Archive for the ‘Best Cars’ Category
The Return Of The Geo Metro – Save Gas Money
With gas prices hitting new highs everyday it’s not surprising that motorists are shopping for more fuel efficient vehicles. The fuel situation combined with the weak economy has even boosted demand for some cars that are no longer in production. For drivers hurt by these high gas prices the answer to gas savings may just be the return of the Geo Metro.
The small sedan discontinued in 2001 has nearly tripled in price on usedcar lots and on eBay in the past few months pushed upward by customers who yearn for 40plus milepergallon fuel efficiency. Many car dealers say the demand for the model far outstrips supply an observation in line with national statistics that show compact cars are the top sellers in an otherwise sluggish market for used vehicles. The heightened demand extends to nearly all small cars including the Honda Civic and Ford Focus.
The Metro was introduced in 1989 and sold until 1997 under the Geo name and then from 1998 to 2001 it was sold as the Chevrolet Metro.
Kelley Blue Book a provider of vehiclepricing data said in its current edition that a 1990 Metro was worth 1175. The company’s Web site provides updated information and says the model is now selling for 3000. Robyn Eckard director of public relations for Kelley Blue Book said that the increase is one of the most dramatic shifts of any model. Other gassipping cars have risen in value but not nearly as much.
Fortunately for bargain hunters Geo Metros aren’t scarce. GM sold more than 700000 from 1989 to 1998. At various times body styles included a Geo Metro sedan a hatchback and even a little twodoor convertible. BuyGeoMetro.com online auction recently listed 57 Geo Metros nationwide ranging in price from 500 to as high as 7000 and AutoTrader.com had another 51 listings.
National statistics highlight his point. J.D. Power and Associates has found that the smallest used cars had the fastestgrowing prices in March and April of 2008. The category known as compact basic which includes the Metro and Toyota Yaris among others had an average price of 10039 up 7.3 percent from the same period the year before.
The other top categories also were geared toward fuel efficiency while the categories with the worst price performances were pickups and large sports utility vehicles. Overall usedcar prices dropped a half percent with an average price of 16609.
Tom Libby senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power said usedcar prices are a great barometer of the overall auto market because car dealers have broad authority to set prices while newcar inventories and prices often are out of local dealers’ hands. And right now the barometer says fuel economy is by far the top consideration a factor that just happens to be the chief virtue of the Geo Metro.
Libby said the surge in the Metro’s value “makes perfect sense.”
“It’s a highly fuelefficient vehicle and there probably aren’t that many around. In today’s environment it’s very valuable” he said.
About the writer: Mike Martin is just trying to save some money on gas and the geo metro might be the answer. http://www.buygeometro.com/ Buy a Geo Metro and save on gas costs.
Is It Really That Necessary To Install A Car Security System On Your Automobile
Many people take minimal if any approaches when it comes to car security. This is especially the case if they have a car that is cheap and old. However even these cars can get stolen. In fact the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord two cars that are not all that spectacular in comparison to sports cars are the two types of vehicles that get stolen the most by car thieves. Why would they still such average cars? It’s because they can get money stripping them of their parts. They then sell these parts to various car manufacturers who may not have any idea that the parts were obtained illegally. Then there are those who do know as they are a part of the car theft crime ring.
So with that being said what can be done to increase one’s car security? Well to understand what will work best for car security first consider what won’t work. For example the infamous car bars that are sold through infomercials mean nothing to a car thief. All they have to do to steal the car is cut away the bar then hotwire the ignition to get it to run. This makes the car bar form of car security a complete waste of money.
Another car security method that won’t work are car alarms. To understand why this type of car security method doesn’t do well think about your own self when you hear such an alarm go off. Do you really think that a car is being broken into? If you’re like most people probably not because the annoying sound associated with most car alarms happen so often that it lost its original power. And for the rare few that do associate an activated car alarm with theft they get distracted by cat prints on car. What does this mean? Basically the car thief throws a cat somewhere on the car. When the owner or someone else sees the footprints they think it’s a cat doing it instead of a person. As they are returning to wherever they were the car thief moves in and steals the vehicle.
What can be done to help increase car security if the most common methods of car bars and car alarms don’t work? The best answer involves getting systems like LoJack that provide special tracking technologies to locate where a car is if it is stolen. LoJack specifically works through a separate device that is hidden somewhere in the car. When the car is stolen a person can check online to see where it is. From there the police can come after the car. If a person doesn’t like the idea of their car security being determined by a device that could be found by the thief they can consider technologies such as Onstar where tracking is built within the car through a special GPS system.
Of course if you do get LoJack or Onstar there’s still a possibility that the car could be stripped so fast that once the police get there it’s gone. However if the thief didn’t suspect that he was being tracked at least justice can be done in the situation as he would be hauled off to jail. From there he won’t be a further threat either to the person from which he stole or towards the public in general.
About the writer: Gregg Hall is an author living with his 18 year old son in Jensen Beach Florida. Find more about window tint as well as car care accessories at http://www.5starshine.com
How Does The New Lexus Compare To Other Hybrids
Many new cars have been developed throughout the years that promise to do wonders for the environment but the future for these types of cars looks far more promising for Lexus.
Their new hybrid technology have enabled them to develop energy efficient cars that produce far less carbon dioxide emissions than many other cars helping them to advertise their green legacy about cars. Due to climate change and the green technology Lexus have at their disposal many people see them as the greenest and energy efficient car maker in the world faring much better than rivals Mercedes Benz and BMW.
All new cars that Lexus are revealing to go on sale are going to use the hybrid technology but that does not mean that the cars are not as efficient as their competitors. The latest car that Lexus have put on sale has proved this with the 250 SR. The efficient 2.5l V6 engine boosts out 204bhp and is smooth and refined and this is what allows it to be less polluting to the environment than its competitors. Its new sleek body shape is based on the original IS series but has been slightly redesigned to be more aerodynamic.
It also boasts new front and rear spoilers that allow the IS 250 SR to be more aggressive and hunkered down. The overall look is helped due to the new SR being lowered by a considerable amount to make the car look sportier. In the IS 250 SR two types of gearbox that are available are a six speed manual gearbox and an automatic transmission from Lexus. The automatic transmission also puts an additional 0.3 seconds on the 062mph time clocking it at a respectable 8.4 seconds compared to the manuals time of 8.1 seconds.
The other highly anticipated car coming from Lexus in the near future is the new LFA super car that will challenge even the likes of Ferrari and Porsche as well as Aston Martin. The car will receive a 5.0l V10 that will produce around 500bhp and Lexus officials say that the car will be able to top the 200mph mark.
The price for this highly anticipated car is undecided yet but rumours have uncovered it will be in excess of 100000 pounds. The chassis is supposed to be developed intensively on the Fuji Speedway in Japan as well as the suspension to allow the car to have near perfect weight distribution and to have the cornering ability that it deserves. The body has F1 inspired curves including air intakes behind the rear windows and this all helps to make the LFA have a very good drag coefficient and be aerodynamically superior.
These two cars will help to launch Lexus even further up the car maker tree and allow them to compete with the world’s best. The car brand has already had very big success in Japan and in the United States where Lexus is very popular and they are hoping to crack the European market very soon and the introduction of these two cars only adds to the diversity of the range of models on offer to a potential customer and with the recent addition of a super car Lexus will be able to compete with a number of rivals from BMW to Ferrari and Lamborghini meaning that Lexus will be covering all of the market with all of the models they have in their range at the moment.
About the writer: Vehicle expert Catherine Harvey looks at the way Lexus are taking on the hybrids.