Urban Insurance Agency Newsletter

10 Ways to Increase Your Gas Mileage

 Owning and maintaining a car has never been cheap. And, gas is one of the biggest, of those expenses. With gas prices at all time highs, this has never been truer. But you can save gas and save money if you follow the following tips.     

1. Check your tire pressure.     
Under inflated tires increase resistance and are the number one cause of avoidable fuel loss.

2. Wheel alignment alert.
Misaligned, unbalanced wheels hurt mileage by causing tires to shimmy and drag sideways. If your car pulls to either side on straight, flat roads, if the steering wheel vibrates, or if your tires show irregular wear, it's time to check and correct alignment.

3. Keep brakes in shape.
Dragging brakes also hamper fuel efficiency, and the culprit is usually a maladjusted or stuck parking brake. Have it checked once a year.

4. Use the right gasoline.  
Most cars today are designed to run on regular gas. Check your owner's manual. If premium fuel is required, plan on biting the bullet, but if the manufacturer only recommends premium, you may be able to get by with a lower grade.
"If it's recommended, you may have an option to go to a lower grade fuel -- although there will be some tradeoff there if you're saving a ton of money in the process".

5. Change your oil  
and filter every 3,000 miles to avoid engine friction from dirt. The time your car burns the most fuel is while it's "warming up", but a light viscosity oil flows easier during this warm?-up period, so use the lightest oil recommended in your owner's manual.

6. Choose proper spark plugs.
Owner's manuals specify a range of spark plugs from hot to cold. Choose hotter plugs if you're driving around town; colder plugs for frequent highway driving. One misfiring spark plug can reduce fuel mileage by as much as 30 percent!

7.  Check your air filter  
It is important to make you're your air filter is clean. A dirty filter will rob your car of performance and fuel economy So check every 5,000 miles by holding it up to a light bulb. If light doesn't shine through it, replace it.

8. reduce wind resistance.
Fancy add-ons - even roof luggage and bike racks - can reduce your mileage by increasing wind drag. Store as much in the car as possible.

9. Use air conditioning wisely.
The drag caused by open windows when driving over 50 mph is greater than the energy required to run the air conditioner. So you can get the most fuel efficiency by using the A/C on the highway, and rolling down the windows while driving in town.

10. Be a smart driver.
Stop and start driving really burns fuel. So, do your best to keep it at a minimum. For example, if you have cruise control, use it to keep highway speeds as steady as possible. Shift manual transmissions into neutral before stopping. And, if you can, consider changing driving routes to avoid excessive stopping and idling

Corvette Karma

Larry Lubell

Imagine your 29 years old. You make plans with friends to meet up at a favorite bar. You get dressed, and climb into your 5 year old Corvette, turn the key and revel and the throaty-roar as you pull of on your way for a night on the town.
Young and single, you park the car, head inside, maybe with a pen in your pocket, just incase your lucky enough to find a woman willing to hand-over her phone number.

Life is great, or at least it is till you go outside a find your car is gone. That pen you were hoping would record the number of some "Future girlfriend"; instead is used to mark down a Police report number. You end up catching a ride home from a friend.

This is what happened to Chance Mayfield; sad as the story is, as an Insurance Agent, I have the duty to tell you this is not all that uncommon. In fact a car is stolen every 28.8 seconds, that's more than 1 million cars stolen in an average year in the U.S.—.No what makes this story so unusual is that the theft took place in 1970 and now 39 years later received a call, on his 68th birthday, no less, saying his car has been found. I'm sure that Mr. Mayfield was happy to get the call and see his old car. Imagine his further surprise, and stroke of good luck when he found out his old car had been completely restored.

It seems a collector who recently bought the 1965 Corvette for $65,000; stopped by the Arizona department of motor vehicles for inspection and to get plates; only to find after a routine serial number check, that the Hot Car he had purchased was literally a "Hot Car". I can only assume that the man, that laid-out $65,000 for the auto; believing he had legal title, had his day-in-court with business that sold him the car.

In the end the Scottsdale, police returned the 65 Vette back to Mr. Mayfield.

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BBB Accreditation Urban Insurance Agency/U. I. Payment Plan has been a BBB Accredited business since August 2009. This means it supports BBB's services to the public and meets our BBB Accreditation standards. BBB Rating for Urban Insurance Agency/U. I. Payment Plan Based on BBB files, Urban Insurance Agency/U. I. Payment Plan has a BBB Rating of A+. Click here for an explanation of BBB Ratings Business Contact and Profile for Urban Insurance Agency/U. I. Payment Plan Name: Urban Insurance Agency/U. I. Payment Plan Phone: (800) 680-0707 Fax: (312) 664-7193 Address: 800 N. Wells 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60610 Yahoo Map Website: www.UrbanInsuranceAgency.com...

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