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!  

That may be true for hotel service, but when it comes to auto insurance it probably doesn’t happen very often. However, if you’re a Progessive Insurance customer, you can get concierge-like service, without having to tip. It’s the Progressive Service Center.

The Ohio based insurer goes the extra mile in making things easier for their customers after an accident. While most insurance companies make you call the agent, who then makes you call an 800 number, and after that it’s more calls for you to get quotes and such, for Progressive policy holders it can be as easy as one call. For customers in Seattle, it can be as easy just dropping the vehicle off in Lynnwood and letting someone else do the dirty work. 

 “The focus is prompt, quality service for our customers,” explains Colby Smith, Progressive Service Center Manager in Lynnwood. “We feel this type of service separates us from the competition. People really seem to enjoy it because they find it so easy.

 Considering there are only 54 Progressive service centers across the nation, with the Lynnwood location being the only one in Washington, Progressive customers in the Seattle area are treated like VIP’s. While the service center people will do the majority of the hassle-work for you, the best thing about these service centers are the costs. There is none. There are no out of pocket costs.

 “There’s no extra charge for the service center,” says Smith. “It’s already built in. Anybody with a (Progressive) policy who’s been in an accident can use it. Customers will get a quality repair promptly, and we’ll ensure customer satisfaction.”

 But don’t think you can just drop in on any given Saturday to get the oil changed on the convertible you’ve had covered in the garage all winter. The Progressive service centers are strictly for accidents claims. And if these service centers are as popular with customers as they say they are, Progressive could start climbing the local auto insurance charts. They’re currently the 6^th largest auto insurer in Washington State.

Now they just need to find a way to get those Cirque Du Soleil tickets, that’d be real VIP! 

Locate a Progressive Service Center around the country

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

CAN AIR BE TOO FRESH?  UNFORTUNATELY, YES. 

March, 2006.  A trip I will never forget, because it featured one of the best basketball games I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness from press row (Brandon Roy and the Washington Huskies vs. Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen in D.C.)… and one of my most egregious errors in my extensive rental history. 

Imagine being trapped in an elevator with a man or woman who has, quite literally, bathed in cologne or perfume.  Now imagine the heat being turned up in that tiny enclosed, nay, claustrophobic space. 

Clearly, an entire bottle of air freshener had been accidentally spilled in the cabin of the compact car I rented – the faux-tropical scent was suffocating.   The weather was particularly crisp that weekend, so I had to turn UP the heat but roll DOWN the windows in order to breathe.  SHEER.  TORTURE.

Solution:   Be sure to give your vehicle a hearty sniff before leaving the lot!
 
IF YOU LEAVE THE TOP DOWN, YOU’RE INVITING TROUBLE

Everybody loves a convertible and Vitamin-D starved Northwesterners are particularly vulnerable to relishing the feeling of a few extra rays.  But just as warmer destinations (Florida and Hawaii come to mind) are known for sunshine and blue skies, these climates can also be active breeding grounds for some of the largest, most prolific insects on Planet Earth. 

People, we can’t disparage undiscerning critters craving comfort as much as we do.  Which is why in Hawaii of 2003, I shouldn’t have been surprised when a courageous brown cockroach crawled across the top of my be-sandaled foot.  One bug alone would be pretty gross… but this particular convertible was home to a HATCH of roaches.  I’m not kidding.  Enter the apocalypse!  To keep “new” bugs out, we put the top up one night… and the dome light revealed a shocking scurrying of roaches across all four floors of the cabin.  

We turned that convertible in, drove off in another, endured the SAME infestation in car #2, and I haven’t rented a convertible since.   Eeeewww! 
 
In the part 3, the final installment of Car Rental Tips From a Traveling Journalist,  find out what the car renter is responsible for?

Cara Capuano has worked in television, mainly in sports, for over a decade, spending the last four years covering the Northwest Sports Scene for Fox Sports NW and before that on ESPN News. A dedicated storyteller, from time to time she’ll be lending some “female perspective” to SeattleAuto.net.

