Pardon Our Dust

If you have been by the shop in the past couple of weeks you have seen just what a mess a couple of mechanics can make when they start a remodel project. After 20 years in the same building we thought it might be a good idea to freshen the place up a little. Well we got carried away with ourselves.

We should be done with the project in the next couple of weeks and hope that you can come by and admire our handiwork. In the meantime please pardon our dust, bare floors and paint fumes.

Every February for the last 10 years we have participated in the Car Pros for Kids campaign to help Child Advocates. This year is not different, we are proud to be one of the 20 some odd shops in the Houston Metro Area that is participating in the program.

This is a great deal for you. If you make a donation to Child Advocates of $30 you will get coupons good for 2 free oil changes. This applies to most cars, but there are a few exceptions, like BMW, Mercedes, and Diesel engine vehicles that require a premium. The entire $30 goes to Child Advocate; the shop retains none of the funds. Our "profit" comes from helping the Child Advocate program, providing you with a great value and getting you back into our shop on a regular basis for your routine maintenance. In the past it has proven to be a very popular and successful program and we are sure that this will be the best year yet.

For more information or other locations to tell your friends about go to www.childadvoctes.org

Bonus Buck Month Is Here!

Many of you took advantage of earning Bonus Bucks in January and December. We issued several thousands of dollars in these payback bucks to our faithful customers and now is the time to redeem then. February is Bonus Buck Month at Freedom Automotive.

Bonus Bucks can be used for any service except the Car Pros for Kids program, but they cannot be used in combination with any other discount of promotion during February.

February is traditionally the slowest month of the year in our business and this is a way to both give back to our customers and get some additional work in the shop to keep the help busy.

Call Cathy at 281-499-4797 and schedule your appointment now to redeem your bonus bucks.

Gas Saving Devices

This article appeared in our newsletter during the last sharp rise in gas prices. We are getting the same questions again so decided that it might be a good idea to run the article one more time.

The increasing cost of gasoline has produced a proliferation of advertisements for "Gas Saving" devices. With petrol prices now over $3.00 per gallon the offer of a 10, 15 or even 50% increase in mileage is tempting. Unfortunately we have not seen a single one of these fuel mileage enhancers that actually works.

Over the last couple of decades the Environmental Protection Agency has tested more than 200 of these devices and has found that the vast majority of them produce no increase in mileage, some actually decrease economy and a few can create a very small improvement, often at the cost of increased emission. None provided the significant increase in mileage claimed in the advertisements.

Auto makers are under strict regulations for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) and pay hefty fines for missing the fleet average mileage standards of 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.5 mpg for light trucks. If there were a simple device that they could "bolt on" and increase the mileage of their fleet by even 5% it would be on every car made. Chrysler recently paid huge fines for missing the CAFE standard due to the popularity of their fuel hog HEMI engines.

The best fuel saving device remains the one that we all have right between our ears. Driving sensibly will do more to increase your mileage than anything else you can do. Avoid rapid starts and accelerations. When you push the pedal to the metal mileage can drop to less than 1 mile per gallon. When you are waiting in line, or stuck in traffic shift into neutral to reduce engine load. If the wait is long, the weather nice and the neighborhood safe you can roll down the windows and shut the engine off while you wait for that long train to pass. Stay at or below the speed limit. Speed costs gas. Empty the trunk, there is no need to burn gas hauling around stuff you won't need. Drive as if there were a full cup of coffee sitting on the dash. If you can drive without spilling the coffee you will get the best possible mileage from your car.

A popular myth is that cruise control saves gas. On flat land it may, but on hills and overpasses it actually burns more gas as it accelerates the car to maintain your set speed uphill. You will do better by allowing the car to slow a little going uphill and coasting down the other side.

Turning off your air conditioning will improve mileage slightly on most cars, but only if you leave the windows rolled up. That is impractical and possibly suicidal in Houston summers. The increased air drag caused when the windows are down reduces mileage more than the A/C on newer cars.

Coupled with good maintenance, proper tire inflation, and more careful trip planning, common sense conservative driving will maximize your cars fuel efficiency.
For more information on the EPA testing of "Gas Saving" devices visit this website.

John Miller
The Car Counselor
950 Radio Mojo