We’re Sharing The LOVE This Valentine’s Day!
Drugged Driving – It’s A Little Hazy
Most Americans understand the tremendous danger—and potentially devastating consequences—that drinking and driving subjects motorists and the public to. But what about the dangers of the widely available recreational marijuana that’s already legal in Colorado and Washington and soon to be so in Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia?
U.S. drivers are a lot hazier about that—as well as the consequences and impairments that result from prescription medications and painkillers.
In a recent AAA survey, while 66 percent said that people driving after drinking pose a very serious threat to safety, only 56 percent attached that threat level to illegal drugs in general and just 28 percent to prescription drugs. And Americans aren’t clear on what the impairment thresholds are for marijuana, or on the legal and safety issues.
These findings come ahead of the full 2015 Traffic Culture Index report, to be released next month from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Eight in ten Americans agreed that it is ‘completely unacceptable’ to drive one hour after using marijuana. Meanwhile the AAA notes federal research showing that marijuana can impair driving performance for up to three hours.
Furthermore, some research shows that marijuana impairment has two components, an acute one and a chronic one—and the latter, for regular marijuana users, could affect driving for weeks even after they stop.
The results also point to the need for an adjustment in driver attitude regarding prescription drugs. “Just because a doctor prescribes a drug, or you can purchase it over-the-counter doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe to use while driving,” said Jake Nelson, AAA’s director of traffic safety advocacy, who recommended that you discuss all potential side effects with your doctor or pharmacist.
According to the AAA, the use of one prescription drug has increased by ten percent in the past decade, while the use of five or more prescription drugs has increased by 70 percent. Medication can affect drivers’ alertness, concentration, general vehicle control, and mood (and arguably, decision-making).
The AAA Foundation does offer a Roadwise Rx tool that will help you check on a drug’s side effects, or potential interactions.
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out or inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!
Fuel Economy is America’s #1 Criteria When Shopping For A Car
When looking for a new car, there are a lot of factors to consider: how the car looks, how comfortable the ride is, its high-tech amenities, and the number of cup-holders.
But according to a new study from the ACC, the thing at the top of most shopper’s must-have list is good fuel-economy.
To uncover that fact, the ACC in conjunction with another research company polled 1,014 U.S. adults about a number of things related to cars and car-shopping.
Major takeaways from the firm’s survey include:
– 79% of respondents said that fuel efficiency was more important than most other factors when shopping for a new car, even outranking safety features and price.
– 72% of respondents said that fuel efficiency is more important now than it was five years ago.
– 37% of respondents said that they’d driven out of their way to purchase cheaper gas.
Which is all very interesting, if not terribly surprising.
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out our inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!
How To Test Drive A Car
You always test drive a car before you buy it right? Of course! Some drive it like they are in a Nascar Race and there’s one lap to go. Some drive like they are afraid that touching the gas pedal will make the car go, and then what? At Car Direct USA, our Sales Team is always happy to accompany the customers on a test drive. Here are a few tips that we recommend while test driving a car to see if it’s the right fit for you.
1 – Take your time, you’re not actually in the Daytona 500. Pick a few different roads to drive on at different speeds, and drive like you would on a daily basis. You will get a better idea of how the car will perform under normal driving conditions.
2 – Park the vehicle. C
an you parallel park it? Do you feel comfortable pulling into a parking space?
3 – Play with the radio a little and see how the speakers sound. Is there additional technology on the car? Ask your sales representative (who is sitting right next to you at this point) how it all works. Check out how the seats move and fold down. You may not be thinking about these things today, but we guarantee you will soon.
4 – Drive, and then ride. See how the car feels as the driver, then ask to see how the car feels as the passenger. A vehicle can feel very different from these 2 perspectives.
5 – Turn off the radio, and just listen to the car for a few minutes. You want to get to know how the car sounds.
6 – Be meticulous and ask questions. Review the Auto-Check with your sales representative and make sure you understand the information that is provided. Ask questions if it isn’t clear to you, we want them all answered so that you have a strong sense of security.
7 – If you are the type of person that likes to have a friend or family with you, please bring them!
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out or inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!
2015 North American Car and Truck/SUV of The Year Short List Announced
Thanks to The Car Connection news, We’ve just received word that judges for the North American Car and Truck of the Year have released their list of finalists for the upcoming 2015 awards, and we’ve got the inside scoop!!
To be eligible for consideration, a vehicle has to be either completely new or “substantially changed from the previous model and must go on sale shortly after the announcement of the award, which is early in January”. Also, vehicles have to have moderately good distribution: cars should have projected North American sales of around 5,000 units per year at minimum, and trucks should meet a 2,000-unit threshold.
Based on what they’ve seen so far, North American Car and Truck of the Year judges have pared a longish list of 2015 models down to 10 cars and 12 trucks/SUVs, each vying for top honors. The 2015 winners will be announced in January, likely around the time of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Until then, let us know what you think about these 22 finalists and their merits (or shortcomings).
2015 North American Car of the Year (Short List)
Acura TLX
Audi A3
Chrysler 200
Ford Mustang
Honda Fit
Hyundai Genesis sedan
Hyundai Sonata
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Toyota Camry
Volkswagen Golf/GTI
2015 North American Truck/Utility of the Year (Short List)
Audi Q3
Chevrolet Colorado
Chevrolet Tahoe
Ford F-150
GMC Canyon
Lexus NX
Lincoln MKC
Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class
Nissan Murano
Porsche Macan
Subaru Outback
Toyota Highlander
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out or inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!
