WANT TO CUT DOWN ON CAR REPAIR COSTS? TRY THESE TIPS

If there’s one thing that people don’t like about owning a vehicle, it’s car repair costs. These can be much higher than many people would want. They could also come up much more frequently than you’d like.

You could benefit from knowing how to reduce your car costs. While you mightn’t think that you could, there are some effective ways of doing so. Having an effective maintenance routine would be the most recommended. If you’re unsure about how to go about this, then here are a few tips and trick to keep in mind. 

How To Reduce Your Car Repair Costs 

Replace The Brake Pads 

When it comes to safety, there are few things as vital as your brake pads. Should these become worn down enough, they’ll no longer be effective. As a result, they wouldn’t stop when you’d need them to.

To minimize the risk of this happening, alongside the possibility of totaling your vehicle, you’ll need to check the brake pads regularly. Once they get to a certain point, you should replace them. It’s worth being proactive about this. 

Rotate Your Tires 

Most drivers will know that they’ll have to replace their tires occasionally. That’ll typically be after a certain mileage, although it’ll obviously occur should one of them burst. That isn’t the only tire maintenance task you’ll need to worry about. 

To reduce your car repair costs, you’ll need to rotate your tires at certain points. Doing so will prolong their lifespan somewhat while also making sure they run effectively. When you buy new tires, it’s worth picking them up from companies that offer a tire rotation coupon or something similar. That’ll help you reduce your repair costs even more. 

Check The Suspension 

Outside of your tires, your suspension may put up with the most wear and tear in your car. It’s one of the most intricate parts of the vehicle, so you may need to spend some time checking it. It would be best if you focused on a few areas in specific when doing so. The struts, shocks, and springs may be the most important parts. 

There’s a large chance that you may not have thought about your suspension. Most people don’t until there’s a problem. Since these can be expensive to fix, you’ll want to avoid them as much as you can. Checking it regularly is recommended.

You might struggle when figuring out how to reduce your car repair costs. That’s primarily because with today's technology in cars there are less and less you can do yourself these days. The options that you do have, however, will help keep your costs down for repairs and your vehicle on the road. 

Having a proper car maintenance routine will be one of the more recommended ways of doing so. Though that means putting a certain amount of work into the vehicle, it’ll pay off much more than you’d realize. You’ll save a significant amount of your car repair costs while also prolonging its lifespan. As such, it’s more than worth the effort.

The importance of car maintenance 

Over 90% of car accidents are caused by driver errors. If you’ve been injured by a negligent driver, you have every right to contact an auto accident law firm like Dennis Hernandez & Associates, but it’s also important to be aware of your responsibilities as a driver. As well as driving carefully and obeying the rules of the road, it’s essential to invest in car maintenance and ensure that your vehicle is safe and roadworthy. If you have mechanical issues, or there are flashing lights on the dashboard, seek urgent assistance. Keep up with routine checks and services and try to get advice as soon as possible if you have concerns or you notice abnormal noises or odors. It’s always best to get your car checked out and to take action if there are problems. Minor issues can develop into more complex faults, which are not only more costly to repair, but also more dangerous.

CARS 3 DRIVEN TO WIN VIDEO GAME

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

My kids and I have been having a good time playing the new Cars 3: Driven to Win video game that features racing competitions with characters and locations from all three of the Disney PIXAR Cars movies.  The controls are easy enough to use so that young kids can comfortably play the game without getting frustrated or overwhelmed yet it is also challenging enough so that adult will enjoy participating in the races as well.  With the ability for four players to race against one another at the same time in split screen head-to-head action it is really easy to get the whole family engaged in competing against one another. Perfect for a weekend game night, Cars 3: Driven to Win is a video game families can have a lot of fun playing together.

The setting for the video game takes place after the final big race in Cars 3.  Note there are some spoilers in the game if you haven't already seen the movie.  Based upon its game play and great graphics though, you'll have an entertaining time playing it even if you've never seen a Cars movie.  Is there anyone out there who has never seen a Disney PIXAR Cars movie?

Cars 3: Driven to Win includes a variety of customizable playable characters including Lightning McQueen, Mater, Mack, Cruz Ramirez and Jackson Storm.  Some of the characters are playable right away and others need to be unlocked by winning races, completing stunts and achieving a variety of objectives as you progress through the game.  Cars 3: Driven to Win also features 20 unique tracks that highlight 13 iconic race environments from the Cars movies.

