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Cheap Car Leasing

Top Ten Tips to Prepare Your Vehicle For Winter

1. Battery and Terminal Check – Have your battery checked once a year, especially if it’s more than two years old. A qualified technician will perform a quick load test to make sure it’s in good shape to keep you on the road. Also, you should check your battery’s terminals and cable connectors regularly. If you see corrosion, a simple mixture of baking soda and water will clean it off. In Michigan, faulty batteries and/or faulty terminal connections cause more car starting problem than any other factors.
2. Radiator Check – Have your coolant strength and level checked by a certified technician. The recommended protection is for 36 below 0. The level, condition and concentration of the coolant should be checked periodically. (A 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and water is usually recommended.) Never remove the radiator cap until the engine has thoroughly cooled!
3. Oil & Fluids – Check engine oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid and transmission fluids and top off or change when necessary. Remember, it is best to keep your car’s gas tank more than half full during those cold winter months.
4. Belts & Hoses – Check belts and hoses for cracks, leaks and bulges as well as be sure all clamps are secure. The belts and hoses should fit tight and be firm, not too soft or brittle.
5. Tires – It is recommended that your car be fitted with winter tires (also known as snow tires) to ensure the best grip to the snowy and icy roads. Winter tires are more soft and flexible than other tires and have tread patterns specifically designed for the winter conditions. Don’t forget to have tire wear inspected and always have air pressure checked when tires are cold.
6. Lights & Signals – Run through all signal and light functions to ensure they are active. Be sure to replace any bulbs that are not working properly so that your car remains visible in poor weather conditions.
7. Windshield Washer & Wipers – Check wipers for wear and make sure the reservoir is filled with a non-freezing washer solvent during winter months. Twenty-four percent of all wiper blades checked before winter are found to be worn or damaged. Most blades need to be changed once every six to 12 months. It is best to upgrade to strong and durable winter wiper blades to help reduce ice and slush build up as you drive.
8. Heater/Defroster – The heater and defroster must be in good working condition for passenger comfort and driver visibility. Check the front and rear defrost functions before the first freeze.
9. Engine Performance – Get engine drivability problems (hard starts, rough idling, stalling, diminished power, etc.) corrected at a good repair shop because cold weather only makes existing problems worse. Replace any dirty filters including air, fuel, Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV), etc.
10. Emergencies – Carry gloves, boots, blankets, flares, a first aid kit, a small shovel, sand or kitty litter, tire chains, a flashlight and a cell phone in your car at all times during the winter. Put a few “high-energy” snacks in your glove box just in case you become stranded for long periods of time. Never leave the house without being properly dressed in warm winter apparel even if you are just traveling down the block.
All of these tips are suggested to compliment your car’s preexisting functions that make winter driving possible. Always be sure to prepare your car for the season’s unpredictable weather to ensure the safety of you and all your passengers. If you need assistance performing any of the tests and winter adaptations as described see your local ASE certified technician.…

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Cheap Car Leasing

Rear Window Defrost, Heaters, and More

Anyone who has had to drive their car in cold, winter weather knows the importance of heat in their vehicle. While heat is going to help you to stay warm as you drive around town, it will also help to make your driving safer. There are various ways for you to use heat to be safe on the roads.
These various locations all provide different benefits, as far as heat and the safety of the vehicle is concerned. The rear window defrost, general heater, and side mirrors are all important locations to consider when thinking about heat and your vehicle.
Rear Window Defrost
The rear window defrost is one of the most important aspects of the vehicle, especially for those who do not have wind-shield wipers on the back of their vehicle. This makes it easier for individuals to see out the back window in cases of frost, ice, or temperature changes. The rear window defroster helps to take away any cloudiness that may fog up the vehicle, and will make it easier for individuals to chip away at ice and snow that has built up on the back of the window.
Heater
The actual heater for the car is, of course, the most important heating element in the vehicle. It can help to keep your body warm and can help to keep your feet warm. Most importantly, it can help to keep your front windshield and side windows warm. This works exactly was the rear window defrost works. It helps to keep the windows from fogging up, and also helps to make it easier to remove ice and snow from the windshield. While the car needs to be running for a short period of time before this heater truly kicks in, it is the most powerful and the most beneficial of the three.
Side Mirror Defrost
One type of defrost that many fails to think about when thinking about the heating systems for their windows is the side mirror defrost. This helps to defrost the side mirrors of the vehicle, helping to keep them clear of any potential snow or ice or fog during driving. This is especially important for those who are driving in continuously bad driving conditions. It helps to prevent any build up, making your drive as safe as possible.
It is important for you to check to make sure that these various parts work before you decide to purchase a used car. This can be difficult for those who are purchasing a used car in warm weather – how can you tell if the defrosts work or not? Simply take the vehicle into a mechanic and ask them to check these various parts as they work to check the entire vehicle. They will be able to tell you whether or nor the defrosters on the vehicle are in operating order.…

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Cheap Cars

HID Headlights Are Insurance For Highway Safety

Headlights are a safety issue on the highways. You don’t want to be caught unawares when darkness falls and you find that your headlights are unable to pierce the pitch dark envelope ahead and to your sides. It can be a frightening experience to drive through a sheet of rain or an impenetrable covering of fog or mist, especially when your headlights or the battery is old. The standard halogen lights have severe disadvantages. These draw a heavy current and throw far less light than you’d like to have. The bulbs do not last very long and the battery is at times unable to supply as much current as the headlights demand. The net result is very unsavory. It’s quite likely that you may have to pull off the road till the driving conditions improve. However, the HID headlight kits will change all that now. Each kit consists of two HID headlight bulbs, two ballasts and two ballast mounting brackets. The HID bulbs throw 300% more light than the standard halogen bulbs. The current drawn by the HID lights is 35% less than the earlier lights. There is therefore far less load on the battery and this is a good thing especially if your battery is getting on in years.

