Tag: camry

BumpShox Protects Front Bumpers from Bad Drivers

BumpShox, Front Bumper Protection!

Do you hate it when bad drivers hit your bumper? Sooo annoying… especially if it's a brand new car!

BumpShox might be your solution. The BumpShox bumper protector is a relatively new foam-based automotive product that looks like a big oversized license plate holder (well it is), but it is a bumper protector. It fits in place of any standard license plate and can be installed easily on virtually any car.

I have been testing the BumpShox for awhile, on several vehicles. I liked using the BumpShox on all of our cars (a 2002 Toyota Camry, 1996 Honda Accord.) Not that it really adds to the look of the Camry or Accord, but it sure is a conversation starter when people notice it, point, and ask “Hey, what's that?”

However, one of the points of the The BumpShox is it's unobtrusive, small, and does not detract too much from the look of the car, at least when compared to other bumper protectors. Typically other bumper protectors or bumper guards will cover the whole bumper and are pretty damn ugly. What's the point of owning a Mustang if you can't enjoy the beautiful lines?

For the most part the BumpShox is not that noticeable. Once you get used to it, it's sort of a fun little addition to your car.

On one of my roadtrips, I parked my Accord in a large parking lot with a few cars. You would assume there was little use for a BumpShox in this situation. When I came out of the store, to my surprise someone had parked a tad to close to my car! The BumpShox was cushioning my car's bumper against a hideous Dodge Caliber.  (Who drives a Caliber anyway?)  I was quite pleased with this and the BumpShox saved me a a weekend of DIY bodywork, which probably would have come out with bad results.

So for protecting your front bumper against stupid and bad drivers, even in large parking lots, the BumpShox can work well.

Where the BumpShox supposedly really shines is in tight parallel parking spaces in cities. The only issue is that it is only going to protect your bumper when you are in the space or parking and moving forward to reposition your car.

Because the BumpShox is unobtrusive and small it won't protect the majority of your bumper at various angles when parking. Only slow front end taps will the foam cushion work.

For complete bumper protection, the BumpShox is not necessarily ideal. Of course larger bumper protectors that cover your whole bumper cost $150+. That's a lot to shell out! If you are tired of having bad drivers hit your beautiful bumper, the $35 bucks it costs to buy a BumpShox is probably a good investment. If you want to buy two, it will cost $60.

I can't guarantee that the BumpShox will work in all situations. For light front-end taps and bumper protection from bad drivers who can't park, even in a large parking lot, it did it's job well on my Accord. That's good enough for me! 🙂

Baltimore Auto Show Coverage with Pictures!

I am a bit late in posting these pictures of the Baltimore Auto Show, but better late than never.  The 2012 Baltimore Auto Show was not too much to brag about though.  There were considerably less cars this year and no luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Porsche. Baltimore being poor, I guess it isn't surprising they didn't show this year.  Also there were no exotic cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc.  Worst part of all, no tuner alley!  It was a big letdown compared to the Washington Auto Show.

While I love seeing the new models automakers are offering and what is in store for new year in the car world, I felt the recent Baltimore Auto Show showed how depressed the economy was.  Through the grapevine I heard the convention center tripled there rates, which explained most of it.  Even considering that the displays weren't anything to brag about and people were generally not having much fun it seemed.  It sort of felt like 2008 was happening in the all over again, but hey this is 2012.

I hope next year will reflect a more robust car market and economy.  Also hopefully the Convention Center will lower their rates!

 

Dirty Wheels? Try Griot’s Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner

It has been awhile since you have cleaned your car. I understand cleaning your vehicle is low on your To-Do list. When you finally do get around to cleaning your car though, you immediately notice you have black and dirty wheels. Don't you just hate that? Makes the car look a bit tired and old. You try to clean the front wheels of all that caked-on brake dust, to no avail. Man, that stuff is really on there! How do you get it off?

What you need to do is get some wheel cleaner that will help loosen that dirt and grime off those wheels, such as Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner. This product helps get off all that dirty and ugly brake dust off your cars wheels.

I got this wheel cleaner and it only took me a few minutes and a old car washing brush to use it.  Click on my pictures below and see the before and after.

Oh, yeah! Clean wheels make the car look a lot better, right? You can see how dirty the front wheels were compared to the back. That is because the front of the car experiences 70% of the braking force, therefore releasing more brake dust onto those wheels.

A few nice shots of the Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Spray Cleaner worked extremely well to get off the annoying brake dust. Now our Toyota Camry looks and feels better. So don't forgot to pick-up a bottle of wheel cleaner next time you want to do a really good job cleaning your car.