While we recommend a defensive driving class to truly learn defensive driving, here are ten easy tips on how to improve your own defensive skills every day:

1. Minimize Distractions: Ironically, the person that is the greatest threat to your own safety on the road is yourself. Cell phones, music, passengers or munching on a burger are examples of distractions in the car. The NHTSA and various scientific studies have all shown that distractions are the number one reason behind car accidents and fatalities on the road. Teen drivers in particular suffer the most from distractions and incidentally, are the most accident prone.

Reality check: We at Seattle Auto are human and understand that you’re going to talk illegally on your cell phone (yes, we’re talking to you Seattle residents), rock out to your iPod or have the occasional taco in the car. It just happens. What you can do, is limit yourself to one distraction and tone it down. So don’t talk on the phone and stuff french fries at the same time, but wait until your call is over to eat. While you’re talking, focus on the road first rather than your phone call – and better yet, make the conversation short and call back later if necessary.

2. High Eyes Driving: Race drivers use a technique called “high eyes” that call for the driver (you) to focus not on the car in front of you, but on the road horizon. Many drivers become fixated on the car in front of them and go into auto-pilot mode, braking when the car in front brakes, accelerating when the car in front accelerates and so on. The problem is that in a panic stop situation, if the driver in front wasn’t paying attention to begin with – guess what – you’re probably going to eat the end of his bumper. Both 520 and I-90 have little to no blind corners, so it’s no excuse to suddenly find yourself slamming on the brakes because you “didn’t see” the traffic jam up ahead.

By keeping your eyes high up, you’ll be looking at the entire traffic pattern up ahead instead. This gives you ample time to react to a sudden emergency up front – even giving you time to decide if you need to perform a quick lane toss or start slowly braking to give the guy behind you a warning.

3. Minimize Lane Changes: It’s rare for a car to be rear ended while traveling the speed limit in it’s own lane. It is common for accidents to happen while a car is changing lanes; perhaps by suddenly cutting off a car, swiping another vehicle in it’s blind spot or two cars merging into the same lane. By choosing a lane and sticking with it for the majority of your trip, you will remove a great deal of the factors that are known to cause accidents on the highway.

4. Spot Fast Lane Changers: The flip side to not being a lane changer, is that you must be highly aware of the drivers who are. These are often the drivers who dangerously dart in and out of traffic, cutting off and swerving around drivers in the process.

Regularly monitor your rear and side view mirrors to be on the lookout for drivers that are approaching rapidly from behind or the lane next to you. These are bad drivers that will often cut in front or around you at the last second, narrowly missing your car. Deal with these drivers by maintaining your speed or even slowing down if you feel they are going to cut in front of you. Don’t become a vigilante and speed up to box them into the adjacent lane; you don’t want an erratic driver who likely has road rage tailing you on the freeway. Simply let them pass and be happy they are away from your car.

5. Spot Blind Lane Changers: Not only are there the jerks driving recklessly, but you have to worry about the absent minded driver that never checks their blind spot before changing into your lane. These guys are actually harder to spot than the jerk drivers, because it’s harder to predict when these types drivers are about to change lanes.

The best way to avoid these drivers is to not drive in their blind spot to begin with. If you ever find yourself in the another car’s blind spot, you should either A) accelerate so that your car is parallel to the other vehicle so they can easily see you or B) slow down so that you are tailing the vehicle and no longer next to it. Option B is the more preferable method depending on your car’s positioning and you should only use option A if you are already close to the front hood of the other car.

It’s hard to keep by this rule in heavy traffic, because you’ll always be next to a car, but you can usually identify a driver that is about to change lanes if the driver looks in their side view mirror, the car has just merged from an on-ramp, the driver is suddenly accelerating or decelerating or if the car is slowly starting to drift toward one lane. With practice, you can become very good at figuring out when another car is about to lane change and avoid being in their blind spot when it happens.

6. Don’t Make Eye Contact: Studies show that many road rage incidents occur when drivers make eye contact with each other and a situation ensues. As a defensive driver, you need to realize that road rage drivers are often looking to instigate trouble, rather than simply reacting to perceived sleights against them. Making eye contact with these types of drivers is playing into their twisted game, so you want to avoid getting into a petty fight with someone driving a 2,000 pound vehicle; regardless of who is right or wrong.

