Virtual Mechanic

Road safety who’s hand is on the wheel

Lets start with the key stakeholders

Vic Roads, RTA, Queensland Transport, etc
TAC,
ANCAP,
Federal government,
State government,
Motoring authorities, RACV, NRMA
Insurance companies
Car Manufactures
Driver Education

The list above is not complete as I will add more later on, but something should already stands out with this list.

The one group that seems to be the odd one out is Driver Education, yes that’s right it seems to have the least funded but the most important.

Why is driver education with the least funding?

Answer
It costs too much; it does not make any company rich.
It doesn’t sell cars
It requires too many resources to activate.

So lets try to understand public perception

It seems to be the perception of some that funding a company to crash cars then rate them thus factoring this information into some type of marketing tool

It seems to be the perception of some that producing TV campaigns this will solve the problem or do something towards reducing the road toll.

Vic Roads came up with a great idea for motor cycle riders, to increase motor cycle registration, to this day has not reduced the road toll, too bad for motor cycle riders now forced to pay a high premium for annual registration.

If you think I getting negative I haven’t even started.

Right now in July 29, 2010, Australia has 13 more deaths than this time last year, so lets look at the TV Campaigns.

What has it done to reduce the road toll

 It has been revealed that in 2010 
200 police officers have been caught for speeding, surely this can’t be right.

This brings me to my next point
Speed Cameras welcome to THE NEW TAX

The speed camera maybe the reason why so many people are getting caught is we seem to have a constant of variable speed limits.
So far you would agree the above has not been so successful but the Key stakeholders can say money has been spent

I’m saying lets funnel the funding towards Driver Education

Building a safer car helps, producing confronting TV commercials helps.

There are two factors left,
Dealing with existing dangerous driver behaviour
The ability to understand the changing road conditions.
How to react or prevent an accident.

DRIVER EDUCATION

Curriculum to be competency based rolled out to all schools to all year 10,11, 12 students, starting in Victoria.

Costs maybe provided if required

By Darren Gow-Brown WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

What’s important when buying a new small car

Purchase cost
Its seems one could spend anything from $13,000 to $35,000 the higher end of the scale may not reflect anymore features than the mid range, the question is what can you efford on the day, and we are talking about a small car in the practical sense 
Warranty
Warranty is very important but there are many factors in the warranty, for example its no good if your vehicle is under warranty but you keep taking your vehicle back for the same problem, car makes almost factor this in so your question is how far is the service centre if you need to return your vehicle for service or warranty.
Its almost getting to the point where buyers should enter into a contract where if the vehicle is repeating a issue more than three times then the dealer should offer a free vehicle should be provided.
Most people just give up after a period of time never to purchase the same type of vehicle again

Service costs
When it comes to servicing this is something to research, but not from the sales person perhaps you want something in writing. You want to know how much will your new small car from 0 to 100,000kms over the next 5 years, you may also compare the service cost of an independent service centre, remember the warranty is not effected if genuine parts are used.

Features
Recently I have noticed that features are so fluffed up they tend to hide the real benefits. Features are the new way to confuse you when it comes to technology, never feel inadequate if you are told it has ABS, BA, EBD, CVT, VVT, no these are no degrees behind someone’s name they are becoming the standard in most small cars.
After going shopping for a new small car if you look at more then 4 vehicles at one time the changes are that you may forget some of the important items.
 
