Preserving your car's value

Several Ways to Preserve and Improve the Value of Your Car

It's said that cars lose half their value the moment you drive them off of the lot. While that might be an anecdotal estimate at best, the truth is that cars devalue every time the odometer clicks past another number.

Just because your car will constantly depreciate doesn't mean that you can't manage its depreciation and help to minimize the loss of value over time. Here are some tips to do that effectively.

• Keep the inside of your car clean. You probably keep the cup holders wiped clean of coffee rings, but a key area where cars can deteriorate on the inside is completely unseen: Carpets in the foot-wells build up with dirt and debris. It's often wet and it tends to get ground into the carpet, damaging the carpet fibres and the deteriorating the metal below. Rubber floor mats help but vacuuming out your interior regularly will significantly preserve the floor of your car.
• Keep the engine tuned. This might seem like a "no brainer" but the cost of not doing it is even higher than you might think. Keeping your engine tuned will not only improve gas mileage and ensure that your car runs longer, but it also helps to keep your engine working less. The less efficient your engine operates, the harder it has to work to travel the same distance; and the harder it has to work, the more wear-and-tear will degrade your engine.
• Slow down and pay attention on the road. I can't stress this one enough. We live in a time where everyone is in a hurry and there are so many distractions (in the car and on our minds!) that keep us from giving 110% to the road ahead. By checking your speed slightly, and putting your problems aside during the trip, you'll increase your chances of arriving to your destination safely and with an intact car.

• Watch for wear on your paintjob. Your car's paint helps to protect the metal body of your car. But when that protective barrier is breached, you will start to get rust. Wash your car and take a close look for door dings, scratches, and paint chips, and deal with them immediately. And, from time to time, have your car detailed and waxed to help add to the protective barrier.
• Watch for trouble spots. Use a site like www.lemonaidcars.com to find out some of the typical top concerns for the car you drive. Deal with those problems right away.
• Rent a car for other uses. Sometimes you need to tow a trailer or haul something heavy or messy. Rent a car for those uses to help maintain your vehicle as a people-mover only.

You may never be able to increase the value of your car but you can improve it, or at least preserve it, to slow its depreciation.

Organizing a Car Show

A How-To for Organizing a Local Car Show

Local car shows are a great way to get people together who share a common appreciation for cars. Car shows are also good for business and they can help to raise money for charity. If you run a business or want to raise money for a good cause, here are some tips to help you organize a local car show.

· Decide on a theme. Do you want a classic car show? Do you want a motorcycle show instead? Do you want an antique car show? Or maybe just a general car show that auto enthusiasts of any type can participate in?

· Gauge interest. Talk to potential participants to see if they are interested in taking part. Check a calendar of local events to make sure that there aren't other car shows at the same time.

· Choose a charity or local cause to raise money. You'll also need to decide how to raise support – will you charge admission? Will you hold a raffle? Will you take donations? Remember, it doesn't have to be financial support; your local food bank will probably welcome donations of canned goods.

· Find a good location. Your location should be central to the area you hope to draw a crowd from. Talk to the owner of a restaurant, ice cream shop, or coffee shop; they might welcome a car show in their parking lot if it will draw crowds to their establishment.

· Start advertising! You'll need to advertise to two groups of people – car owners and car show visitors. Get car owners to register with you ahead of time so you can manage how many people will show up. Encourage car show visitors to mark their calendars. Talk to local radio and TV personalities to "talk up" your car show on the air. Find local events calendars to include your car show on. Hand out flyers. Create the event on sites like Facebook, http://tweetvite.com/, and http://eventful.com. Encourage social media users to post on Twitter and Facebook. This step should be the one you spend the most time and effort on!

· Round out the show with other participants. Don’t forget that other participants might want to take part: Invite hotdog vendors to sell food, invite an inflatables renter to set up a "bouncy-house" for the kids, ask auto-related vendors if they would like to set up a booth or donate prizes.

One final tip – this one is critical! Always talk to local authorities to make sure that you have the proper licenses and permissions to hold an event. You might require a permit to hold the event, and you might require a different permit to serve food or alcoholic beverages.

A car show can draw a big crowd of people because it's a lot of fun. It can also help to raise money and awareness for a good cause. Organizing a car show is a lot of work but with proper planning and some organization, it can be worth it.

5 Ideas for an End-of-Summer Road Trip

End the Summer with a Bang!

It won't be long before the days get cooler, the leaves start changing colour, and the geese are seen flying to Orlando to spend the winter at Disney World.

As summer winds to a close in the next few weeks, there is still time for one last "hurrah"; a weekend to make memories with a friend or loved one that will keep you going through the cold, dark winter months.

Here are a few tips to enjoy one last end-of-summer weekend road trip that won't break the bank or require that you burn up any more vacation time, but will put the finishing touches on a great summer.

The explorer. Get out the map and sit down with your travel partner and find a place that is a 3-6 hour drive away… but it must be a place that neither of you have ever been to. Call ahead to locate a place to stay. On Saturday morning, head out on your trip and discover an entirely new place! Return home Sunday morning but take a different route.

The scavenger hunt. This is a day-long in-town road trip! You and your travel partner each write out a secret list of 20 or more things you might see around town and put each item on a separate 3x5 card. (Some ideas include: A pond, a cathedral gargoyle, a sequence of street address numbers, a cell phone tower, a mailbox of a specific color, etc.). On your "road trip", the driver pulls a card from the secret list created by the passenger and goes off in search for that item. Once the first item is found, switch seats and the new driver pulls a card from the secret list created by the new passenger.

The wanderer. Identify a number of small towns in a big loop that starts and ends where you live. Drive from one to the next, taking a picture of you and your travel partners in front of each town's sign. Spend a few minutes exploring the town before moving on.

The movie star. Choose a nearby destination then search for that location on IMDb.com (by using their location search at this link: http://www.imdb.com/search/text). Watch the movie first before you visit the destination and then see it in real life.

The new you. Rent a vehicle that you don't normally drive – perhaps a classic car, a convertible, a luxury car, or a sports car – and hit a rural highway for the day. Enjoy the quiet ride, take in the scenery, have a coffee or ice cream at a destination, and return by the end of the day.

Want to enjoy your trip even more? Make sure you have someone else along for the ride, assemble the perfect playlist of music for your trip, bring your camera to take pictures along the way.

Summer's almost over… but there's still a little more time to enjoy one last road trip!