So next time you see that tail gating jerk come next to your car and pace you, just ignore them and don’t give them the pleasure they’re looking for. Simply drive on as usual and they will eventually leave you alone.

7. Look Both Ways at Intersections: Intersections are inherently dangerous places and the scene of many t-bone accidents. Most drivers, upon seeing a green light, amble straight on through without a second thought; and that’s usually when the driver running the red light smashes into their side.

If you are ever the first car at the intersection when the light is turning green, you should be extremely aware of your left, then right side traffic as you make your way through. I’ve almost been hit twice this way and both times slammed on my brakes before the other car barely clipped my front-end. Any police officer will tell you that the amount of drivers who run red lights is astounding – enough to make you think twice and look twice before going through an intersection.

8. Know When and How to Swerve: This is probably the absolutely hardest point to get across, because it honestly takes hours of experience behind the steering wheel to learn. The concept of swerving is applied to emergency situations where you don’t have enough time to avoid an accident (which is why we have rule #1 above).

If for example, a child suddenly runs into the busy street 20 feet in front of your car, it will be physically impossible for your car to stop in that amount of distance while traveling at 40mph. In that specific situation, your only option is to try and swerve and steer clear of the object in front of the car as fast as you can. This same principle applies to a sudden wreck on the highway, fallen tree, deer or any other danger that takes you by surprise.

To properly swerve (also called a “lane toss”), you need to be certain that A) the lane you’re swerving into is empty B) your car can handle the maneuver and C) you correct your swerve immediately afterward so you don’t end up on the side of the road. Item A can be achieved by constantly being aware of your surroundings, but for B and C, you can only understand those by taking your car out to an empty parking lot and practicing for a few hours with cones. That- or you can take a defensive driving class.

9. Get Away From Bad Drivers: You should always do your best to keep a healthy distance between yourself and other bad drivers on the road. Problematic drivers include: drunks, speeders, tail gaters, road ragers, lane changers, extremely slow drivers and any other erratic behavior. Most of the time, this involves switching lanes and slowing down so that a speeder or drunk can pass you safely. You never want erratic drivers behind you because there is always the potential of getting rear ended.

In other scenarios, if you see a erratic driver and need to pass, make sure you do it quickly and safely as possible – trying to keep a lane between you and them if possible. If you cannot keep a distance in front of the car, due to traffic or other reasons, try to stay a distance behind the other car and never drive directly next to it. You should also report erratic driving to the Washington State Highway Patrol or the Seattle Police department (you can call 911 directly) as the police will be on the lookout for erratic or drunk drivers if enough reports come in.

10. Don’t Follow Too Closely: Saving one of the best tips for last, don’t follow too closely behind the car in front of you. Always give at least 2-3 second of buffer room. Experts will tell you 4 seconds, although this author’s personal opinion is that it actually invites other drivers to cut into the lane in front of you. If you drive an SUV however, you must make this at least a 3 second rule because your vehicle is heavy and takes much longer to come to a complete stop than passenger cars.

While this may sound like a tip that applies to simply being a better driver, this tip actually has defensive driving principles for emergency situations as well. The reason is that in the event of a panic stop in the lane up ahead, you will ideally have buffer room to brake and stop. This helps the driver behind you as well because it aids in their reaction time and stopping distance – a big plus if they haven’t been paying attention, are slow to react or drive a vehicle with long braking distance (like a SUV).

We hope you enjoyed these quick tips on defensive driving. If you are interested in getting professional training behind the wheel, we recommend you visit any one of the defensive driving courses throughout the Seattle area.

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.

The ads poke fun not only at pecular Seattlelites, but find targets throughout the state. You may see Pemco ads featuring such dubious profiles like the: “Walla Walla Wine Woman”, “Tri Cities Select Sports Hostages”, and “Quiet Everett Aerospace Engineer” to name a few.

As the largest local insurance company that only operates in Washington, Pemco decided to hire an outside research firm to do an in-depth analysis to find what makes us Washingtonians tick. Their results?  Washingtonians enjoy their um, uniqueness.

“People here in Washington are a little different and they’re proud of that,” explains Jon Osterberg, Pemco’s Marketing and Communications Manager. “They value their individuality and celebrate their differences.”

