Monthly Archives: August 2006

Determining how much Auto Insurance Coverage you Need 1: Other Party: Auto Insurance Bodily Injury (BI) Liability and Property Damage (PD) coverage is Legally required in most states today. (BI & PD) Most people understand that they need BI and PD, but they have no idea how to determine how much coverage they need. Try this simple question: What if your car was involved in an auto accident tonight where heaven forbid, someone else was injured or killed? Remember, everything you own is in the back seat of the car with you and is at risk in a lawsuit! So, what do you think their family would sue you for? $15,000? $25,000? $100,000 or even maybe a Million dollars! Where would you get the money to pay them? Perhaps the Equity in your Home would help? How about your Savings and/or Investments? You could even have up to 25% of your wages attached to pay the award in most states! Are you prepared to sacrifice everything you own to pay an award due to this accident? If not, read on for how to choose the auto insurance coverage you need. 2: You and Your Family: Now let?s turn the above accident around. For some unfortunate reason, you or a loved one is the one who is injured or killed in an auto accident. Where would you get the money if the person who hit you did not have auto insurance or not enough auto insurance? Medical bills can be covered if you have health insurance. But health insurance doesn?t cover loss of life, pain & suffering or permanent disability. Maybe you have a life insurance policy through your employer or your own individual life policy. Is the benefit amount sufficient to cover your family if your loved one is killed? But even if you have life insurance, what pays for the misery, the pain and suffering, maybe the fact you or a loved one can?t walk or use their arms again? You might have a disability insurance policy through your work if you?re lucky or had good financial advice. But disability insurance doesn?t pay for loss of life, pain & suffering, permanent loss of your legs, arm or hand. The only coverage that pays for these things is a part of an auto insurance policy known as Un/Under-insured motorist coverage. You can only buy as much coverage here as you have in Liability coverage. Your auto insurance agent should be able to help you determine the exact amount you need. 3: Your Car Comprehensive and Collision Coverage are the third part of an auto insurance policy and are sometimes referred to as ?Full coverage.? Basically the difference is this: If you run into the tree you are covered by Collision coverage. If the tree runs into you (hypothetically of course), then you are covered by comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive also covers broken windshields, fire, theft and vandalism. The higher deductible (risk) you take here, the lower the premium. Use the savings here to purchase higher limits in the coverages that protect your assets and your family. The bottom line to determining proper auto insurance coverage is, of course, the money available in your household budget. An excellent place to start in determining the proper auto insurance coverage for your family is to meet with your local auto insurance agent. Most cut-rate companies concern themselves with one thing only: Price. Tell them what coverage you have and they?ll see if they can give you the same coverage for less. You become the insurance professional. If this is the only need you have then that is ok. If not, you need to seek the advice of a professional to help you determine the proper amount of coverage you need and how best to accomplish it. Review these tips for auto insurance coverage to make sure you have enough to protect your family. You may reprint this article on your site or in your newsletter with proper credit to the author and a simple link to http://www.hometownquotes.com

Question: Everytime i'm driving my car,i here this clicking noise when i turn the wheel to the right..i'm afraid i might "break" something or possibly have the car stop running while i'm driving...what is this and also when i leave from my parking spot,there seems to be a grease spot on the ground...i know it is not the oil in my car..so what is it? Answer: More than likely the clicking is the CV joint (constant velocity) if you have a front wheel drive car.  And the spot you see on the ground is the grease leaking out of it.  There is a boot which is supposed to keep the grease in the CV joint, but over time it wears out and may split.  This will allow the grease to leak out and dirt to get into the CV joint.  This will cause premature wear and the clicking noise you hear.  Get the car to a mechanic ASAP, if the CV joint snaps, you may lose control over the vehicle. Kevin

Question: I have a 5.7L (350 cid) V8 in a 1982 corvette.  I believe it is an L83. What does it take to replace the rear main seal?  I have heard it minght be possible to do so without removing the transmission.  Any advice? Thanks, David Answer: I believe the rear main seal is a two piece design, so yes, it's possible to change without pulling the transmission.  You will have to remove the oil pan and the rear main cap.  You can then remove the old seal and replace it.  The seal is a rope style seal and you will have to use a small piece of string or wire to pull the new seal into place. Kevin

Question: Just purchased (July) 2000 Toyota Camry from Toyota dealer.  The 3 mo. warranty doesn't cover valve seals.  Car has 130,000 miles, runs well, very happy with it otherwise.  When it starts there is some smoke, doesn't do it once car has run a minute even with start stops for errands.  Smoke is white to perhaps slightly blue. Doesn't appear to be using oil and no drips under car.  I won't put enough mileage on the car to get to 200,000 by the time I retire in 5 years and buy a new car but I do want to take care of it. AAA said 1,500 to replace seals.  Toyota dealer said 1,100 to replace seals.  The used car dealership consultant said there is no big problem and not to worry about it that I'd be spending money needlessly as long as there is no big oil consumption going on I'm okay.  He said he's sure no oil will have to be added between changes. What is your opinion?  Should I have repair done or just watch how much oil it uses? Thanks! Miranda Answer: I would keep checking the oil level, and live with it.  You may wear out your spark plugs a little sooner, but not a real big deal.  Besides the annoying smoke at cold startup, you are not doing any real damage to your car.  You may want to look at your owners manual and change your oil to the highest viscosity recommend.  So if your car manual says the range is 5W-30 to 10W-30 I would make sure the next time you get an oil change they put in 10W-30.  The higher the number, the lower the viscosity (thicker oil)  Running a thicker oil in the engine will allow less oil to seep down past the valve seals.  I would stay away from oil treatments which advertise to reduce oil consumption, they never seem to do any good, and sometimes do bad things to your engine. Kevin

toyota May Delay Some Models for Fixes Houston Chronicle, United States - Aug 24, 2006OYAMA, Japan Toyota Motor Co.'s campaign to strengthen its vehicle quality and reduce recalls could delay some models, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe ... Introducing the Toyota GPS/ rear view camera interface. Ferret, Australia - Aug 24, 2006ICU Technologies are proud to introduce the new Toyota GPS/Rear view camera interface system (Polaris TIF01). A quantum leap forward ... Toyota and Lexus earn 8 awards Brampton Guardian, Canada - 21 hours agoToyota placed first among all corporations and earned eight segment awards in the 2006 JD Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS). ...