There are six exciting modes of game play in Cars 3: Driven to Win.  The variety of racing options keeps the game interesting for repetitive play.  Race Mode lets you challenge a pack of characters from the Cars movies in a first to complete a number of laps is the winner challenge.  Battle Race allows you to collect power-ups including missiles, oil slicks, and rocket engines to take out your competition with during the race.  In Takedown Mode the player who takes out the most opponents during the race wins instead of the first to cross the finish line.  Best Lap Challenge has players race against themselves to set a track record.  Playground Mode lets players explore a fantastic obstacle course.  Stunt Showcase has players perform stunts to earn points.  The player who earns the most points before time runs out wins the competition.

Then there is Piston Cup mode.  Combine a variety of locations and modes to create your own unique racing series.  For example engage in Race Mode at Florida International Speedway, Stunt Showcase at Thunder Hollow Destruction Derby and Battle Mode at Radiator Springs Interstate Pass.  Whoever has the best record among the three races will win be crowned your family's Piston Cup champ!  Have fun mixing up the locations and modes to make every Piston Cup competition you play on Cars 3: Driven to Win exciting and unique.

The ability to allow players to personalize the attributes of their favorite Cars characters and race as them, great visual effects and backgrounds, a variety of playable game modes, and its overall fun factor, have earned Cars 3: Drive to Win the nod of approval from A GEEK DADDY.  Whether you are a fan of the Cars movie series or just enjoy automobile racing, this is a video game you are going to repeatedly want to play over and over again. This really is a very fun family-friendly game to play!

Cars 3: Driven to Win is being distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment under license from Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.  The game was developed by Avalanche Software, the same video game studio that created the popular Disney Infinity video games.  It is available for Playstation 4 and Playstation 3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, and Wii U.

Lightning McQueen rolls into the Detroit Auto Show

Lightning McQueen from Disney PIXAR's popular animated CARS movie franchise will be displayed on Cobo Center's exhibit floor throughout the length of the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.  This year's event is open for the public to attend from January 14 - 22nd.  Visit naias.com for more information about show hours and purchasing tickets for Detroit's annual auto show that in addition to showcasing a real life Lightning McQueen car will also feature 750 vehicles ranging from autonomous and electric cars to tricked out full-size trucks on display.

To kick-off Lightning McQueen's visit to the Motor City, Disney PIXAR held a special press conference during the NAIAS Media Preview days that A Geek Daddy was able to attend.  John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer at PIXAR, noted that this appearance was the roll out of promotional efforts for the new CARS 3 movie that is scheduled to arrive at movie theaters across the US on June 16, 2017.  He explained that CARS was born at the Detroit Auto Show because when the concept for the original movie was being considered the first thing Pixar did was attend NAIAS to do some research for developing the film.  So to begin promoting the new movie, CARS 3, Pixar wanted to return where it all began.  Lasseter then introduced the Creative Director, Jay Ward, and Production Designer, Jay Shuster, for CARS 3 to provide some insight on the development of some of the movie's key characters.

In the original CARS movie, Lightning McQueen was the arrogant hot-shot rookie taking on veteran racers for a chance to be the Piston Cup champion.  The tables have turned in CARS 3 as McQueen is now the experienced racer on the track fending off challenges from rookie challengers who are full of attitude.  When Lightning McQueen is involved in a racing accident does he have what it takes to come back and compete to be the Piston Cup champion again?

Lightning McQueens new antagonist and lead adversary in CARS 3 is named JACKSON STORM who is challenging him as top car on racetrack.  Jackson Storm is fast, sleek and ready to race. A front-runner in the next generation of racers, Storm’s quiet confidence and cocky demeanor are off-putting—but his unmatched speed threatens to redefine the sport. Trained on high-tech simulators that are programmed to perfect technique and maximize velocity, Jackson Storm is literally built to be unbeatable—and he knows it.

When creating Jackson Storm, PIXAR wanted the character to clearly be distinct from Lighting McQueen. So Storm's profile is more angular than Lighting McQueen’s rounded shape. He also has a darker palate.

 Jackson Storm's 'S' logo design is inspired by international symbol for hurricane. A cool Pixar detail about them playing off the Storm in the characters name in designing the race car's layout!