The average life of HID headlights is 3000 hours of use or 5-10 years and this is considerably more than the standard bulbs you’ve been using so far. The hid headlight kits are smart to look at too and can be installed without carrying out any modification or splicing. You can easily find out the HID equivalent for your automobile bulbs by looking up the bulb guide. You’ll find a large range of HID light bulbs and xenon conversion kits that includes H1 HID, H3 HID and H4, H7, H8, H9 and H10 HID kits. These are all made using the best quality material and craftsmanship.

The HID headlight kits come with installation instructions although the kits are plug n play kind and as mentioned, do not need any modifications for installation. The HID headlights are associated with numbers such as 3000k and 8000k. These numbers refer to color temperatures and each number is indicative of a color. Therefore, while 3000k represents yellow color, 8000k represents baby blue color. Each kit comes with a standard 1-year warranty though you can ask for the 2-year warranty or lifetime warranty if you like. There is an installation video for your kit that you can refer. Your order ships out the day after you place your order. Depending upon your location you’ll receive your order within a couple of days by FedEx.…

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Cheap Cars

What Are Computer Diagnostics

Did you know there were dozens of microchips in your car, sending signals to the main computer in it? Did you realize a computer was involved when you pulled on the handle of your sliding door and it shut automatically? Or how about when you went to back up, but a sensor went off because there was something small in the driveway that you did not see? Now there are even sensors that tells you when you driving into the other lane. Computers are present in a lot more components of your vehicle than you may have realized at first.
Did that sliding door get stuck halfway open this morning? Did the backup alarm keep going off, even though you were moving forward? Sounds like you need computer diagnostics to figure out exactly what is wrong. There are ASE technicians who are trained specifically to handle the electronic and computerized parts of the car. Diagnosing and finding a computer glitch can be trickier than you realized at first. It does take special training to be certified in these types of repairs, so check with the company where you are planning on taking your vehicle to make sure they have trained professionals.
Just like when your laptop at home does not function properly because of a circuit connection gone bad, your car can have the same thing happen. It takes a specialist to trace through your circuits and to spot exactly what and where the problem lays. Once they find it, then it can be repaired – usually pretty quickly. The hard part is finding exactly where the problem lays. That is also where the expense comes in – the time it takes the technician to locate the problem before it can be fixed.
How do they find a computer diagnostic problem? The vehicle is hooked up to a few different machines. The machines hook to the electronic system in the vehicle and look for codes or error messages to come up. The code can contain the location and the problem detected in your car. The technician can then get in to that location, check the wires and see where the problem is. It might be a quick and easy fix or it could be a larger problem, which requires a new computer chip or program installed in to your vehicle. Unfortunately, you won’t know anything until you have it checked out and evaluated, unless you happen to know computers and vehicles yourself!…

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Cheap Car Leasing

Auction Cars – Why You Should Consider Buying One

With the term auction cars I mean vehicles purchased at a public auction. There are lots of different kinds of auctions where cars can be purchased for example, government auctions, police auctions, private auctions, military surplus auctions, bank auctions of repossessed vehicles and more.
One of the best places you can get good deals on new and used cars, is a government auction. To be more precise, what we’re talking about is making good bargains on high quality vehicles, seized in a government raid or for one reason or another have come into the possession of the federal government.
Government Auctions of Seized Cars
Government auctions are different from bank auctions of repossessed vehicles. Government car auctions consist of vehicles they have seized and want to get rid of so that they won’t take up space in government parking facilities. If they can make some money on these vehicles, why shouldn’t they?
That’s the reason they’ll take whatever bid they can get. This is not the case with a bank. Therefore it’s likely that you would get a better deal at government auctions than at a bank auction.
Online Car Auctions
Car auctions are held all over the country where people go and place their bids. However, not everyone lives nearby an auction site. Nevertheless, anyone who has a computer and an internet connection can still bid on a government auction. You even got the option of mailing your sealed bid for a vehicle in to the auction.
Government Surplus Auctions
Another way to purchase cheap but quality auction cars would be at a government surplus auction. If you are looking for great car deals you can also participate in a government surplus auction, which is a little different from seized car auctions. The reason the government arranges these auctions is because of their need for renewal of their own vehicles. When the government’s vehicles become too old to function properly, they need to replace them while the old are sold at surplus auctions. At surplus car auctions you can also get used vehicles fairly cheap.
Military Surplus Auctions
Another variation of government surplus auctions is the military vehicle auctions. Not all military vehicles are auctioned though. They don’t offer combat vehicles, but you can buy jeeps and other low end vehicles for a few dollars.
The Right Place for Super Bargains
It should be obvious that the reason people get so many good deals at government auctions is that the government’s intention is not to act like a business and maximize their profit but rather get a few dollars for a vehicle that is no longer up to their standards and cannot be used anymore.
So, why not take advantage of this, visit an auto auction house or go online and find cheap but decent auction cars at a government auction.…

