Teens are known for making driving mistakes, which unfortunately can result in car accidents. This leaves parents feeling anxious, not knowing if their teen driver is safe. Parents need to take precautions, such as purchasing used car warranties and monitoring their teen’s driving.  There are numerous devices out there that allow parents to track their teenage drivers. However, now parents can track their teen right from their own keychain.

Many technologies out there monitor the speed and location of your teenage driver, and some even videotape who’s riding in the car. However, now there is a Canadian company that is offering a new device called the Lemur Autovision keychain. For the low price of $99.95, parents are able to track the maximum speed that their teen is driving, as well as excessive braking and distance traveled. Essentially all that it requires is the installation of a non-GPS based sensor box and the monitor keychain. This system doesn’t invade a teen’s privacy, but allow parents to discipline children for speeding. And the best part is that it is tamper proof and protected by a PIN, which lets parents know if there have been attempts to fool the system.

Parents need to take extra precautions to keep their teen drivers safe, which includes purchasing an auto warranty, monitoring teen driving, and setting strict guidelines. You can never be too careful when it comes to your children.

Gooding & Co. just released the closing tally for its auction in Pebble Beach. This sale follows the Concourse d’Elegance and is among the most elite auto auctions in the world. It is also an important barometer for the market of collectible cars.

The auction this year concluded Sunday and made $64.2 million, which tops last years tally of $60 million. Twenty vehicles went for over $1 million, which is triple the 2006 number. Five vehicles were sold for over $2 million, and Peter Williams sold the Bugatti collection, which is made up of 12 cars, for above $15.5 million.

However, the news wasn’t all good. One in five vehicles didn’t sell.

Still, the large amount of price records crushed over the weekend implies that the business of rare cars remains strong.

In addition, there was the highest price ever paid for a car in North America. A 1937 Bugatti Type 37SC Atalante Coupe sold for $7.92 million. This is the kind of car you wouldn’t dare drive out of your driveway without an auto warranty.

The collectibles boom probably won’t last forever, after all, most people are opting for used cars with used car warranties, but for now, it’s still strong.

Do you feel apprehensive about shopping for a new car?  Are you worried you don’t know enough about financing and new car warranties?  Or that you will say something that will give the dealer the upper hand in negotiations?  Car shopping doesn’t have to be stressful.  Here are some things that you shouldn’t tell a car dealer.

Don’t discuss monthly payments.  Your focus should go into negotiating the purchase price of the car.  It can get very confusing when you start talking about monthly payments because it can be unclear whether the payment is for 24 or 36 months.

Don’t tell the dealer right away that you have a trade in.  If the dealer realizes this he will know that you are hoping to get as much as possible for your trade-in.  The dealer may tell you he is going to give you a lot for your trade-in, but it’s actually a smokescreen because then the new price won’t be negotiable.

Don’t tell the dealer if you’re planning on paying in cash.  A lot of their money is made in financing, and if they realize they won’t be able to make that money, they probably won’t negotiate the car’s purchase price.

It is important to do your homework before purchasing a car.  Arrive at the dealership with knowledge about new car prices, financing, and new car warranties.  This will allow you to stand ground with the dealer.

Brake pad vibrations that result in a high-pitched noise are the cause of brake squeal.  When pads don’t have proper insulation from the caliper, vibration occurs.  The factory will equip brake pads with insulator shims, clips, and even a silicone backing that allows the pad to stay glued to the caliper.  This helps to prevent vibrations.

Often times when brake pads become too hard brake squeal occurs.  The hard and smooth surfaces then rub together to produce a noise equivalent to nails on the blackboard.  When this occurs, it is necessary to resurface the rotors and replace brake pads.  This will eliminate the squealing.

You should also have your rotors resurfaced when you have your brakes done.  Not doing this will result in squealing.  When replacing brake pads, the rotor refinishing should be done with a non-directional finish.  This will make sure that brake pads are broken in properly.

Act immediately if brake squeal occurs.  Take your car to a highly trained technician to make sure that your brakes are treated appropriately.  And, make sure you have used car warranties to cover repairs performed.  After all, you don’t want to end up paying unnecessary costs.

Now, people search the Internet to purchase cars, an auto warranty, and car loans.  One great resource for this is Autoopia, or autoopia.com.  This is a new search engine that has revolutionized the way that people search for cars, just like Google revolutionized the way in which people make general searches.  The people who created this website have made a search engine dedicated solely to cars.  Also, the interface is simple and clean, which allows users to easily search for cars.

To do this Autoopia gathers car ads and online listings in the thousands.  Their database is growing continuously, and it lists millions of cars.  Also convenient is that the site saves people’s searches automatically, which allows people to return to the site later and use previous search results.

Consumers are pleased with Autoopia because they have a great first impression with the smooth interface, yet the extensive search results leave people coming back for more.

Another plus to this search engine is that people only get results for the specific car that they looked for, no others.

Shopping online can be a great way to buy a car, and Autoopia is a great place to look.  People can find good deals on cars, and then easily search for new car warranties and car loans.  The Internet has now revolutionized the way motorists shop.

