How Servicing Your Car Can Extend its Life (Even Further!)

As a car buyer, you’ve experienced the uneasy feeling of maintaining your vehicle.  In most recent years, advances in technology have lessened visits to the service department, but routine service should still not be missed.  Our dealership is a safe haven for your car, catering to its specific needs, like a preventative care center.  One of the main questions you ask when purchasing a new or used vehicle is: How reliable it is? In today’s blog, we provide some tips to maintaining your vehicle and how to extend the already long life of your vehicle.

1.    Read the vehicle manual and schedule maintenance appointments - Keeping up with your vehicle’s scheduled maintenance is key to avoiding costly problems to the cooling system, drivetrain, suspension etc…

2.    Call your dealership and ask questions – We’re here to help.  If you have any service questions feel free to call us with your questions. 

3.    Have your dealership check fluids – Always come in and ask us check the level of antifreeze, oil, transmission fluid, and brake fluid regularly. 

4.    Change oil regularly – By changing your oil when your dealership requests it, you can protect your engine.  Every car is different, so call us to get the exact information for your specific vehicle make and model.

5.    Request a fluid flush every two years – By flushing the power steering, brake, and cooling system fluid when it is pertinent, you can cleanse your car’s liquids in one fell swoop.  However, if you have gone more than 50k miles without a change, on many transmissions, it is not the greatest idea to do so.  It can cause breakdown varnish and other solids that have built up in the transmission over time.

6.    Have the tires rotated – Having your tires rotated at your nearest dealership should be second nature.  By doing so, you can avoid uneven wear and tear on the tread, extending the life of your tires.

These are just a few tips to help you maintain your vehicle in your daily commute, feel free to add your comments below!

# Automotive Advertising

What is the Rate for Super Bowl Car Commercials?

In 1995, the world was a simpler place. People conversed in person; we didn’t suffer from severe neck pain from excessive smartphone usage and all was well with the world.  However, Super Bowl commercials cost $1 million dollars.  Back then, that was an excruciating price to pay for :30 seconds of uninterrupted commercial bliss.  Fast forward to 2012, and you would see Volkswagen paying a whopping 3.5 million for the 30-second champion spot.  According to Forbes, this is the highest average ad price a network has ever charged for Super Bowl.

In the last decade in a half, the Super Bowl asking price has increased 5.7% annually.  Accordingly, in 13 years we could see pricing go up to $7 million.  However, even with the super high asking price, NBC was able to sell out all 70 ad slots by last Thanksgiving.  WOW. 

Last years Bowl had 111 million viewers, with advertisers paying upwards to $3 million per spot. So how do the networks afford it? According to Forbes:

NBC will pay the league $603 million in rights fees this year. The $245 million that NBC will bring in from Super Bowl commercials (70 spots at $3.5 million a pop) will cover 41% of that payment. NBC’s Super Bowl advertising revenue also comprises 14% of the $1.81 billion it has to pay the NFL over a three-year period. FOX and CBS pay more for their right agreements: $720.3 million and $619.8 million, respectively. FOX brought in $195 million from last year’s Super Bowl and CBS generated $152 million the year before; those amount to 9% and 8% of each network’s respective three-year rights fees.

As the Super Bowl continues to increase, what does the future hold?  Only time will tell!

How Do YOU Find the Right Vehicle? (POLL)

At a car dealership, our main priority is finding the perfect vehicle for you: the consumer.  In today’s day and age, so many individuals are well versed in what they want.  Through careful research in online forums, review sites and word of mouth, they know the exact model to fit their lifestyle-all the way down to the trim color.  In today’s blog, we would like to get YOUR feedback.  We want to know how you research a new vehicle.  Just leave your comments below to discuss.  Thanks for your participation!

Feel free to choose an option below or create your own!

1.    I research cars through sites like Edmunds, Car and Driver and Consumer Reports to find a great fit with reviews I can trust

2.    I talk to my friends and family about what cars are reasonably priced and affordable.

3.    I use social media as a mechanism for questions and answers on the newest vehicles.

4.    I call up the dealership directly and inquire about a vehicle

5.    I visit my closest dealership’s website for more information

# Automotive Advertising

Going Green: Keeping Your Home Environmentally Friendly

We understand the importance of the environment.  We’re the first to appreciate the aesthetic look of the intercostal as waves crash on a harbor, or the setting sun burrowing into the horizon.  To maintain that sense of beauty, we all participate in making the world a greener place to live.   By lowering emissions and using environmentally sound products, we can all make sure to keep our planet green.  In today’s blog, we discuss some easy ways to maintain these same principles in your home.

1.    A Green Home is a Clean Home

Green homes allow for bill slashing, efficiency boosting, and the ability to minimize leakage.  One example is dual-paned windows.  They keep cool during the summer and warm during the winter.  One other great feature is a low-flow toilet, as well as tankless water heaters and solar energy systems. 

2.    Watch the Temperature

A lot of energy consumption is used during heating and cooling.  Turn down your thermostat in cold weather and keep it high in warm weather.  According to MSN: “Each degree below 68°F (20°C) during colder weather saves 3%-5% more heating energy, while keeping your thermostat at 78°F in warmer weather will save you energy and money. A programmable thermostat will make these temperature changes for you automatically.”

3.    Save Water

Just changing some of your routines can yield efficient water usage.  For example, try using a broom instead of a garden hose to clean your driveway, it can save you 80 gallons of water!!  Turn off the water while brushing your teeth will yield 4.5 gallons.

