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What We Avoid When Car Shopping

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:31:51 +0000

While many say that the price of gas will once again skyrocket once the holidays and election honeymoon are over, others are expressing that same fear with their wallets. The sixth annual avoidance study conducted by JD Powers & Associates shows that new vehicle buyers are increasingly likely to avoid specific models due to price or gas mileage.

The study examines the reasons consumers fail to consider particular models when shopping for new vehicles. What people avoid when shopping for a new vehicle often tells more about the current state of the auto industry and the economic and political climate of the country as a whole. This year the study says people are holding on to all the pennies they can count.

The 2008 study finds that 23 percent of new-vehicle buyers cite price as a reason they avoided a certain model during the shopping process. Gas mileage is also becoming a more important factor, both in vehicle buyers’ avoidance of some models and selection of other models. Poor gas mileage as a reason for avoidance has increased dramatically in the past four years, climbing to 13 percent in 2008 from 7 percent in 2004.

“In these tough economic times, a significant number of would-be new-vehicle buyers are postponing their purchases, but for those who are purchasing new vehicles, the market has shifted toward smaller, less expensive and more fuel-efficient models,” said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates. “Although we’ve recently seen a considerable decrease in the price of gasoline, consumers will not soon forget having had to pay in the range of $80 to $90 for a tank of gas earlier this year.”

The study also finds that even as gas mileage has become increasingly important to new-vehicle buyers, only 4 percent of buyers cite environmental concerns as a reason for avoidance, compared with 5 percent in 2007.

“With the recent trend in automotive marketing centered on ‘green’ vehicles for environmentally conscious buyers, it seems that now would be the time that environmental concerns would resonate strongly with new-vehicle buyers,” said Osborn. “However, the reality is that environmental concerns are seldom mentioned as a reason to either avoid or purchase specific models. Gas mileage is now the primary factor in the new vehicle purchase decision, so it appears that buyers are looking for better gas mileage as a way to save money, rather than out of concern for the environment.”

While styling remains the reason for avoidance cited most often by new-vehicle buyers (43%), the study finds that other product-related concerns — such as long-term reliability, quality and resale value — are also very important to consumers. Reliability concerns are cited by 22 percent of buyers as a reason for avoidance, while resale value is cited by 16 percent and concerns about poor quality by 14 percent.

“The halo effect of a brand’s product quality and dependability on its models, and vice versa, is critical to brand image and consideration,” said Osborn. “A vehicle brand that has a perception in the marketplace for poor quality faces an uphill battle when it comes to winning customers, and these negative brand perceptions — whether true or not — are among the most difficult to overcome in the short term. Quite often, vehicles are avoided due to quality concerns to a greater extent than they may deserve. For instance, many buyers cite ‘quality’ as a reason for avoiding Ford and Chevrolet models, yet both of these brands earned above-average quality scores from owners in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Initial Quality Study.”

The 2008 Avoider Study is based on responses from more than 33,000 owners who registered a new vehicle in May 2008. The study was fielded August through September 2008.

Gas Mileage EPA Ratings for 2009 Models

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:00:33 +0000

The EPA and the Department of Energy have released the 2009 Fuel Economy Guide. For the first time, the release is available for mobile download as well (www.fueleconomy.gov/m).

“With the new Fuel Economy Guide in hand, Americans now have the information they need to buy greener and cleaner cars and trucks,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “This valuable guide can help jump start any search for a better, more efficient automobile.”

“Today new car buyers have more fuel efficient and alternative fuel options than ever before,” Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. “Knowledge is power and this guide provides consumers with necessary information to make smart vehicle purchasing decisions that will save them money at the pump.”

Here’s another thing car shoppers can take with them when they shop. It’s the list of the top 2009 gas mileage models:

Rank	Manufacturer/Model	MPGcity/highway
1	Toyota Prius (hybrid)	48/45
2	Honda Civic Hybrid	40/45
3	Nissan Altima Hybrid	35/33
4	Ford Escape Hybrid FWD Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD	34/31
5	Smart Fortwo Convertible Smart Fortwo Coupe	33/41
6	Toyota Camry Hybrid	33/34
7	Volkswagon Jetta (manual, diesel) Volkswagon Jetta Sportwagon (manual, diesel)	30/41
8	Volkswagon Jetta (automatic, diesel) Volkswagon Jetta Sportwagon (automatic, diesel)	29/40
9	Toyota Yaris (manual)	29/36
10	Toyota Yaris (automatic)	29/35

Will Your Car Die Today?

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:17:20 +0000

Do you ever feel that you have too much to manage? That you don’t have a spare brain cell to try to remember one more thing? You’re not alone. Unfortunately, what you don’t remember to do, or don’t have time to do today, could be the one little maintenance chore that your car desperately needs done to continue running it’s best, or running at all.

