Even though the title of this page is Automobiles, I will be mostly talking about cars, American trucks etc.
Types of Automobiles
Cars Vans Minivan Truck Convertible Coupe Sedan

Features
This is a list of some of the features available in cars. Usually only some features are available in a particular car. But if you are looking for a car, this can be a good check list.

Express Power Window Down Available for the driver window where you do not have to keep your finger on the button The button locks down till the window is fully down
Radio Controls mounted on the stearing wheel
MoonRoof
Sun Roof
Spoiler
Fog Lamps
Lights at Rear Probably for reverse
Day time Running lights
Anti Lock Brakes
Heated front and rear seats
Wheel opening flares
Rocker Pannels
Reading lights in front
Leather
Power Windows
Power Steering
Automatic Transmission
Remote Keyless Entry
Power Seat Move drivers seat with buttons. Movements include push seat forward & backward, Change angle of Backrest.
Radio Should have AM/FM. Storege for AM and FM stations. Usually 6 AM and 18FM stations can be stored in memory.
Cassette Player
CD Player You also get a special cassette which you can put in your cassette player. This cassette takes output from your CD player.
Telescopic Steering Push or Pull the steering sheel towards or away from you
OldsMobile Vanvideo player & Flip down minitor to keep kids entertained on long trips.
Dodge Van Auto stick - Drive in Automatic, or shift gears manually without clutch.
Ford Windstar Reverse sensing system that beeps if you are too close to something behind the vehicle.
Skid Plates Active cornering enhancement - counter the tilt during turns
Folding split rear seats Active cornering enhancement - counter the tilt during turns
Telescopic steering
tip tronic clutch less manual shift or auto

dual zone auto climate control

front & rear fog lamps
self aligning head restraints
rear seat pass thru
traction control

analog clock, tachometer
Night Vision
Power Pedal Power adjustable pedals - raise 4 inches
Reverse Sensing System senses objects 10 inch to 6ft away from rear of Ford Windstar.
Heated Front Seats
Climate Controlled Front seats hot or cold air passing thru specially perforated leather seats

License Plates
1 BUDDHA
1HOTZ34
1STATIC
2BGFOOD
40THANV
4ARCHI
4DRU
4 MY IZ
4 MY SON
4TH*GEN
6MUSIC
6TH SENS
A QUICK 6
AINT HIS
AKSHAR2
ALAG
B GONE
 BLK SLK
BURGKG
CHAND
CONV 4 U
DIANA LR
DEWBUG
DM N DMBR
EGSNHAM
ELMOBUG
EWEHAUL
FREMONT
FORPLAY
FLINBYU
FLYNDIE
G GRAB
GLORY ME
GRNLNDS
HAPPY4
HARLOCK
HD HUNTR
HOTFOOD
HOTGSR
I H8 FOG
I M LORAC
ION TRAP
 IMIURU2
IPLANET
JAGZILLA
JAYA DEV
KAT PAK2
LAXHMI
KEEPUPP
KICK ASP
LONG VAN
L84WORK
LADLI
LTLWLMO
LVXLR8N
MAC PAPA
ME N 3KIDS
MITHESHP
MOTIV8E
MR RV
MYSONGS
Navkar
NOT CALM
NULEXUS
NY YNKEZ		 OCTOP
OLD LOBO
P NUT
PAM VUE
PAGE ME
PENTIUM
RASHIDA
RAJPDMA
RGOOFY1
ROVING
RUHNGRY
RUTHLIS
S LATHA
SimSwami
SO LONG
STORMME
SUNBRD2
 SUNITHA
SWOOPNU
TAHOER
TOM8TOE
TNK2ME
TULSI G
TX TIME
UBELVNU
Unix Kid
USLY L8
V4VIJAY
VANITA
WHY2NICE
WHY YES
WWW.JAG
XSKIER
YEA 401K
YNOTNOW
LOVE sign 2SPEND

Pictures of Cars

Year 2000 models
BMW 328Ci Year 2000 model Ford_Focus Year 2000 model Dodge Dakota 2000 Year 2000 model
Ford Excursion Year 2000 model Honda Insight Year 2000 model Mitsubishi Eclipse Year 2000 model
Saturn LW2 Year 2000 model Volvo V40 Year 2000 model
1998 Jan to Aug Best selling Trucks, Vans, SUV's
1 Ford F-Series Pickup 553878
2 Chevrolet C/K Pickup 374179
3 Ford Explorer sport ute 269254
4 Dodge Ram pickup 264172
5 Ford Ranger pickup 221719
6 Dodge Caravan minivan 209755
7 Chevrolet S10 pickup 160706
8 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV 154972
9 Ford Windstar minivan 142377
10 Chevrolet Blazer sport-ute 141326

