagnostic
computer,
and can change its
memory. Thereby removing thousands
of miles or kilometres from the
odometer in an instant.
Apparently, from what
I hear, although I'm not a legal expert,
the actual operation is not
criminal.
It's only when a car that
has had its odometer altered is knowingly
offered as a low mileage example
and
sold, that it becomes
a criminal offence.
Obviously, few people
would alter an odometer if they did
not intend to sell it. There is only
one reason for
odometer interference
and that is money. It is estimated
that on luxury cars, owners or auctions
can make
an extra $100
to $200 for every 1,000 Km that is taken
off a car's mileage.
Digital odometers may
have rendered many traditional ways
of recognizing a suspicious vehicle
as useless,
but we do have other ways
of detecting possibly erroneous
mileages.
Wear and tear is the
first one. Unscrupulous sellers replace
worn pedal rubbers, so new ones
should
make you wonder what
happened. A driver's seat that is soiled
or worn is more expensive to
replace however,
and worn carpets
around the accelerator pedal are a big
give-away. Shiny steering wheels
or gearshifts can
also indicate a high-mileage
car. Switches that are losing their
painted-on numerals or symbols are pause
for
reflection. A vehicle
that is no longer wearing its original
OEM tires is also a subject of suspicion
if there is less
than 40,000 Km on
the clock.
Then there is the subject
of excessive stone chips, a common
problem these days. Maybe the
car has
been driven on gravel
roads a great deal, but high-mileage
cars usually have badly chipped
hoods and noses.
Badly scratched
door sills can also be an indication of heavy
usage. And despite what the professional
"turnbackers" claim
about their work being undetectable,
if you suspect foul play it could be
worth plugging
into the black box
to interrogate the cars electronic control
unit to see if tampering has taken
place.
Whether or not the garage can find evidence, the threat of a check is likely to scare off the seller of a tampered car.
There are also internet services that can check a vehicles history for you, for a fee of course (www.autofacts.ca).
And the eagle eyes of
a grey haired auto technician are also very useful.
These fellows are hard to fool.
Although I doubt that any of
us can detect the difference between
60,000 and 80,000 kilometres, we almost
always can
see that a vehicle has travelled
as much as double the apparent
mileage.
The worst case we ever
came across was a VW Jetta diesel that
had 240,000 Km showing on the clock,
but the general
condition of the car was very
suspicious. In particular, the
shifter linkage was extremely loose,
a condition that we had never
seen on a VW before, not at this
mileage anyway. We told the owner,
who had already bought the car without
an inspection
(a big and surprisingly common
blunder), to do some investigation.
He went to talk to the police, who
opened a file and
discovered that the car had
been used as a taxi and had actually
been driven more than 750,000 Km.
A gross example for
sure and I know that most large and
reputable dealers just don't
do that sort of thing, but when a car is
traded in and a legal affidavit
is signed by the owner, testifying
that the car mileage is genuine,
the dealer has little choice
but to accept it.
Buyer beware. I don't
care where you have your prospective
purchase inspected, but get it
done.
The CAA has a well developed
system and you also have the legal
right to know who the previous owner
was, although this
may turn out to be a leasing
company, in which case you cannot
pursue that avenue of inquiry any further
- and with excess
mileage costing ten cents per
klik, there's even more incentive
for odometer interference.
Most low mileage
cars at dealerships are exactly as represented, particularly if there is
some manufacturer's warranty left.
A friendly dealer can also punch
the VIN number into his computer
and see when the last service was carried
out and at what
mileage, this information is
usually available at all dealerships
representing the same manufacturer.
This is particularly
useful if there is warranty left on
the car and you want to register
as the new owner and get the balance
of warranty transferred.
Here's a few do's and don'ts
to help your battery maintain its peak performance
and to avoid
having
a low charge battery:
Do'sNew cars perform vastly better than vehicles built only a couple decades ago. A major factor in this has been the
-- Whenever working around batteries, make sure to wear proper eye, hand,
and clothing protection.
-- Check the terminals where the battery cables connect to be sure they
are tight and free of corrosion. If corrosion is present, get a
qualified technician to clean the terminals.
-- Make sure the battery is firmly secured to its mounting bracket. An
unsecured battery that shifts around can become damaged, and possibly
cause short circuits.
-- In batteries other than those that are "maintenance free,"
periodically check the fluid level. If the fluid is low, add only
distilled water to top it off. If no fluid is detectable, you may
want to replace the battery rather than fill it, as batteries in this
condition will usually fail very soon.
-- Always remember to keep your battery case clean. Dirt conducts
electricity, which can discharge the battery. Battery cases can be
cleaned with a solution of baking soda dissolved in warm water. Wet
the case and agitate with a nylon bristle brush. Rinse well with
plain water.
