Recently, LeaseTrader.com and dating coach DeAnna Lorraine teamed up to get to the bottom of what exactly attracts a certain women to a certain vehicle. Does owning a Mercedes really mean we’re spoiled or like to be?  If we have our eye on a certain sporty SUV, does that really mean we also have our eye on the open road, too?

While the study was originally meant to give insight into what women think of certain model cars and the men who drive them, we can easily eliminate the men from the equation (sorry, guys!) because women drive, too, and instead, look at what the study is really reporting: What type of woman is attracted to a certain model vehicle. 

That said, LeaseTrader.com and Lorraine got together, chose the five most popular leased vehicles men drive (according to LeaseTrader data) and Lorraine took it from there, creating profiles matching each vehicle with specific personality traits of both men and women.

Here are their findings:

Chevy Suburban

Lorraine believes that men who own these vehicles enjoy travel, the open road, have a sense of adventure and enjoy spending quality time with family and friends.  She says women who are attracted to the Suburban are family-oriented, down-to-earth and easy-going.

Mercedes S-Class

According to Lorraine, men who drive a Mercedes are successful Sugar Daddies and these cars attract women who are in their late 30s and 40s, sophisticated, and like being taken care of.

Ford F-150

Lorraine says men who drive Ford F-150′s are insecure and overcompensate on a tough, macho level. Lorraine says women who are attracted to these trucks enjoy feeling protected.

Corvette

Men who drive Corvettes are, according to Lorraine, conservative and yet find themselves going through a mid-life crisis. She says women who are attracted to Corvettes are seemingly attracted to the bad-boy image, are typically “hot” looking bad girls themselves, and are even a bit on the impulsive or rebellious side.

Toyota Camry

Lorraine says men who drive a Camry are solid, reliable and committed, so women who are attracted to the Camry are sweet, level-headed and undemanding.

The press release goes on to say that if men want to attract a different type of woman, all they need to do is exchange their present ride for something which better suits the kind of woman they’re looking for.

Ah…if only it were that easy! 

So what do you think?  I’m curious – do you fit their findings?

Tags: General

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A few days ago, my girlfriend called me in need of some advice. Her father passed away and asked me to help her mother with the family car. Her parents had leased a 2004 Cadillac CTS and her mother didn’t want to keep the car. The lease was up in June and she wanted to know what to do.

She told me that the car only had 13,000 miles on it. The first thing I thought to myself was “Oh my goodness, your parents only put 13,000 miles on the car in four years.” In this case, her mother SHOULD NOT have leased a car, she definitely should have bought one.

Heres why..

Lets say the Cadillac was $30,000 dollars new. The dealer would have asked how many miles a year they were going to drive. The least amount a lease is calculated on is 10,000 miles a year. So the bank would have said.. “the car will hold 50% of it’s value and we think the car at the end of four years with 40,000 miles is going to be worth $15,000 dollars, half of it’s value.”

This means that in essence they were paying for miles they were never going to need. Her mother should expect to trade the car in and get at least $2,000 more that the $15,000 the bank expects because she did not use the 10,000 miles a year that the bank used in its calculation.

I told her to please tell her mom to buy her next car. Even if she wasn’t eighty years old I would still tell her to buy the next car with a small down payment and finance the car for five years. Her payments would be few dollars more but at the end of the term she would own the car outright. Instead of paying monthly for a car when she was never going to use the miles .

If you only drive a car a few thousand miles a year leasing is not for you.

Tags: Advice, Guides

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Yesterday, I stopped to fill up at a local BP station where I shelled out $3.99 a gallon to fill ‘er up.  Just down the road, the same grade was over $4.00. I drive an older model Ford Taurus, and it costs about $70.00 for a full tank. In my house, we have a full size Chevrolet Silverado which cost approximately $100.00 to fill and gets a measly 15 mpg in the city.  My daughter’s car, a Chevy Malibu, probably gets the best gas mileage out of the three; she can go over 230 miles on a full tank.  Not great, but better than the Silverado and the Taurus.

It seems like every day gas prices are going up with no real reason for the increase, and while there are quite a few fuel-efficient vehicles on the market, not everyone can afford to buy a new Toyota Prius or a fancy Hybrid.  I did some research and found the Automotive Oil Change Association recently offered up a few recommendations to help us get the most out of our mileage.  If you can’t car-pool or take mass transit, the AOCA offers the following tips and tricks:

Oil Changes

• Regularly changing oil will help lubricate the engine, minimize friction and carry away excessive heat, all of which will lead to greater fuel efficiency.

Use the Right Grade

• Make sure that you are using the right grade of motor oil for your vehicle. This is usually printed on the oil cap or in your owner’s manual.

Drive Sensibly

• Aggressive driving such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking, all are big gas wasters. These things can lower your gas mileage up to 33 percent at highway speeds and up to 5 percent around town.

Observe Speed Limits

• While every vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed, gas mileage usually decreases at speeds above 60 mph. As a rule, assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon of gas.

Air Filter

• Dirty air filters make it harder for the engine to breathe, therefore if the flow is restricted by a clogged air filter, the fuel economy and vehicle performance will suffer. Replacing a clogged air filter can increase your mileage by up to 10 percent.