Loaded with that information and the desire to distinguish themselves from bigger national insurance companies, Pemco hired DNA Brand Mechanics of Seattle in 2007 to come up with ”something different”, which coincidentally, turned into their slogan “We’re a Lot Like You, a Little Different.” The company even has a tongue-in cheek acronym for the ad campaign: WALLY.

“We wanted to say something no other insurance company could say,” says Osterberg. “All of us [at Pemco] live here in Washington. We can relate to the customers because we’re the same people. And so when we poke fun of people in the Northwest, we’re really poking fun at ourselves… I am absolutely the ‘Blue Tarp Camper’!”

Chances are, you either know someone who fits one of the many Pemco profiles- or you ARE one of these profiles. How many “Relentless Recyclers” have you come across at the PTA meeting?

Since these Pemco ads are for insurance after all, the humorous profiles naturally include the type of vehicles that us Northwest people drive. The “Bumper Sticker Idealist” drives a 80’s era 2-door Mazda (aka Mazdaratti), while the “East Coast Transplant” rolls down 520 in the BMW.

Well thought out and uncanny in their accuracy, the Pemco WALLY ads have struck a nerve.  

“We hear from people, that they love such and such a character,” claims Osterberg. “They say ‘That’s Me!’”

There are numerous profiles to be seen. Check out the We’re A Lot Like You site for the complete list.

Here are the unofficial top 5 Pemco profiles, courtesy of the Seattleauto.net staff:

1. Accidental Tech Millionaire
Spotted: Getting Testa Rose Detailed at the Country Club.
Vehicle: American SUV
This guy hit the dot com jackpot and doesn’t have to work again. This is number #1 because it sounds like people we know at SeattleAuto.net.

2.4 Way Stop, You Go. No You Go. No You Go Guy.
Spotted: When you least have time for it.
Diet: Anything out of a slow cooker
Vehicle: If you’re behind it, you’ll get a good long look.
Everyone gets the right of way, in this passive-aggressive display of patience and politeness.

3. Marymoor Off Leash Dog Lady
Vehicle: Station wagon with a head out.
Diet: Iams and a double latte.
Could be seen saying to a dog, “You’re so attentive, and best of all you never interupt like some silly selfish self centered man would. That’s a good boy. That’s a good, good, good, good, good, good boy.”

4. First Snowflake Freakout Lady
Vehicle: 4×4SUV, with snow chains, flares,and an extra 200lbs of sand in the back.
Perfectly good AWD’s… abandoned! More bundled up than an Iditarod winner. Visiting Alaskans and Spokanites want to slap her.

5.Pony Tailed Software Geek
Vehicle: Aging Japanese sedan.
Diet: Nacho chips and highly caffeinated soda.
An avid fantasy gamer. Proficient in many languages such as C++, Javascript, and as an added bonus speaks fluent Klingon.

Before we start, we would like to give a big thanks out to Edie Hirtenstein, who is the Senior Product Manager at AutoCheck for her assistance on this article. Edie was kind enough to agree to an interview to help explain and answer questions we had about AutoCheck’s features and services.

When running a vehicle history report, each car will have certain information that includes:

• VIN Number
• Engine Type (Ex: 2.0L I4 EFI)
• Year / Make / Model / Style (2004 Toyota Camry / LE / 4DR Sedan)
• Last Recorded Odometer Reading (Ex: 45,290 miles)
• Age
• Country of Origin / Manufacture (Ex: America, Japan)
• Calculated Vehicle Owners (Ex: 3 owners)

When comparing the used car that you’re looking at against the vehicle’s history report, you want to make absolutely sure that the car’s description matches the official information. Some sellers might make an honest mistake and list their vehicle a year off, but less ethical types might “fudge” their car listing in the hopes you won’t pick up on it.

Pay close attention to the calculated vehicle owners, because that is an important aspect when assessing the quality of a car. A car that has had many owners is not ideal because it’s harder to keep track of maintenance records with multiple owners, which is important to know. You don’t want to have a timing belt go out at 100,000 miles when the last owner “claimed” that the owner before him performed the service – you want the actual records. Also, there might be reason the car as changed hands so many times, such as a stuttering engine or intermittent electrical problem that doesn’t show up readily on a test drive.

