Latest News From Bumper to Bumper Radio

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 28, 2015) – Due to declines in gas prices and finance charges, the annual cost to own and operate a vehicle has fallen to $8,698, a nearly 2 percent drop from last year, according to AAA’s 2015 Your Driving Costs study.  This research examines the cost of fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, license and registration fees, taxes, depreciation and finance charges associated with driving a typical sedan 15,000 miles annually. In the United States, a driver can expect to spend 58 cents for each mile driven, nearly $725 per month, to cover the fixed and variable costs associated with owning and operating a car in 2015.

CARSON, Calif., April 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- This month is National Distracted Driving Awareness month and, with more than 80% of people owning a smartphone1, the issue of in-car distraction is an increasing concern, so the experts at AutoMD.com are offering Top Ten Tips to help drivers keep their eyes on the road – and away from distractions.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 10 percent of fatal crashes, 18 percent of injury crashes, and 16 percent of all motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2013 were reported as distraction-affected crashes.2 The FCC has also reported that 11 percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 involved in an automobile accident (and survived) admitted they were sending or receiving texts at the time of the crash.3 It's statistics like these that make this month's Distracted Driving Awareness campaign by NHTSA so critical, and why AutoMD experts are chiming in to get the word out about distracted driving.

The best Arizona and most reliable car batteries for automobiles in the desert southwest of Arizona.The best time to learn about jump starting a battery is before you become stranded and need to know. These instructions should help you become familiar with the process. Once you've read through these instructions, print them and purchase a set of jumper cables. Then, keep these instructions and your jumper cables together somewhere in your vehicle or trunk, in the event you should ever need them.

The best Arizona and most reliable car batteries for automobiles in the desert southwest of Arizona.If you're wondering whether setting your automotive battery on concrete will cause it to discharge, wonder no longer. Today, the type of plastic (polypropylene) used in battery cases is a great electrical insulator. Also, tremendous technological improvements have been made in the seals around the battery posts and vent systems, which have virtually eliminated electrolyte seepage and migration. So, it's OK to set or store your battery on concrete. A battery's rate of discharge is only affected by its age, the temperature outside and the way the inside of the battery is made.

The best Arizona and most reliable car batteries for automobiles in the desert southwest of Arizona.

Date codes are engraved into the cover of each Interstate battery at the time the battery is shipped from the manufacturing plant. This is how you can tell the age of your battery.

Reading the date code on an Interstate 12-volt and 6-volt automotive, commercial or marine battery

With these types of batteries, you're looking for a four- or five-digit shipping date code engraved into the cover. This code can only be seen when looking down on the top of the battery. The code is not on the battery's label and it is not on the rim around the cover. The code is usually near one of the corners of the battery. This code tells when the battery was shipped from the factory to the local Interstate Battery wholesale distributor. The additional digits tell where the battery was made.

Bumper Audio Clip of the Week

Bumper to Bumper helps a listener who is having an intermittent electrical issue with her vehicle.