Safety First - 4 Tips to Staying Safe Behind the Wheel

Safety First at the Uftring Auto Group

In this day and age, life moves faster and faster. And, so do we. With national speed limits increasing, cell phones becoming more of a priority, and fickle road conditions, the importance of safety has become all the more prevalent. Here are 4 tips to staying safe behind the wheel. 

#1 - Turn Off/Put Away Your Cell Phone

Why is this the #1 tip on the list? Because it's hands down most important. According to the National Safety Council, cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million car accidents a year. Think about what you do on your cell phone on a day-to-day basis. Is it really more important than getting to your destination safely? Probably not. And if you drive for work, simply link up your phone to hands-free bluetooth. By taking away today's biggest distraction when you're behind the wheel, you are making the roads safer for you and everyone around you.

#2 - Always Wear Your Seat Belt

Whether you're driving two miles or two states over, you should ALWAYS wear your seat belt. Nearly 50% of injuries or deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents could be avoided by simply strapping yourself in. You never know what's going to happen on the road. Make it a habit before you even start your car to put your seat belt on. 

#3 - Don't Speed 

Have you ever passed someone on a city street and then ended up next to them just two intersections ahead? How silly did you feel? Speeding really gets you nowhere. You run the risk of getting a ticket, losing your license, and even getting into a fatal car accident. The faster you move, the harder the hit. Remember that! Speeding is like fighting: it has never solved anything. Make sure you follow the speed limit, pass when you have to, and continue at a safe pace. 

#4 - Focus on the Road and the Road Only

There are many distractions in our everyday lives that we don't even realize stop us in our tracks. Whether it's your breakfast on the go, your lipstick that needs applied, or that one email you need to send on the way to work, it can wait! FOCUS on getting to where you're going. If you look down for even a second, you are putting everyone around you at risk, including yourself. Now, if you have a passenger with you, it's fine to carry on a conversation. Just make sure you know what's most important at that time.  

When you're behind the wheel, safety is the #1 priority! Remember to always use caution, be mindful of your surroundings, and to not get distracted. For more information, or to schedule service or shop, visit our website at www.uftringautogroup.com, or stop by one of our eight locations. Stay safe out there! 

Buying Your First Car

One of our newest members to the Uftring Auto Group tackles the world of car shopping

My name is Alyssa Reginetz and I have been working in the Marketing Department at Uftring for about a month and a half.
I'm 22 and the only car I've ever owned was a '98 red Ford Contour I've been sharing with my identical twin since we were 17. Currently sole custody of the Ford has been granted to my sister so I've been using my fiance's 2004 Chevy Malibu, while he finishes his last semester at Bradley University.With his graduation right around the corner, however, we know we need a new car.

This is going to be our first together so we've been doing heavy duty research on cars for the past month. There is A LOT of info out there and choices so my first word of advice would be to figure out your needs in a car, match them with a few models and then start more in depth research.

Our criteria helped to cut our options a little so we took a weekend to go to the Automall and the Nissan store to test drive a few cars. We went online to browse some inventory options and picked out a few cars we liked BEFORE getting to the lot. If we hadn't done that we probably would have wondered those lots for hours.

At the Automall we drove a new Ford Focus and a used Suzuki SX4. Test driving really helped to see the difference in the two cars. The SX4 was a little louder with more head room, testier gas and breaks, better upgrades (there was a space for your Garmin!) and less blind spots. The Focus was so quiet, drove smoother, had impressive breaks but stiffer steering. It really depends on what you're looking for but I was pretty much ready to buy the Focus after the drive. My fiance isn't quite as spontaneous as I am and he talked me into going to Nissan.

At the Nissan store we saw two really nice Sentras and a nice older Altima with tons of upgrades. The two drove about the same but the Altima had much better upgrades. Even so we liked the Sentra more because of it spaciousness, price and unique features. There was a little pop out garbage can and the cup holders swiveled so that you could make room for bigger cups. It also only has only 30,000 miles and gets about 34 mpg.

We've decided the Sentra is the car for us but we didn't do one important thing-get pre-approved. I thought the process would be quick and painless-we have great credit and a good amount of money in the bank-but we've been waiting now for two days to get some sort of approval.

Lucky for us the Nissan store is handling all the negotiations for us and were the ones to find us some rebates for new grads. (Recent/Upcoming grads should really check out the recent grad financing option on New Nissans). Almost all the manufacturers have programs or rebates so DO YOUR RESEARCH.

We hope to hear from the lenders tomorrow and to own our first car soon so wish us luck! If you have any tips or suggestions post them here.

Alyssa

4 Subarus are 2009 Top Safety Picks

Subaru of America, Inc. announced today that four of its 2009 models have been named a 2009 'Top Safety Pick' by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The following vehicles each earned a 2009 'Top Safety Pick' in their category: Subaru Legacy for Mid-size Sedan, Subaru Impreza for Small Cars, Subaru Tribeca for Mid-size SUV and Subaru Forester for Small SUV. This is good news for customers in Central Illinois. Uftring Subaru has recently requested an additional allocation of new 2010 Subarus because of increased customer interest.

"We are extremely excited about Subaru's recognition as a Top Safety Pick. Central Illinois wants to buy Subarus and this is one of the many reasons why," said Gary Uftring, President of Uftring Subaru in East Peoria. "Subaru's recent products and success as a franchise have made it necessary for us to order additional inventory. The demand has begun to outpace our supply - in large part because all of the new products are tremendously successful."

'Top Safety Pick' recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners are also required have to have electronic stability control (ESC), which research shows significantly reduces crash risk.
"It is not a surprise that Subaru has again received 'Top Safety Pick' awards for its vehicles," says Institute President, Adrian Lund. "Subaru is a standout for 2009 because it has at least one Top Safety Pick in every vehicle class in which it competes. The Top Safety Pick awards speak to the commitment Subaru makes to produce safer vehicles."