Ask Patty Blog Carnival Week Around the Auto World: January 2nd

Welcome to 2007! We want to kick off this new year with a new carnival full of helpful tips and newsworthy articles out in the automotive world! We have some new year’s resolutions for you and your car, as well as some anecdotal stories about haggling and buying cars. And who knew liquid coal could be a viable energy source for cars?!

Columnist Kate Thayer recounts her experiences buying cars, first as a young woman taking on her first car loan, and then as a more savvy woman, who knows what she wants in a car, even if she has no clue about anything in the engine. She says, “It isn’t my fault that when people see me they assume that I won’t know about things such as horsepower and alternators. It is my fault that they are completely accurate.”

Super Street Online has an interesting post about mechanics and their supposed tendency to be shady. We’ve all run into that guy – the one who tries to up sell you on repairs that aren’t needed. But is there some secret membership rule somewhere that says all mechanics are dishonest?

New Year’s resolutions are all well and good for you, but what about for your car? Ask Patty gave you some options and European Car web has offered up some more on their blog site.

According to Automotive.com, “Coal could be the fuel of the 21st Century. Not in its present form, but as a more environmental friendly liquid.” Apparently the fuel was used by the Germans and Japanese during World War II and other countries use it today as their main source of energy. With the arctic shelves breaking loose and the global warming issue still on the horizon, it’s nice to see some alternative options out there.

Ford has been letting go its workers in recent weeks, and now the former auto-workers are trying to decide what to do with their careers. It may seem odd, but according to MSNBC, “The CIA and the Secret Service were among dozens of exhibitors at "opportunity fairs" that Ford organized at its U.S. plants in recent months to give workers an idea of what might lie ahead if they decided to move on.”  Ford isn’t the only one letting people go; General Motors and Delphi are also laying off auto industry professionals.

We hope you will be reminded of the freedoms you enjoy in this country, when you hear that in Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to drive cars at all. They can own them and now, with a new dealership in Riyadh, they can sell them. A new all-women dealership opened in a town in Saudi Arabia, where the salespeople are female and the buyers often female as well. Even in a country where women are not allowed to drive them, they still own almost half of the vehicles on the road!

Women are making a difference at the Pacemaker’s Dragway in Mount Vernon as well. Women were instrumental in every aspect of getting the Dragway Park up and running and still contribute today. From starting raffles to raise money for supplies, to running the ticket booth, to even getting behind the wheel, these ladies are running the show!

Debt Free blog has some helpful tips on what to consider before you buy a car and how to save money before you even hit the road in a vehicle. There is information on the vehicles that have the worst depreciation values (Silverado Truck), as well as the costs per mile for the average vehicle.

Apparently buyers aren’t as willing to pay premiums for hybrids this year as they were last year. On Automotive.com’s site, “data from CNW Marketing Researching seems to be indicating… buyers willing to fork out the high premiums for hybrids have dropped from 30 percent last year to around 12 percent this year.”

And to wrap up our carnival this week: Auto predictions for 2007. Motor Trend brings the full list of predictions to you, beginning with their number 1: “Toyota will overtake GM for worldwide sales, but only by the slimmest of margins. And its gains on GM sales worldwide and in North America will be slower this year than in the last few.”

That’s it for this week! Thank you for all of your submissions! Make sure to submit next week! Please remember to submit your article using the online form or by emailing Breanne at Breanne@askpatty.com.