You’ve taken the plunge and decided to buy a Mini Cooper. Congratulations! You’ll love it. The only question is what model do you go with? If you are choosing between the basic model and the “S” version, you should understand there is an issue with the spare tire.

The basic Mini Cooper is a normally aspirated engine. The car handles like a go kart, but doesn’t have a lot of get up and go. Those of us looking for more pep in our car will go with either the “S” version or the John Cooper Works upgrade. The “S” is most popular because it runs a few grand more and provides turbo power. The John Cooper Works upgrade provide a lot more pep, but the cost is prohibitive. Most people choose between the base model and “S” because of this.

The Mini is known for its unique character. One aspect you need to be aware of involves the spare tire. The base model has one up under the rear of the car. The “S” version, however, does not have a spare tire. None. Nada. Instead, it runs on a set of run flat tires. As the name suggests, these tires will “run flat” for 50 miles or so, which gives you plenty of time to find a tire store. Why the difference between the car models? Mini was apparently trying to save weight. The less weight, the faster the car.

Drivers tend to love or hate the run flat tires. I fall firmly in the hate department. Driving a Mini is all about speeding up when going around corners. The run flat tires feel like you are driving on something unstable that is often described as marbles. Even worse, these babies cost a pretty penny. You can easily end up spending $1,000 to $1,300 at a tire store getting replacements. That’s a lot of mulla for a $25,000 car.

Those of us Mini drivers that hate the run flat tires usually replace them with “real” ones. This makes for a better ride, but also comes with its own set of problems. The first is you don’t have a spare, so what do you do if you get a flat? You can buy a spare rim and emergency tire for well over $200, but then you have a second problem. The powers that be at Mini designed the exhaust on the “S” to run down the center of the car instead of off to the side as with the base model. This effectively means there is nowhere to mount the spare under the rear of the car as with the base model!

So, what do you do? Some people simply create a mount for the spare behind the rear seats. Others, like me, just buy a can of instant flat fix that is sprayed into the tire through the air nozzle. This tends to ruin the tire, but getting an entirely new one is still cheaper than buying the temporary spare or a run flat tire.

So, should you buy the base model or the “S”? Well, most feel the improved power that comes with the “S” is worth every penny. If you go this direction, just make sure you give some thought to the tire issue.

If you want a culture that promotes profits and innovation, then stop focusing on the “star” system or “top-down” command. What works is “community.” – Kimberly Weisul, January 3, 2011.

In these tough times we are seeing many dealerships grasping for growth strategy straws that in the long run will prove counter productive to their growth. Select negative retail issues for many revolve around;

• Inflexibility in understanding how digital fits into the direct sales equation and the maintenance and building of continued customer relationships,
• Allowing inflexible closed looped CRM data services to impede/dictate customer relationships at the expense of common sense sales contact processes and intuition,
• Unaggressive approaches to the basics of vehicle selling brought by loss of employment fears and the safety of old ways,
• Grand fathered employees from previous ownership that impede the timely and efficient flow of internal sales and delivery processes,
• Dealership unionization
• Retail management that places more importance on micro managed witch hunts and blame placing rather than providing real solutions to process and personnel issues and errors.
• Unchanged and counter productive retail operational assumptions and a lack of vision about new retail business practices which negatively impact retail growth,
• Lack of dealer wide integrated pay plans which result in lack of shared success.

In many cases these negative issues and management styles lead to mentally crippled and dysfunctional employees, a shut down staff, which exacerbate the lack of customer orientation in all tasks performed. Dealer ship use of countermeasures that appeal to people’s sense of fear, writing another procedure (or adding to existing ones), disciplinary measures, threat of litigation, retraining, naming, blaming, and shaming is emotionally more satisfying that blaming the institution or process.

Key performance indicators and retail goals are relatively easy to set. But harnessing the limited inside and contracted outside talent to move beyond individual chimneys will become a major impediment to real retail growth solutions. Middle managers often are the most threatened and can do the most to undermine new initiatives. This group usually requires special education and training for without their taking ownership, change efforts are doomed. Although the sales dollar volume is large, dealerships really are small businesses that require solutions that are affordable and capable of being implemented.

Common Causes for Lack of Retail Growth

This following is a list of common causes for dealerships failing to improve. They often require custom solutions to move in a positive direction:

• Poor employee climates (high to low turnover)
• Inconsistent processes (no documentation to consistent execution),
• Poor financial management (Low ROI/ROA to high ROI/ROA),
• Lack of direction (no plans to goals attained),
• Ineffective leadership (autocratic management to team/coaching).