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Cheap Cars

Car Insurance: Factors That Determine Premiums

The amount you pay for your auto insurance depends on several factors, including your age, gender marital status, where you are and what you are driving. You can’t change your age or gender, it wouldn’t be cost-effective to move off to another state to save a few bucks. The easiest ways to start saving is to choose a more economical vehicle that costs less to insure and to be a safer driver.
First, your vehicle is a big determining factor in how much you pay.Having a hot rod or a big Hummer may be a great status symbol, but it is a hefty price to pay for such luxury. When insurance companies make premiums they base part of what you pay on the price of the vehicle, and part on how expensive it is to be repaired. Vehicles which are the targets of theft also can factor in to the cost of your premium. How much each is factored in can depend on your insurer as well, so this is not a concrete formula on your car insurance premium.
Next, there are things you just can’t control. Even though these factors are the ones you can control the least, they have the greatest control on your insurance rates. For example, single males under the age of 25 pay the highest rates. I know this personally because I am 26, and the decrease was a great relief! The rates are so high for that demographic because statistically they are in the most wrecks. Since I became married to my wife in 2010, I got to enjoy another decrease as well, as married men are cheaper to insure than single. (I wonder why, no more girls to impress…) Don’t look so smug so quickly, ladies, as some states have adopted rates not based on age or gender, and this has caused the rates for the fairer sex to increase. At least this is a legitimate complaint you can raise about men and how we are making it harder on your lives.
These are not the only factors that determine your rates. Unfortunately your driving record is a contributing factor as well, and thus drivers with spotless records pay the least, and your future destruction derby driver will cause you to pay the most. Maybe he’ll invent a great product one day or get a great career to pay you back for all those wrecked vehicles he accumulated learning to drive.
Where you live can also affect your insurance premiums. More densely-populated metropolitan areas have far more accidents than rural environments, so you pay more for being in a busier city. Makes that more rural, country area sound better and better, doesn’t it.
Remember, don’t go crazy choosing coverage. Everyone is quick to tell you how crazy and dangerous it is to be uninsured, but on the other side of the coin, it is just as crazy to have too much coverage as well. Even though the minimum requirement for state insurance is not nearly enough in most cases, there are ways to keep from getting the top-notch coverage while still keeping your possessions safe in the event of an accident.
A good rule of thumb to have is, “If you have more, get more insurance.” Just like how you struggled with choosing your car, its insurance is just has hard to decide on. Polls taken from surveys say that you could be paying up to $1000 more annually for the same coverage another company could give you. It never hurts to ask, and shopping around with some of the independent companies may save you more than the big names, and give you the same coverage.
There are ways to lower your premiums. First, drive safely, by avoiding collisions and tickets from traffic violations, most companies will offer compensation by giving certain “safe driving” discounts.
Maintaining good credit is becoming a growing trend to consider a person’s credit score when making premiums and setting payment rates. The higher your score the better.
Try dropping unnecessary extras. Things like costs for towing or replacement rental car expenses during repair work may sound like small things, but if your warranty covers these with roadside assistance, you’re paying twice for something you may only need once.
Increasing your deductible. This may sound counterproductive, but increasing your deductible lowers your rates! Of course you’re paying more for when a collision occurs, but the savings on every premium payment allows you room to put back a little bit each time in a savings account for those times you have to foot the bill when a wreck does occur.
There’s always checking your other options. The old rule is, “Look but don’t touch.” So what’s the harm in shopping around? Your situation may change so why not change policies …

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Convertible

Cheap Used Cars – Buy Them Directly From the Auction

Do you ever wonder how people get cheap used cars directly from the auction? Well, they either have a dealer license and an auction license… Or they paid a hefty fee to someone who has the licenses to buy the car for them. This seems like a pretty difficult thing to do especially since you would most likely have to do the latter. But there is another way that is much easier and cheaper… What way is that?
There are special places online where you can go to get access to many cheap used cars that come directly from the government auctions, police car auctions, etc. These vehicles are usually priced at just a hundred dollars and up and you can get a relatively new car for up to 95% off the retail price value! Not bad, right?
These websites are set up so that once you pay a small one time fee to become a member, you get access to thousands and thousands of cheap used cars! It doesn’t get much easier than that. Also, you can’t find cars anywhere else for as cheap as the ones you can find from the government auction. Why not?
Because these vehicles have been either surrendered or confiscated by the authorities for some reason or other, they get sold at auction for a fraction of what they are really worth and the money usually goes to the state. This is good news for you because you can get a car from 2008 for only 100 bucks or more! If you are looking for cheap used cars, I highly suggest you look into buying directly from the auction before anywhere else!…