Motor Market Street

It was just a little over ten years ago when I started my first job as a car washer at a dealership that sold used cars in Weatherford.  I can remember being very scared at that first interview, but somehow I made it through it.  Little did I know at the time that I would have a career there.

After my tenth anniversary party just a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I had been working here for too long.  I had never dreamed that washing cars would turn into a car salesman job, but it did.  I thought that I would stay here if the sales manager position ever opened up, but after waiting for the past five years, I knew that it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

But after talking to a good buddy that works at a car dealership in Fort Worth, he suggested that I apply for the vacant spot of sales manager.  I dropped off my resume, went for the interview (the second one of my life), and got the job.

Now, in just two weeks I will be starting out as sales manager which has been my dream for so long.  It sure feels great to finally move up in the world.

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Since gas prices have dropped somewhat from their all-time highs a year or so ago, hybrids have become very popular.  This trend has been assisted by Obama’s Cash for Clunkers program, which tried to inspire people to buy hybrids and other highly fuel efficient vehicles by giving them money for certain poorly performing cars and trucks.

I’m starting to see a lot more hybrids on the road now.  Toyota is one of the main ones I see — the Prius, of course, but did you know they also have a hybrid SUV?  The Toyota Highlander hybrid gets gas mileage comparable to a sedan, instead of the usual poor mileage of an SUV.  I wonder how hard it is to get Toyota parts for these vehicles?

The hybrid technology is proof that you actually can have your cake and eat it too — meaning that you can have the kind of car or truck you really want, and still get good (or reasonable) gas mileage.  I can’t wait for them to improve the technology, too — surely over time hybrids will start getting even better mileage!

For the beginnings of a trend, I’d say hybrids are doing very well.  I expect we’ll start seeing more and more of them on the road, especially as gas prices continue to go up.

What hybrid would you buy if you were going to get one?

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It’s nice and sunny out right now. It’s the perfect season to enjoy long motorcycle rides on your favorite bike. But the time is flying by. Pretty soon winter will be here and it’s going to be the season for storing your motorcycle.

Follow these tips for winter motorcycle storage:

• Find a good self storage unit where you can store the bike. You don’t have to use self storage facilities to store your bike. You can store it at home. It’s smarter to put the bike in a secure and protected storage unit, though.
• Gas it up. When you store a car, you drain out most of the gas. That’s not true when you store a motorcycle. Instead, fill it close to the top. Add a fuel stabilizer so that the gas doesn’t go bad while the bike is in storage.
• Prepare the tires. You want them to be road-ready in the spring. The best choice is to drain the air out of them entirely. If you don’t want to do that then you should fill them to the correct pressure, set the bike on its center stand and then rotate the tires monthly throughout the winter.
• Disconnect the battery. Reconnect it and turn the bike on to charge about once a month. If you can’t do that, remove the battery entirely.

You may not use your bike in the winter but you want it to be in good condition when the weather warms up again so that you can ride next year like you’re riding now.

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When it comes to purchasing after market parts and accessories for your Ford vehicle, the smart money is always on oem Ford parts. Why you ask? The main reason has to do with the resale value of your car or truck.

Ford OEM parts are guaranteed by the Ford Motor Company. As such, you are assured that these parts are manufactured with the same quality and care that your original vehicle parts were made with. Imagine your shock to learn that a substandard part or accessory was installed in your brand new vehicle directly from the manufacturer. This is something most consumers would simply not stand for.

After market auto parts sales is big business in this country. Very big business. When was the last time you went into an auto parts store and only bought oil and a filter? Likely never. There are just too many enticing deals to be had. If you spend any time working on your car, you know how enjoyable it can be to add something new and different to help you stand out from the rest of the driving public.

Just ensure that you are buying guaranteed Ford oem replacement parts and not some cheap, imitation knock offs.

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Disney World is not the only attraction to see in the greater Orlando area. In fact, in addition to be the obvious tourist destination, a lot of business is transacted there. As such, the Orlando car rental industry is one of the most growth oriented businesses in the area.

photo credit: Jenah Crump Photography

Regardless of what reason you head down to Florida, you are going to need a car rental. Orlando is a big place. It’s not like New York City where you can walk half the places you want to go, and take the subway for the other half. Car rentals in Orlando are a true necessity simply due to the geographical spaces between destinations.

You could take cabs, but most of you travel budget would be sucked into paying fares. Instead you’ll want to seriously consider Orlando car rentals as the viable transportation alternative.

If you are extremely fortunate and have relatives living in the area, maybe they will have an extra vehicle lying about that you could use. This would certainly be convenient. Convenient that is until something breaks down and even though you only drove the car 7 miles it will be your fault. And guess what? Your credit card insurance is not going to cover this repair!