Women. Start Your Engines.
While auto repair shops tend to be a male-dominated enterprise, much of their success is driven by women. If you own or work at a shop, you know this to be true. So why, we have to ask, does a new survey from AutoMD suggest that women hate taking their vehicle to a garage so much that they would rather go to the dentist? Here are a few reasons that we came across in reviewing this survey.
Very few people actually trust their mechanics – approximately 83% of people feel that they are being overcharged for repairs.
The repairs to the vehicle aren’t clear. 86% of survey respondents said that their repair experience wasn’t transparent – they were not communicated to in layman’s terms.
When asked to rank five specific activities from most to least pleasant, taking a car in for repairs came in last – behind buying a car, going to the dentist, shopping for airline tickets online, or shopping for books and music online.
Women may hate taking their vehicles to the repair ship, but the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence reports that a whopping estimated 65% of customers who take their vehicles to an automotive repair shop for service are women! What can we learn from this fact? In the automotive industry, we think it is vital to understand the needs of women and how to communicate with them, even with the perception that it is a male-dominated enterprise. We need to remember the little things – like the magazines women read while they wait, and the cleanliness of the bathroom just to name a few.
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out or inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!
10 Most Congested Highways & Cities In The US
There are days when it seems very frustrating to drive in Hampton Roads. We are a melting pot of drivers from all over the country. But can you believe that out of 7 major cities – Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach – not one of our cities made the 10 Most Congested Highways & Cities In The US list!
This is good news for us!
The list of the 10 most congested highways comes from Google Maps, viable Mashable. The good news for us is that none of major routes on the East and Gulf Coasts are included. The bad news is that drivers in California and Hawaii are facing daily gridlock. Google’s list includes:
- Interstate H-1 E, Kalihi-Palama in Honolulu, Hawaii
- Interstate 5 N, in San Diego, California
- Caligornia 2 E, in Los Angeles, California
- Lunalilo Freeway, Kalihi-Palama in Honolulu, Hawaii
- US Highway 101, in Hollywood, California
- Interstate 278 W, in Sunnyside, New York
- Interstate 678 N, in Briarwood, New York
- Lunalilo Freeway, from Liliha to Kapalama in Honolulu, Hawaii
- US Highway 101 N, in downtown Los Angeles, California
- California 2 E, in Santa Monica and Glendale, California
That said, folks in other parts of the U.S. aren’t completely in the clear. Google Maps also revealed a list of America’s ten most congested cities, and several metro areas in the East and Midwest did made the cut here:
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Chicago, Illinois
- New York City, New York
- Los Angeles, California
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco, California
- Duluth, Minnesota
Hopefully these lists will help you be prepared for wherever you may be driving this summer!
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you at a rate that you can afford. Check out our inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you! And then we’ll help you get the best financing possible!
Memorial Day Tent Sale!!!
We Didn’t Always Have Cars
When we think of the first car, many of us think of The Flintstones – we have to remember that was a cartoon though. The car wasn’t invented until 1886. So how did cavemen get around? The good-ole fashioned way… on their feet. The next generation was lucky enough to ride horses, then the bicycle came along, then the steam-powered locomotive, and finally the car. But it wasn’t the car as we know it today.
Karl Benz is considered to have built and patented the first proper automobile, in 1886–the aptly named, three-wheeled Patent-Motorwagen. Through the end of the century, inventors would experiment with vehicles powered by other means: diesel, electric, even steam. By the beginning of the 20th century, the automobile was changing the landscape of cities and cultures around the world. With their Oldsmobile and Model T machines, Ransom Olds and Henry Ford made the car a ubiquitous part of American life.
World War II reconfigured the auto industry, shaking out minor players and turning the major companies into manufacturers for the military for a time. The symbol of the era was the Jeep, the go-anywhere machine that came home from war with its rugged image intact, making it a grandfather of today’s SUVs. As the world pulled out of the post-war era, cars flourished with fantastic Jet Age designs that gave way to a new generation of compact cars heavily influenced by the VW Beetle, Germany’s “people’s car.” The Beetle made small cars relevant in America–and without it, there would be no Corolla, no Civic, no Focus.
The SUV really was invented in the 1930s with the first four-wheel-drive Chevy Suburban wagon, but it came into its own in the 1990s with the launch of the Ford Explorer and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, two top sellers that forever changed the idea of what a family car could be. As the SUV replaced the wagon, the pickup truck also became an alternative to the car. Trucks dominated the sales charts in the first decade of this century. Already the best-selling vehicle in America for decades, the Ford F-150 posted its best-ever year in 2004 with nearly a million sales–and Chevy, Dodge, and GMC weren’t far behind. At the same time, greener vehicles were gaining fans, thanks to rising gas prices. The Toyota Prius became the first mass-production hybrid car in 1998.
What is in store for the future of the vehicle? We’ll leave that up to the manufacturers and their imaginations.
Visit http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1091185_a-quick-history-of-the-automobile#src=10065 for more about The History Of The Automobile.
At Car Direct, our goal is to help you in finding the right vehicle for you. Check out or inventory page to see what we currently have in stock. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Give us a call – that vehicle may be on its way in. If not, we’ll find it for you!