Posted on 10/7/2011
When Jody Devere, the President of AskPatty.com (the premier automotive site for women) called and asked if I wanted to go to Akron, Ohio in July to review Goodyear’s new Assurance TripleTred All-Season tire I told her I would love to, and did my happy dance around the shop! Now you may be asking yourself, why would anyone get so excited to go to Akron, Ohio in July to check out a new tire. Well, the simple answer is that I love anything car related, especially tires. I sincerely feel that tires are one of the most important parts of your vehicle. They determine if your car can safely stop, start, turn and swerve. Think about this, you can be driving a car with a fresh tune-up, new brakes, four wheel drive, traction control, and every other automotive widget known to mankind, but if your tires are worn out, you could easily get into an accident. Please Rem ... read more
Posted on 7/14/2011
Do you own a car? Is it registered in Vermont? Did you know that Vermont requires you to take your vehicle to a State Licensed Inspection Station once a year for a safety and emissions inspection? Interestingly this is not a national requirement. Each state government is free to decide whether to require a safety inspection as well as the specifics of what the requirements are to pass that state’s inspection. In 1990 Congress passed federal vehicle emissions regulations called The Clean Air Act. States were told to implement vehicle emissions testing programs to make sure vehicles are in compliance with the EPA standard, but again, programs vary from state to state, region, and even by metropolitan areas. Some states have state-operated garages that only do inspections. Other states, including Vermont, have the inspections done by licensed repair shops and dealership service departments. Only about 18 states still have mandatory vehicle inspe ... read more