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Most people are probably not aware that all of the buying and selling incentives surrounding new (and used) car purchases. I certainly was shocked to learn that on average $571 dollars is added to the price of each new car sold in the U.S.

The thing that really gets me is the fact that most auto manufacturers are subsidizing the dealerships in order to motivate the sales people to hit quotas, sell soon to be out of model year vehicles, or any number of additional extras like under coating, extended warranties, car alarm systems, etc.

I also learned that it’s not just happening on the sales people’s side. All of the “amazing” consumer incentives eventually trickle down to be added to the bottom line price of your newly purchased vehicle.

As much as 20% of a new car’s price can be attributed to various buyer and seller incentive programs. Imagine that! A $40,000 car with out all the muss and fuss: $32,000. I for one would be happy to go in and make purchases knowing I was getting this sort of real deal.

This leads to my advice. Know, to the best of your ability, what the dealers costs are. Consumer Reports will help you there. Try to find out any sales contests that might be going on, and use that to your advantage to get the price negotiated as low as possible.

Only then might you be happy with the money you spend on your new car.

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I’ve suspected it for awhile, but I’m sure now.  I definitely have mice living in my house.  I’ve been hearing scratching sounds occasionally in the walls.  Usually I hear them at night, as I’m falling asleep, so I kind of forget about it in the morning until it happens the next time.  I suppose it’s because that’s when I’m lying still and the house is very quiet.  Anyway, I was at my desk, ordering Toyota accessories, when I saw a mouse scurry unmistakably across my room and into a hole in the wall.  I remember my dad would pay us a nickel for every rat we killed, back when I lived on a farm.  Those were different times.  I was ordering Toyota parts, in case you’re wondering, because I own a Toyota dealership. 

 The cheapest way to get genuine Toyota parts is just by ordering them online.  I guess that wouldn’t surprise anyone.  Used to be we had catalogues, made from paper, and we’d order things by sending in order forms.  It’s a lot easier when you can pick up whatever you need whenever you need it.  I guess things are changing, and it’s hard to get used to.  But here I am rambling again.

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My sister, our husbands, and I just got back from Vegas.  What a blast!  We were only going to go for the weekend but changed our mind and stayed for a week.  I’m really glad that we did.  There is so much stuff to do.  You could probably spend a week straight on the strip and still be amazed. 

We got a rental car in Las Vegas and just drove around the city.  Even the just looking at the casinos is pretty cool.  The one with the roller coaster around the top is the best.  I took a ton of pictures of that one.  My husband and I also went to Bryce Canyon.  My sister and brother-in-law didn’t want to go because they said it was too far away.

My husband and I got up early, got a Las Vegas rental car and made the 5 hour trip.  It actually went pretty fast and it was nice to spend time with my husband.  Bryce Canyon was beautiful.  The 10 hour round trip was worth it just for the amazing pictures that we got.  We were pretty tired when we got back that night but it was a really cool day trip.  I have to admit that it was even nice to get away from the casinos for a bit.

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When I turned 16, my parents told me that I would be allowed to take on a job, if I could keep my grades up and everything. I really could not decide what I wanted to do for spare money, so I started mowing my neighbor’s lawns for an income. I only had a few homes that I serviced regularly; however, the business was growing daily and the amount of driving my tractor around my area was insane. I asked my dad if we could install some truck ramps so that I could drive my mowing equipment to my customers. He didn’t mind, but I had to pay for it myself, he said.

I took the truck to the auto store down the road to look for truck accessories for my new business. I picked out a few things while I was there. I knew that the truck ramps were necessary for me to ride my mower onto the bed of the truck, but then started thinking that I may need something to put all of my other equipment into. I looked around and found the perfect jobox storall that had just enough compartments for all of my clippers, bags and gloves. When I got home, my dad told me that I was becoming a productive young adult. I told him that all I wanted to do was to make some spare money.

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My son’s 16^th birthday is coming up in just a few weeks. Wow, I can’t believe he’s already 16 years old. It seems like just yesterday I was taking him to his first day of kindergarten, and now, he’s getting ready to start driving.

Well, he’s going to be driving my old truck. It’s an early 90’s Dodge Dakota. Over the past few months, he and I have been working together on it to get it looking great. He’s been working so hard cleaning up the truck that I think the perfect birthday present would be some new truck accessories. It would be the perfect finishing touch to his new truck.

So, I’m thinking about a couple of great accessories. The first thing is a new bed liner. I love the way bed liners make trucks look. They give even old trucks like his a new, appealing look.

The other thing I was thinking about buying was fender flares. Fender flares will give his truck a hot new look that he’s sure to love. 

Anyway, I need to start shopping around for these accessories. Do you think this is a good idea for his gift? 

Maybe I’ll post pictures when I install the new hardware.

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