Archive for May, 2012
Bumper Stickers
Some car enthusiasts hate bumper stickers – they spoil the clean lines and detract from the overall design of their machines, and if you change your mind about the sticker and you put it on the paintwork (bad, bad move), the paintwork can get damaged. The only stickers you’re ever going to see on machines owned by these people are the little tags that all cars have to have to tell those passing by and inspecting them that the car is road legal and all the paperwork has been done and paid for. Plus a few little stickers in obscure parts of the window about the security system installed.
For other people, however, car bumpers and car rear windows are a blank canvas to express creativity and personality – and a sense of humour. In extreme cases, you won’t just find bumper stickers but also things that attach by suction cups onto the rear windows and possibly fuzzy dice or rosaries hanging from the rear view mirror. At the least creative end of the spectrum, you have those “Baby on Board” stickers or suction-cup thingies, warning anyone driving by that there is an occupied child seat in the back. These things were originally marketed as being a safety item, with the idea that if people saw them, they’d slow down and be more considerate. This isn’t the case, especially as you can now get rip-off versions of these than inform the world that you have a certain breed of dog on board – which is likely to be obvious if the windows are down and your Irish Terrier, German Shepherd or whatever is putting its head out the window to catch the breeze (impressive in a long-eared, long-haired breed like the Afghan Hound). At the other end of the spectrum, you get stickers with pictures and slogans. Few cars in Australia come close to the sticker-mania of taxi drivers in Peru back in the early 1990s (yes, this writer was there then and rode in them). It wasn’t the outside but the inside of the taxi (usually owned by a freelance driver and usually one of the classic old VW Beetles) that was covered with stickers with all sorts of jokes and witticisms on them, usually slightly indecent. Or very indecent, but my Spanish wasn’t that good. The stickers were probably there to distract you from the overall poor condition of the vehicle and the bad driving. Or maybe the taxi driver just liked to look at them while waiting for a fare.
Bumper stickers tend to come in two main types: those that make a political statement and indicate the good cause supported or the opinion held by the driver/owner of the car. This includes stickers that promote or advertise products (not including company logos). The other type includes witticisms and tends display a sense of humour. The political/good cause type of sticker can express nearly opinion under the sun and range from the discreet (small fish signs indicating that the driver is a Christian) through to large and eye-catching.
The ones that display a sense of humour are this writer’s favourites. While you won’t find any adorning my Honda Accord (the other half can’t stand bumper stickers), the following are a collection of my favourites:
• When I grow up, I want to be a BMW. (Seen on a very small hatchback).
• I used to be a Range Rover, but I shrank in the wash. (Ditto).
• Help! Dad just farted and we’re trapped!
• Don’t follow me – I’m lost, too.
What are favourite stickers spotted or put on the cars of readers? Send us through the good ‘uns for us all to enjoy (preferably clean – this is supposed to be a family-friendly site!).
Most Travelled Car
On the site here we wrote an article about the cars that have done the most kilometers in the world. We werent sure of the Australian record, so please let us know in the comments below if you know of a record breaker or near record breaker odometers.
Million Kilometer Car
Your Best Car Ever
In last month’s newsletter we asked our readers for their horror car experiences , and we were surprised at the response. We have shown that modern cars are much more reliable than their classic counterparts (here), but, it seems, even the most dependable makes have their ‘off’ days. The best story last month won a TomTom Live Sat/Nav, so we are offering the same prize this month for the best “Great Car’ experience.
You may recall last month that I had my own worst car experience with a Holden. Surprisingly that same make gave me my best car experience, too.
Ten years ago I bought a Holden Statesman. It was just over two years old, and had a mere 18,000kms on the clock, so I thought I was pretty safe. But it didn’t turn out that way – at least initially.
The engine had a strange knock on start up, so I took it to the dealer to investigate. The result was that they kept the car for two weeks whilst they replaced the engine. So I reluctantly thought I’d bought another lemon and was getting prepared to sell it.
And sell it I did, but 240,000kms and six years later! It’s hard to recall if I ever kept a car that long, as I simply didn’t know what to replace it with. Its only demand on my wallet was for petrol, regular servicing and tyres. That’s it- not an extra cent to spend and not a drop of oil between services.
So Holden gets both the winners and losers guernseys in my book.
What about you?
Do you have a stunning reliability story to tell? If so we’d like to hear from you, and there’s a Tom Tom sat/nav for the best answer.
Click on comments below.
Recycle those old car batteries
We live in a recyclable world now. Glass, plastic, metal, paper, oil… the list goes on. I did wonder about what people could do with a corrosive, dud car battery. But you know what? You can recycle these too.
New Zealand’s AA Battery Service is involved with recycling used car batteries, and Bill Keane, General Manager of AA Battery Service, stated that “More than 97 % of a battery is able to be recycled. After every replacement by our mobile battery patrols, we send the used batteries to professional battery recyclers. Almost all the components – plastic casing, acid and lead – are recycled to reduce the environment impact.”
Recycling car batteries helps to reduce the amount of hazardous landfill waste. There are plenty of landfill sites across Australia. You’ve probably got one near to where you live. It is better if we can avoid the large build up of waste over the coming decades. At the www.ephc.gov.au website, you’ll find the low down on the Australian government’s plans and policies regarding waste products and landfills. One of their aims is to help national companies and small businesses to operate effectively and efficiently and manage waste products and waste materials responsibly during and at end of their useful life.
A car’s battery is able to recharge itself so that it can power the starter motor, the lights, the electronic gadgetry and the ignition system for the engine. These batteries are often called SLI batteries, and they have a lead and acid mix in their chemical make-up. SLI batteries are huge environmental polluters.
Hybrid powered cars use battery power alongside fossil fuels to power their cars. The hybrid batteries are a nickel metal hydride make-up, and their toxicity levels and environmental impact are considered to be much than SLI batteries. However, you still have to use natural resources up to produce a car battery.
Whether you are in business or involved with doing your own maintenance on your car at home, the best way to dispose of your car batteries is to pop them at your local refuse station in the recycling section specially catered toward receiving old dud car batteries. Another benefit of recycling a used car battery is that mining for materials to replace that car battery dumped into the landfill is stopped. Certainly, the recycling of car batteries reduces this environmental impact.
If you’re not sure where to go with you old car battery, contact your local council so that they can point you to the closest recycling station. Don’t put your old car battery in the household rubbish, into the general rubbish to go to the landfill or leave the old car batteries lying around the home.
Level 2, 9 Help Street