Going back to the 70’s and 80’s, if you had a family, most case scenario, you had a station wagon. Then along came the development of the SUV, a truck body on a car chassis. The SUV was a necessity for every household, even eclipsing the popularity of the minivan which was known as the family vehicle of the 90’s. The craze didn’t stop there though; larger and larger SUV’s were developed and finally came the mega-size SUV.

This was like a mini-van, in that it could almost hold an entire soccer team. Along with the regular SUV’s, these mega-sized SUV’s were getting on average 9-12 miles per gallon, but they were being compensated for the low gas mileage by increasing the size of the gas tank to 14 – 16 gallons. (more…)

Are you tired of high gas prices? Are you driving a gas guzzling SUV, or a similarly large sized vehicle? Many of us are already feeling the ever tightening pinch to our pocketbooks as the price of everything from food, to clothing, gets higher and higher.

If you are one of the many who are worried about whether or not you can still afford to drive your gas-guzzling SUV or larger sized vehicle, then now is the time to sell your vehicle. If you are considering selling your “tank”, as some would call it, in exchange for a more economical saver, than it is important to get the very best price possible. After all, as the price of gasoline continues to fluctuate, the value of your vehicle will continue to depreciate. You may find yourself upside down in a loan on one of these vehicles. You may find that nobody wants to buy something so large because of miles given per gallon. (more…)

Sport utility and recreational vehicle owners are getting hit twice by higher crude oil prices; not only are they being hit by the higher operating costs to run these vehicles with the prices of gas, but also by it’s quickly depreciating value that are put on these vehicles.

All across the country, car and truck dealers are feeling the new reality as their beautiful, fully-loaded sport utility vehicles collect dust in their lots. The old proverb of, “can’t even give them away,” seems especially fitting, as Americans are now neglecting the low mileage SUV’s, and turning to the hybrids and higher fuel efficiency models instead. (more…)

Cadillac releases the 2009 Escalade Hybrid offering drivers both luxury and performance, without the sacrifice of fuel efficiency. Many hybrid SUVs are built with a slightly smaller body than the regular models, but the Escalade Hybrid maintains its full size without compromising its performance. The new Cadillac Escalade Hybrid will keep all the power of the regular Escalade, built with a 332 hp V8 engine, which has enough power to tow 5800 pounds in rear wheel drive; or 5600 pounds in four wheel drive.

This powerful beast has the estimated city driver getting around 20 miles per gallon, in which Cadillac boasts is more than comparable with the mileage on other smaller model vehicles, such as the 2008 BMW X3 or the 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The hybrid features will include auto stop, electric power, and regenerative braking. Auto stop shuts off engine power while stopped, or when in traffic, in which helps reduce fuel emissions. Electric power kicks in during lower speeds, and it powers the vehicle through the combination of a 300v battery pack that is built in electric motors. Finally, with the new regenerative braking, it will restore some of the energy that is normally lost through braking in traffic, and it will be redirected to charge the electric battery. (more…)

With all the ways you can use a suv, no wonder it is the most popular body type of choice to use. Just about every auto maker has a Suv or maybe several models. Ford has 5 suv’s now, but three are very popular.When gas prices went above $4.00 a gallon it made the smaller suv’s more sought after, like the ford escape. The escape is a small but roomy vehicle that gets good gas mileage. Another very popular vehicle ford has is the ford explorer. This vehicle is a very stylish suv with a 3rd row seating available. For people not worried about gas mileage they have the expedition, which is a large suv, but not their largest.

Chevrolet’s and GMC have some popular suv’s like the Chevy Blazer and the GMC Envoy to name a few. Both of these vehicles are just alike all but the name. These vehicles can be very nice finished, and are pretty roomy. They both come with 3rd row seating available now. Chevrolet also has several new cross over vehicles to choose from one popular one is the Chevy Equinox. The Equinox is a small suv kind of cross over vehicle with good room and good gas mileage. The Chevy Equinox can come with a LT package which comes with leather seats and wood grain dash. Stereo system for front and rear of vehicle with dvd players in back of seats.

