Top 5 Overcharged Repair Jobs from DriverSide:
Top 5 Overcharged Repair Jobs
By Zach Bowman, DriverSide Contributing Editor
For the most part, mechanics are willing to work with you to get your vehicle back on the road as quickly as possible. It’s no secret they’re doing their job to make money, but don’t think everything they charge you for is a rip-off. That doesn’t mean some services don’t cost more than they probably should. What are they? DriverSide has worked up a list of the top five overcharged repair jobs in no particular order. Have a look. (more…)
posted by pierow at 2:19 am
Interesting article on how Checker Cab is able to maintain a fleet of Ford P71 CVPIs well beyond 100,000 miles:
How Cabbies Get 300K from the Ford CVPI
For their part, some patrol officers and police unions consider police cars with 100K miles a real officer safety issue; high mileage police cars may put both the officer and the public at risk. And for their part, the auto companies are totally silent. No one in the auto industry knows how long a police car can or should last, or if they do, they aren’t telling.
Well, the waters beyond 100K miles, and even beyond 200K miles, have been fully charted and documented by many of the nation’s taxi companies.
To find out at what mileage the super durable police sedan turns into a money pit, exactly when it goes “high maintenance,” we called a cab. Not just any cab, but Checker Cab, one of the largest taxi companies in North America. Checker Werks in downtown Chicago is the outfit that services all these cabs. We spoke to Mike Puccia, the shop supervisor. Checker Werks maintains a total of 1300 retired police cars until odometer readings of between 200K and 300K miles.
[Read the full article]
posted by pierow at 2:07 am
Rex Hermogino has posted the music video he submitted for the Vespa Video Challenge held 2 years ago. The task was to create a homemade video that talks about the benefits of riding a Vespa scooter. Fun & Funny. Enjoy.
[Link]
posted by pierow at 6:10 pm
Piaggio announced the world’s first hybrid scooter – the Piaggio MP3 Hybrid – which is powered by both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The petrol-fueled powerplant is a 124cc, 4-stroke, water-cooled motor while the electric motor is a 2.6kW synchronous brushless permanent magnet motor. The hybrid MP3 is able to run in petrol only, Hybrid Charge mode (to save power), Hybrid Power (for maximum power) and full electric mode.
The plug-in hybrid can run off of a standard charge for 40 miles and will average 141 MPG. The hybrid MP3 will be available in 2010 with an estimated street price of $8,500.
[LINK]
posted by pierow at 1:05 pm
The timing for Xerox Canada’s latest contest seems a bit odd – giving away a Vespa in the middle of Winter…but as the winner said, “It’s ironic timing for sure, but who would turn down a free Vespa?”
“For Kendrick and the other residents of Winnipeg, Winter must be a breeze to get through, -40 degree weather being commonplace in the province. Yet trying to manoeuvre a Vespa through the icy Manitoban streets riding against 30 kilometre winds and razor-hail still doesn’t sound like the joy-ride it was meant to be.”
[Full Story at Hub Canada]
posted by pierow at 7:59 pm
Carlos Alberto has made a replica Vespa out of wood – It has an engine and everything. (Though from the looks of it, the engine is not made of wood)
See more pictures at his website. [Via Boing Boing Gadgets]
posted by admin at 4:20 pm
Vespa GTS-300 Super
Vespa just unveiled its newest and most powerful model at the New York Motorcycle Show. The new GTS 300 Super has a reported top speed of 80 mph and gets about 70 MPG. It will be available in either black or white and has an MSRP of $6,199. Reportedly available in March 2009. [Read More]
posted by admin at 4:20 pm
National Scooter Build-Off: Put Up or Shut Up
Quite a few teams are assembling project scooters to be judged at High Rollers Weekend 2009 as part of the “Put Up or Shut Up” National Scooter Build-Off. Check out the progress page for the latest updates from the teams.
posted by admin at 9:09 pm
B-Vocabulary's Vespa Chopper
Saw B-Vocabulary’s Vespa Chopper while cruising on the (information super) highway today. There isn’t much information about the scoot in his blog, he just says that he built it 17 years ago.
posted by pierow at 9:18 pm
Old Lambretta Advert
Hector from the Vespa Club of Buenos Aires has some really choice old photos and adverts on his blog. The blog is in Spanish (naturally) so you may not get much from the text but the pictures are definitely worth a visit.
posted by pierow at 9:00 pm