Important Post Snow Tip: Wash Your Car!

Now that the Seattle Snopacalypse of 2008 is finally over, motorists can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Chains are being tucked away and forgotten while snow shovels are going back to the garage.

However, before you pat your back on having braved the snow and ice with your trusty car, there’s one important thing you might want to do: wash your car! Sound strange? Then keep reading.
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The 2009 Toyota Venza Sounds Perfect for Seattle

In a year when automakers are desperate for something to catch the attention of weary buyers, Toyota may have found it. The new 2009 Toyota Venza is a mixture of different cars and SUVs rolled into one. Think the engine efficiency of an Avalon, the capacity similar to a Highlander, and performs like a RAV4 on steroids.

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Seattle Passes on the Salt for Snowy Streets

The city of Seattle is taking a stand and NOT using salt on the snow and ice. Many large metropolitan cities like New York and Chicago still apply it after a heavy snowfall, because it works.

However, Seattle’s department of transportation will go green on the white stuff. The belief is the salt isn’t good for the environment and is corrosive for streets and cars.

Instead sand and rubber plowing has been the major method of clearing road ways. It isn’t the most effective way, just the cleanest way to deal with snow/ice. Even the Seattle police have to live with this decision, and will respond to many calls on foot, rather than drive up a snowy hill.

There’s a debate brewing about the uses of salt on Seattle roads, and if the method is truly madness.

Reporter Kathy Mulady and Robert McClure of the Seattle PI covered the unsalty streets on Seattle.

 In the mid-1990s, the city decided not to use the more corrosive salt, and instead it uses GeoMelt C, a liquid blend of calcium chloride in a soy base. The de-icer is thought to be gentler on the environment and considered better for the Puget Sound waterway, where eventually much of it will end up.

 

In that same Seattle PI article, a 2005 study found that some streams were one-quarter as salty as sea water, and were killing animals and fish. A second study, that year found that the use of rock salt to melt street ice had increased a hundredfold nationally since 1940.

Will salt less on Seattle streets hurt or help more when everything melts?

Chevy SUV Dies During PR Stunt to Crush Japanese Car

Last Friday, in an attempt to send a message to buy American cars, a Chevrolet dealer arranged to have a modified Chevrolet Suburban drive over a Honda Accord. The stunt was derailed however when the SUV blew a hose and failed to crush the truck. Utterly stupid?  Just a little.  Here’s the excerpt from the full article:

HILO, Hawaii – A Hilo Chevrolet dealer who tried to crush his Asian auto competition found the stunt a little harder to pull off than expected.

Island Chevrolet general sales manager James Severtson arranged for a Chevrolet Suburban SUV outfitted with massive tires costing $5,000 apiece to drive over a Honda Accord.

On the first attempt Friday, the monster truck blew a hydraulic hose and leaked vital fluid while the Honda remained intact and ready for more.

I drive a Suburban and I also drive an Accord. I would never want to crush either one of them, because they serve different purposes. That’s why it irks me to no end to see this type of cowboy attitude, especially in the middle of the auto bailout. We don’t need more chest thumping about American cars, we need reflection and re-organization.

And seriously, who in their right mind thinks the Japanese make bad cars? The era of the 70s and 80s where American automakers and consumers laughed at shoddy Japanese cars is nearly three decades ago. The fact that anyone can even think that the Big Three make more reliable cars than Honda or Toyota is laughable at best and plain sad at worst.

If Americans want to take pride in their vehicles, then it’s time for the automakers to sit back and do some reflection on why the industry they created from scratch is now in the dying throes of bankruptcy. The problem is that the automakers are not doing that reflection, but instead, blaming just about anyone they can for their current problems: the economy, the union, gas prices, picky consumers and yes, now the Japanese. It’s a sad day when a proud American industry is so in denial of it’s own faults that it resorts to pointless name calling to save face.

Domestic car enthusiasts are probably wondering where are the Henry Ford or Lee Iacocca of our modern times to lead us through this financial mess among our automakers. The answer, unfortunately, may be that those comparable visionaries are here today – they just work on the other side of the ocean.

Consumer Alert: Snow Chain Price Gouging

It’s come to our attention in the last few days that there have been a number of incidents around Seattle involving auto parts stores gouging customers on the sale of snow chains. In Redmond, one local shop was charging $89.99 for a standard set of generic snow chains. Is your store ripping you off? Read more

Driving in Seattle’s High Winds

(Seattle,WA) December 20

The 2008 holiday season will be remembered for snow and high winds. With gusts reaching hurricane-like speeds in some areas, many state and emergency officials emphasize staying indoors. The combination of snow, ice and high winds can be disastrous for drivers.

According to weather.com  when driving in high winds:

 

• Be aware of vehicles around you. High winds are more problematic for drivers of trucks, buses, recreational vehicles, campers, and drivers who are towing trailers.
• Reduce your speed and correct your steering, especially when moving from a protected area to an unprotected area, or when meeting large vehicles. 
• Wind is often accompanied by heavy rain or winter precipitation. Stay alert for slippery areas.