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It is that dark time of year again, and night time visibility is low. This is when we start to make decisions

on what type of plow light we put on our vehicles. But before we do that we need to know a little bit about lights.

Snowplow lights come in regular sealed beam and halogen high intensity lighting, xenon. Head lights are measured in the amount of candlepower which is a way of measuring how much light is produced by a light bulb and a lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to light! At least this gives you a small basis on what you are looking for. So when you are buying snowplow light s keep this information in mind.

The snowplow light manufacturers now make this systems with different ratings on their lights.

The systems mostly used now are halogens, with separate bulbs for high beams low beams.

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Hybrid SUVs are becoming very fast one of the most popular vehicles on the road today. In fact, online searches for a SUV hybrid in 2008 and 2009 are among the highest for all hybrid cars. Hybrid SUVs are in high demand as consumers seek new fuel-efficiency options. The 2010 Hybrid SUVs are getting more powerful and better mileage than their conventional counterparts.
There are over 15 models available now and several new ones scheduled to reach auto dealers at the end of this year and in early 2010.

Hybrid Vehicle Gas Mileage Estimates (city/hwy)
(2008 & 2009 Hybrid SUV models)

34/30 mpg: 2008 Mazda Tribute (AWD)
34/30 mpg: 2009 Ford Escape (AWD)
34/30 mpg: 2009 Mercury Mariner (4WD)
27/32 mpg: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line (2WD)
27/25 mpg: 2008 Toyota Highlander (AWD)
26/24 mpg: 2008 Lexus 400h (AWD)
21/22 mpg: 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe (2WD)
20/20 mpg: 2009 GMC Yukon (4WD)
20/21 mpg: 2009 Cadillac Escalade

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Hybrid SUVs are becoming very fast one of the most popular vehicles on the road today. In fact, online searches for a SUV hybrid in 2008 and 2009 are among the highest for all hybrid cars. Hybrid SUVs are in high demand as consumers seek new fuel-efficiency options. The 2010 Hybrid SUVs are getting more powerful and better mileage than their conventional counterparts.
There are over 15 models available now and several new ones scheduled to reach auto dealers at the end of this year and in early 2010.

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Mahindra & Mahindra, the leader in utility vehicles in India, has taken the initiative to introduce the path breaking FuelSmart System for the first time in India. The FuelSmart system is an automatic engine start stop system. It has been introduced in its Scorpio M2DI and Bolero SLX BS3 models.

The start stop system automatically shuts down and restarts the automobile’s engine. The engine begins effortlessly once a driver depresses a clutch prior to moving ahead. This in turn reduces the duration for which the engine is kept idling, thereby improving fuel economy. This start stop system comes into play when the automobile has to spend considerable amounts of time waiting at traffic signals or in traffic jams. This feature started in hybrid electric vehicles but now has also started appearing in vehicles without a hybrid powertrain like Scorpio and Bolero. Fuel economy can improve by 5 to 10 percent in non-hybrid vehicles with the start stop system.

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There are certain vehicles that develop an aura over the years. The Toyota Land Cruiser certainly falls into that category. From a utilitarian beginning, it has become a bit more modern without losing the toughness we all loved.

Toyota has always taken a unique approach when it comes to their model lines. The company prefers to launch a model and then stick with it unlike most other car companies. The Land Cruiser is a classic example. The truck was first designed in 1951 with full scale production beginning in 1954. It has come in versions ranging from convertibles to station wagons. As it closes in on 60 years of production, the Land Cruiser is still the lead SUV model for the company. That’s staying power!

The story of the beginnings of the Land Cruiser is surprisingly mundane. The Japanese government asked the company to build a vehicle similar to the Jeep used by the United States Military to such effect. The name of the vehicle is often written as “Landcruiser”, but this is incorrect and obviously so when you know the origins of it. The name was based on the Land Rover built in England. Toyota wanted a similar name that sounded similar.

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