Bring a tire repair kit – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

A nighttime flat tire miles from the nearest town might make a good story later, but in the middle of a road trip, it spells stress. Be prepared with everything you need to fix a flat.

Auto supply retailers carry kits with patches, plugs, adhesive and a file to roughen the tire rubber to help the patch adhere. Bring along two cans of a flat-repair product to fill the tire.

In case of a flat: examine the tire and patch any injury. Use your trip-saving flat-repair can to inflate and seal the tire so you can drive to a safer location to change it.

.

Bring an extra gallon of water – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Travelers generally think to bring bottled drinking water, but few realize how frustrating it is to need a larger quantity of water with no way to get it.

Some rest areas have poorly designed sinks that automatically squirt liquid soap, run water for a few seconds, and then immediately turn on a hand dryer. Brushing your teeth in these contraptions is nearly impossible.

Keep a gallon of extra water tucked away in the trunk for rinsing sticky stuff off your hands, splashing on your face, using to brush your teeth, or even filling an overheated radiator.

Will the Toyota recall affect your next car rental?

by Amy Chen on

Toyota‘s massive recall due to faulty accelerator pedals is trickling down into car-rental companies. How does the recall affect your next rental?

I checked in with some of the major players to see how they’re handling the recall, now estimated at more than 9 million worldwide.

Avis Budget: About 20,000 cars have been grounded due to the recall. “Our fleet is 7 percent smaller today, but we are receiving weekly deliveries of new vehicles from the purchase agreements we made months ago with our suppliers,” Avis Budget spokesperson John Barrows told me via e-mail. “So we expect to be able to fulfill all demand for any rental occasion while we await guidance from Toyota regarding the handling of the recalled vehicles.”

Dollar Thrifty: The recall represents less than 1.5 percent of the overall Dollar Thrifty fleet. “We have currently grounded the vehicles and are working with Toyota on inspection of the vehicles and a proper resolution of the issue. We do not have any significant Toyotas on order,” Scott Thompson, president and CEO of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, said in a written statement.

Zipcar: Toyota’s recall affects about 5 percent of the Zipcar fleet. The car-sharing company isn’t taking new reservations on any recalled vehicles, which include the 2009 and 2010 Toyota Matrix. If you already have a reservation on a Toyota Matrix, Zipcar will move you to a different car and compensate you for any rate difference. If you’d rather bail, any cancellation fees will be waived. For questions about upcoming reservations, call Member Services at 866/494-7227.

The silver lining: Many car-rental companies, such as Avis, Budget, Dollar, and Thrifty, only let you reserve a certain vehicle class (compact/economy, mid-size, full-size). Since you weren’t able to specify a make/model to begin with, at least you won’t have to deal with re-booking because the car you wanted is suddenly unavailable.

In general, car-rental companies had already been shrinking its fleets, which was resulting in higher prices. We’ll keep an eye on how this will affect pricing now that the supply is even smaller. I’ll also update once I hear back from Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo, and National.

Check your car – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Taking a road trip is universally synonymous with adventure, relaxation, and new experience. While others might mention plotting out your trip, picking good stopping points, and making sure to have a rest and change drivers as often as you should, I won’t. Instead I’ll stress the one and only thing that you should never ever start a road trip without: a thorough mechanical check of your vehicle.

It you run out of sunscreen, you buy more. If you run out of money, you get some wired to you.

But if your car breaks while far from home… you’re stuck.

Take a convertible – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Thelma and Louise, Bonneville, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are all classic road trip movies. What do they all have in common? The car they traveled in was a convertible.

For maximum fun during a road trip, take a convertible! If you don’t own one, look into renting one for your next road trip. There’s no better way to see everything with the top down.

Experience all the sights, sounds and even smells that a great trip has to offer. Wear a hat and use plenty of sunscreen, but most importantly, keep that convertible top open!