Smart Car Shopping

Smart Car Shopping

Episode 3709 , Episode 3726
Auto Value and Bumper to BumperTire Rack "The Way Tire Buying Should Be"

So, you want to buy a new car. You know you are likely to own it for at least 7 years or longer. That’s pretty typical these days. So, you not only want to get the best deal today, you also want to make sure it remains a smart choice for many miles and years ahead. Our FYI reporter Lauren Morrison knows the ins and outs of smart car buying, and she’s up next to give us the lowdown.

LAUREN MORRISION: Today’s savvy car buyers know that spending quality time online, researching models, specs and prices...

... ”will save time and money here, on the dealership lot. Doing your homework ahead of time is key, and there are plenty of shopping tools available to help guide your decision.”

Stephen Dupal and his fiancee Sherryn Daniel are in the market for a small, economical commuter car to replace Stephen’s aging Corolla. Before heading to commercial web pages for option packages and pricing info, several federal government sites helped narrow their search in the areas of fuel economy, safety and alternative fuels, three of their key parameters.

The joint Department of Energy and EPA Fuel Economy website provides convenient, one stop shopping for everything most buyers will ever want to know about maximizing mpg in their next car.

Here, consumers can compare up to four different vehicles at a time, and their fuel economy ratings, energy and environment scores, basic engine and transmission size, driving range, and annual fuel costs, along with real-world fuel consumption data provided by actual owners. The web-site had over 25 million user sessions last year!

STEPHEN DUPAL: I like to have like those charts and plots and graphs to kind of compare things in a numerical basis so I know what I’m looking for and then I can verify..oh yes, this car will have what I need based on these metrics..

LAUREN MORRISION: Other useful content on the website, and free fuel economy mobile app, includes driving and maintenance tips to help you get the most out of your vehicle, easy-to-understand descriptions of new vehicle technology, information about available tax incentives for advanced-technology vehicles, trip calculators, and more!

In the area of safety, you can start with the government’s “safercar” website (safercar.gov) for how a car fares in mandated crash testing and rollover ratings. The site spells out which vehicles go beyond requirements, and have cutting edge safety technology.

SHERRYN DANIEL: What I like about the safercar website is there’s just so many little applications, where all we have to do is enter the make and the model of the car, and we can see if it was recalled, we can look for certain safety features, I even learned about rollover that this is the most lethal type of car accident and that with the best type of car, you can prevent damage.

LAUREN MORRISION: But, you’re a consumer or a fleet manager that is up to date... Maybe even ahead of the crowd. So, perhaps a plug-in hybrid or even full electric car fits your lifestyle or business. Or, a vehicle that runs on another non-traditional fuel like e85, bio-diesel, natural gas, propane, or even hydrogen.

Now, you need to know not only the specs, but the pros and cons, and practicality of each fuel. Well, for that, more than 1.5 million users a year check out the Energy Department’s “Alternative Fuels Data Center” website (afdc.energy.gov).

The afdc website and alt-fuel app are designed to eliminate your confusion over the various types of alternative fuels and their vehicles. And now that plug-in and alt-fuel vehicles are being sold with ever increasing range, the website’s fueling station database is enjoying increasing popularity as well.

SHERRYN DANIEL:  …there’s this link where you can just type in your state so, if we bought like a hybrid, or a car that uses natural gas or something like that, we can look up stations nearby ahead of time when we travel.

LAUREN MORRISION: The end game in all this is to be the best informed new car shopper you can possibly be. And ultimately, to buy or lease a new car, SUV, or truck, you can live with today, and way into the future. These commercial-free, dot-gov websites can help you to avoid costly mistakes and surprises, before and after you visit the dealership.

Modified Movie Cars at the Petersen Museum 1

Modified Movie Cars at the Petersen Museum

by Stephanie Hart
Episode 4324
Auto Value and Bumper to BumperTire Rack "The Way Tire Buying Should Be"

Some of Hollywood’s most memorable on-screen, on-the-go co-stars are stealing the spotlight at the world-renowned Petersen Automotive Museum. Iconic modified vehicles from blockbuster movies like “Cobra,” “Back to the Future” and “Die Another Day” take you for a trip down memory lane. And like our Stephanie Hart, seeing them, you just can’t help but smile.

STEPHANIE HART: LA’s Wilshire Boulevard is the appropriate address for the Petersen Museum and its latest movie car showcase, “Modified for the Movies!”

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This is the most popular car in the exhibit. This 1981 DeLorean was driven in all of the “Back to the Future” movies. Its gull-wing doors look alien-like and that’s why it was cast as the time machine. The time machine is one of a dozen vehicles that are staring at the Petersen. All of the vehicles here were customized to make them more compelling on the big screen.

Of course, everyone including me is mesmerized by the famous flux capacitor that allows the DeLorean to travel through time.

AUTUMN NYIRI: Since the advent of the motion picture, vehicles have been featured prominently on-screen not just to transport the actors from place to place, but also to serve as important plot devices or set the scene of the story where the action takes place.

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STEPHANIE HART: You also have a 1976 Ford Gran Turino here that was driven in “Starsky & Hutch.”

AUTMUN NYIRI: Yes, we do. So, when they started they wanted a car that would be distinctive and new and stand out, so they selected the 1976 Ford Gran Turino from Ford Motor Company’s TV and Studio Car Loan program. They gave it its distinctive red paint color and the white stripe that everyone knows so well. Additionally, modifications were performed to help with stunts.

The car ended up being probably as much or more popular than the two title characters, and so people really remember that vehicle from their childhood.

STEPHANIE HART: And this one caught my eye. It’s from the 2005 movie “Herbie Fully Loaded.” The lovable 1966 Volkswagen Beetle that debuted in the 1968 movie “The Love Bug” returns, this time transformed into a NASCAR contender.

Thirty different vehicles were used in production with different looks to suit the scene.

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I’m behind the wheel of the 2002 Jaguar XKR that was driven by the villains in “Die Another Day.” This vehicle may appear stock, but it’s actually heavily modified. One of the coolest modifications is this massive gun mounted behind the driver’s seat.

And that’s not all. Check out its front grille. Missiles fire out of here; and there are rocket launchers on the door.

However, the biggest modification to this Jaguar XKR is concealed. It was actually rebuilt on a shortened Ford Explorer four-wheel drive chassis so that it could handle better on the ice during this action-packed car chase scene.

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This 1950 Mercury Monterey was also able to perform better in its movie role, thanks to customizations. This luxury car starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1986 movie “Cobra.”

AUTUMN NYIRI: The roofline has been lowered and it has a double hood scoop to give it a tougher and more rugged look. It performs really fantastic stunts in the film. It does 180 degree turns. It drives backwards. It leaps off the second story of a parking garage. So, it really plays a pivotal role in the film.

STEPHANIE HART: Really exciting.

AUTUMN NYIRI: It’s very exciting.

Modified Movie Cars at the Petersen Museum

STEPHANIE HART: This exhibition proves the cars are the stars by helping people understand how customizing a car impacts a movie’s plot, ultimately making it more enjoyable to watch.

Clearly, modified movie cars won’t be upstaged by the actors anytime soon.

“Hollywood Customs: Modified for the Movies” exhibit is on display at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, California until January 2025.