What does a lady do when she has nothing to blog about, when her creative juices are running dry? Why, discuss car repair, of course! (I’d blog about best fat burners or diet pills, but I’m afraid that would drive some of you off, heh heh).

Well, I actually heard something useful on NPR (NPR is National Public Radio *zzzzzzzzzzzzzz*) last week. There’s actually a hilarious show called “Car Talk,” that runs on Saturdays. The guys are real cut-ups. They HAVE to be really, really funny if they’re going to get me (a real non-car girl) to listen to a car show.

Anyway, the Car Talk guys (Click and Clack, the Tappett brothers, how’s that for freaky) gave some good advice for car tire care, advice we’ve used this week for our own car.

One– save the tread on your tires– never turn the steering wheel when the car is not moving. Otherwise, the tire tread grates on the asphalt and the rubber wears off. Have you seen the prices of tires lately?! Every little bit helps, especially with snow tires, which have slightly softer rubber than regular tires.

Another tip is to visit your local junkyard when you need car parts. We do this a lot. We recently needed a new tail-light cover and tire rims for our snow tires. I did some online searching and telephone calling to my local suppliers, and the cheapest I could find was $45 for the tail light cover and $60 for rims, each. Holy cow! Guess how much the stuff cost us from the junkyard? $12 for the cover, and $15 for each rim. We went to a “you pull it” junkyard, but the place is very organized and it took only minutes to find what we needed. The cover and rims are in excellent condition, by the way.

So there are some tips! Woohoo! OK, let’s get back to driving!!

more animals

Need car parts? Of course you do! Cars need car parts like we need air. Some cars, like mine, need more and more car parts every year! :-p

It’s a good thing we can find stuff for affordable prices on the Internet. GONE are the days when we were at the mercy of the dealerships, who always managed to rack up prices 150-200%. Ouch. Well, listen and learn– forget the high prices and go to CarPartsWarehouse.com. They have free shipping! (I always perk up when I hear that). And CarPartsWarehouse.com has loads of stuff on hand, including transmission parts, steering pumps, AC kits, and more. You search by model year and make. Give it a try!

I read this at Texas RV Travel Blog.

Does your car have remote keyless entry? If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home from your cell to their cell. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button while holding the clicker close to their cell phone. The car will unlock.

Is that REALLY for real? Does that really work?! It blows my mind! I am itching, absolutely itching, to try it out. I guess I’d have to get a car with remote keyless entry first, though, right? :-p Someday maybe! :D

While I am far from being a “car” girl, I appreciate a good set of tires and a loud horn as much as anybody. I’ve had a minivan for over a decade now, and… to be blunt.. I think I want a “real” car again, lol.

Look at this beautiful machine! The new Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class. Click the link for a sneak peek at this beaut. This is a teensy-weensy bit beyond my price range. But I can admire, can’t it? This is a small 5-passenger SUV, starting price at (gulp) $43,000. That is three-fourths of what I paid for my HOUSE. But… wow…. I could live in one of these things, ya know?

The GLK will be available in January. So… how much do I have in my savings again? ;)

Hoh boy, living in New York, I’ve seen my share of car accidents. What is it about New York and New England that makes people drive so CRAZY?! I’ve been in the crazies’ ways on more than one occasion. :( Not fun. I had no idea that I could have filed an insurance claim to recover my vehicle’s diminished value. I wish I had known that before the accident I had where some lady pulled into oncoming traffic (that would be ME) without looking and smashed into my van. Sure, the insurance company paid us $400 for the dented fender… but when that area completely rusted out and rotted two years later, we were left high and dry. I wish I had known that diminished car value claims are accepted in all 50 states for up to four years after the accident! Hmmm, I don’t remember the insurance company informing me of this little detail… how odd! :( I have a website bookmarked for a free diminished value estimate, to find out what I’m owed if that ever happens again. Judging by the way people drive around here, I may need it sooner than later… feel free to save the link to your bookmarks in case you have one of those “I shoulda, I coulda” moments.

Can you believe that, thanks to the Internet, you can shop for used cars online?! Yes you can! I am flabbergasted. And of course, elated! :D If you live in the North Carolina area, check out these cool used cars Wilmington, NC. It’s the Bruce Cavenaugh AutoMart, AutoPalace, and Suzuki SuperStore virtual dealership. At Bruce Cavenaugh, you can search the inventory, watch BruceTV, clean up your credit, and even apply for credit online. Pretty amazing. The Bruce Cavenaugh Automart has a huge selection of cars, trucks, vans, and SUV’s, including Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet. Buick, imports, and — amazingly– some hybrids! I would just love to check those out! Deals are incredible because gas prices has everyone looking to save money on better and efficient vehicles. Check them out online at your leisure with no nosy salesman to follow you around! Gotta love the Internet!

I’ve been seeing lots of blog posts about people considering vegetable oil or water for gas. I think in New York State, it is illegal to use anything except what Big Business and Big Government allow (taxable gasoline).

But why not water? I don’t think it’s too strange. The steamboats and railroads in this country were powered by steam, long ago. We could go back to the steam engine or something, right? Those machines burned coal to make steam, but we could use small bursts of electrical energy to heat water, or something like that. I even did a post a few months ago about a car that runs on air (made in Canada). It looks like the real thing!

I’s absolutely love a car that ran on water. Wouldn’t you?

P.S. Then again… governments would probably figure out a way to tax our water and make it scarce. Seeing we can’t live without water, hmmmm.