Winter is on its way!

Two winters ago we were attacked by an abominable snowman

Is it getting cold or what? I find myself using the heated seats in my Saab every time I hop in, and there's frost on our 200+ car lot at 9:05 every morning when I stroll into Bourne's. Customers are asking me to bring cars inside so they don't have to stand in the cold and I actually started wearing a jacket.

Winter is coming, and when you come to Bourne's we do have a wide variety of vehicles with All Wheel Drive, heated seats, heated steering wheels even, and remote starters are available for every car on the lot. We're in New England so winter gets cold, we get snow and the roads can get really slick, so you want to make sure you have a vehicle that's ready for whatever Father Winter throws your way.

One of the most common concerns about winter driving that I hear from customers is that they absolutely need All Wheel Drive in order to make it through. While an AWD vehicle is a great choice for getting up hills on a snowy day, they absolutely will not prevent a crash. A car accident is rarely caused by a car that can't get up to speed, but rather by a vehicle that can't stop to avoid running off the road, an obstacle or another car.

This is where Electronic Stability Control comes into play. Many of the vehicles here at Bourne's come equipped with this novel and excellent safety feature that works by detecting a vehicle that is skidding out of control and cuts power to the engine while simultaneously sending braking power to individual wheels to get you out of the skid and out of harm's way. This is available on many Chrysler SUVs as well as most luxury vehicles. Ask your salesman if you're not sure and he'll be happy to identify the important safety features of our inventory.

Anti-lock Braking Systems are an oft-overlooked safety feature that is much more widely available and more affordable than finding a car with ESC. ABS detects a skid upon braking and pulsates the pedal to help bring you out of the skid, much like your Driver's Ed instructor likely taught you to pulse the brake pedal rather than holding it in snowy weather. An ABS-equipped vehicle will give even a panicked driver the benefit of skilled braking.

Of course, there's no substitute for safe driving: reduced speed under snowy or rainy conditions, extra following distance between you and the car ahead of you, and just flat out staying home when there's a foot of snow on the road. Where the heck do you need to be so badly, anyway?

Related:

The Autocheck Advantage

Price or Miles?

The Autocheck Advantage

Buying a car without a vehicle history report is for chumps, plain and simple. If you've ever shopped here then you know that we're straightforward about every aspect of our business, and we've been offering vehicle history reports for longer than I've been here(just had my 3 year anniversary in September, but no cake or jewelry apparently). We like to show that our cars have clean titles, are free of frame damage, flood damage and other catastrophic issues. For the longest time we used Carfax and while they definitely have the most recognizable brand in vehicle history reports, we caught wind of an alternative.

Autocheck came to us about a year ago and showed us their reports, and after hearing them out we decided to make the switch. Autocheck reports up to twice the accidents that Carfax does, and it's not because Carfax is hiding anything, but rather because they don't draw from the auto auction records in addition to the various registries and police reports that both do. You cannot head to a used car lot anywhere in America that doesn't feature auction cars, and so knowing what the buying agents know is really only possible with Autocheck.

I found a link to a news report that supports Autocheck in a big way. Now, I don't like hidden camera shows because I think they manipulate the situation, but they have valid points about the advantages of Autocheck.



Towards the end, the gentleman who bought the red Infiniti seems dissatisfied that he sold his car at a loss, and it's never good to lose money on a vehicle, but it seems rather disingenuous that he sells the car and then calls the local news when the dealership doesn't even have a chance to do the right thing.

Occasionally we will sell a car that has a prior accident, but only if it's been fully inspected and repaired to our exacting standards. Vehicles with frame damage will never find a home on our lot.

Price or Miles?

I've been meaning to do a little more on this blog to help you with your car buying experience, regardless of whether or not you come to Bourne's. Today I want to talk about the relative merits of buying a newer car with higher miles versus an older car with lower miles.

There are two Ford Explorers on our lot, one is a 2007 model with 74,000 miles and it's priced at $12,990, and the other is 2006 with 47,000 miles for $15,590. Seems like a no brainer, right? Well, I thought so, and when I talked to one of our salesmen, Gerard, and he said he thought it was clear which truck was the better deal.

I said the 2006. He said the 2007.

There's a bit of a debate going on here at Bourne's right now regarding whether you should buy price or miles. I have always sided with an older, lower miles vehicle over a newer, high miles car, and I have always had good cars with very few problems. Jason Bourne, patriarch of the Auto Center, has always bought high miles, newer cars for himself and his family, and he has always had good cars with very few problems.

The argument for a new car with higher miles revolves around a couple of key issues: corrosion/elemental exposure and type of miles driven. Everyone agrees that driving a mile on the highway produces less wear and tear on a car than driving in the city, due to a more consistent speed, fewer bumps, little to no shifting and hopefully no braking at all. City drivers are more likely to be involved in small bumper to bumper action, stop and go driving that stresses pretty much every system of the car, and definitely more cosmetic issues due to careless pedestrians and the close proximity of parked cars to one another.

Since newer cars are not as prone to rust as my beloved 1985 Chevy Celebrity was, I am less concerned about the corrosion issues, especially for cars less than five years old. However, there is no doubt that a new car with high miles is more likely to have mostly highway miles on it, which can make it a very good value, especially with the long lasting drivetrains in cars today.

However, if you are the type of person who keeps a car for a long time and doesn't drive much, then it may make sense for you to get a low miles car and keep it low miles. My favorite cars are the ones that are at least a decade old and with low miles, because they were usually driven by older drivers who are less prone to abusive driving.

What it really comes down to is the best car for you is one that fits your budget, has the options that you need and works for you in your daily life. All of our cars are inspected by our ASE certified technicians, so whether you take the years or the miles, you can't go wrong.