What do you get if the “hybrid” is taken out of a hybrid pickup truck?  In the case of GM, you get the XFE, or Xtra Fuel Economy pickup trucks that are full size.  These trucks share a lot of running gear and hardware with their hybrid counterparts; however, the exception is the two mode gas-electric powertrain.

The Chevrolet Silverado XFE and GMC Sierra XFE provide fuel-efficiency ratings of 15/21 mpg for city/highway, in comparison to 21/22 mpg for city/highway for GMs two-mode hybrids and 14/20 mpg for non-XFE pickups that are comparable.  That is an approximate 5%-7% improvement over the trucks that are non-XFE.

Models that are XFE only come in two-wheel drive with the E85-capable LC9 5.3-liter V-8 and a six-speed transmission that is automatic.  An Aluminum engine block, as well as aluminum cylinder heads is used by the LC9 to save weight.  In addition, it has active fuel management in order to change the V-8 between eight-cylinder and four-cylinder modes in order to save fuel.

Consumers are looking to save money on fuel, and GM has delivered.  Also, consumers are concerned with purchasing cars with good new car warranties in order to avoid unnecessary repair expenses down the road.

Many motorists wonder what it actually means for a car to be considered “clean”.  The new Jetta TDI is a prime example.  This car will use a new fuel that is an ultra-low sulfur diesel.  It used to be that diesel fuel contained large amounts of sulfur, which harmed devices like catalytic converters that are put in the exhaust stream to help clean harmful emissions.

Now, ultra-low sulfur diesel has reduced the content of sulfur by 97%, which allows carmakers to add devices that will reduce emissions, without risking damage to the components.  Of course, devices like these will vary from carmaker to carmaker, just like new car warranties.

There are four new emission-reducing devices in the new Jetta TDI.  According to VW, they are an oxidation catalyst for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions, storage catalyst for nitrogen emissions oxides, particulate emissions trap, and for hydrogen sulfide emissions, a slip catalyst.

Changes that have been made under the hood of the 2009 Jetta TDI include four valves per cylinder (not two), common rail fuel injection, and new calibration for the engine.

With the fall term approaching, college students are seeking out the perfect vehicle to drive to college.  And while it isn’t hard to find a great looking car, it takes a lot of research to find a vehicle high in fuel-efficiency, reliability, and safety, with a low sticker price and a good auto warranty.  Here are some great cars with all of these features.

The Ford Focus is an entry-level car that is roomy.  Also it will fulfill music lovers because of it SYNC system, which is a hands-free, voice activated entertainment and communications interface that allows the car to be linked to all phones, MP3 players, PDAs, and storage devices.

The Honda Fit is a five-door hatchback subcompact with great fuel-efficiency.  On the highway it gets 34 mpg and in the city it gets 28 mpg.  This car has a roomy interior featuring a “Magic Seat” that folds and reveals a cargo area that can fit a standard bicycle.

The 2008 Hyundai Elantra is a great compact car.  It’s fuel-economy is 25/33 mpg.  The interior has numerous features, such as power door locks, power windows, remote entry, and heated rearview mirrors.  Also, this car has the option for a Bluetooth system, a power sunroof, and a 220-watt audio system that has an iPod jack.

These are all great cars for college students that will satisfy parents and students.  In addition, they come with impressive new car warranties that will protect students from unnecessary repair expenses.

Ford Motor Co. recently made a promise that its new compact and sub-compact cars, which are due in 2010, will exceed the industry average in quality.

According to Bennie Fowler, the Ford VP of Global Quality, the carmaker will maintain its “things gone wrong” at approximately 800 for every 1,000 cars. This would be around 500 below the average for the industry. “Things gone wrong” is a yearly compilation of difficulties that car owners have in their first 90 days of owning a car.

To achieve the 800 goal, Ford will be using virtual reality tools that will allow 70% of problems to be reduced before vehicles are even built. In addition, an “army” of hourly workers will be trained to detect problems before a car will ever get to the showroom.

Ford’s commitment fuels the current battles between Ford and GM to shift their product lines to small, fuel-efficient cars. Consumers have begun to abandon trucks and SUVs and instead purchase small cars with new car warranties that will save them money at the pump.

With the average fuel prices at around $4 a gallon, many motorists are opting to trade in their big vehicles for small fuel-efficient models and purchase new car warranties. But, while that is a smart goal, it could cost you more in owner costs if you switch too early.

It makes sense that motorists want to cut down on their gas expenses and reduce the negative environmental effects as soon as possible. This is apparent from the recent dramatic drop in sales of pickup trucks and large SUVs.

However, it usually doesn’t pay to downsize if you’ve owned your vehicle for less than three years. It is important to remember two factors when considering a trade-in: financing charges and the depreciation of the car.

If you still owe on your car loan, it won’t be worth downsizing until after three years. This is because your initial monthly payment is made up mainly of interest, therefore less principal is paid into the loan in the first year than at the end.

Depreciation is the other main hurdle. In the first five years of ownership, depreciation makes up approximately 48% of the total car costs. After that point, depreciation will level off.

So, if you’re within the first five years of ownership hold off on purchasing a new car to save money because you won’t really be saving. It’s better to keep your car and purchase an auto warranty to protect yourself from costly repair expenses.