AutoCheck Vehicle Score

If you’re the type of person that bores easily by details or is daunted by the sheer amount of information involved in buying a used car, AutoCheck has made life easier. As a proprietary service, AutoCheck lists a vehicle score that rates each vehicle on an absolute score of 1 to 100. It takes into account various factors such as: age, vehicle class, number of owners, mileage, usage, title brand, mileage brand, accidents and other factors. In addition to the vehicle score, the report lists the scoring range of similar vehicles (based on year and style) as a comparison.

Example: AutoCheck Score 52. Comparison Vehicle Score 38 – 50.

The comparison score is useful, because age is the most important determinant in vehicle score. This means that the used car you’re looking at might have a seemingly low score because of it’s age, but may score better than vehicles of roughly the same age and model. In fact, the comparison represents the scoring range of the middle 50% of all similar cars, so beating the comparison score puts your vehicle into the top quarter of vehicles in the AutoCheck formula.

Reading the Full Vehicle History

The full vehicle history is the section that lists all recorded events with the car in chronological order. From being titled at the dealer lot to yearly tab renewals, every major event will (hopefully) be found in the history section.

Because there are so many different types of events, we will list both the most common events along with those that you should keep an eye out for:

Regular Events

• Vehicle Manufactured and Shipped to Dealer: Indicates when a vehicle is essentially delivered to a dealer. If a vehicle does not have this event, then the vehicle may have been imported from outside the US or be a rebuilt vehicle.
• Title: Represents a change in vehicle ownership.
• Title (Loan/lien reported): Car was purchased with a loan.
• Title (Leased vehicle): Car was leased from the dealership.
• Title (Corrected Title): Generally indicates a paperwork error on owner of the car with the DMV.
• Registration Event/Renewal: Annual tab renewal. Be careful if you don’t see a renewal each year, as that indicates the car was likely broken, was in an unreported accident or had some unknown reason for not getting renewed. Note that older cars sometimes have missing data from earlier years, so make sure a vehicle has been renewed lately.
• Odometer reading from DMV: These events indicates the last official odometer reading from the DMV. Different state DMVs have different requirements on when odometer readings are mandatory, but most will report odometers during a title transfer. Note that cars older than 10 years are not required to disclose odometer readings.
• Passed Emission Inspection: You want to see these events, as that means the car passed mandatory emissions inspections.

Cautionary Events

• Reported at Auto Auction: Many cars go to auction for legitimate reasons: expired leases, unsold cars and fleet vehicles. That said, there area cars sold at auction include are in need of fixes or repairs. These vehicles are usually fixed by the time they go onto a dealer lot, but if you find that one of the last entry of the vehicle history report lists a car going to auction, you will definitely want to have the car inspected if considering a purchase (that said, our recommendation is you always get an inspection.)
• Fleet / Rental Fleet: Fleet and rental vehicles tend to get a bad reputation because there are many stories of people renting cars and abusing them. Certain companies also have horrendous maintenance policies and essentially do minimal work on a car before taking them out of the fleet. The other way to look at it is that most rental drivers are adults that have no interest in abusing the vehicle, while the good rental companies use a scheduled maintenance for their vehicles. To each their own on these type of vehicles.
• Repossessed: Indicates a car that was taken back from the owner for failure to pay. While a repossessed car in and itself is not a bad indicator (unless you’re superstitious), but what it can imply is that if the owner could not afford car payments, then there is a good chance they could not afford maintenance on the vehicle.

