Smart Car Shopping
So, you want to buy a new car. You know you are likely to own it for at least 7 years or longer. That’s pretty typical these days. So, you not only want to get the best deal today, you also want to make sure it remains a smart choice for many miles and years ahead. Our FYI reporter Lauren Morrison knows the ins and outs of smart car buying, and she’s up next to give us the lowdown.
LAUREN MORRISION: Today’s savvy car buyers know that spending quality time online, researching models, specs and prices...
... ”will save time and money here, on the dealership lot. Doing your homework ahead of time is key, and there are plenty of shopping tools available to help guide your decision.”
Stephen Dupal and his fiancee Sherryn Daniel are in the market for a small, economical commuter car to replace Stephen’s aging Corolla. Before heading to commercial web pages for option packages and pricing info, several federal government sites helped narrow their search in the areas of fuel economy, safety and alternative fuels, three of their key parameters.
The joint Department of Energy and EPA Fuel Economy website provides convenient, one stop shopping for everything most buyers will ever want to know about maximizing mpg in their next car.
Here, consumers can compare up to four different vehicles at a time, and their fuel economy ratings, energy and environment scores, basic engine and transmission size, driving range, and annual fuel costs, along with real-world fuel consumption data provided by actual owners. The web-site had over 25 million user sessions last year!
STEPHEN DUPAL: I like to have like those charts and plots and graphs to kind of compare things in a numerical basis so I know what I’m looking for and then I can verify..oh yes, this car will have what I need based on these metrics..
LAUREN MORRISION: Other useful content on the website, and free fuel economy mobile app, includes driving and maintenance tips to help you get the most out of your vehicle, easy-to-understand descriptions of new vehicle technology, information about available tax incentives for advanced-technology vehicles, trip calculators, and more!
In the area of safety, you can start with the government’s “safercar” website (safercar.gov) for how a car fares in mandated crash testing and rollover ratings. The site spells out which vehicles go beyond requirements, and have cutting edge safety technology.
SHERRYN DANIEL: What I like about the safercar website is there’s just so many little applications, where all we have to do is enter the make and the model of the car, and we can see if it was recalled, we can look for certain safety features, I even learned about rollover that this is the most lethal type of car accident and that with the best type of car, you can prevent damage.
LAUREN MORRISION: But, you’re a consumer or a fleet manager that is up to date... Maybe even ahead of the crowd. So, perhaps a plug-in hybrid or even full electric car fits your lifestyle or business. Or, a vehicle that runs on another non-traditional fuel like e85, bio-diesel, natural gas, propane, or even hydrogen.
Now, you need to know not only the specs, but the pros and cons, and practicality of each fuel. Well, for that, more than 1.5 million users a year check out the Energy Department’s “Alternative Fuels Data Center” website (afdc.energy.gov).
The afdc website and alt-fuel app are designed to eliminate your confusion over the various types of alternative fuels and their vehicles. And now that plug-in and alt-fuel vehicles are being sold with ever increasing range, the website’s fueling station database is enjoying increasing popularity as well.
SHERRYN DANIEL: …there’s this link where you can just type in your state so, if we bought like a hybrid, or a car that uses natural gas or something like that, we can look up stations nearby ahead of time when we travel.
LAUREN MORRISION: The end game in all this is to be the best informed new car shopper you can possibly be. And ultimately, to buy or lease a new car, SUV, or truck, you can live with today, and way into the future. These commercial-free, dot-gov websites can help you to avoid costly mistakes and surprises, before and after you visit the dealership.
Modifying Your Car with AI
A cutting-edge app is reinventing how car enthusiasts can more easily achieve their specific design goals. No more searching for that specific custom part, when the app’s artificial intelligence can find it in seconds. Well, our Stephanie Hart has the details on how “Mia” could ultimately open up the car-enthusiast lifestyle to almost everyone.
STEPHANIE HART: The new MOTORMIA app helps people build their dream car, essentially in seconds, with the help of AI. This car was built using the help of the AI, named Mia, who suggested modifications be made to the handling. Okay, let’s take it out on the road and see how it feels.
Not bad at all. In the driver’s seat is Isaac Bunick, the Chief Enthusiast Officer of MOTORMIA. He founded the company in 2023, naming it after his daughter, Mia, who helped inspire him. Two years later the MOTORMIA APP officially launched. Today, there are more than half a million people who have visited the MOTORMIA platform, according to Isaac, and each month tens of thousands download the app.
ISSAC BUNICK: With every incremental user that jumps to the platform she’s basically getting more and more exposure to different cars and, in real time, learning about those cars, trying to help you identify different ways to experience your car.
STEPHANIE HART: After downloading the free app, here’s how it works.
ISSAC BUNICK: You add the car to your collection, Mia will bring to the table a picture of the car, the factory specifications of the car, and then you interact with Mia and get answers on how you can personalize that vehicle for different objectives, whether it’s performance or appearance.
STEPHANIE HART: Mia is trained to rationalize just like a car enthusiast.
ISSAC BUNICK: She returns what she calls Mia’s favorites, which is basically the combination of real-world evidence and enthusiasts’ consensus and social proof, together with fitment information, that gives you the ultimate answer.
STEPHANIE HART: Very cool tech. With Mia’s help, enthusiasts can even discover where to buy the parts Mia recommends, resulting in heightened visibility for manufacturers and service providers.
ISSAC BUNICK: She will tell you, okay, these are the top three exhausts that enthusiasts who own a Honda Civic like to install. She will click it, you’ll click it and you will see where you can get that exhaust from, you’ll see what it looks like, what it costs, and if you want to add it to your build, then you can add it to your build and see what the impact would be to the vehicle just like you would in a video game like in Gran Turismo.
STEPHANIE HART: Eventually users will be able to make purchases directly in the app. One day Mia will even be able to help car enthusiasts master DIY repairs and recommend auto repair and body shops. Until then, car enthusiasts are making the most of this revolutionary experience.
KALEB GORDON JETTIE: The MOTORMIA app helped me, especially on this wheel here figuring out which size would and wouldn’t rub, as well as the brake pads because we had to redo the brakes. It also helped me plan for future builds for the rest of the truck.
STEPHANIE HART: Consequently, the app is connecting generations by preserving and passing down automotive expertise.
ISSAC BUNICK: When it comes to the older generation they have a lot of tribal knowledge that isn’t institutionalized in any single way and it’s spread across the web. AI allows us to institutionalize that knowledge and transfer it to the newer generations that just want the answers quickly.
STEPHANIE HART: About one-third of the U.S. population is a classified car enthusiast, but MOTORMIA believes the definition of a car enthusiast is gradually shifting as we start to share our roads with autonomous vehicles.
ISSAC BUNICK: AI is taking the role right now of putting the driver in the passenger seat. Over time most of our transactional driving will be fully automated by a robot. We believe at that moment in time, the car enthusiast lifestyle will be universal. Everybody in America will probably keep some sort of moving vehicle in their homes to enjoy on the weekend for the thrill of driving.
STEPHANIE HART: Pretty mind blowing to think about. If and when that happens, a new breed of car enthusiasts will emerge.
ISSAC BUNICK: Over time, we hope the technology will just close the gap between the anxiety of thinking of becoming a car enthusiast and actually becoming a car enthusiast. There are millions of mods that have been put on cars virtually that represent enthusiasts’ dreams. People have a very strong affinity for this lifestyle and for the joy of being able to simulate their dreams and ultimately carry out their dreams on their cars.