Progressive Insurance VIP Service for Seattle Car Drivers

When you think of concierge service, images of the helpful attendant at the Bellagio or the Four Seasons comes to mind. Did you need last minute tickets to Cirque Du Soleil? No problem, just call the concierge and he can hook it up!   Read more

Car Rental Tips From a Traveling Journalist Part II

We’ve read about upgrades and downgrades, but you yourself can avoid car rentals disasters by using some common sense.

The more you’ve rented a car, the more you can learn. Here are two memorable debacles. Read more

Ten Easy Tips for Defensive Driving

You’ve heard the term defensive driving tossed around a lot, but what does it really mean? Many people conjure up images of a slow, hesitant driver that only drives in the right lane and signals a block before turning. In reality, defensive driving is a set of good habits on top of your existing driver skills.
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Pemco Insurance Ads Have Seattle Drivers Figured Out

“We’re a lot like you, a little different,” claims Pemco Insurance.

The insurance company’s local ads have been memorable and effective in capturing the different kinds of people in the Northwest.  While some might be close to instigating a Seattle stereotype, such as Profile #76 – Super Long Coffee Orderer – they are creative and well thought out.

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Understanding a Vehicle History Report

As a follow-up to our earlier article on Ten Reasons to Get a Car History Report, we’re now going to walk you through the process of actually reading and understanding vehicle history reports. You’ll quickly learn how to spot the good, bad and the ugly, so that you can be one step closer to buying your used car.
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Washington Cracks the Top 10 in Uninsured Motorists!

‘What do you mean you don’t have any insurance?’

If you’ve ever uttered this phrase after a car accident, chances are you weren’t happy about it. Surprisingly this happens a lot in the state of Washington.

According to the Insurance Research Council, in 2007 Washington had the 10th highest uninsured motorist rate in the entire country. The national average for uninsured motorists was at a rate of 13.8% in 2007, with the state of Washington owning a rate of 16%. Read more

Ten Reasons to Get a Car History Check

Buying a used car is no easy task. From finding the right car to cutting the final check, there are literally dozens of pitfalls that you can get trapped in if you aren’t careful. One of the best ways to mitigate your risk when buying a used car, is to get a vehicle history report. Read more

Autocross with the Husky Formula Team (UWFSAE)

Calling all car enthusiasts and drivers! Next Sunday, February 8th, will be the annual 2009 Dawg Sled – an auto-cross event presented by Seattle’s very own University of Washington Formula SAE team. The event is held at the Bremetron Motorsports Park and is open to everyone from new car drivers to experienced auto-cross professionals. Read more

Train Spears a Car in Kent!

(Kent, WA) January 30

Around 1:15 pm this afternoon a train hit a semi truck carrying cars in downtown Kent. Two of the vehicles on the truck were struck, this one was dragged a few blocks. Luckily the driver of the semi escaped the collision and no injuries reported.

Any idea what kind of car that is the photo?

It looks like a KIA.

Photo courtesy the City of Kent

Zip Code Determines Auto Insurance Rates

When it comes to auto insurance, your zip code is your identity. Just because you live in an expensive downtown loft with with a secure garage doesn’t guarantee lower auto insurance rates.  Read more

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?

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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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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A Car Winterization Guide for Seattle Drivers – Part 1

Don’t look now, because signs of Old Man Winter are creeping upon us again. With defrosters hard at work in the morning, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be reaching for the gloves and ice scraper as well for that morning commute.
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“Death” Warning from DoT Regarding Daylight Savings

In what can only be called the most sensational headline ever for a mundane driver alert, the Seattle Times reports “WashDOT warns of death after daylight savings”. Read more

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