Recently a customer came to your Dallas Fort Worth Buick GMC Dealer, Freeman Grapevine and asked, “Why is car buying so difficult?”  I understand why she asked that, it can be very challenging, and can be as equally frustrating for both a customer and the dealer, but it doesn’t have to be.  As an insider, let me explain why,

There are three main components to buying a car:  price, trade in and financing.  Let’s review each.

Price

This should be the easiest part of the car buying process.  When a customer researches a car, and inevitably gets quotes from multiple dealerships, they should compare apples to apples.  In other words, you want to make sure you’re comparing the same vehicle with the same equipment and options.  A simple way to do this is to make sure the MSRP’s are the same.

As a salesperson, the hardest question to answer for a customer is “what’s your best price?”  I’ve told my sales people to show customers the invoice when asked that question.  This shows what the dealer paid on that car.  Most good dealerships will gladly show you the invoice so you know where their numbers are coming from.  You should calculate in any rebates, as well as a small profit, which all dealers are entitled to make.  It’s that easy.

Trade-In

If you’re trading in a vehicle, you’ll want top dollar for it.  Determining the trade-in value isn’t an exact science.  The year, make, model, condition and mileage all factor in to the equation.  Most customers research their vehicle’s worth on Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) or NADA Guides (www.nadaguides.com) to give them a ballpark estimate before bringing it to the dealership.

Financing

The last piece of the puzzle is financing.  A customer’s credit score is the biggest component of this.  Whether you have a good financial history including paying off creditors on time & every month, your monthly income and how many outstanding balances you have, all affect your credit score.  A dealer’s relationship with its lenders is also important.  If they work with several lending institutions that offer a variety of financial programs depending on a person’s credit, can make the difference between going to one dealership or another.

A tip if you’re credit isn’t as great as  you’d like:  the higher down payment, the better.

Of course this is the process in a nutshell, however, it really is this easy. There is no reason buying a car should be stressful, or uncomfortable. In fact, buying a new Buick, or GMC from Freeman Grapevine will be one of your most pleasant car buying experiences ever. Trust me. We know how to take car of our new Buick and new GMC customers.

I’m astonished to hear about accidents that resulted in a fatality simply because one or more of the occupants wasn’t wearing a seat belt. As a Dallas Fort Worth car dealer, I understand that paramount importance of wearing your seat belt. First of all, it’s the law. Second, and I hate to be so blunt here, but you are an idiot if you don’t wear it.

If you ever get into an accident in your Dallas Buick, or GMC without wearing your seat belt, do you know the one decision you are going to regret the most? No. It’s not going to be wishing you left home 10 minutes later; or if you just drove a little slower, or even a little faster you might have been a little more lucky. It’s going to be the 2.5 seconds you didn’t decide to buckle up. Really, this is important and not to be taken flippantly. It should be second nature. Instead of throwing statistics at you, I’m posting a picture I took yesterday near Grapevine, moments after I happened upon a very serious accident.

Everyone involved in this accident appeared to be fine from my vantage point and the demeanor of the emergency personnel confirmed this by their focusing on controlling traffic.

Don’t think wearing a seat belt in your new Buick, or GMC isn’t that important? Watch the video comparison below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7iYZPp2zYY

I guarantee you the two people involved in this accident didn’t leave their houses thinking this was going to happen. The bottom line is that you never know when something like this will happen. However, you do know how one simple act of putting on your seat belt might save your life one day…Freeman Grapevine will be reminding all of you of this periodically. No need to thank us.

This is a very interesting video on “How Your New Car’s Airbag works. The airbag has been something that I think that we have started to take for granted. For example, we know that they inflate at an extreme speed, but did you also know they have to deflate almost just as fast?

This is a very informative video. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWCFjbqaaE

I know when it comes to understanding the airbag all you probably care about is that it works. However, you really should try to learn everything you can about your vehicle. The more you know, the more you can assist Freeman Grapevine with any issues you may be having with your Dallas Fort Worth Buick, or GMC.

Does anyone have an airbag story they can share for all of us who have been lucky enough not to experience it first hand?

At Freeman Grapevine, we take child safety very seriously. As a Dallas Fort Worth car dealer, it is our responsibility as much as it is yours to provide safer solutions for children while they are in your Dallas Buick, or GMC.

