All the bells and whistles.
Kids love to send the electric windows down at any time of the day. “Helicopter wobbing” – as we call it – is the loud vibrations in the air waves from windows that have been sent down while travelling at highway speeds. There’s nothing more irritating! Well, almost. A high-pitched scream from the aftermath of a squabble in the back seat features right up the list of most unwanted noises on a long car trip. Hey, I love our kids. And I enjoy the electric windows – especially the one-touch switches that go all the way up after one flick of the switch. The anti-pinch function with electric windows is also something I love, having had my finger squeezed in electric windows without this safety feature – the experience lets you know what that medieval torture device known as the thumbscrew felt like. Electronic luxuries, even the luxuries that are not linked to electronics, can be a car owner’s delight – delights that will make the car trip a pleasure, delights that set the standard, and delights that you can show off to all your mates. What are the bells and whistles that you could never do without?
How Japan's Tragedy Will Impact On The Market
The dreadful earthquake and tsunami in Japan will have an impact on practically every Western nation in some form or other.
We have been trying to find out how it will impact on the motor trade in Australia and frankly, it is very difficult to be definitive.
Would You Pay $50,000 for a new Corolla?
A famous political saying of 50 years ago “You’ve never had it so good”* could well apply to today’s new car buyer.
We’ve been doing some homework on ‘value for money’ new cars comparing those manufactured today against those produced a generation ago.
New Car Reliability is best ever- says US Survey
JD Power is a highly respected market research company in the USA, and its annual new car reliability survey has garnered much attention over the last 40 years. They have just published their latest survey on new car reliability and customer satisfaction. The vehicle dependability survey took into account more than 43,000 original car owners of vehicles that were three years old and recorded any problems that arose in the past 12 months.
They use a factor of “number of problems per 100 cars”. This year’s results showed an average number of 151 problems per 100 cars which was the best figure ever recorded! There are some surprises on the list – we’ll just look at those cars that are available in Australia (the top car was, in fact, Ford’s US luxury brand, Lincoln).
Level 2, 9 Help Street