Red Flag Events

• Insurance Loss An insurance loss is a nice way of saying the car has been “totaled”. This can be caused by a stolen car that was recovered too late or a vehicle that had been in a major accident. Stolen cars often suffer significant abuse and are even used in crimes, which may not be the history you wish to associate with your vehicle. Accident vehicles that are totaled are extremely dangerous and probably are followed up with a salvage or rebuilt title if still on the road.
• Collision with Another Vehicle: Even though practically every driver eventually gets into an accident according to road statistics, you still want to avoid vehicles that have been in accidents. While most accident vehicles are fixed up and run fine, there may be unseen damage in the frame or other parts of the car that are a ticking time bomb. Just remember you have many vehicles to choose from while looking for a car, so don’t ever feel committed to one vehicle.
• Salvage / Rebuilt / Rebuildable: A huge red flag. These events are caused when a car has been totaled or rebuilt from a totaled vehicle. These type of cars are often sold for cheap, but it’s definitely a buyer beware situation. You’ve been warned.
• Failed Emission Inspection: Another major warning sign, especially if recently added to the vehicle history. Vehicles that do not pass emission are not legally allowed on the road and can take thousands of dollars to fix up. If a car failed emissions then passed later, it is generally a safer bet.
• Water Damage / Storm Registration: These are specific insurance loss related events that deal with water damage to the car. This is an important distinction because water damage is a ticking time bomb, as it wreaks havoc on electrical systems.

Where Does the Information Come From

Throughout the life of a vehicle, it can pass through multiple organizations that create a paper trail. These include the DMV, auto auctions, dealers, salvage auctions, junk yards, insurance companies, towing companies, police and other independent sources. By law, these organizations are all required to supply the vehicle information when a major event happens with the vehicle. AutoCheck also claims to have access to exclusive auction information that CARFAX does not, which is one reason why car auctions may prefer AutoCheck’s services.

Sometimes, fresh information won’t show up on a vehicle history report either because it hasn’t been reported to the proper agency yet or updated in the history report. According to Edie, AutoCheck updates their databases every 48 hours with information they receive from the various state agencies and sources, so you will usually see recent information that has been reported.

Examples of Real Vehicle History Reports

Now that you’ve read this article, you should have an adequate understanding of what goes into a vehicle history report. For the truly serious buyer or the curious, we will follow-up by showing some actual vehicle reports from AutoCheck that we obtained during our How to Buy a Used Car for Under $1,000 project. In those reports, we’ll show you how to read each specific report and even read between the lines to understand a vehicle history report completely.

We would like to thank Edie Hirtenstein at AutoCheck / Experian Automotive for her help while researching this article!

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%.

But why? According to those in the insurance industry, it comes down to jobs and the economy.

“There’s a strong correlation between the uninsured motorist and unemployment,” cites Darrin Sanger, Communications Director of the Northwest Insurance Council. “And according to the study, with national unemployment rates going up, so are uninsured rates. With all those rates going up, we can expect overall insurance rates to go up as well.”

Insurance rates are based upon stats and history generated from research studies. Insurance companies use these numbers to set what they charge in their rates. Those who drive without insurance make a significant impact on those overall rates.

“Uninsured and under insured motorists cost insured motorists over $80 million in Washington state, claims Sanger. “It’s something we all pay for.”

What’s the solution if you’re involved with someone without auto insurance and you don’t have adequate coverage?  Small claims court or cash settlements are the most likely solutions. But in any loss the NW Insurance Council encourages drivers to fill out an accident/police report, take pictures, and get information from the other drivers, and witnesses.

“Contact your insurance provider if there’s been any accident,” says Sanger. “They can tell you all you need to know about rates and how they handle uninsured motorists.”

Top 5 Uninsured Motorists States for 2007
1. New Mexico
2. Mississippi
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
*10.  Washington

To find out more about auto insurance rates check out the Northwest Insurance Council website.

The most well known provide of vehicle history reports are CARFAX and AutoCheck. Both provide detailed history reports on vehicles that are almost identical. I personally used AutoCheck in our features How to Buy a Car For Under $1,000 because it’s far cheaper than CARFAX and has an option for unlimited VIN checks over a period of 60 days (CARFAX has 10 checks for the same price).

1) Accident History
If you’ve been driving for any amount of time, most likely, you or your car has been in some kind of auto accident. It happens. With millions of drivers on the road, accidents happen each day. It’s important to know whether the car you are interested in buying has ever been reported in an accident, due to the damage that the car may have sustained. It’s also a good way to tell if a seller is lying to you, as any honest seller should tell you if the car was involved in an accident and how it was fixed. If a seller denies the car was in an accident or worse, you see evidence of a cover-up job, you will know to walk away. More importantly, if the car was recently in an accident as is now for sale – you should often run, not walk – as that car is likely unfixed and potentially illegal to drive.

