Author Archive: Chad Baus

Winter sweaters and boots have been packed away in favor of shorts and sandals. Has your vehicle benefited from the same maintenance you’ve performed on your closets? Warm weather means long weekend getaways and even longer vacation road trips, and taking the time to perform seasonal maintenance today can help avoid trouble later.

Here are 10 tips for spring and summer car care. In some cases, you’ll be able to perform these procedures yourself. Others are best done by a mechanic as part of a tune-up. Some will help your vehicle look better. Most will help it perform more efficiently and get better gas mileage.

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Every year, as temperatures fluctuate between the deep freeze of winter and the thaw of spring in many areas of the country, the roads can quickly become pockmarked with holes (big and small) that can cause great damage to your car and tires. According to CBS News, AAA estimates that consumers typically spend $5 billion a year on repairs stemming from pothole damage. This phenomenon isn’t new, but with this year’s polar vortex, it certainly is starting to feel like we’ve reached a whole new level in this pothole plague.

Hitting a pothole with your car can cause a great deal of damage to your car, particularly to the tires, rims, suspension and chassis. Because of this, it’s imperative that you take the proper precautions to keep your car out of harm’s way. Obviously, your best course of action is to avoid hitting any potholes; however, that’s not always possible. Keep these seven tips in [...]

Speed limits along the Ohio Turnpike and rural freeways in the state would be raised from 70 miles per hour to 75 mph under changes made Monday to the state’s transportation budget bill.

The proposed 75-mph limit would apply to the same stretches of highway in Ohio that had the speed limit raised two years ago…

…[L]awmakers found that the speed-limit increase to 70 mph along rural highways, passed two years ago, “has not caused any problems at all – actually, accidents have gone down.”

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There are millions of car accidents in the United States each year, and many of them turn into he-said, she-said battles that can result in an innocent driver being blamed. Fortunately, if you’re one of the unlucky drivers on the road, you can play an important role in making sure the police and the insurance company get the most accurate picture of what actually happened. You already know about contacting the police, filing an accident report, and notifying your insurance company. But here are five steps that can literally save your financial hide should you be involved in an accident that results in a dispute, perhaps even landing you in a courtroom. READ MORE…

If you can think of it, it’s pretty much guaranteed that there’s an app for it. There are many ways that you can take advantage of your smartphone technology to enhance your driving experience. Here are some apps that can help you both on and off the road.

Dash Cam

With a dash camera, you can record the road ahead of you while you drive, checking for either driving habits or allowing you to record an accident as it happens, protecting you from faulty claims should you need it. Fortunately, with the right app, your smartphone can serve as your dash cam whenever you get behind the wheel. Apps like Witness Driving records right through your windshield and also picks up vital data such as time, speed, GPS position and G-forces in a rolling loop that won’t cause a strain to your battery life. When you’re using this app, it records all of this information, and [...]

Need to boost your credit score?
Unfortunately, a credit score isn’t like a race car, where you can rev the engine and almost instantly feel the result.
Credit scores are more like your driving record: They take into account years of past behavior, not just your present actions.
In addition to making the right moves, you also have to be consistent. A few easy steps can push your score in the right direction.
Here are seven simple ways to improve your credit score.

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