Safety Rating  
This factor has got so much invested interest, there are many ways to achieve a high safety rating but let me ask you the question.
Are you a good driver ?
Are you planning to smash your car into a pole and walk away?
Are you planning to drive in a dangerous manner ?
Are you planning to tailgate driving ?
If you think you are a poor or bad driver then perhaps the Safety rating is important for you

Road test
When shopping around its always a great idea to take two people with you so when you drive you will feel if the car has enough power with three people as opposed to one person, when driving you are looking for engine noise, response from the engine to get from 0 to 60kms

Insurance
Before you decide on a particular small car check with several insurance companies to make sure there are no hidden factors that might give reason for a high premium 

Trade-in value
In the trade its common knowledge that if you are able to dispose of your vehicle within 80,000kms with full service history stamped in your owners manual, within the three to 5 year mark then the chances are you should get a fair or good trade in this will depend upon the car make and model, this research important to understand should you consider turning cars over on a regular basis

Car looks
I have to add this item as I have sited some very ugly looking small cars of late and if you are planning to purchase an ugly looking car please consider other road users, family and neighbours, or build a garage to hide it away at night

Virtualmechanic checklist to buying a small vehicle

Make _____________

Model____________

Price_____________

Cost to service or is there fixed price service available

10,000 $___________

20,000 $___________

30,000 $___________

40,000 $___________

50,000 $___________

60,000 $___________

70,000 $___________

80,000 $___________

80,000 $___________

100,000 $___________

What is the total cost of an ignition key including programming to the vehicle
How many ignition keys come with the vehicle
Engine sizes________

Transmission Options_____Auto________Manual

Spare wheel___Full size_______Space Saver_________

Warranty period and what are the service conditions to maintain the warranty ?

ABS

Airbags
Traction control
More to come

By Darren Gow-Brown WWW.virtualmechanic.com.au

News when deciding on a new vehicle, check if the spare is a full size wheel, or a space saver wheel.
If you are unfortunate enough to get a flat tyre and find out that your spare tyre is a space saving wheel, there are precautions or limitations whilst driving with a space saver wheel.
Most space saver wheels are to be driven at a maximum speed of 80 km.
Most space saver wheels are to be driven at short distances. The life of the space saver tyre is measured in hundreds of kilometres not thousands of kilometres, for this reason your space saver tyre should be checked for wear before placing it into the boot.
Check your owners manual handbook, when using a space saver wheel is it will also required the correct tyre pressure.
Any time the space saver wheel is used this will effect the handling of the vehicle, especially in wet or poor road conditions.
In my opinion a vehicle safety rating should include the spare tyre choice, it’s no good crash testing a vehicle if it’s fitted with a space saver wheel.
A car are designed to transport people in the safest possible way but for some reason the spare room in the boot is more important than the spare wheel itself.
 
“RACV chief engineer Michael Case says nearly 25 percent of all new cars sold are fitted with the space- and weight-saving spares and the organisation is concerned that many people don’t know the tyres’ limitations.”

If a vehicle is involved in an accident proven to be travelling over 80 kms, insurance companies may use this knowledge to there benefit. If you have a choice between a vehicle with a space saver wheel and a vehicle with a full size wheel, three guesses to the correct choice.

Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Fixed priced service, DEALER OR INDEPENDENT SERVICE CENTRE ?
Some car manufactures are coming to the party to protect their brand, offering fixed price services.
This may appease the minds of motorists with the view that your dealer is now in competition with third party service centres. Most large corporations want your business at the least possible cost so if they are able to break your habit and get you away from your independent dealer.
Lets analyse this in greater detail, in the hope that you will be able to make an informed decision.
Lets compare two small cars on fixed price servicing
Toyota Yaris, using the TOYOTA SERVICE ADVANTAGE PLAN.
Mitsubishi Colt, using the MITSUBISHI DIAMOND ADVANTAGE CAPPED PRICE
Compare both vehicle using and independent service centre offering capped price servicing

Toyota will service your Yaris for $130  every 10,000 kms but only for the first 6 service intervals, or up to 60,000kms.
I need to understand why a car maker will not offer the capped price services up to 100,000Kms
 