Key retail indicators/goals and metric sources for the above might include:

1. Employee Enthusiasm through employee surveys,
2. Continuous Improvement through observation, documentation and measured improvement,
3. Profit through financial statements,
4. Market Share through manufacturer data,
5. Customer Satisfaction through manufacturers surveys

But, in order to build a successful organization, we believe that you must start with the proper raw materials for success which include; strong desire to improve, open to new ideas and a willingness to learn. Of the three, we believe a willingness to learn is the key to sustainable improvement. In order to find solutions to common causes of retail growth abuse it is important to understand that each dealership is unique.

Therefore, the following partial list of retail solutions will change in importance based on each unique retail situation. But, they provide some very critical success factors that most dealers will find appropriate.

Solutions:

1. Poor employee climates(high to low turnover) – compensation plans, departmental communications, employee relations, spiff incentive programs, and of secondary impact; technical apprentice programs, monthly performance summaries, service adviser training, parts counter man training, service parts body mgr. training.
2. Inconsistent processes (no documentation to consistent execution) – customer retention, work flow, paper flow, dispatch procedures, estimate training, paint and materials control, production, inventory setups, special order parts procedures, reconditioning shop setups, dispatching systems, monthly performance summaries, warranty procedures.
3. Poor financial management (Low ROI/ROA to high ROI/ROA) – fixed ops performance analysis, compensation plans, customer retention…

To start with, you could get seat covers. They are not only cool, but practical too. They help you make sure that the seats of your car are kept clean, and are well preserved. There various sizes one could buy; standard or custom. There are different types of materials, and each provides different levels of protection in different areas. Dependent on the material you choose, as to the choice of designs available for you to choose from. In total, there are over 4,000 different car seat designs!

Dashboard covers are another type of car interior accessories that you could get. These will always be custom made as dashboards are unique to the car. They prevent the sun’s glare being reflected into your eyes as you drive – an enormous safety hazard as this could affect your vision whilst driving. It also stops the dashboard from overheating and therefore affecting the interior workings of the car. Whilst there aren’t so many designs available for you to choose from when it comes to dashboards, but there are still a choice of colors. In any case, a dashboard always gives the car a more classy image.

As with most accessories, the choice is huge. There are different materials; rubber, carpet, or a combination of both. What is important to realize when choosing car floor mats, is not only to go for the best, but the best for you. If your a posh business man, the chance of you making loads of mess is unlikely and therefore you might choose to go for carpet floor mats which have a more upper class look. However if you have a family car, with kids trooping in every day, waterproof is an absolute essential.

Steering wheels are known more for their funky side than for their practicality, and this is wrong. Just because the only steering wheel covers you notice are the hot pink furry ones, doesn’t mean they’re the only type that exists. There are many different materials for steering wheels, such as leather, vinyl, plastic, wool, suede, and many more. Again, each serve different purposes because of the type of protection and image they provide. It is important to get a steering wheel as in the heat, the steering wheel could get so hot it could burn the skin. In addition, as you drive in the heat, you can loose grip of the steering wheel due, to sweaty, sliding hands. And in the winter, the steering wheel could crack due to the extreme cold temperatures. So it is very practical to get a steering wheel cover when doing up your car interiors.

There are several issues when installing car radios. Here I will be writing about dashboard mounting issues. Yes, they won’t stop your car radio from playing. However, they are important because not handling them the way you should can mess up your car’s dashboard – altering your car’s interior integrated look negatively.

The majority of cars have a standard size radio and radio aperture (the opening in the dash where you mount the radio). This is known as (DIN) and is the standard size of radio apertures. This makes the installation of new radios a lot easier.

However, many newer cars have radios that are integrated into the dash meaning that when the radio is removed you will actually remove part of what looks like the dash, or at least the shape of the dash will leave a non standard radio aperture.

So in order for you to install a standard size radio (DIN) you will need to fit a fascia adaptor that will reduce the hole to (DIN) size, reproduce the original look and, at the same time, accommodate your new radio.

What if you choose not to use a fascia adaptor?

The hole created by the part of the “dash” that went off with your old radio will leave an unsightly space in your car’s dashboard. And why would anyone do such a thing? If you could afford to change your radio, buying a fascia adaptor to round up a good thing is certainly not too much.

When working on any old car, you will probably need to repair or replace the dashboard as part of a custom auto interior upgrade. It is one area of every vehicle that gets a lot of abuse either from the sun coming through the windscreen or hot air from the heater. This can cause cracking in the surface and depending on how bad the damage is you may need to replace the entire dash rather than just repair the cracks. If you have a friend to help, it will make life much easier.