2) Salvage and Rebuilt Title
Imagine this: You just bought a used car from that nice smooth talking gentleman for nearly a thousand less than the closest seller. It almost seems too good to be true. As you drive off, you notice your car pulling to the right and take it to the mechanic. An hour later, he comes back with and asks if you know your car is welded together from two completely different cars. This is an extreme story, but you would be surprised at the amount of rebuilt and salvage cars out on the road. Not all cars with rebuilt titles are junk, as they may have been worked on by a competent mechanic; but only the brave, desperate or mechanically inclined should honestly consider a salvaged vehicle. Not only that, these cars should always be sold with full disclosure as to their rebuilt title.

3) Flood Cars
Seattle is a region not typically known for it’s flooding. Occasionally, a 10 or 100 year flood comes around and claims cars, but otherwise, we have it safe here. Most drivers think that because flooding is rare in the area, there is no need to worry about flood damaged cars. Wrong. Cars damaged by flooding are often taken as far away as possible from flood regions, as buyers there are smart enough to avoid flood damaged cars. Unsuspecting consumers elsewhere in the country however, are in for a nasty surprise. If a car is claimed as an insurance loss due to flooding, the insurance provider is required to state that the car has been damaged as such.

4) Emissions Failure
This is often overlooked when buying a used car, namely because it’s hard (impossible, even) to actually tell if a car can pass an emissions check. A vehicle history check will show if a car has failed to pass the most recent emissions test. That said, it still is possible for a car to have passed the last emissions check but still fail, due to mechanical wear or damage between now and the last check. Never, ever, take an emissions failure lightly, because it will average between $1,000 to $2,000 just to get the car to pass emissions – and perhaps even more.

5) Odometer Rollback
Think that ‘98 Honda Civic with 50,000 miles is too good to be true? Well, it probably is. Odometer rollback is a common practice with shady sellers and dealers. The unfortunate truth is that odometer rollback is very difficult to detect, because odometer readings are only required on vehicles during title registration and other major events – not for tab renewals. This means that unscrupulous seller can rollback the odometer anytime and keep the miles artificially low on a car. If the seller was overly greedy or stupid, they could roll back the odometer so far back that it would cause red flags to come up at the next odometer check. Most odometer rollbacks are subtle enough not to be caught, but major instances will be seen through a history check.

6) Lien /Loans on the Car
When a loan is taken out on a car, the DMV reports that a lien has been taken out on the vehicle. The majority of consumers take out a loan to purchase their vehicle, so this isn’t a major deal. That said, you want to be sure that the vehicle you are buying does not currently have a lien on it and that the vehicle is paid off. The vehicle history services all include a title check as well, which essentially tell you whether or not the car is safe to buy. Always remember to request to see the vehicle title before any purchase is made and verify that it is indeed the title to the car.

7) Ownership History
Most people prefer a car with a low ownership history, because that often means the car has been treated well and maintained long enough to be in running condition. A large amount of owners on a car might signal mechanical issues, poor maintenance and also a lack of documentation to go with the car. Here is Seattle, you can also see if the car has been used on the East Coast, where salt and corrosion may have damaged the under body. It’s also useful to verify a seller’s claim that the has only had X amount of owners.

8) Fleet / Rental Car
I put this here even though I don’t think fleet cars or rental cars are personally a huge liability. Yes, you’ll often hear about that buddy that took his rental car out to the parking lot and doing fishtails, but in reality, most rental car drivers are practical individuals. Fleet and rental cars sometimes have a history of not being maintained well, but you can always see in the history how long the rental car was kept in the fleet. Most rentals companies only keep cars for 1-2 years before selling, so the amount of use the vehicle gets isn’t horrific compared to the miles left in the car. You may prefer a non-rental car for your own mind set however, so it may or may not be important to you.

9) All other damage
While we’ve covered accidents, floods, odometer rollback and other pitfalls, there’s still a laundry list of events that may have happened to the car – fire, hail, stolen, insurance claim, etc.. You want to know if any of these have happened to your car for good reason.

10) It’s Cheap
Lastly, the most practical reason to get a vehicle history report is because it’s worth it! The cost of a vehicle check with AutoCheck is $15 for a single vehicle. That is less than what you would pay to fill the gas tank! The average used car is probably around $8,000 – which means that this car check costs less than a quarter of one percent of the price of the vehicle. For that little amount of money, you can save literally your entire investment by having the foresight to practice some due diligence on your vehicle before purchasing.