Best selling Cars Jan-July 2000 Toyota Camry 253045 Ford Taurus 245815 Honda Accord 230902 Honda Civic 199685 Ford Focus 175670 Chevrolet Cavalier 145519 Toyota Corolla 142335 Chevrolet Malibu 135126 Pontiac Grand Am 131097 Ford Mustang 113369 Saturn S 110389 Chevrolet Impala 107995 Pontiac Grand Prix 92364 Buick Century 91561 Dodge Intrepid 88028

20 Cars That Changed America
1896 Duryea Motor Van
1901 Oldsmobile Runabout
1908 Ford Model T
1912 Cadillac
1927 Ford Model A
1932 Ford Deluxe V-8
1936 Cord 810
1949 Volkswagen Beetle
1942 Jeep
1953 Ford F-100
 1954 Chevrolet Corvette
1958 Edsel
1959 Cadillac Eldorado
1960 Chevrolet Corvair
1964 Ford Mustang
1973 Honda Civic CVCC
1981 Chrysler K-Car (Plymouth Reliant, Dodge Aries)
1984 Jeep Cherokee
1984 Plymouth Voyager
1991 Saturn
California is the ninth largest automotive market in the world.
It is about the same size as the canadian market, larger than Australia & Brazil.

Links
Magazines / Periodicals
Motor Trend

Car and Driver
Clubs
America Automobile Association
California State Automobile Assoication
Car Buying
Online Info
Gas Saving Tips
California State Automobile Assoication
Womens Auto Help
Edmunds
Kelley Blue Book
National Automobile Dealers Association
Travel/Trip planning
www.ego.net
expedia.com
fodors.com
itravel.com
mapsonus
mapquest
previewtravel.com
randmcnally
travel
travelon
zip2
find a group of fans loyal to your car www.car-list.com, car-stuff.com, carforums.com, cartalk.com
Autoweb

www.autobytel.com
www.autoconnet.com
www.autoadvantage.com
www.autosite.com
www.autoweb.com
www.carpoint.com
www.carprices.com
www.cars.com
www.carsmart.com
www.cartalk.com
www.roadandtrack.com

Brands
GMC Brands Buik, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn. Affiliations : Saab, Isuzu, Suzuki
Ford Aston Martin, Ford Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar. Affiliations : Mazda, Kia, Volvo
Diamler-Crysler Crysler, Plymouth, Dedge, Jeep, Mercedez-Benz, pending Nissan
VolksWagen Audi, Wolkswagen, RollsRoyce, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini
ToyotaLexus & Toyota
Honda Acura & Honda
Nissan Infiniti & Nissan
BMWBMW & Land Rover
Ferrari
Hummer
Mitsubishi
Porsche
Subaru

=========== Auto page - www.speedtrap.com - list of us speed traps

Automotive eauto.com

Automobiles

www.dejanews.com

www.bluebook.com

www.edmounds.com

www.kbb.com

www.search.com

www.autoweb.com

www.carsafety.org

www.nhtsa.com www.iihs.org www.trip.com - flight tracker for domestic flights www.viamagazine.com