Before you complete any custom auto interior work on a car, you should always disconnect the battery. You do not want any nasty accidents. You will then have to remove everything you can i.e. the steering wheel, glove box, instrument cluster and any screws you can see.

Go slowly and carefully when removing the dashboard as it may still be attached by some screws you missed. Taking care not to damage anything now will make your job easier in the long run. A flathead screwdriver will help you to complete the job.

You will need to remove the VIN tag (vehicle identification number) from the old dash as it must be displayed on the new one. Fit the new piece into the car by reusing the existing brackets and screws. You may need some new ones if the old ones are damaged.

Refit the pieces you removed earlier i.e. the instrument box and steering wheel. Finally, re-connect the battery to make sure everything works properly i.e. lights, radio etc.

If there are only small cracks, you may not have to replace the whole dashboard. You may be able to repair the existing one using a special kit. You will need to paint over the entire surface when you have finished but to be honest this technique only works on very minor cracks.

Although it appears like more work it is often easier to just replace the dashboard than to try and repair it when performing custom auto interior work.

A few years back I attended a conference of the American Student Medical Association and was shocked to learn that on a hot day, there are chemicals that can come out of certain plastics that you might say try their darndest to make everyone (men and women) more womanly.  You might think I’m joking, but I’m not.

One of the sessions at the conference which left a lasting impact on me was presented by two epidemiologists (a man and a woman).  The puzzle these two doctors had chosen to try to solve was why the average of girls developing breasts was changing over time. It wasn’t changing a little, it was changing a lot.. I remember that when I was in 6th grade, about half the girls in my class had noticeably started to develop breasts. I was shocked to learn in the epidemiologists’ presentation that if I were in grade school now, I would be observing the same thing in third grade. ”Third Grade?!” I couldn’t believe it. But apparently this was really happening, and had been happening for a while, and there was a theory that the cause was a class of chemicals called phthalates.

Phthalates are used (among other things) to make vinyl (technically PVC – Poly Vinyl Chloride), which is hard and brittle in its pure form (like and old vinyl record or a PVC drain pipe) more soft and flexible, so it can be used for applications like upholstery covering, flooring, and shower curtains. The epidemiologists explained that when phthalates enter the body, they get into the bloodstream and act as estrogen precursors, signaling the body to produce more estrogen.  Estrogen has the effect of making both men and women “more womanly”.

When vinyl gets heated up (for instance, by the sun shining on it), some of the phthalates come out and become airborne, and people can inhale them. As children inhale them, it changes the balance of estrogen in their bodies, causing girls to grow breasts earlier. For years, doctors had been concerned about this and had been requesting regulations on the auto industry to reduce the use of vinyl in car interiors. Congress ignored these requests, until a correlated effect on men’s sperm count was found.

The epidemiologists showed a slide which include two graphs, side-by-side. The graph on the left was the average age of onset of puberty (age at which girls start noticeably growing breasts) of girls in the US, versus the calendar year.   The age was about 12 throughout history until 35 years ago or so, when it started decreasing. The decreasing was steep for a while and then the curve showed signs of leveling off at an asymptote. The projected asymptote (if no changes were made in society’s use of vinyl) would be that in the future the average girls would start developing breasts at age 6 or 7.

The study that showed the decreasing age at which girls were developing breasts had not convinced congress to act. The second graph had. The second graph showed sperm density of the average 30-year-old man in the United States, versus the calendar year. That graph had also been flat until about 35 years ago, when it started to ramp down. It continued to ramp down through 1997, almost perfectly linearly, with no signs of an asymptote. If that graph had been projected 15 years into the future, half the 30-year-old men in the United States would be sterile.

While congress had decided it didn’t mind if all the 9-year-old girls had boobs, it certainly minded if half the men in the country became sterile, so some regulations got passed, and slowly the use of vinyl in car interiors has decreased, but there are still plenty of vinyl floors, and plenty of vinyl shower curtains.   So if you are a man and you buy a new vinyl shower curtain and you notice that “new vinyl smell”, beware, your shower curtain is actually creating estrogen in your body and turning you into a girly man.  Likewise, if you notice a hazy thin oily film inside your car windshield after some hot summer days, that’s most likely dioctyl phthalate, an estrogen precursor.

So what can you do in the modern world to maintain your reproductive health and keep from turning into a girly-man? If you have a car with vinyl seats or dashboard, when you are going to get into the car on a hot day, open the doors for a minute and let the vaporized phthalates escape before you climb in and breathe them. Don’t buy vinyl shower curtains, buy the woven polypropylene ones (they cost a little more, but they have that added advantage that they can be washed in a washing machine). And lastly, don’t buy vinyl flooring or vinyl-upholstered home furniture, unless you can verify that it has been made without phthalates.