So remember, if you’re serious about buying a good quality used car, get a vehicle history report. They’re not always perfect, but it’s far better than the other option of doing nothing!

“Auto-crosses are great for everyone, whether you’re a novice, professional, or just coming out to watch,” says Ryan Trickett, administrative Director for the UWFSAE. “This is a great opportunity to unleash the power and performance of your sports car and in a safe way that won’t hurt you or your car. For the novices, there are individuals available to coach you around the course and give you pointers to ease you into the sport.”

In auto-cross, drivers compete based on time, rather than placement, and navigate a dynamic track of rubber cones, minimizing vehicle damage if a car goes off track. As an added precaution, drivers never share their half of the track with another driver, preventing collisions with other vehicles. The nature of auto-crossing focuses more on driver skill, car handling and suspension, rather than top speed and pedal mashing.

“The worst accident I’ve seen in my 2 years involved with organizing and setting up these events was a vehicle that spun out into the grassy field that was adjacent to the course,” says Trickett. “We work very hard with the venue owners and WWSCC to ensure a very safe event for everyone.”

Drivers are required to wear a SNELL or DOT approved safety helmet, though loaners are provided free of charge at the track if you do not bring your own. Before each race, there is also a tech period where cars are inspected for loose parts, leaks and other mechanical malfunctions that may pose a hazard on the track.

Support the University of Washington Formula SAE Team!

This event benefits UWFSAE in 2 ways; public relations and fundraising. Building a race car is expensive so our team is required to generate about $75,000 of income in order to be successful at competition come May and June. As a member of the Western Washington Sports Car Council, our team usually runs 2 auto-crosses like this event on the 8th, per year. The income we receive from these events nets us about $10,000 annually, which is a significant chunk of our operating budget. As a result, we work very hard to put on an excellent event for everyone. We are responsible for advertising, event setup and tear-down, course design, site activities, and event operations. We coordinate with the venue owners, WWSCC, and other NW sports car associations in negotiating event fees, insurance, and the other legal processes that go along with an activity like people racing their cars around a cone course. We are very fortunate to have the support of Boeing Employees Autosports Club in providing us with the necessary equipment to efficiently run the on-course activities.

Event Information

Registration for the event is $30 on-site, or $25 pre-pay, which you can do at the website for the Western Washington Sports Car Council registration page. There will be a morning auto-cross session that has registration starting from 7:30am to 8:30am as well as an afternoon session that begins 11:30am to 12:30pm. The afternoon session also features hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and refreshments that will be on sale.

For more information, please go to the event page at:
http://www.wwscc.org/evinfo/2009slush1.html

Directions to Bremerton Motorsports Park:
http://www.wwscc.org/locations/bremerton.html

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

 Insurance companies use a variety of things to determine how much the risk is on a particular policy. Where you live, what kind of car, amount of traffic in the neighborhood, and number of claims within that neighborhood are just some of the things that will determine what certain rates are in a particular zip code.

According to the Northwest Insurance Council:

Insurance companies examine local trends in accident frequency, car thefts, lawsuits, vehicle repairs and the cost of medical care when determining your level of risk.

“We(insurance companies) look at what type of losses are associated in a particular neighborhood,” explains Wilson Hui, an Allstate agent.  ”Typically in our area, the east side rates will be cheaper than Seattle. Redmond, Sammamish, Bellevue, Issaquah and cities like that, have more families and home owners. And that effects rates.”

Areas which tend to have higher rates are downtown Seattle, Burien, industrial areas like Tukwila and neighborhoods along busy city streets like Rainier avenue and Martin Luther King Blvd.

But by no means are insurance rates locked in and set in stone. Rates based on zip codes can and will change. However, it’s not just the zip code that determines the overall rate. It’s a just a small part of the whole.

These are the most common factors that determine your auto insurance rates

• Driving Record
• Number of Miles Driven
• Where You Live(zip code)
• Age of the Driver
• Type of Car Owned
• Amount of Coverage
• Credit