Let me first start by saying that in the late 80’s automakers began installing airbags in cars for safety reasons, and there’s no doubt that over the past 30 years airbags have saved thousands of lives.

However, it is important to note that airbags are designed to protect average-sized adults…not young children.  I know we’ve all heard it, but airbags can pose a serious risk to children who ride in the front seat.

In fact, according to research conducted by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, “children exposed to airbags during a crash are twice as likely to suffer a serious injury”.  The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “children under the age of 13 are safest seating in the back seat of a car”.

The following are some safety guidelines for children riding in a car.

• Infants seated in a rear-facing safety seat should never be placed in the front seat of a car that has an airbag – When the airbag engages, the force of the airbag is directed right at the infant’s head as it comes out of the dashboard.
• Children seated in a forward-facing child should not be placed in the front seat of a car that has an airbag. – Again when the airbag engages, the child’s head is in the path of the airbag as it emerges from the dashboard.
• Remember for children 13 and under: The safest place to be in a car is the back seat.
• For children ages 13 and up riding in the front seat remember:
  • All children should wear a lap/shoulder belt.
  • Move the front seat as far back as possible from the dashboard.
  • Make the sure the child doesn’t lean forward.
  • Have the child sit upright against the seat at all times.

Note: Engineers are constantly improving airbags to improve safety.  Known as 2^nd-generation, or de-powered airbags, these airbags are still NOT designed for children.  Children are best protected in the rear seat.

The Children Hospital of Philadelphia has put together a great video on airbags and keeping children safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sCZoQr4uIw

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them here. If you’d like to see your Dallas Fort Worth Buick GMC dealer, Freeman Grapevine, just stop by and we’ll look and some really safe and very kid friendly vehicles for you and your family.

Now the video itself is just over 30 minutes, but let me assure you that the information contained in it is invaluable. It is well worth sitting and watching the whole thing.Why? Because the more you know about your engine and how it works, the better you will be able to diagnose any problems you may be having. That only helps Freeman Grapevine all the more when you bring in your car for service. Pin pointing where the problem is coming from makes us less like Sherlock Holmes and more like Dr. House.

Sit back relax and enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saPGX-1qC4M

Remember, the more you know about your Dallas Fort Worth Buick or GMC’s engine, the easier it will be to help Freeman Grapevine help you resolve any issues you may think you have.

According to Motorauthority.com, addressing most of these issues fell to lead sculptor at GM Nick Barkley, who worked on the original as well as the latest 2013 model. In addition to manipulating full-scale clay models, much of Barkley’s creative work is done in the digital space with three-dimensional modeling programs.

“Buicks have been some of the toughest work I’ve done because they are so sculptural,” said Barkley, a designer at GM for 12 years. “There are so many concave and convex forms. To make an organic, hand-shaped look show through the forms is both difficult and rewarding.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2E_bePA5Hs

Asked to name the most-challenging element of the Enclave’s design, Barkley immediately pointed to the traditional waterfall grille that went through countless looks before a final form emerged that met both the design team’s standards and manufacturing capabilities. He notes that the production version remains true to the earliest clay mockups.

When it comes to the Buick Enclave, the design of which is never truly completed. The same can be said for every other model in Buick’s line-up as well. There is a yearly ebb and flow of design ideas. Some of which actually make it to the final production version of the vehicle, while most end up on the cutting room floor. That is the constant desire for Buick to be a consistent leader in automotive design and production value. It’s is Buick’s drive for excellence and setting trends that are not easily duplicated, or copied. Hence, this is the reason why vehicles like the Enclave is America’s best selling crossovers.

I invite you to come and see for yourself the truly unique and inspired design work that you get when you purchase a Dallas Fort Worth Buick from Freeman Grapevine.

For those of us who do have smart phones and are information junkies, like myself, I give you the top 5 automotive apps fore your new, or used Buick, or GMC that no driver should be without.