Tires

• As I wrote about last week, under-inflated tires affect your mileage by increasing resistance and making it more difficult for the engine to move the car along the road. For every 1-psi you are under the optimal rate, you lose about 0.4 percent of your miles per gallon. You can improve mileage by approximately 3.3 percent by inflating their tires to the proper psi for their vehicle.

Remove Excess Weight

• Avoid keeping unneeded items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your fuel economy by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

Avoid Excessive Idling

• When a vehicle is idling, you are getting 0 miles to the gallon.

Use Cruise Control

• By using cruise control on the highway, you’ll be maintaining a constant speed and saving gas.

Secure Gas Cap

• Make sure your gas cap is on and not loose or damaged. 147 million gallons of gas vaporize every year due to these conditions.

If you’re doing any or all of these things – or if you’re doing something entirely different, (biking to work, you bought a scooter, you traded in your gas guzzler for a hybrid, etc.), I’d like to hear from you, so please leave a comment below and tell me how you’re fighting the hight cost of fuel.

Update:
Many of our readers have written in and recommended gas credit cards as an easy way to save money on gas. Although this won’t “improve your gas mileage” getting a credit card that gives you cash back on your fuel purchases is a good way to save some extra money at the pump. You can find some a list of good gas credit cards here.

Tags: Advice

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Because I’m a former research librarian, it stands to reason that I love to read.  When it comes to fiction, I especially enjoy reading books involving strong female characters and when it comes to non-fiction, I really love books about cars, road trips and roadside attractions - I can’t seem to get enough of ol’ Route 66.

Three of my favorite books came out years ago, Ragtops, written by Thierry Emptas and Francois Lemeunier, which is strictly about classic American convertibles of the fifties and sixties, Classic Cars,  by Michael Sedgwick and Lemons: The Word’s Worst Cars, by Timothy Jacobs.  Of these, Lemons is my favorite because the photos and descriptions of some of the cars are quite humorous and many cars featured are simply a thing of the past, such as the 1934 Tatra and the 1961-65 Amphicar, which was (believe it or not) a car designed for both road and stream.  Not surprising, the car didn’t do so well because it was prone to leaks.

If you’re new to cars or would like to know more about women inovolved in the automotive industry, I’d like to recommend a few good books to get you started:

• NASCAR Women: At the Heart of Racing by Denise Wood
• The Girl’s Guide to NASCAR by Liz Allison
• Danica Patrick: America’s Hottest Racer by Jonathan Ingram
• Shirley Muldowney’s Tales from the Track by Shirley Muldowney
• Danica: Crossing the Line by Danica Patrick

I’d also like to point you to a few good books about the automotive industry in general:

• Cars of the Sensational ’60s by Dan Lyons
• The Encyclopedia of Classic Cars by David Lillywhite
• The Ultimate Encyclopedia of American Cars by Peter Henshaw
• Wheels: A Passion for Collecting Cars by Stuart Leuthner
• Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960 by Michael Furman

And finally, here are some really fun books to get you through the weekend:

Fiction:

• Hooked Up: A Stock Car Racing Mystery by Joyce Lavene
• Swapping Paint: A Stock Car Racing Mystery Jim Lavene

Non Fiction:

• A Reliable Car and a Woman Who Knows It: The First Coast-To-Coast Auto Trips by Women, 1899-1916
• Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways by Jamie Jensen
• Roadside Attractions: Cool Cafes, Souvenir Stands, Route 66 Relics, & Other Road Trip Fun by Brian Butko
• Route 66: The Mother Road 75th Anniversary Edition by Michael Wallis

Tags: General

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At the New York Auto Show in March, Ford Motor Corporation unveiled its 2009 v-6 Warriors in Pink Mustang, a slick limited edition model of only 1,000 cars, all of which have been specifically designed in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.

The Warriors in Pink Mustang, which was originally launched in 2006, will be available through dealers this summer, with $500.00 of each sale going to the Komen Foundation for the Cure.  The Mustang, which is available in white, black and silver convertible or coupe, boasts charcoal leather seats with pink stitching, a pink panel stripe, unique grille, charcoal floor mats with pink ribbon logo, and the Mustang Pony icon overlay atop a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon.  The cars may also be ordered with a glass roof.

Over the last 14 years, Ford Motor Corporation has dedicated more than $95 million in cash and contributions for breast cancer education and research.

According to the American Cancer Society, in 2007 an estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were reported, with approximately 40,460 women expected to succumb to the disease. The American Cancer Society recommends women who are 40 and older should have annual mammograms, a clinical breast examination and perform a monthly breast self-examination, while younger women, ages 20-39, should have a breast examination every three years, and perform a monthly breast self-examination, as well.

Look for the Warriors in Pink Mustang to make a special appearance on the television series, Army Wives on July 13 with its own special storyline, as a character in the series buys one of the special edition Mustangs after discovering she has breast cancer.

Ford will also be giving away an identical Mustang to a real Army wife whose life has been affected by breast cancer, as part of its Dream Fulfillment program in October.

Tags: General

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