Shuster and Ward then introduced CRUZ RAMIREZ, the new girl on the racetrack  in CARS 3 who helps Lightning McQueen get his groove back.  Ramirez is a sunny-but-fierce unconventional trainer at the Rust-eze Racing Center. She expertly arms the team’s talented rookies with cutting-edge tools to tear up the track—but she nearly stalls when her longtime idol Lightning McQueen shows up. While she’d love to help him find his way back to the top, she knows the competition is faster than ever, and victory is all about speed—or is it?

The creative team shared that while the movie is digitally animated there is still a lot of old fashioned hands-on effort put into designing its characters.  To make sure each character is portraying just the right vibe each one is hand sketched out numerous times to get it just right before the digital process starts. Shuster and Ward wanted Cruz Ramirez to be a blend between an American Muscle Car and a European Sports Car. The resulting style is something between Lightning McQueen and Jackson Storm, which is symbolic of her role in training Lighting McQueen is some new racing techniques but having equipped Jackson Storm to be top gun of the race track.

Inspired by how real life automotive industry designers utilize clay to model new vehicles, PIXAR did the same to craft the layout for its CARS 3  characters before digitally animating them.

 After hand drawing and clay modeling the CARS 3 characters, PiIXAR utilizes computer programming to digitize them and create the environment they interact in.   The final digital design for Cruz Ramirez in CARS 3:

Lightning McQueen may now be an aged veteran taking on hot shot rookie cars trying to win the Piston Cup away from him but he has a fresh, new modernized NASCAR inspired paint job in CARS 3.  He is world champion—a modern-day racing legend who’s riding high with five Piston-Cup wins under his hood; but suddenly, Lightning McQueen finds himself faced with a new generation of racers who threaten not only his dominance in the sport—but the confidence that got him there. Determined to get back to the pole position, the #95 must decide if his love for racing is enough to fuel the comeback of his life.

Lightning McQueen rolls into the Detroit Auto Show!



After the press conference, I had a chance to meet one-on-one with Jay Ward and  Jay Shuster.


In addition to working on steering the creative direction of all three Cars films for PIXAR, Jay Ward was also instrumental in the development of the Cars Land attraction at Disney California Adventure.  I have to give him some well deserved kudos on Cars Land because that was one of the highlights of our family's Disneyland vacation.  Of course the CARS movies are some of my kids favorite films to watch as well!

Shuster is a Metro Detroit native and the automotive industry is in his blood as his father worked as a car designer during Jay's childhood growing up in Birmingham, Michigan. As a boy, Jay Shuster's room was filled with automobile sketches, blueprints, and models.  This diehard Star Wars fan was impressed that he got his start in the film industry at Lucasfilm working on Star Wars Episodes 1 & 2 (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) designing vehicles and environments for the movies. Moving over to PIXAR, his sci-fi focus continued as he designed the character Wall-E before focusing on the CARS movies.

Take a look at a snippet from the upcoming CARS 3 movie:



Jay Ward mentioned to me that they've been working on CARS 3 for 5 years.  While the movie is scheduled to be released in just a few months, they aren't done yet. Ward said they will be fine tuning the movie until just a couple of weeks before it is released.  He said they are going over every little detail of the film to make sure everything is just right and movie goers can appreciate an exceptional experience at the theater viewing it.

Jay Schuster mentioned that like me, he and Jay Ward, both have daughters who love the CARS movies.  So he said they wanted Cruz Ramirez to be more than just a love interest for Lightning McQueen by having an integral role in the movie's racing plot as a strong female leading character.  Ward chipped in "just to make it clear there isn't a romantic relationship between Cruz and Lightning in the film -- Sally is still his girlfriend."  He noted that Sally, Mater and other cast members from previous movies are in CARS 3 but they tend to stay in Radiator Springs while Lightning, Jackson and Cruz are traveling to various locations for Piston Cup races.

I asked if there might be any cameos in the movie by any of the characters from Disney's PLANES movies in CARS 3, but was told that a cross-over would probably not be happening.  Ward noted PLANES is produced by Disney Animation Studios and while PIXAR is owned by Disney they are treated as separate entities.  It doesn't seem like CARS want PLANES flying in on their parade.

