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US Car Sales Shift Into High Gear In Q1

By Betty C. Morrow 2 weeks ago

The car buying craze is on. According to recent reports, consumers are snapping up new vehicles at pre-pandemic levels, as a  massive case of FOMO (fear of missing out) seems to be sweeping the entire commerce landscape.

Auto sales were up 8 percent in Q1, as vaccines continued to circulate and consumer confidence in an eventual return to normal began to tick up, leading to vehicle shortages that have only accelerated the buying binge, according to Bloomberg reports. According to researcher J.D. Power, retail deliveries are forecast to have reached 3.16 million vehicles during Q1, the second-highest total on record.

“There’s a little FOMO going on here, fear of missing out,” said Jeff Schuster, president of the Americas and global vehicle forecasting at researcher LMC Automotive. “Consumers have sacrificed on choice because the color combination or option combination they wanted wasn’t available,

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Car Insurance for High Risk Drivers in Kentucky

By Betty C. Morrow 2 weeks ago

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), accidents — including car accidents — are the fourth-leading cause of death in Kentucky. In fact, Kentucky ranks third in the entire United States for one of the most accident-prone states in the country. With such a high prevalence of automotive accidents occurring in the state, many Kentucky residents may find themselves on insurance carriers’ high-risk driver list, making it harder for them to obtain car insurance coverage.

Bankrate defines high-risk drivers as those who have either been found at-fault for causing an accident, have at least one speeding ticket, have a DUI conviction or have had a lapse in insurance coverage. Car insurance rates for high-risk drivers in Kentucky can be much higher than for drivers with a clean history; however, there are plenty of affordable options and actions that drivers can take to help reduce their monthly premium.

Rates for

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Car Buyers Move Online To Eliminate The Dealer Jerk-Around, Buyer Satisfaction Climbs to an All-Time High

By Betty C. Morrow 2 months ago


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)
Look How Happy He Is

Editor’s Note: Now what does this say about historic dealer antics…hmmm

Atlanta, Jan. 25, 2021 – There was a time when consumers rated the car-buying process roughly on par with a stubborn root canal. But those days are passing into the rearview mirror now, as auto dealers move more steps of the retail process online resulting in consumer satisfaction hitting an all-time high, according to the new Digitization of End-to-End Retailing (DoEER) study by Cox Automotive.

With buyers spending less time at dealerships and benefitting from more efficient, digital retailing processes, those who were “highly satisfied” with the overall shopping experience reached 72%, up from 60% in 2019. The average vehicle buyer now visits only 2 dealerships in the vehicle buying process, down from 2.7 in 2016.

“According to our data, car buyers have never been happier,” notes Cox Automotive Vice President of Research

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High Plains Boneyard Documented With TLR Cameras From 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

By Betty C. Morrow 2 months ago

During the last few years, I’ve been restoring film cameras of the 1890s through 1960s and using them to shoot the machinery at races and car graveyards. My favorite tools for this have been ancient box cameras from the early 20th century, and I’ve obtained some nice photos with these cameras at old-time junkyards in northeastern Colorado. The twin-lens reflex camera type is much more sophisticated than the cheapo box design, and I decided to take my three favorite TLRs to Speedway Auto Wrecking in Dacono, Colorado, during a blustery winter day last month. Here’s how it went.



The Twin-Lens Reflex camera was state-of-the-art in the middle of last century, and so were these cars.

© Murilee Martin
The Twin-Lens Reflex camera was state-of-the-art in the middle of last century, and so were these cars.



a sign hanging from a pole: Speedway Auto Wrecking sign

© Murilee Martin
Speedway Auto Wrecking sign

Speedway is a family-owned yard located in the farmland well northeast of Denver, and it specializes in American vehicles from the 1930s through

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