Some of the most important things you can do to increase your vehicles mileage fall under the heading of basic mileage. Keeping your tires inflated above manufacturers specifications, but within the maximum safety level, (shown on the inside of your driver’s door panel usually) can improve your mileage by more than 10% for example. When you do this, however, making sure that you rotate your tires periodically becomes more important to regulate wear.

Here are a few routine maintenance steps you should do at set intervals to make sure you’re getting the best performance from your vehicle that you can. Of course, your owner’s manual will give the information when all maintenance tasks should be done, but the following are pretty standard items and times.

Every 3,000 miles –
Change the engine oil and filter every 3 to 4 thousand miles. Other things you can do at this time include checking the fluids, the air filter, tire pressures, hoses and belts. At this time check the battery cables and terminals for corrosion.

Every 5-10,000 miles –
Have your tires rotated and balanced every five to ten thousand miles. This helps the tires wear evenly and extends the life and is especially important if you are inflating to the maximum safety and gas performance levels. The best tires should be put in the front of the car.

Every 15,000 miles –
Change the air filter every 15,000 miles. A clean air filter improves the fuel economy of your car. At this time you could also check the brake pads and shoes and all fluid levels. This is also a good time to change the wiper blades.

Every 30,000 miles –
This is a big check-up as many of your more routine checks mentioned above will come due at this same time. It is also time for most vehicles to have a complete tune-up and close inspection of the brakes, struts, suspension, etc. It’s also time to check and potentially change the transmission fluid and engine coolant.

Even though these are all “round numbers” and there are only a few to remember, if you miss any of these routine maintenance points, you miss your chance of catching a potentially serious problem before it cripples or kills your car. So these check points become crucial to the dependability of your vehicle.

It can be hard to remember where you are in this maintenance schedule. Luckily there is a program out there that will do the remembering and reminding for you.

We’ve talked about GasDandy before, in a post where we were discussed the ways it helps you monitor and measure your gas mileage improvements over time. However, as you enter each gas purchase, GasDandy also does all the calculations behind the scenes to keep track of these basic maintenance schedules as well. It will then remind you that you need to rotate your tires, or change your oil.

You can purchase and download the personal version that will take care of up to 3 vehicles for you for just $19.95

You can purchase and download the fleet version for your business for just $99.95

Setting Cars Mileage Record on a Cross Country Tour

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:04:46 +0000

John and Helen Taylor set out from Herndon, VA on September 3rd on a road trip. There goal is to visit all 48 contiguous United States in 24 days. So far it’s not that unusual a story, but this isn’t just a once in a lifetime siteseeing trip.

The couple is attempting to set the world record for the lowest US fuel consumption. The Australian couple has already claimed similar world records in other countries. They will be driving a clean diesel Volkswagen Jetta TDI on the 8,000 mile journey, which is why Jack Gill and the rest of the folks from Volkswagon gave them a press conference send off.

It will be interesting to see if the press can keep up with this story. (We will continue to try to and bring you updates) While we don’t know their route, we’ll be especially interested to see if they stop by Chicago, IL and spend some time with the man who coined the phrase “hypermiler,” Wayne Gerdes. Mr. Gerdes also holds records for achieving more than 140 miles per gallon on closed road tests. He also teaches individuals how to drive with a goal of achieving 100 miles per gallon on average.

(Photo by Getty Images North America)

Dropping Gas Prices Won't Last

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:46:56 +0000

Gas prices are down allowing many of us to breathe a small sigh of relief at the thought that our labor day weekend travel plans may not be axed the way our Memorial Day plans were. “Staycations” are no one’s idea of fun.

As a blog editor, I have to ask how we all got so stuck in the complacency boat so fast? Why does a $.25 per gallon drop in gas make us so happy? How does each run up to a round dollar price increase just soften us up for prices that settle and STAY just under that round dollar figure?

Why do I think that’s what’s happened? I watch my blog statistics. I see how many people are visiting everyday. I see what pages they go to and when and where they leave.

Granted, the Gas Mileage Calculators site is young, and traffic is going to be more hit or miss until we have another couple of years online, but similar things are happening at sites devoted to gas prices, gas mileage, and ways to improve gas mileage all across the Internet.

I would be joyful if I could say that indicated a beginning of the end for this blog and the others like it, but I can’t. Unfortunately, we all know that this price drop is temporary. We know that the world’s oil reserves are no where near empty, but that the balance between supply and demand has permanently tipped. We know that higher gas prices are in our future and that those prices are apt to be significantly higher than current levels.

So here at Gas Mileage Calculators we’re going to start marking and monitoring those changes a bit more closely than we have. We will be posting a monthly price snapshot courtesy of AAA Motor Club. While we plan on providing this at the beginning of the month, here’s the mileage chart info we grabbed today so you can see what it will look like. And yes, it will open in a new window, so you don’t need to do anything more than close that window to come back to use those figures in some of the other new (shhh…they’re not quite ready yet) calculators we’ll be offering that will help you improve your gas mileage rates.