Automobile Retailers

Technology can be a scary thing. With all sorts of buttons and scroll-bars, navigating the web that is the World Wide…er…Web can be a bit tricky. Today’s corporations and businesses are moving all sorts of different aspects of their work online, however, and that means that today’s smart consumers need to get online too and figure out how this stuff works.

Car buying is one such aspect of industry that has moved online. Perhaps the advent of internet technology has made buying a car easier, as individuals can simply shop from home and get the car they want for the price they think they want. The only way to discover if the car purchasing process is really worthwhile is to try it out.

Using Toyota’s cute Scion as an example, I’ve decided to do you the grand service of testing the Scion’s website and having a gander at their “Build Your Scion” portion as a public service to faithful readers of this blog. Hold on to your hats.

The first thing Scion asks me to do in order to build my own ride is to determine whether I want a “Broadband” experience or a “Dialup” experience. This refers to the speed of my computer, of course. Being a tech junkie (okay, not really), I click “Broadband” and head to the next selection.

Scion asks me to “Select Your Vehicle.” I go with the Scion xB and another menu opens up to ask about model year. Being the progressive thinker I am I go with the 2009 model. Being the unadventurous, bland driver I am I also select automatic transmission. I click the “Go” button and hold my breath. Oops, forgot to enter my zip code!

Once all of that is sorted, I’m treated to a page that demonstrates a picture of what my Scion already looks like. Pretty sweet. It’s featured in standard “Super White” and has the price tag next to it at the top of the webpage. That $17,320 price tag has no options and no special features, however, but it does include the delivery charge and narrows the price down to some monthly payments. Nice.

Stay tuned tomorrow as I click ahead beyond the base model and start pumping up the volume on my carefully selected 2009 Scion xB.

In today’s useless and uninteresting news category, all of the buzz is swirling around how Britney Spears has had yet another car accident.

This latest fender-bender found Brit once again at the centre of attention with blistering camera flashes surrounding the former pop princess’ Mercedes-Benz coupe in Beverly Hills. How is it that the paparazzi are always at the scene? Could the flashing lights of cameras and the generally distracting nature of being stalked by men with cameras have anything to do with Spears’ lack of due care and attention? Nah, couldn’t be.

The accident happened on Tuesday after the blonde star apparently started to move off in motionless traffic while the light was still red and ran into a red Ford Explorer SUV in front. Britney’s white Mercedes-Benz SL65 coupe didn’t cause any injuries to the other driver, who was given Spears’ information by the bodyguard in the passenger seat.

Spears also “famously” hit a Nissan from behind last month and forced it into another vehicle. She also was involved in a hit-and-run charge from August of last year as she clipped another vehicle as she was pulling out of a parking space. Naturally the paparazzi were there to film and cover each minute moment of Spears’ life.

Brit’s latest incident should end without issue, as the driver of the other car followed Spears to the gates of her home (along with thousands of men with flashing cameras and video recorders) to finish dealing with the incident in private.

As anyone with a pulse in North America knows, whether they like it or not, Britney Spears has been the target of an awful lot of media attention ever since she became America’s sweetheart. After tumultuous relationships, head-shavings, and clubbing in the middle of the night while American’s greatest parents raised an uproar, Spears became a tabloid darling as well and started putting the children of National Enquirer junk writers through college.

As for the Mercedes-Benz coupe, it should be fine.

If you’re like me, your father had a car that you absolutely loved when you were a child. Some of us are lucky enough to inherit those vehicles over the years, but many times, those precious vehicles get sold before you get a chance to enjoy them. In the case of this car lover, though, the guy was able to restore the old family Pontiac LeMans to the way it was when he was a kid.

Howard Yancey, a Canadian native, has fond memories of the day his dad brought home the copper-colored 1971 LeMans from a nearby Pontiac dealer. When it pulled into the driveway, it had less than two miles on the odometer. I’ve never had a car THAT new!

Through the years, Yancey’s father made sure to keep up on the scheduled maintenance jobs. He changed the oil “every 20 minutes,” according to Yancey and he even used several instruments that I’ve never even heard of. But he took it even farther than the normal maintenance routine. The father and son duo changed the starter one frigid February morning only because “it just had enough hours on it,” according to the senior Yancey.

Even after the Yancey family replaced the LeMans after 16 years and 325,000 miles, the family kept the vehicle. Eventually, Howard bought the car from his father for a price of one dollar. The only condition his father required was that Howard restore it to the beauty it was when it was new.

And that he did. Now, he takes the car to auto shows and other places where he can showcase its beauty and durability. You simply don’t find cars like too much anymore. And when you do, you’re mighty lucky.