To keep this vehicle in warranty it must be serviced every 6 months even if it stays in your driveway surely this cant be right, or did I misunderstand the fine print.
What does the capped price service include?
As from what I can ascertain, only the following items to be replaced.
Oil.(Every 10,000)
Oil Filter, (Every 10,000)
Air cleaner (Every 40,00)
Sparkplugs (Every 40,000)
Brake Fluid Flush.(Every 40,000)
Fuel filter, including in-tank filter (Every 80,000)
According to the Service schedule the transmission fluid is never changed
Hopefully the dealer will access the engine management system to download any faults logged
The question remains, what is the cost on the following items
Front end alignment
Front disc Pads
Rear Drum Shoes
The cost of Spark plugs
Wiper blades
Valve adjustment what type of adjustment
Engine coolant
– — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
Mitsubishi will service your colt for $195.00 every 15,000 but only provide the capped servicing up to 60,000km
MORE TO COME
– — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
 
An independent service centre, is offering the following
fixed price servicing, on a 2008 Toyota Yaris
Out of 10 service centres to perform a 10,000Km fixed price service the prices range form $136.00 to $195.00, etc

  Toyota Yaris 
     10,000     20,000   30,000   40,000   60,000    
1 $136.00 $209.00 $136.00 $289.00 $166.00
2 $146.00 $184.00 $146.00 $322.00 $180.00
3 $148.00 $196.00 $148.00 $328.00 $184.00
4 $154.00 $235.00 $154.00 $339.00 $192.00
5 $159.00 $180.00 $159.00 $339.00 $195.00
6 $159.00 $166.00 $159.00 $343.00 $195.00
7 $160.00 $195.00 $160.00 $343.00 $195.00
8 $160.00 $192.00 $160.00 $346.00 $196.00
9 $174.00 $195.00 $174.00 $368.00 $209.00
10 $195.00 $195.00 $195.00 $407.00 $235.00

– — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
An independent service centre, is offering the following
fixed price servicing, on a 2009 Mitsubishi colt
Out of 10 service centres to perform a 15,000Km fixed price service the prices range form $168.00 to $241.00, etc
 Mitsu Colt 
    15,000    30,000   45,000   60,000  
$168.00 $357.00 $198.00 $357.00
$183.00 $403.00 $219.00 $403.00
$186.00 $407.00 $221.00 $407.00
$193.00 $418.00 $228.00 $418.00
$197.00 $418.00 $232.00 $418.00
$197.00 $421.00 $232.00 $421.00
$199.00 $426.00 $236.00 $426.00
$214.00 $456.00 $253.00 $456.00
$217.00 $469.00 $262.00 $469.00
$241.00 $512.00 $288.00 $512.00

To be fair we don’t know what parts are replaced or what additional work is performed, for example the price may include a car wash, drop off the customer, front end alignment etc.
NOT FINSHED AWAITING FOR MORE INFORMATION
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Apart from and ugly looking car it was lacking the bare essentials to entice a test drive
 If you are a tall person this is not the vehicle for you
It you are conscious of service interval costs then the gets gets up you as the price is between $330 and $700 ranging through the services at 10,000 km intervals
The driver seating was hard is it felt like a seat you sit on and sit into.
I would be concerned about the resale value of the gets given a bad track records of resale values as the interior seems to deteariate over time now of cause there is the now 8 year warranty and 200,000 km warranty to consider but let me ask how many people have the time to keep taking there car back under warranty and how many people give up only to accept faults as there occur.
There are many ways to achieve a high ancap rating for the people basing their decision on this factor.
A car maker can build a vehicle with enough airbags to achieve a high ancap rating or build a vehicle to a standard of quality this I may elaborate on later but for now
Without putting the salesman in I was not really impressed with the ability of the salesperson unable to even try to sell the features
If  Hyundia have such a fantastic product why is the cost of service intervals so high and the resale value so low.

