Finding a Used Car

After the last few used car purchase I made (they were all lemons), I had a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.  Truth of the matter, I had lost my faith in private sales and I thought that I would take a different approach for my next car and check out to see if any dealerships were selling used cars in Weatherford.

Since there was a Suzuki dealer just down the street, I thought that I would begin my hunt there.  I was greeted by a wonderful sales person that was happy to listen to my concerns.  Bearing in mind that I had been burned before, he suggested that I take a look at some of their new models to make sure that I didn’t have any problems.

I really never thought of looking at a new car, but I thought why not?  At least they would come with new warranty, right?

Well, after driving a few models, I ended up buying a red Suzuki SX4 at a price that I just wasn’t expecting – it was a lot more affordable than I would have thought.  But in the end, I feel much better knowing that I purchased a vehicle that has warranty and will work well for years to come, which is exactly what I wanted.

Zipcar Has a Lot Of Toyota Cars

Zipcar is a car sharing program that is available in a number of different cities throughout the United States. I started using it about a year ago and have really found it to be a convenient way to have access to good cars without having to own a car myself.

Basically the way that it works is that there are Zipcar vehicles parked in various lots all around the city. You pay a membership fee and receive a card reader that allows you to open the cars once you've reserved them online. You can take them out for as little as an hour or as long as several days. You only pay for the time that you use the car. The insurance and gas are paid for you. It's a really great way to share a car with other city members.

I've recently noticed that the company seems to have an awful lot of Toyota cars in their selection of vehicles to choose from. I wonder why that is? I do know that they keep their cars in great shape. Maybe they get a good deal on Toyota 4runner parts and Toyota Prius parts and Toyota Highlander parts so that's why they keep so many of these cars on their lots. I'm not sure but I like driving a Toyota so it works well for me.

What is the Favorite Vehicle You have Ever Owned?

Do you still remember the first automobile you ever owned? Perhaps it was when you were still in high school and you were given the old family car when your parents bought a new one? Or possibly you had been working summer after summer and part time after school saving your money to make the purchase of that car that promised to give you freedom to go where and when you wanted. One thing is for sure, unless you lived in a heavily urban cityscape, acquiring your first car was likely something that meant a lot to you. If you were fortunate enough to have your birthday early in the year, you knew you'd get licensed before school was out. This meant that there was every likelihood you would have a vehicle for all the important high school events like your high school prom. If you are male, just being able to ask a girl out on a date without having to check with your parents to see about borrowing their car was a major advantage in your social life. And if you are female, having your own transportation prompted you to be the person the other girls wanted to hang out with. Regardless of when you got that first automobile, anticipation and excitement at that point in your young life was something you most likely cherished, even to this very day.

Perfect Companion for a Dashing Debonair

My friend Clark is one of the most sought-after bachelors in our city. He is well-educated, smart and has one of the best jobs in the hotel industry.

And as they say, “some guys have all the luck.” Clark is definitely one of these guys. He gets to date with some of the most beautiful women in our area.
But I guess his best all-time date is his Boxster S silver Porsche. Always shiny everyday, his car is always a standout, next to himself.

Most of the time, he doesn’t go on date as a pair to his beautiful boxster. His two-seater companion is almost always not without a lovely lady.
He says he gets puts a special emphasis on his car wheels and so he has a rather good supply of alternative wheels to dress up his car. Aside from his Victor Equipment Turismo Silver he also has a set of gold Volk Racing Porsche.

Depending on his trips, he changes wheels every now and then. He said he even has a set of 350z which comes a different car brand.
For him, it is important to give his car different accessories in different occasions. “It’s like a lady who needs different jewelries in different parties,” he quipped.

Do We Grow Out of Cars?

My sister has always had a thing for Supras. She got a 1986 ½ Supra when she was in high school, and after college she upgraded to a 1997 Supra. I think her new one is even a special edition.

She searched the entire United States in order to find the perfect Supra, paid to have this one (which came from Maryland) inspected by a dealer, and paid to have it shipped to Colorado. I guess that ought to tell you how serious she was back then about her Supras.

These days, though, she seems to be less interested. She even considered selling her Supra a little while back. That's a pretty significant move, but I guess she's worried that the upkeep will start becoming expensive, since she only puts genuine Toyota parts on her car. Also she has another car, a cheap little Honda, as a daily driver, and I think she was considering the benefits of simplifying her life somewhat by just having one car.

Is it possible for car enthusiasts to grow out of cars? I used to be really big on working on my own car, but I've found that as I've gotten older and gotten more responsibilities, it's less appealing to spend time tinkering around on my car when I have so much else waiting to be done.

I only work on my car when I really need to now, but it's more than that. I don't think I enjoy it as much as I used to. Are cars just really big toys that lose their appeal as we get older and have less "play" time?

Finding Car Rentals in London

One of the things that I struggle with when traveling is getting everything arranged properly.  It seems that no matter how careful I think I am being, I usually end up forgetting something.  This can be very frustrating and can cause a big inconvenience.

The one thing that I seem to always forget is booking a car for when I land at the airport.  I can remember countless times forgetting to ensure that that there would be London airport rental cars available when I landed and had to take a taxi.  In most cases this ends up being a costly mistake, so I try to avoid it as much as I can.

I only run into these types of problems when I am traveling on my personal time since my employer makes sure to book London airport car rentals weeks in advance so that I never run into this problem.  I guess I could blame my own issues on not having a secretary to make my travel arrangements for me, but what would be the point?

Thankfully I am getting better at remembering everything I need before I get on the plane to go on a vacation.  Sure, there might be some mishaps along the way, but nothing I can’t handle.  Besides, it wouldn’t be fun if everything worked out all the time, right?

Ford racing parts at a speedway near you

There is a growing movement in this country around vehicle modification. After market accessory sales are increasing every year as more and more people spend time, money and energy modifying their cars and trucks.

photo credit: Saeid.Y

A particularly popular off shoot of all this modification is the pursuit of legal, off street racing. Many of the nations best auto racing tracks have opened up to the general public that are interested in bringing their vehicles to the track in order to compete against their peers.

As these activities grow in popularity, we are seeing business sponsorships begin to become more commonplace. Ford racing parts for instance has a major presence at a number of motor speedways around the south east.

While this is heavy NASCAR country, there is a lot of time throughout the year that these race tracks sit idle. When nothing is going on, no one is there with their eyeballs. This of course translates in to no opportunities to generate income.

By opening up the speedways, the sponsors now have more folks to market to. As the non-professional sport of racing continues to gain in popularity, we'll see more sponsorships and more companies interested in taking advantage of the gatherings these activities generate.