Published Friday, October 20, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News How to save money on gas With pump prices around $2 a gallon, you can reduce your bill by driving better and more efficiently, making more economical vehicle choices and, perhaps, joining a club. BY MATT NAUMAN Mercury News At least 2 million Americans are interested in saving money on gasoline. Obviously, the number is much larger than that. Who doesn't grimace or groan when confronted with pump prices around $2 a gallon? But 2 million is the number of people who joined the defunct portion of Priceline.com that promised savings on gas purchases. For them, and the rest of us, saving money on gasoline comes down to driving better and more efficiently, making more economical vehicle choices and, perhaps, joining a club. The average U.S. household spends more than $125 a month on gasoline, according to data put together by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Census Bureau. In its most recent monthly survey, the California State Automobile Association said Northern Californians are paying $1.95 a gallon for regular unleaded, down three cents from September but 46 cents higher than October 1999 -- and 40 cents above the national average. Regional prices range from $1.84 in Salinas to $2.10 in Lake Tahoe. San Jose drivers were paying $1.97. Here are some gas-saving (and money-saving) tips from experts: Make different choices I: You could take a bus, a train, a trolley, a ferry or some other public-transportation option. You could ride a bike or walk to work. You could form or join a carpool. Make different choices II: If you have two or more vehicles in your family fleet, drive the one that gets better gas mileage. That means choosing the Camry sedan instead of the Explorer sport-utility or, perhaps, the Civic compact instead of the Voyager minivan. You also could buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. The EPA fuel-economy charts elsewhere in today's Drive section -- you also can find them at www.fueleconomy.gov -- not only lets you know which vehicles offer the best mileage, they're a great way to check which vehicles in each category offer the best mileage. In combined city and highway driving, for instance, a Land Rover Discovery gets 15 mpg, a Jeep Cherokee gets 19 mpg and a Toyota RAV4 gets 25 mpg. All are sport-utilities and while they obviously offer different product attributes, the disparity in gas mileage is striking. Also, for the first time, buyers can choose hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Both the two-door Honda Insight and the four-door Toyota Prius offer the best mileage in their categories, provide very long driving ranges between fill-ups and never need external charging. Drive better: How you drive can radically affect your mileage. On its Web site, the Environmental Protection Agency suggests going easy on the brake and gas pedals and avoiding long idles at places such as drive-up windows and toll booths. ``Keep tires properly inflated,'' said Atle Erlingsson, a spokesman for the Automobile Association in San Francisco. ``That'll definitely increase your mpg.'' Other tips include carrying lighter loads in your trunk, using your air conditioner only when necessary and keeping your cars well-tuned and well-maintained. Drive slower: By avoiding higher speeds, your fuel economy will improve. Driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph will improve your mileage by about 15 percent, the EPA says. Think before you drive: Combine trips. Pack your errands into one trip. Consider online alternatives for banking, buying stamps and shopping for groceries. Choose the right gas: Unless your car's owner's manual -- or fuel-tank information label -- specifically calls for the more expensive, high-octane gas, you probably don't need it. If you're unsure, try a tank of regular unleaded and listen. If you don't hear pinging or knocking, then you're fine to use regular unleaded. Buy a product: Author Jack Gillis (``The Ultimate Car Book 2000,'' Harper Perennial, $19.95) notes that hundreds of products on the market claim to have fuel-economy benefits. ``Not only are most of these products ineffective, some may even damage your engine,'' he writes. In fact, he adds, only five products tested by the EPA have been shown to slightly improve fuel economy. And even these aren't worth buying, Gillis writes, because they cost more than the increase in fuel economy is worth. Join a club: Costco, the membership warehouse club, now has gas stations at 106 of its 235 locations in the United States. It plans to add 40 to 45 more gas stations each year, most of them at new warehouse locations. Members, who pay $45 a year to join, often save a dime or more a gallon when compared with neighborhood stations. ``What we tell them is that we give them the absolute best value that we can,'' said Paul Latham, vice president of gasoline for the Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco. ``We don't need to make as much per gallon to give us a decent return on the investment. That's the same as everything else in the building.'' Earlier this week, the Costco on Coleman Avenue in Santa Clara was charging $1.84 for regular gas and $2.03 for premium. The nearest station, a 76 on El Camino Real and Scott Boulevard, was charging $1.97 for regular, $2.07 for mid-grade and $2.17 for premium. It's ironic, Latham notes, that more members are buying Costco gas now, during a period of higher prices everywhere, because that's when Costco ``offers the least value in relation to the competitors in the market.'' A typical Costco station pumps out 500,000 gallons a month vs. 100,000 to 150,000 gallons at a typical neighborhood station. Considering the financial equation -- if you saved 10 cents a gallon and bought 10 gallons a week at Costco, it would take you nearly an entire year (45 weeks) to save enough to pay your membership fee -- Latham said he doubts people join Costco just to buy cheaper gas. ``We certainly don't promote gasoline as a sole reason to join,'' he said. For CarClub.com, cheaper gas is a big selling point. It promises its members will save 10 percent on gas purchases. (The savings falls to 5 percent on Jan. 1, 2001.) Members, who pay $5.99 a month, are issued a gas-discount credit card that they link with one of their personal credit cards. Then, either manually -- by adding $50 to what the site calls its member's gas filling station -- or automatically -- $50 might be added, for instance, every time the account gets below $30 -- members add money to their accounts to purchase gas. The club then subtracts the discount ($5 on $50 in our example) and you then can buy $50 worth of gas and you'll be charged $45 on your credit card. Since May, 65,000 people have joined CarClub.com. They've now saved more than $1 million on gas purchases, spokeswoman Ivy Cohen said. ``The gas discount is one of the key reasons consumers have joined,'' she said. Besides gas discounts, CarClub.com says its members can save on auto insurance, vehicle maintenance and repairs and when buying a new car. They also can get driving directions and advice from a mechanic. Recognizing an opportunity in the shut-down of Priceline's gas business, and a chance to bolster the reputation of e-commerce, Cohen said, CarClub.com is offering a month's free membership to the first 250,000 Priceline.com members who join between now and Dec. 31. Besides CarClub.com, several major oil companies offer discounts to users of their credit cards. ``It's very clear in the marketplace that high gas prices are here to stay, and that they're a thing of the future, not a thing of the past and not just a short-term incident,'' Cohen said.