Special Notes
The Hyundia Gets requires about 4 glasses of good wine if you are planning to park this car in your driveway as it may start to look better after this time.
This vehicle was not given a road test due to the fact that the head room test failed upon the initial inspection, not to mention the lack of interest displayed by the salesman on the day failing to sell the features if any, on the day

Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

The Mitsu colt is at least a vehicle with the mitsu badge now to me this means a lot as Mitsubishi is a strong brand for many reasons
Sorry Mr. Mitsubishi but the contour design has something to be desired but step into the colt is where you need an open mind to realize the colt has the most comfortable seats for a vehicle in this price range, my client was shopping for a manual but we were given an auto to test drive, wow the Constant variable transmission was something to experience this 1.5 litre engine was giving me enough power to be satisfied. It was a wet day at the time but I never had to fight we the tyres spinning on take off
I was very impressed with the power produced from a 1.5 litre variable cam-timing engine
Basically this means that the ECU or electronic control unit is maximizing fuel and power efficiency in many more ways than just fuel injection.
The Mitsu colt is giving you a lot of value for you money
Note Mitsu is offering buyers fixed price servicing, at 15,000 intervals at a fixed cost of $195.00 per service.
Fixed priced servicing does not include sparkplugs, wiper blades, fan belts, globes, wheel alignment..
So why even offer a product if it does not cover all these hidden extras.
In my opinion the Mitsu Colt is a strong contender to the small car market.

Special Notes
The Mitsu Colt has the most comfortable seats out of all the small cars reviewed
This vehicle has plenty of power due to two factors
The CVT and the VVT however I would like to know if the transmission is reliable over the next 250,000 kms
Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Virtualmechanic overall rating 4.0 out of 5.0 
Toyota Yaris 2010
Date or Review
July 2010
PRICE
 $19,788 Drive away (using the online Pricing calculator)
FEATURES
VSC ,ABS, EBD, BA, Safe-T-Cell, EPS
Full Size spare wheel.
Driver and passenger SRS airbags.
Digital speedo.

MODEL
5 Door Hatch

ENGINE OPTIONS
1.3 litre Engine
1.5 litre Engine

IN MY OPINION
The Toyota Yaris ticks most the boxes
The diver seat is height adjustable the rear seats are able to slide forward and backwards, the spare tyre is a full size wheel meaning it is not sacrificed by an emergency wheel to which we will touch on later.
We had the opportunity to road test the 1.3 litre on my opinion if your planning to travel with anymore than 3 people I suggest considering a 1.5 litre engine as the 1.3 was lacking in power with 3 people in the vehicle, let me further explain here. If you are planning to drive the vehicle with one passenger then the 1.3 Yaris is suitable
If you plan to have some weight in the rear and drive around with extra passengers then you may want to consider the 1.5 litre engine.
Digress for one moment whilst shopping for a small vehicle I naturally ask as many questions as I can to be informed about my decision, and yes I’m critical about any level of service, and willing to observe good or poor service with feedback given.
When we were at the Toyota dealership at Frankston it was Joel’s positive and enthusiastic attitude that made it easier the make the decision to buy the Toyota Yarris
In my opinion the reasons why the Toyota Yarris rates 4.0, in the small car value for money are as follows.
Low service interval costs at $130 per fixed priced service every 10,000Kms but only up to 60,000 Kms or 36 months, what ever is first.
Good resale value history
Low engine noise whilst driving from 0 to 60
Adjustable driver seat height
Same size spare wheel, no funny wheel
Appealing exterior design, yes this car you feel ok to park in your driveway when you get home, you don’t need to hide it away as it wont win the ugly car competition
Plenty of room inside the rear if you need to rear passengers
Don’t stop there whilst we were looking at the Yarris the salesmen Joel, used this time extremely well as he added that apart from the fixed price servicing Toyota have a procedure where two mechanics are given the task to perform the service thus reducing the down time of your vehicle at the service center. It gets better it takes just ONE HOUR to service the Yarris this means anyone time poor would almost considering buying a vehicle just because they no longer need to leave their car at the service center all day.
SPECIAL NOTES
Take a close look at the terms and conditions when it comes to servicing.
What lets Toyota down is the BELOW AVERAGE customer service when ringing the head office, I was placed on hold for 28 minutes only to be told someone will return my call…..Oh what a feeling 
Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

From time to time it’s a good idea to perform a driveway safety check to make sure your vehicle is safe to drive.
It does not matter whether you drive a nice looking Porsche or 20 year old Holden, the standards are the same.