Discussing how my wife, I and our kids enjoys watching CARS movies together, Jay Ward said that he is proud that CARS 3 is a movie that is fun for families to experience together.  "Parents will have a good time, children will have a good time and teenagers will pretend they're too old for this movie yet really enjoy it too," Ward said.  "I really think Cars 3 is the strongest film of the three both emotionally and story wise.  It is also a very family-friendly movie based upon how it delves into the theme of relationships in a journey that parents and kids can enjoy together."

CARS 3 features the voices of Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Armie Hammer (Jackson Storm), and Christela Alonzo (Cruz Ramirez).  It is a perfect movie for a summer family outing to the movie theater.  Learn more about CARS at disney.cars.com which includes character profiles, craft ideas, games, videos and an online store of themed merchandise.  Also don't forget to swing by the Detroit Auto Show to say hello to Lightning McQueen before he races out of town on January 22!

VEX Robotics: Gear Racers

** A Geek Daddy was provided the featured product for free to review **

The makers of popular mechanized insect (Hexbugs) and fish (Aquabots) toys have added a new product to their lineup called VEX Robotics that through entertaining children provide them with an educational experience involving elements of engineering, science and technology.  VEX Robotics allows kids to play with gadgets they've built with their own hands that include a Catapult, Gear Powered Cars, an industrial Robotic Arm, and a Zoetrope, among other things.  If you are a parent looking to educate a child about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) principals through a fun hands on learning experience VEX Robotics are some toys you'll want to check out.

I had the opportunity to build and race with my kids the VEX Robotics Gear Racers which are a pair of cars that are powered by kinetic energy.   The construction set comes with over 180 easy connect snap pieces that allows you to build either two racing cars or to combine all of the parts to create either a rover or one big robotic dragonfly.  What is really great is there are no tools, glue, or batteries required to put the VEX Robotic Gear Racers together just follow the directions and snap all the provided pieces into place.

Once you've snapped your car together let physics do the rest of the work for you!  Pull these cars backwards and then watch them zoom forward under their own power.  When the cars are pulled back the resistance lever holding a pair of rubber bands raises generating tension that transfers through the gears inside to cause them to launch forward.  Re-positioning the gears inside the cars allows the cars to travel at various speeds and distances helping kids to learn about the fundamental principals behind speed and torque.  It is a really nice feature with the construction kit that it provides enough parts to build two cars that can be raced against one another.  My daughter picked red and my son chose blue and it was off to the races!

These Gear Racers are recommended for Ages 8+.  Based upon our experience these construction kits probably need to be built by parents for children at the younger end of this age recommendation, with some parental assistance for 10-12 year olds, and teens can probably handle it on their own.  There are lots of small pieces included washers and gears that need to be in just the right place for the cars to operate properly and some puzzle solving thinking is required to ensure everything is snapped together just right.   Here are the building instructions to give you a feel for the difficulty level of putting the VEX Robotic Gear Racers together.  Honestly, if I was able to assemble these cars you and your kids can do it too!  While I did the building of our Gear Racers, my six year old twins handed me pieces and held parts in place for me as we discussed what the gears and rubber bands were for and how they made the toys work so it really was a teachable moment that we had fun with together as a family.  My wife got in on the action and started to build the blue car while I was in the midst of building the red one.  Egos were on the line in regard to whose Gear Racer would work and do the best when our kids took them to the sidewalk to race.

The suggested retail price for VEX Robotic Gear Racers is $24.99.  Also it is nice to know that all the construction pieces for the Gear Racers are compatible with educational VEX IQ pieces in creating your own custom VEX robot with unlimited possibilities.  Innovation First International has created its Hexbug, Aquabot, and VEX Robotics toys to give children a positive experience with robotics at a young age hoping that will assist in promoting an interest in STEM related career fields as they grow older.  The VEX Robotic toys are a spin-off of products used by teachers and students in Innovation First International's VEX Robotics competition.

The VEX Robotics competition expands learning beyond text books and lectures by allowing students to engage in competitions that encourages teams to work together to develop new skills and solve problems utilizing robotic equipment in after school competitions.  Over 100,000 student teams representing over 30 countries compete annually in local, regional, state, and national VEX Robotics competitions. The VEX Robotics toy line is meant to take some of the teachable lessons learned through these competitions at schools and bring them home for parents to utilize with their kids in a fun way.

Because VEX Robotics toys like Gear Racers are designed to inspire kids to become engaged in STEM focused learning A Geek Daddy gives them a nod of approval.  I always appreciate when educational lessons can be presented in an entertaining way so that children approach these topics as challenging puzzles rather than arduous tasks.