-- Batteries come in many different sizes. When replacing a car battery,
make sure you choose the right size for your vehicle. When it comes
to car batteries, bigger is not always better.
Don'ts
X If you suspect that a battery is frozen, do not charge it, as it may
explode! One visual sign that a battery has frozen is that the sides
are bowed out. This condition is not repairable, and the battery will
need to be replaced by a professional as soon as possible.
X If you need to charge your battery yourself, switch the charger to a
low-charge setting. Most chargers have this feature but if not, have
a professional charge the battery.
X Don't charge a dead battery with a car's alternator. An alternator is
not designed to function as a charger, and it may be damaged or have a
shortened life as a result.
Vision:
Take
the time to clear all windows of snow, ice or moisture
before starting out.
Also
clear any snow off the hood and the roof - it comes
loose when driving.
Lights:
Even
though you can see, drive with low-beam headlights
in snow, fog or just winter murk.
Those
bloody awful blue lights are horrible in blowing snow
conditions.
Keep
all lenses free of dirt by wiping them periodically.
Dirty headlights can cut visibility by 50 percent
or more.
Don't
forget the directional lights, tail lights and parking
lights.
Tires:
Be
sure your tires have adequate tread for traction in
snow and to reduce the risk of hydroplaning in rain
or
puddles
on the road. You may hear that putting extra weight
in the trunk or truck bed gives better traction.
Traction
might be helped a little but this is at the
expense of steering control and longer stopping distances.
Likewise,
you may hear that reducing tire pressure is another
way of increasing traction. Reducing air pressure
will
not give you more traction and your tires will be
seriously under inflated, affecting steering.
Keep
in mind that every time the outside temperature drops
10 degrees, the tire air pressure goes down
about
one pound per square inch.
Remember
too that under inflated tires are the major cause
of tire failure.
Ice/Freezing Rain:
At
30F (0C) degrees ice is twice as slippery as it is
at 0 (-15C) degrees. It also forms first and lasts
longer
on
bridges and in the shade. If you hit an unexpected
patch, don't try to brake, accelerate or downshift.
Ease
up on your accelerator, declutch a manual transmission
and let your vehicle "roll" through the slippery
area.
When
freezing rain is occurring resulting in icing conditions,
pull over to the side of the road until the
road
has been treated with sand and salt or slow down to
what may seem like a crawl - until you have to
brake.
Skidding:
If
you go into a skid, act quickly by holding your speed
steady. Keep your foot off the brake and steer in
the
direction
the rear of the vehicle is skidding.
In
other words, if the rear of your vehicle slides right,
turn right. If goes left, turn left.
Hold
the steering wheel loosely and don't make large turns.
Use a light touch to correct the skid.
Braking:
Your
owners' manual will usually recommend the braking
technique most suitable for your car.
For
front and rear wheel drive vehicles with disc or drum
brakes the National Safety council recommends the
following
procedure:
Squeeze
your brakes with a slow, steady pressure until just
before they lock. When you feel them start to lock,
ease
off
until your wheels are rolling; then squeeze again.
If
you have anti-lock brakes, push hard on the pedal
and hold it that way.
Following Distance:
Maintain
at least three times the normal following distance
on snow or ice.
If
you are being followed too closely, maintain an extra
distance behind the vehicle ahead so that you can slow
down
or
brake gradually. Be prepared to adjust speed and/or
stop to avoid colliding with the vehicle in front of
you.
Plan
ahead when approaching intersections so that braking
can be done smoothly.
Stay on the Beaten Path:
Stay
in line when travelling to or from a snow zone. Don't
blaze your own trail, especially going downhill
- you'll
only manage to create a worse situation. You could
block off the only open space in which emergency
snow
vehicles can travel.
Walking on Ice or Snow:
After
being in a warm vehicle, the soles of shoes or boots
are warm enough to melt snow or ice, creating a
film
of water between the sole and the snow or ice surface.
Be especially cautious for the first five minutes
after
leaving the vehicle. When walking on snow or ice, use
short steps and keep your hands out of your pockets.
These
factors will help you maintain your balance.
If
you do fall, tuck your arms close to your body and roll
with the fall.
Stay Clear of Ploughs and
Sanders:
Watch
out for these vehicles as you round corners, curbs,
etc. They do not travel at a high speed; therefore,
you'll
tend to come up on them quickly. Slow down. Ploughs
and sanders will pull over periodically to let traffic
pass.
It's
risky to pass on the left of a snow plough because
of flying snow.
Never
pass on the right. Flying rocks can damage your car
if you pass a sander.
If
it's also spreading rock salt, it can ruin your paint
job.
The
best advice is to stay three car lengths behind ploughs
and sanders and be patient.
October 17th 2008.