September 2016

Gas prices slowly rise causing temporary stall to seasonal savings

(September 20, 2016) Today’s national average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.21 per gallon, which is 3 cents more than last week and 8 cents more expensive than last month.  Today’s price represents a year over year discount of 9 cents from 2015.

Quaker State brings back 'Best in Class Challenge' for auto shop students

(September 14, 2016) HOUSTON — After a successful inaugural year, Quaker State is launching the next installment of the "Best in Class Challenge," a six-week automotive education competition featuring high school auto shop classes across the United States.

Each school's team is charged with the task of tuning, restoring and customizing a pre-owned car into a pristine, creative representation of their school. The competition will consist of online voting, six weeks of automotive challenges, hands-on education, distinguished judges, participation in a Barrett-Jackson vehicle auction for the grand prize winner and of course, great prizes.

Americans driving more than a quarter-million flood damaged cars

(September 13, 2016) CENTREVILLE, Va — Hundreds of thousands of previously flooded vehicles are believed to be in driveways, on the road or up for sale around the country right now, according to new research from Carfax.

The data suggests that more than 271,000 cars reported as flood damaged by a state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), insurance companies and more are back in use. It's a nearly 30% increase from 2013.

VW compares its new Golf Alltrack to Subaru Outback

(September 12, 2016) A new head-to-head comparison infographic from VWPartsVortex.com pits the VW Golf Alltrack against the Subaru Outback. The comparison chart reveals the 2017 VW Golf Alltrack beats the 2017 Subaru Outback in terms of fuel economy, performance, and weight.

The infographic also compares cargo space, seating, suspension type, MSRP, and other metrics to show that the 2017 Golf Alltrack is a solid competitor to the Subaru Outback.

Survey: Americans spend an average of 293 hours driving each year

(September 11, 2016) WASHINGTON, D.C. — American drivers spend an average of more than 17,600 minutes — 293 hours — behind the wheel each year, according to a new survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The research finds that more than 87.5 percent of Americans aged 16 years and older reported driving in the past year. During this time, drivers travelled nearly 10,900 miles on average.

Gas prices drop to close out Labor Day weekend

(September 7, 2016) The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has dropped six consecutive days after rising for 16 straight days to close out August. The national average is $2.20 per gallon. Gas prices started turning lower heading into the Labor Day weekend, which marks the unofficial end to the summer driving season.

The national average is two cents less than a week ago and 18 cents less than a year ago but 8 cents more than one month ago, according to AAA. The year-on-year discount persists but has closed more than 30 cents in just 20 days.

Making people sick in simulator is helping to prevent motion sickness

(September 6, 2016) NORWICH, Norfolk, England —When self-driving cars become the norm, we’re going to have much more spare time, as we’ll no longer be chained to the steering wheel with our eyes locked on the road ahead. This is brilliant news as we’ll have more time to read, work and play driving games on our cellphones instead. But it could have one downside: Motion sickness.

Hit the brakes: Not all self-braking cars designed to stop

(September 5, 2016) ORLANDO, Fla. — New test results from AAA reveal that automatic emergency braking systems — the safety technology that will soon be standard equipment on 99 percent of vehicles — vary widely in design and performance. All the systems tested by AAA are designed to apply the brakes when a driver fails to engage, however, those that are designed to prevent crashes reduced vehicle speeds by nearly twice that of those designed to lessen crash severity.

Milestone 750,000th Kia sold in Canada

(September 3, 2016) MISSISSAUGA, ON. —  It may not seem like long ago that Kia began selling vehicles in Canada. This past July, in its 17th year of business in Canada, the company reached 750,000 vehicles sold. In celebration of the milestone, Kia Canada has provided 5 years of free scheduled maintenance service to a happy 2017 Sportage customer from Kia of Owen Sound.

NADA lists Labor Day weekend car shopping deals

(September 1, 2016) MCLEAN, Va. — Many vehicle manufacturers plan to take advantage of the extra shopping time consumers will have over the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend (Sept. 3 – 5). Financially qualified shoppers may find summer's last weekend the best time to score great financing and lease rates.

Jonathan Banks, executive analyst at NADA Used Car Guide said, "We're seeing several deals in almost all segments.  Everything from zero-percent financing to six-year financing terms with cash back are on the table."