(source electronics.howstuffworks.com)

iGasUp

For just $2.99, iPhone users can download the iGasUp application and have updated gas station locations and fuel prices at their fingertips. The app gives users the 10 closest gas stations based on the phone’s current location. iGasUp boasts a network of more than 110,000 filling stations across the U.S. Once a driver uses his or her iPhone to pull up the closest 10 gas stations, the information can be sorted by cheapest or closest. The prices are updated frequently and each has a time stamp that indicates the freshness of the price. Users can then plot their course to the filling station of their choice by using the interactive Maps found on the iPhone.

Trapster

Trapster displays your location on a map using the iPhone’s WiFi location capabilities. Reported speed traps, which users enter into the Trapster’s network database, pop up along your route. Trapster’s settings allow users to setup their iPhones to give voice alerts of approaching speed traps and the dynamic radar feature compensates for a driver’s speed and direction in radar to relay accurate warnings. Signal cameras and police traps show up on the display as icons for easy recognition.

With a network of more than 330,000 users worldwide, nearly two-thirds of those being iPhone owners, the Trapster network has reported more than 5 million speed traps worldwide as of November 2011. It seems that Trapster has replaced the CB radio as the best method of radar detection — with the exception of illegal radar detection devices. And it’s free, too.

INRIX Traffic

Here are some of the things that INRIX Traffic can do (even without the $24.99 upgrade):

• Incidents: A list of traffic events, updated via the Internet, which may affect the route you plan to take. These include accidents, crowds at major sporting events, convention traffic and other tie-ups reported by members of the INRIX Traffic community.
• Comparative Traffic: A map of the local area with traffic density marked out in color-coded lines that tell you which routes have light traffic and which routes are bumper to bumper.
• Predictions: A timeline that allows you to project traffic for the 15-minute interval during which you plan to be traveling.

There are several other traffic apps available for the iPhone, but INRIX Traffic has a solid community of users reporting conditions and, if you use the app, you join that community too. If what you see on the road doesn’t agree with what you see on the app, you can report the mistake with the click of a single on-screen button.

GoPoint

The free GoPoint app works with the GoPoint cable (which costs $100, but can be purchased online for less) to plug into your car’s On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port. This is the sort of thing that your local mechanic will do using a piece of equipment that cost thousands of dollars, but your iPhone can do it for the cost of a cable and the time you spend downloading an app. Some people would consider that a bargain.

What sort of information can the GoPoint app extract from the OBD port? Well, if you already know that your car is experiencing some kind of problem — for instance, if the Check Engine light is flashing — the GoPoint app can give you the Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) for it. These are standardized codes and the GoPoint app will define them for you in plain English. Unless you’re a mechanic, you might not be able to deal with the problem itself, but you’ll know what to expect when you take your car into the shop and can verify that your mechanic isn’t just inventing expensive problems that will cost you a fortune to fix.

Oh, yes — once you’ve purchased the GoPoint cable, there are additional apps that work with it, not just from GoPoint but from third-party developers, so that you can do things like monitor your fuel economy in real time.

Parker for iPhone

This app gives you a rooftop view of the local street situation and tells you where the parking places are. With the cooperation of the Departments of Transportation in several major cities, including New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and Boston, the San Francisco company Streetline has installed electronic sensors in selected neighborhoods to detect whether parking places are occupied or empty. This data is broadcast to a central location and can be accessed via the Parker app.

Parker for iPhone has a wealth of features, as well as a built-in tutorial to show you what they are and how to use them. They include the ability to choose a city and an area within that city that has parking sensors, a map showing a numeric count of the number of open spaces within a specific area, color coded icons on that map to point you to blocks with the largest number of open spaces, and a special display showing the fee charged by meters or commercial parking garages at the place where you want to park. In some instances, you can even pay for parking directly from the app. And once you’ve started a meter ticking, Parker will not only time it for you and remind you when it’s about to run out, but will use your iPhone’s built-in GPS to predict whether you have enough time to walk back to your car before the meter expires. If you drive much in major metropolitan areas, Parker can make your life easier and save you from a lot of frustration when you need to get out of your car and walk.

We’ve come a long way from the personal computer taking up and entire desk to fitting in the palm of our hands. Sometime I wonder what I’d ever do without my magic little phone.

There are thousands of beneficial apps out there. Can you suggest any others to Freeman Grapevine that would make our customer’s driving lives easier?

There are hundreds of “dumb” things we do to our car, but what are the 4 most common things we see rolling through our service department at Freeman Grapevine?