You might be thinking hang on that’s what I pay my mechanic or service centre to do.
STOP right there who is checking your vehicle between services ?
If you have a private servant Mechanic that performs a weekly check then you don’t really need to read on.

If you are the average person in that requires your vehicle to be operating in a safe mode then I suggest the following checks to maintain a reliable transportation for you and your family

Note the following items are all important

Tyres make sure they are all with the correct pressure including the spare, YES the spare tyre now when checking the spare make sure its free of water and rubbish where the spare wheel is stored. On some vehicles in the BMW series the dash will let you know if the tyres are low in presure

Engine oil
For some reason most people think oil will last between services, and in most cases this is true but what if it decreases in level and then the engine will develop premature wear, its not hard for most people, as you may not be aware oil at the correct level acts as a cooling effect not to mention lubrication.

Drive belts
Check that they are not cracked or loose

Lighting
Check high beam low beam, brake lights and tail lights, how you ever driven behind another vehicle without brake lights, the first thing you want to do is overtake the vehicle to prevent an accident.

Battery
The battery is the most important item when it comes to safety and reliability, you need to make sure the battery is secure and clamped down to prevent movement, the simple reason to prevent movement is to prevent a potential fire under the bonnet.
Check that the battery terminals are free from acid and that the terminals are firm on the battery poles.
If the battery is a wet cell meaning that you are able to fill the battery with water then fill only to above the cells and no higher.
Batteries don’t last very long these days due to a number of factors  

Warning lamps
If you see a warning light appear it’s a sign to DO SOMETHING NOW before you breakdown on the side of the road

More to come on this subject
Written By Darren Gow-Brown WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

The key stakeholders have invested interests on this very subject.
The main items to consider are the following
Is the car within your budget
In five years time what would be the resale value
What type of warranty is on the vehicle
Before we go to the next point go to consumer affairs and research if the manufacture is doing the right thing.
In the time that you drive the vehicle what are the costs to service the vehicle
In my opinion its not how many air bags unless you plan to crash the car or you are a poor driver.

Its resale value and the cost to maintain the vehicle

Don’t be tricked as some car makers are now extending the service intervals thus attracting fleet buyers to purchase a vehicle based on the service fixed costs but the engines may develop premature wear if not serviced according to the oil condition
Some hire car companies in the past have decided not to service the fleet of rental vehicles for 50000 kms then have the vehicle auctioned off.
Too bad if you purchase such a second hand vehicle.

For some reason imported and European cars are the most expensive to service and maintain as well as a rapid decrease in market value as soon as it leaves the showroom floor. But it comes down to your budget and preference.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Is your motor vehicle as safe as you think it is?
Do you know what your Motor Vehicle might react under emergency braking.
The most important points to driver safety are BRAKING and DRIVER BEHAVIOUR.
Some organisations are of the view that driver education is the answer
Recently an Accident  Research Centre has stated that there is no evidence to show that driver education enhanced safer driving.

Its worth noting that there seems to be a high profile to safer cars supported by a rating program.

Lets take the marketing potential out of the equation at this moment and step into the world of reality.

The safer the driver the safer the car, this is old fashion common sense, it concerns me how much advertising is pushed towards Accident Research Ratings, with must invested interest.

Driver attitudes have become complacent, not to mention pedestrian carelessness.

Let me ask the question about poor driving techniques
Do you dart in and out of lanes down the freeway
Do you overtake the vehicle in front only to move in front of the vehicle you just passed, but moving into the lane without a safe distance of clearance.
Do you tall gate when you drive where ever you drive.
Do you hog the right lane just under the speed limit

If you answer yes to any of the above then perhaps motors vehicles are required to be designed with more protection due to a small percentage of high risks drivers contributing the our road toll and or serious accidents.
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au