4.    Energy Efficient Light

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb, lasting up to 10x longer than the standard bulb.  Replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a 32-watt CFL can save $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

5.    Use More Efficient Paint

The average paint contains solvents, toxic materials, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can cause smog, ozone pollution, and indoor air quality problems, according to the EPA.  Try zero-low-VOC paint, made by most major paint manufacturers.

These are just a few quick pointers to get you started, for more tips visit your nearest hardware store for more info and visit http://www.greenamerica.org/livinggreen/greencleaners.cfm

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Automotive Advertising

Making Music Integration Easy

Driving is a fundamental tool for getting from point A to point B.  That’s a given.  In most cases, we need something to cut the monotony of driving day in and day out.  Listening to music in the car has always been a great way to pass that long morning drive in traffic.  If your favorite song is blaring through the speakers, it’s hard not to remember a nostalgic memory tied to a rock ballad from the 70’s, or a classical piece of music that rivets the soul.  In today’s blog, we’re going a step further.  We’re going to provide you with some innovative ways to listen to music in your car.  Feel free to read below and add your own comments.

Cassette tapes, CDs and if you’re ‘seasoned’ enough, 8-tracks were always a distraction in the car.  Now, with the emergence of mp3 players like the iPod, you can hold thousands of music files in one small device.  You can connect your iPod four ways:

1.    Aux-in connection: this is a common feature in most cars and only requires an Auxiliary cable (which you can pick up for about $2 on Amazon) to be plugged into a car’s aux-in jack on one end and the music player’s headphone jack on the other.  Then, just select AUX on a car’s stereo and viola!

2.    USB Port: most carmakers offer a computer-style connection.  You can plug in your iPod/iPhone using the computer-sync cable it was supplied with.  This allows you to control your device easily.

3.    Proprietary connection: This relies on a cable supplied by the automaker that plugs into the iPod’s 30-pin connector on one end, just as a USB cable does.  The other end plugs into a connection that's unique to the vehicle. Another connection setup uses a two-pronged cable that has to plug into both the aux-in jack and a USB port.

4.    Bluetooth Audio: allows you to transfer a conversation from a mobile phone to a car’s stereo that also let you wirelessly stream music between compatible devices.  Typically, the only features available are pause/play. 

These are just some of the ways music technology is making waves in the auto industry.  Choose the most convenient for you and run with it!

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Automotive Advertising

TwitWipe: An App that Deletes ALL of Your Tweets

Mischief.  Trouble.  Mayhem.  These three words can accompany a questionable decision you’ve made, a night of unwanted remembrance or a tweet that you regretted as soon as it left your tech savvy fingers.  We’ve all made questionable decisions in our time, that’s obvious.  With the emergence of social media, it’s easier to broadcast your debauchery via tweet, text, message or photo...in an instant.  It’s an immediate blast to the online world, forever etched in the Internet’s repertoire. 

Have you ever posted something you later regretted?  In most cases, you can delete a post fast enough to avoid detection.  However, once you push ENTER and one person sees the post before you delete it, they can share it with their friends in an instant.   I.e.  Anthony Weiner, the disgraced Congressman who infamously tweeted a private picture, was the center of a huge scandal.  It’s also hard to forget the tweet by Ashton Kutcher, regarding the Sandusky scandal that read: “How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a Hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste.” Before he knew about the scandal…the list goes on. 

For the impulsive Twitter junkie, there’s hope. A new app called TwitWipe is able to delete ALL of your tweets in one go.   This might be a little drastic for most Twitter users, but if you regret most of the things you’ve said on Twitter, this is definitely the ideal road to travel.  Utilizing TwitWipe will let you start fresh on Twitter without losing your followers, the people you follow or your favorites.  It’s more beneficial than deleting your account because you still hold on to your followers, who you follow etc…   

There is a downside, however.  TwitWipe takes time to perform deletion and once done, there’s no turning back.  If TwitWipe is the right thing for you, click: http://twitwipe.com/login.php

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Automotive Advertising

Finding a Fresh Christmas Tree

It’s days weeks before Christmas and you’re running around frantically.  The gifts are unwrapped, the food is unprepared and your Santa hat is nowhere to be found.  Stop.  Take a deep breathe and relax, we’re here to help.  Though we won’t be able to cook your holiday dinner, (we can make a mean roast, by the way) we will be able to help you with one of your dilemmas: finding the perfect Christmas tree. 

Finding the perfect tree starts with one simple rule: look for the green! According to Elwood Christmas Tree Farm owner Lee Itzler, the best way to test the health of an evergreen is to grab a branch of your Christmas tree-to-be and lightly scratch the stem. "If you see green, the tree will keep its needles longer."

Trees between 6 and 8 feet are always in high demand, taking between 8 and 10 years to grow 6 feet tall.  Once you pick out your tree, it’s best to put it inside of your car as opposed to on top.  Why? Itzer says: "Strapped on the roof, the trees get really beat up, wind burned, and desiccated. If you're a local delivery it really doesn't make a difference, but if you're going on the highway, then it should go in the car."  If you do have to put it on the roof, put the trunk facing into the wind.

Once your tree is home safe and sound, it’s time to get a good stand with heavy water retention.  The tree will soak up a lot of water over the course of the next couple days, so make sure to keep the stand full.  Viola! Your tree skills have improved this year! 

How do you retain your tree over the holiday season?  Let us know below!

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Automotive Advertising