There are lots of car music players available in the market and it becomes difficult to select the best out of them for newbies like me. Sony, Pioneer, Blaupunkt, Alpine, Clarion, Panasonic, Kenwood, JVC, Eonon are some of the top music-player manufacturing companies – out of them Sony seems to be hot and favorite. And last month I went with Sony MEXR1 Car DVD player for my new Toyota kluger. Let me give you a small product review about Sony MEXR1 :

This is a Multi-disc player from sony xplod. It supports formats like DVD±R/RW, MP3, JPEG, VCD etc. A single DVD±R/RW can store as many as 1000 mp3 tracks. It can also play a data disc. It also comes with the new Zone x Zone feature – the front seat passengers can playback DVDs while rear passengers can watch their favorite CDs with headphone. That lessen fights in our family.

Its has a sleek , synchro flip black-colored panel design and comes with new drvie-s HX technology. IT has 4 x 52 watt S-MOSFET and a 24 bit D/A converter. There is a small but easy-to-ready display for CD-Text display/scroll. You can also watch your favorite photos with mp3 mix mode, also supports multi session playback. ID3 tag v2.4 is supported for mp3 playback. Comes with a digital syntheses tuner with FM18/AM12 preset list.

The music quality is excellent as always, amps are great and RCAs are state of the art. Various other features are :

• Zone x Zone audio out
• Video out
• Digital 5.1 out
• 1 sub out
• Aux-in lite
• 2x video/audio output
• CD/MD changer controller
• 7 band equaliser and dynamic soundstage organiser
• Bass, treble, loudness, balance controls
• Sound source memory SSM
• Small card remove RM X702 and an optional rotary commander.

I think I made a good choice. If you are not a fan of Sony, then read other car players and car reviews to find the best match.

The Insurance market is highly competitive, every insurance provider wants to make as many clients as possible. But sometimes you may fall into un-necessary high premium rates if you are ignorant about car insurance policies.

Here are few tips you should consider before buying a car insurance :

Compare Quotes :
Prices vary among different insurance providers, so research the market a bit. Gather atleast 3 different price quotes from top reliable companies. Internet is a good source of asking for quotes or you can call them up. Your state insurance dept. might have price comparison chart of major providers.

Prices Vary :
There can be various re-sellers. Some are sole agents of 1 insurance company while some promote multiple companies. And some have no agents – they sell directly to their clients without a middle man. So pries can vary among these 3 different providers. You can guess whose price will be lowest.

Lower Coverage for Older cars :
If you are purchasing an insurance of older cars, then go for lower coverage. Your premium might become 10 times than the car is worth of – in such cases coverage is not effective.

Higher Deductibles :
The first installment or money which you pay before your policy begins is knows as deductibles. Go for higher deductibles, which can reduce your premium by 20-40 percent. A $500-$1k would be a good choice.

Selecting Same Insurer :
Go with the same company which insured your home, life, car, etc. A company gives discount for multiple deals. For long time customers, your company may charge less premium rates.

Low miles per year :
Some policies have feature of less premium for less drove cars – so called low mileage discounts. So walk around or consider pulling your car

Good Credit Record :
Have a good credit record with your insurance/loan companies as companies gather your credit information before giving you a quote. A Good history means lower insurance costs.

Ask for Discounts :
You can ask for discounts on high deductibles, more cars, no accident in 3 years, no traffic violations in 3 yerrs, driver education courses, defensive courses, security devices, lower mileage, air bags and anti-lock safety features, students, senior citizens, qualified professionals, etc.

Smaller Car :
A small, less power engined car will cost you less. Remember, an imported car raises your premium significantly.

Be a Woman :
Women being careful drivers (occasionally:lol: ), cost less premium rates. OR you can take premium policy in the name of your lady.

Requirements :
Decide how much is your requirement according to the pocket. Also know what are the legal requirements of car insurance in your state.