1. Jumping with an improperly connected battery
2. Running out of Gas (yes, this really happens)
3. Not changing the oil
4. Letting the Anti-freeze become corrosive

I know that most of you are thinking to yourself, “people really do that”? The short answer is, “yes”.

Check out the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09o07bh0k-4

Don’t get us wrong, we know how easy it is to do something silly like hook up a battery in reverse, you just have to make sure you know what you are doing before you attempt any maintenance on your Dallas Fort Worth GMC. Do your research. If you aren’t sure how to jump start a car because you’ve always relied on someone else to do it for you, have someone show you the right way. It’s the easiest thing you can learn how to do as a car owner.

Again, we all make mistakes, but when you are dealing with an automobile, those mistakes can cost you big bucks. If you need maintenance performed on your vehicle, but aren’t sure if you are up for the task, don’t neglect your car. Bring it into Freeman Grapevine and we’ll take care of it for you. The last thing you’d ever want to do is attempt a fix that you aren’t qualified for or else you’ll be adding to the list of the dumb things NOT to do to your car.

Introducing the Track N Go by AD Boivin. Source Autoblog.com

This creative solution for foul-weather-mastery comes from AD Boivin, a company better known for marketing products for powersports vehicles like motocross bikes and snowmobiles. The company says that this is the world’s first wheel-driven track system, and judging by the video available after the jump, it appears quite capable when fitted to what looks like stock GMC Sierra 4×4 pickups blasting through the snow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwpKjEa4LYY

Now there is no word on when, or even if the Track N Go will be released for the general consumer public to enjoy, but if it does, you know that this type of advancement will be welcomed by those where large amounts of snow can be an issue. For those of use here in Texas, unless we own a place in Colorado, we’ll probably never have a use for the Track N Go. However, knowing that it exists is cool enough. It’s like they looked into my childhood imagination and came up with an extremely useful tool that can virtually eliminate being stranded by snow.

Have you come across any other interesting automotive inventions? I think I saw an article about a new flying car that I have to read. Of course, Freeman Grapevine never knows what we’ll see next on our lot…a boat/car? That would come in really handy on Lake Grapevine.

Although it doesn’t happen often, it can and Freeman Grapevine has seen it: Cars involved in accidents because of brake failures. How do you know that your brakes a failing? If you’ve gone a while between tune ups you are going to want to have your brakes checked ASAP. One leading indicator that your brakes are failing is the feel of the brake pedal. If your car pulls left or right when braking, or if the front end shakes, then these are definite signs of excessive brake wear. If the brake pedal in your car begins to feel spongy, it could be a sign that air has entered the brake system, or fluid is low. Do not ignore these warning signs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PFiCV2BG2Y

A spongy brake pedal, together with a decrease in brake fluid, may also indicate brake wear, so when you check the brake fluid reservoir, make sure it’s topped off. If not, then brake fluid is most probably remaining at the wheel to fill the space caused by wear. Many vehicles purchased from car auctions experience this kind of problems because of being stocked for a long time in car garage or showrooms. Simply replacing the brake fluid and letting it flow throughout the wheel by pumping the brake pedal a few times before your run the used automobile helps in ensuring safety for you and your passengers.

Many new cars have ABS (Automatic Braking System) which initiates a rapid- fire pumping sequence to the brakes, keeping the car straight during sudden or hard braking. If the ABS light illuminates on your instrument panel, then it’s likely that the wheel sensors have detected excessive build-up of metal particles from the brake system. Most cars are designed to shut down the ABS when excessive particle build-up occurs, but a shutdown ABS does not prevent you from stopping, it just means that the ABS feature isn’t working.

Wheels should be pulled and brakes checked once a year by an experienced brake specialist. At Freeman Grapevine, we have experts who can fit your new car with high quality, high performance braking components. Whether it’s used car or not.

Also keep in mind, brake fluid absorbs moisture in the system and becomes acidic after about two years. Check your owner’s manual or call Freeman Grapevine to see what kind of brakes your car has and how they are adjusted. .

Remember, how and where you drive will greatly influence when your brakes must be replaced. If you have any questions about your brakes, come and Freeman Grapevine.