Also be aware of the floating bridges and closures. Check out some helpful driving tips from the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Winter driving is not just driving in snow. Seattle drivers should take the same precautions when driving in high winds, heavy rain, and flooding. Take your time and be smart about it.

Snow Driving Tips: Getting up the Hill

Seattle is known for it’s rolling hills and beautiful mountain ranges. But come winter, those same hills turn into steep, slippery nightmares for most drivers.

However, there’s a few tips on how even a novice driver can conquer many a Seattle hill. Read more

It’s Done, a $17.4Billion Bailout for US Automakers

The US Federal govenment is getting into the car business. With this latest attempt to save the American auto industry, the Fed will partially own a stake in the Big 3.

What will this do for the future of American cars? 

For the long term is this good or bad?

Will every American car soon look like FBI vehicles?

For the immediate future it is needed, but keeping an eye on the long term effects will be interesting.

Here’s what Debb Reichmann wrote in the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing danger to the national economy, the Bush administration approved an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry Friday, offering $17.4 billion in rescue loans in exchange for deep concessions from the desperately troubled car makers and their workers.

The Feds would then have the option of becoming a stockholder in the companies, very similar to that of the major banks. That would somewhat nationalize the US auto industry. 

A nationalized car industry, how will this effect local car dealers, if it does at all?

See the full AP article

 

The Best Cars for Snow

It’s finally here. Snow has blanketed western Washington and has caused havoc on the roads. If they’re actually closing down parts of 520, and I-5 is down to one lane, that’s a red flag to stay off the streets. If you absolutely have to get somewhere, then you absolutely have to have a vehicle that can handle it. Read more

Beware Buyer: The Used Car Listings

This is the third part of SeattleAuto.net’s series on Buying a Used Car for Under $1,000.

You’ve got your car requirements down: that was the easy part. Now comes one of the hardest aspects of buying a used car, finding the car you want.
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Where to Find a Working Bare Bones Used Car

This is the second part of SeattleAuto.net’s series on Buying a Used Car for Under $1,000.

It’s hard to think that it’s possible to buy a working, semi-reliable car for under $1,000, but if you cut out the plush comforts, it’s still a reasonable goal. Read more

Tips for Driving in Snow!

The snow will be here. When will it come? How long will it stay? No one knows for sure, but when it’s icy on Seattle roads, it’s always better to play it safe and carry a charged cell phone.

Drive slow , but remember when you’re going up hill you must have momentum. Going too slow will get you stuck. If you stop in the middle of an incline, you could get stuck. Plus, never abandone you car in the middle of the street or hill. It creates a hazzard for everyone after you.

 

Here are some helpful snow driving tips to remember

• Slow down.
• Leave a cushion between the car in front of you. That means, allowing plenty of distance at least 2 car lengths.
• Tap rather than slam. Keep your heel on the floor and use your toes to apply gentle pressure to the brake pedal, enough to keep from skidding. Basically tap the brakes.
• Take it outa gear. If you start to skid, ease your foot off the accelerator or brake, take the transmission out of gear, and steer in the direction of the skid.
• Use the kitty litter. If your car gets stuck, sprinkle cat litter or rock salt behind and in front of your car’s drive wheels. After that rock the car forward and backward. You should gain enough momentum to free the car.
• Seattle has hills so keep it under control by driving in a lower gear.
• Going uphill, try to gain momentum on the flat before the hill, and maintain a steady speed as you ascend, keeping well behind the vehicle ahead of you.

How to Buy a Used Car for Under $1,000

In one of the worst automotive sales years on record, auto dealers are slashing prices on new cars to entice buyers. However, for the buyer on the shoestring who is looking for the ultimate deal, we’re going to tell you how to buy a used car for under $1,000. And to prove it, we’re going to do it.
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Snow in Seattle Strikes Fear in Drivers!

Folks in the Northwest are known to be tougher than most. Be it rain, earthquake, bad economy, or housing crisis, we can shake off most anything. However the one thing that will have most Seattlites hopeless and shivering in the fetal position is snow.  

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What Will The American Auto Industry Do Now?

With Congress rejecting a $14 billion dollar bailout for US automakers, where does that leave Detroits Big Three? Unfortunately the decision came down to partisanship. Republicans voted against it, most Demorcrats wanted it. The auto industry will suffer deeply, and so will American jobs.

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and KEN THOMAS of the Associated Press wrote,

WASHINGTON – A bailout-weary Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year’s end.

Republicans, breaking sharply with President George W. Bush as his term draws to a close, refused to back federal aid for Detroit’s beleaguered Big Three without a guarantee that the United Auto Workers would agree by the end of next year to wage cuts to bring their pay into line with U.S. plants of Japanese carmakers. The UAW refused to do so before its current contract with the automakers expires in 2011.

If this union decision leads to the demise of the US auto industry, wouldn’t they be cutting their own throats? 

See the full AP article.

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