Hope this article will help you to save a little if not much. If so, you can ask for my paypal for donations.

Purchasing a new or old car is not an easy process. It requires expertise in the auto sector to evaluate a car value if buying a second hand car or else anybody will scam/fool you.

So before purchasing a car, you should consider following points :

Determine your budget – whats your minimum budget and how much you can stretch yourself to get a deal. Remember, your EMI should not exceed 40% of your monthly income.

Determine your needs – This is very important – choosing your car model can be frustrating and might take ages. Also there are thousands of models available in market ranging from 4k to 40k USD. So decide on which segment car to buy, your needs, which fuel etc.

Research on your car – so once you have decide on which car to buy, research about it. Read reviews, advantages and disadvantages of your car, ask friends and experts. Check detailed specification, fuel average, maintenance needs, warranty etc. of the car.

Financing options – As there are variety of car models, so are finance options. Ask an expert to help you in best and affordable finance solution and auto loan.

Choosing the Dealer – Don’t make mistake while selecting the dealer or car broker – a wrong choice could mean years of aggravation and frustration. Choose a popular and reputable dealer.

Test Drive – Its true that lot of people buy a car without a test drive. If the company is giving a free test drive, then why don’t drive it yourself to see if it is comfortable for you or not.

What’s The Total Cost – The price of a car on brochure is just a beginning. You will also have to pay insurance, taxes, warranties, maintenance, loan interest etc. So work out a total cost before buying a new car.

If you have any doubts, feel free to ask via comments and I will try my best to answer them.:)

In the previous post we talked about Car tuning. Tuning a car requires various spares and accessories which you can easily get from a shop near your place. But what if you have a private jet or aircraft and requires tuning or maintenance ? You will hardly find any such shops in your nearby area.

Nowadays, many medium to large businesses are keeping their private jet planes and aircrafts. It is not that, once you buy a private jet – its all done. It requires lot of maintenance and service, and is hard to find spare parts for aircrafts. But, nothing is impossible or hard when it comes to internet shopping.

Nowadays, there are many online stores which offer aircraft part procurement services. The internet has made it possible to buy such parts easily within seconds from any part of the world. Ofcourse you will have to pay the international shipping charges as per the store prices.

Such stores have thousands of spare parts and buy entering a National Stock Number (NSN) & manufacturing part number, you can search for required aircraft parts within seconds. For e.g. if you want bearings for your vehicle, you can get them easily from an online store if you have the part number intact.

Similarly, if you have a hobby of making unique vehicles/aircrafts for your personal needs, you can shop for spares, parts and accessories via internet shopping. Building a personal aircraft was not an easy process before.

Car tuning is a great way to modify looks and performance of a vehicle. But it can blow off huge amount of money if not done correctly and drinks lot of fuel. Similar think happened with my Toyota Corolla Tuning, so I will advise you to go with a reliable and experienced Toyota tuning companies. The things which can be tuned are :

Engine Tuning – this is replacing the original engine components with after-market versions promising increased performance output. This is the main thing which should be avoided or performed very well.

Suspension Tuning – This involves modifying swaybars, shock absorbers, springs and other such components of a vehicle. A lowered look can be achieved with shorter springs which will also lower center of gravity. Stiff sway bars reduce vehicle roll during swift turns and improves the grif of inner tires on the road surface – thus imrpvoes handling of car.

Body Tuning – This involves modifying body spoilers and body kit. It is mostly done for improving the aesthetics of a car with various artworks and lightnings. Also includes flushing which involves removing bumpers, key locks, door handles, emblems etc. People even go with door modification – Lambo or suicide door openings are common.

Some companies offer limited special editions which are company tuned – for e.g. the very famous Toyota Supra which comes with modified exhaust system, suspensions and turbo settings. Toyota Avensis Tuning is also very common as it is one of top selling car of Toyota.

Also, before tuning a car, take into consideration your local rules and company warranty policies.

Now look at this excellent video on car tuning