There are a number of gifts for the car enthusiast that are too neat to not consider. The following are personal favorites, or just too cool of an idea not to include!

1. Oil changer pump
   These little pumps will pump out the engine oil so you do not have to crawl under the car to pull the drain plug. Since many newer cars have the oil filter near the top of the engine, oil changes become easy. Just in case you are thinking that not all oil will be removed, you are correct. But the amount left is very small and if Mercedes dealers use these pumps, they are good enough for me. A couple of names are: Mityvac and Motive Power Exractors. These are not expensive. Most are in the 50 to 120 dollar range. Think of the savings on laundry alone!
2. Gloves
   Good automotive mechanic’s gloves are a great gift. They not only keep hands clean but also save knuckles from bruising and blood on the tools. Mechanix makes nice ones These run around 15 to 30 dollars.
3. Hoists
   If your budget is higher a car hoist may be an idea. These have become more reasonable and are available for $2000 and up. If you are still reading then you must be in love. Torin, Extreme Equipment and BendPak are selling them, among others.
4. Magazines
   Subscriptions to magazines like Hemmings, Road&Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend and numerous others make great gifts. Prices vary but, $20 to $35 should buy a year’s subscription.
5. Car polishes and cleaners
   The list here is endless. Care for the interior and exterior is almost always needed. Many manufacturers will package Christmas bundles of products at reduced prices. A good idea to buy and put away for later gifting! Prices:$5 to $50.
6. Garage organizers
   These can take the form of tool boxes, wall units, pegboard, shelves or racks. There are some very neat products out there and many come on sale. As an example clear plastic shoe boxes came up at a local store for a buck a piece. These are GREAT for storing nuts and bolts as well as small tools. They came with lids and so keep rust at bay in my garage.
7. Models
   Many car nuts would like to a model of the car they drive or the one they would love to drive. Check hobby stores and online. They run from $10 to hundreds of dollars.
8. Fantasy drives
   There are a number of offerings that allow a driver to sample driving dream cars. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette, Mercedes, Porsche, Viper and so on. Check a current copy of one of the car magazines for available offers. Prices vary vastly. Figure $500 and up.
9. Racing schools
   There are a number of racing schools that offer courses ranging form half day to week(s) in duration. Again prices vary vastly. Check online for a school close to you.
10. GPS
    For those who get lost and will not ask directions this is a great gift. Nice ones from Garmin that talk to you are now down as low as $150.
11. G Meters
    These little devices measure car performance. Acceleration, cornering and braking are given on the digital readout. These can be found online and at auto parts stores. A neat one is an application that you can download for your iPod or iPhone for about $15 instead of buying a stand alone unit for about a hundred or more.
12. Books, Posters and Videos
    Always a safe bet for car people. So many places to find these that no further explanation is needed.
13. Radar/Laser Detectors and Jammers
    If a lead foot and tickets are a problem then these will be on a wish list.  Beltronics and Escort are arguably the top two brands.

Happy shopping! (more…)

Tires are tires, right?  That’s what many people walk into their local tire store thinking, and often walk out paying hundreds more than they could have gotten the same tires for with a bit of planning.

When I needed tires, I called around all of the local tire stores first and was quoted from $220-250 per tire, plus mounting, balancing and other fees.  The total would be well over $1,000 for the set of tires I wanted.  Convinced that I could find a better deal, I turned to the internet and found a variety of tire stores advertising reasons to choose them over their competitors: “we have the best price, trust us” and “free lugs with every set of wheels” were some of the pitches that caused me to raise an eyebrow.

After reading quite a few reviews of tire stores online, one kept standing out as having repeat customers, which is a pretty good sign to me that the store has done it’s job right.  I checked out the website and found quite a bit more than just tire prices, I found honest reviews of the latest tires from Bridgestone, Pirelli, Hankook and others as well as ratings of tires from thousands of people who had driven on almost every tire out there, often for months before reviewing them.

In a twist of fate, the tires I had gone to the website to purchase ended up being rated fairly poorly, so I checked out the top rated tires in my segment and I’m glad I did – I ended up choosing a completely different manufacturer with better tread wear, noise and performance ratings, for the same price (well, within $10 anyway).

With the new tire in my cart, I proceeded to checkout - I was presented with options for which warehouse to ship the tires from, complete with estimates of how many days and how much shipping each would be. I liked that the total was shown up front, unlike some other stores which hide the taxes and levies until the very end. I chose to wait a bit longer to save another $30, but they ended up coming in just over a week to my house anyway - not bad considering the local shops were booked solid for two weeks.

In the end, I got my tires delivered to my door for about $400 cheaper than the best price I could find at a local shop - that savings includes state taxes, shipping, and having them mounted and balanced, so I really am comparing apples to apples here.

So who exactly is it that’s rated so highly and offers all this information with their übercheap prices?  Click here to find out, you can come back and thank me after.
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