Car Reliability Ratings For 2010

Which Cars are Most Reliable?

J.D. Power has released its Car Reliability Ratings for 2010. Last year, Buick and Toyota were tied for the most reliable cars made in the previous three years. You can view last year's car reliability ratings here: Car Reliability Ratings for 2009.  So, who makes the Most Reliable Car for 2010? Before, we get onto the winners, a little explanation of how these car ratings work is in order: The ratings are based on a Vehicle Dependability Study which examines the number of reported, mechanical mishaps from vehicle owners for the first three years of car ownership. J.D. Power has broken down the car ratings into four categories:

Car Reliability Ratings By Category

1. Overall Reliability
2. Powertrain Reliability
3. Body and Interior Reliability
4. Features and Accessory Reliability

As I mentioned last year, and cannot stress enough, these particular Auto Ratings cannot be used to evaluate the long term quality of a car. Since the Vehicle Dependability Study measures only the reliability within first three years of new car ownership, it is important to realize that this says nothing about how long a car will hold up after 5, 7 or 10 years. For this reason, it should come as no surprise to us that Toyota dropped from # 1 to # 6 in the Car Reliability Ratings from a year ago. Obviously, Toyota's recall problems had a lot to do with their slight drop in the 2010 Car Reliability Ratings. What is more impressive, however, is that Toyota (perceived problems and all), is still ranked ahead of 30 other car makers for reliability. Read the rest of this entry

Extended Car Warranties

Are Extended Car Warranties Worth it?

One of the most attractive benefits of leasing or buying a new car is the peace of mind you get from knowing you’ll have no car repairs for 3-5 years. Most of the brand new car makers provide a warranty for the first 36-60 months of the car or 12,000 miles per year; whichever comes first. Obviously, one huge benefit of leasing a new car every 36 months is that you will spend very little of your time and money in the shop for repairs or maintenance. Most cars will last three years without needing brakes or tires. The most you will need to do is change the oil 2 or 3 times a year. So, what if you want to keep your car longer than its 3 or 5-year warranty period? Should you consider Extended Car Warranties?

What Do Extended Car Warranties Cover?

• What brakes on a car after 3 years? Not much.
• What brakes on a car after 5 years? Not much.
• Will you need new brakes and tires? Very likely.

Will extended car warranties cover new brakes and tires? Not at all. A few years ago, when I was finalizing the paperwork on the 4-year lease of my Pontiac G6, I was presented with an assortment of Extended Car Warranties. The car dealer explained to me that since my warranty would expire after 3 years, I would be left with a 3-year old car that was not covered by a warranty in my 4^th year of leasing it. Oh, the horror! The cost of extending my car warranty ranged from around $30 to $60 a month, depending on the size of deductible, coverage options and benefits. Benefits include things like hazard and road-size assistance. I was not impressed, nor even slightly inclined to pay for warranty coverage on a car that would be only 3 years old and have less than 40,000 miles of use. My previous experience with cars that I kept longer than 4 years was a 1996 Infiniti G20 and a 2000 Chevrolet Venture Mini Van. Extended Car Warranties would do me no good. Read the rest of this entry

Individual Dental Insurance

Is Dental Insurance Worth It?

Individual Dental Insurance is a dental plan that you get on your own, aside from your employer benefits. Most likely, you get individual  dental insurance when your employer doesn't offer you a dental plan. If there is one thing worse than a visit to the dentist it is having to pay for the grueling torture inflicted upon your mouth. I honestly don't know what is more painful; getting your teeth drilled or paying for cleanings, fillings, crows and root canals. I was one of the lucky ones, who stopped getting cavities after age 12, so I never considered Individual Dental Insurance a necessity for kids kids. Even then, I began asking myself, "Is Individual Dental Insurance Worth it?" Is Any Dental Insurance worth it?

Individual Dental Insurance Providers

Kids do get lots of cavities so at the average price of $100 - $250 per filling, I decided I wasn't going to be without dental insurance. A good  individual dental insurance plan covers up to 80% of the cost of fillings and provides free check-ups and cleanings after every 6 months. (That's about $200 per child). If you don't have kids and don't get many cavities, there's yet another reason to consider whether or not individual dental insurance is worth it: All of those fillings you had as a child have likely started to weaken and cause cracks in the structure of your teeth. I've had three crowns since I was about 22 years old and my dentist says I will likely need about 3 or 4 more. At the uninsured price of around $1,000 each, this could get very expensive. And, that it's only for me, not including the wife and kids. Face it, a mouth full of teeth is one of the most expensive liabilities we all share. Are Dental Insurance for Individuals and Family Dental plans, PPO Dental Plans, etc., worth the cost of having no Dental Insurance at all? To answer this question, I did some basic research. This is what an uninsured dental patient can expect to pay for the most common procedures at the dentists office: Read the rest of this entry

Summer vacation season is here and if you're adventurous that means you're looking at a set of Cooper STT Discoverer Tires. . If you treasure the rugged roads of the great outdoors, maybe it’s time to invest in some new tires for your off-road excursions. Why Cooper Tires? Well, because I’ve never found another brand of tire that fills the off-road needs of so many different vehicles like Cooper discoverer stt off-road version with amazing treads. The Cooper STT Discoverer tire series come in sizes to fit virtually every type of vehicle: 215/225/235/245/255/265/285/295/305/315,325 and in wheel-rim sizes from 15” to 21”. Read the rest of this entry

After I completed a somewhat less-than complimentary review on Blue Magic Headlight Lens Restorer a few months back, I received a few comments in defense of the product. A few users reported that it did a good job restoring a foggy headlight. Other reported that that they had tried another plastic restorer product or two and the BlueMagic is now their first choice in a plastic headlight polish. Yet, there are other people out there like myself who failed to get the results they wanted and were left with looking for another headlight lens repair solution or plastic restorer. Obviously different headlights are made out of different plastic materials and different headlights fog up for various reasons. Therefore, depending on the condition of your headlights or the reason they are fogged or scratched in the first place, different brands of plastic restorer products may offer varying results for different users. I thought it would be worthwhile to check out what a variety of users have to say about a few of the more popular plastic scratch removal or headlight lens restorer products that are on the market.
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Autosocks vs Rud Centrax Chains

What's Better? Autosocks or Rud Centrax Chains?

What do you do when you car has no traction in the snow?
I live at the bottom of a very steep cul-de-sac in Colorado where it can get quite snowy and icy in the winter time. In fact, I consider my street the benchmark for testing whether or not any car is equipped to handle the winter streets. For two years, I've been able to negotiate my street - just barely, in my rear wheel drive BMW. This last week, my 1997 RWD, 540i with Traction Control finally met it's match. The single digit temperatures combined with the icy snow-packed accumulation of the last two December snow storms were too much. I was unable to get my car up the street and nothing I tried worked, including backing into my driveway, revving up the motor and attempt at speeding up the hill full charge. Due to the continued cold temps, along with the fact my street never gets sanded, I was forced to car pool for a couple of days while I did some research on tire traction. My conclusion basically came down to four options: Read the rest of this entry