Kids Buckle Up Safety Info & Gift Card Giveaway

A GEEK DADDY Blog has joined forces with our friends at Blog­gin’ Mamas to sup­port the Ad Coun­cil and The U.S. Depart­ment of Transportation’s National High­way Traf­fic Safety Admin­is­tra­tion (NHTSA) with pro­mot­ing the Seat Belt Safety cam­paign, which asks par­ents of chil­dren ages 8–14 to make sure their kids are con­sis­tently and prop­erly wear­ing their seat belt every time they get in the car.

Parenting tweens often involves compromise. But here's one rule that should not be up for debate - the car doesn't move until everyone is wearing a seat belt.  If you say it, and if parents buckle up themselves, your tween will buckle up. And if they don't, that's a fight worth having. It just might save your child's life.

Did you know that in the United States one child passenger age 8-14 is injured every 8 minutes in a car crash?  From 2009 - 2013, 1,522 kids between the ages of 8 and 14 died in car and van crashes.  Of those who died, almost half were unbelted.  As children get older they're sometimes less likely to buckle up.  The percentage of child passengers who die while riding unrestrained generally increases with age and is most pronounced among 13 and 14 year olds regardless of their seating positing within a vehicle.

Check out this Seat Belt Safety: Battlefield Mini-Van PSA:



+ Visit www.safecar.gov/kidsbuckleup for more info about buckling up!

+  Learn when to transition your child out of the booster seat to a seat belt and find out how it should properly fit. http://www.safercar.gov/parents/SeatBelts/Beyond-Booster-Seats.htm;

+  Parents are the #1 influence on children’s seat belt usage: http://www.safercar.gov/parents/SeatBelts/Number-One-Influence.htm;

 

The Giveaway

Prize(s): 1 win­ner will receive one (1) $100 Ama­zon Giftcard. Give­away Starts: 4/23/15 at 12:01am EST Give­away Ends: 5/7/15 at 11:59pm EST Eli­gi­ble: United States Res­i­dents ages 18+.

Enter via rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. If you have any questions please email info@blogginmamas.com

Star Wars Inspired Hot Wheels Cars Race to Stores

Hot Wheels has a new lineup of toy cars racing to store shelves just in time for the holiday shopping season that have designs inspired by the characters from Star Wars.  We recently picked up the Darth Vader Mobile that both my kids and myself agree is just pretty darn cool.

The back of the packaging for the diecast car reads:

As powerful and menacing as Lord Vader himself, this jet black sports car commands the road with a force befitting a Dark Lord of the Sith.

Vader's iconic helmet, mask and chest plate create an ominous design that can intimidate even the fiercest drivers, while his Lightsaber side trim indicates he's always ready for battle.

If you only knew the power of the dark side, you'd steer clear of this sinister speed machine!

To help market this new line of Hot Wheels toy manufacturer Mattel actually commissioned the creation of a real life #DarthCar that has been driving around the country making promotional appearances.  It looks like a fierce ride!

The Darth Vader Mobile was fabricated from a Chevrolet Corvette with a 526 horsepower GM LS3 V-8 engine featuring a six-speed manual transmission and has been road-tested at speeds at up to 80 miles per hour; though it has the capability of reaching a velocity of 150mph.  The car has illuminated side pipes that are styled to look like red lightsaber and special audio effects that include Vader's breathing and the sound of light sabers igniting which can be controlled by an iPad.  Plus the helmet styled roof lifts off to provide access to the vehicle utilizing a smoke machine to add dramatic effect to the process.  Impressive, Most Impressive!

Check out this video on the making of the Darth Car:

There are five models of the Star Wars Hot Wheels Toys - Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Chewbacca, R2D2 & Darth Vader unless you get the exclusive collectors pack at Target which features a sixth car: the Stormtrooper.

 

 

 

 

My wife's favorite car is the Yoda version which she says is adorable.  I personally like the Luke Skywalker fighter pilot car the best.  Interestingly, my twins actually agreed on something for once and both like the Darth Car the most.  We all came together though to agree that these cars were awesome...well except for the R2D2 buggy which we all felt was pretty lame.  These Hot Wheels cars are available at Toys R Us, Walmart, Target and Amazon.com.