Having a quality dashboard cover is necessary to protect your car dashboards. The dash covers come in a variety of designs, brands, rates, and other features. However, majority of car dash covers are made of two principal materials: Poly carpet and the Velour.

Because of the perfection the velour dashboards are made with, the popularity of these is ever growing. What are these parameters that make Velour car dash covers so hot? The Velour custom car dashboard covers are made by employing the best quality polyester foam backed fabric.

Besides the materials used in Velour dashboard covers, the manufacturers of repute use latest technologies that result in effective and eye-catching finishing. Usually produced for high end and luxury vehicles, Velour car dash covers are available in wide range of color options as well.

The secret behind such an elegant look and appeal is in its manufacturing process. The designer Velour car dashboard covers are made of foam backed velour stuff. This fabric meets all the safety standards of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 302).

The material has anti-fading and anti-shrinking qualities and is dirt proof. The softness of the fabric provides humble touch to your car dashboard and reflects soft touch and feel to the car interiors. The material also has effective breathability as well as heat insulating abilities. Because of these qualities, the Velour dashboard covers are not easily damaged by air pollutants.

Car dashboard covers are good for human skin, it produce pleasant odors, and goes better with the sun light. There are several other aspects such as it’s easy to handle features-it’s easy to clean, dries quickly, and easy to pack.

The car dashboard covers offer mildew resistant, fire resistant, abrasion resistant, and water repellent properties. All these factors result in longer life with enhanced effectiveness.

The custom Velour car dashboard covers are the best for quality conscious people. These are available with designer prints as well. With Velour dashboard covers for cars, you can custom made your name, get embroidered logos, and incorporate other specific factors.

Since these are made using advanced CAD technology, the Velour car dashboard covers can handle three aspects at a time: Dashboard protection, allow the perfect functioning of dashboards, and enhance the look of car interiors. So, get the Velour car dashboard covers and kill all the birds with a single shot.

A car GPS system provides fast and accurate arrival. That makes travel more efficient and safer. That saves fuel, pay for itself, because it goes to its destination via the shortest route. Also indicated in the corners to do. Although the primary purpose of a GPS unit with you to achieve your goal, most GPS devices offer several options for easier navigation. These options include Bluetooth, voice recognition, touch screen, spoken street names, the prediction data acquisition, real-time data traffic, routing options and more. You can use a portable GPS device also use one vehicle to another or on foot.

If you have a car GPS system, you can be sure that you never lose again. It has a map database that sufficient data on roads and highways in the stores. Provides information about speed limits on certain streets, street names and numbers, details of the highway ramps and other information that you need. Car GPS Sytem save millions of Points of Interest (POIs) to help restaurants, hotels, gas stations, ATMs and other facilities. Point of interest often contain telephone numbers of the devices. You can search for a POI near your current location, or you can for those in another area. Once you find the restaurant where you want to eat or a hotel stay, car GPS calculates the route to get there.

There are many benefits of car GPS systems. Modern GPS units are suitable for the use of GPS devices years ago. They even say how long it come around to your destination and will provide all the information you need to travel. GPS units is $ 50 to $ 800 depending on make and model at a price. Of course, GPS functions on the car is, how expensive it is.

Start by vacuuming the dashboard just like you would your mats inside your car. Shop vacuums work great for this. Then, look closely on the dashboard and see if all the dirt was picked up. If there is still some dust there, use a toothbrush, soft cloth, or a cotton swab to remove any of the extra dirt that is floating around. Next, you should wipe down the dashboard starting at one side and onto the other using a damp cotton cloth, or any cloth that is available on hand. Spills that happen on a dashboard may need an interior auto cleaner to remove the stain completely. Make sure you follow the directions on the auto interior cleaner for good cleaning. Then, you should dry the dashboard off with a clean lint free cloth. If your car is exposed to sunlight a lot an lots of dirt and dust particles, you should apply a protective coating on the dash to make sure it stays clean.

While cleaning, a tip to keep in mind is to not use any interior cleaner that contains alcohol or any other type of abrasive cleaner. Once you have completed these above steps your dashboard should be shiny, clean and looking good!

Now a days interior modification of the car has really grabbed the attention of the car enthusiasts and they are showing up with different innovations almost every day. The reason is simple. More innovations in the car’s interior materials. Car interior is a wide terminology but I will, for the sake of simplicity, stick myself to the car dashboard.

Obviously the first thing of the car interior which comes into notice is the dashboard bearing lots of panels and slots and if job well done, one can really impress his mate by the help of some cool dashboard styling tips. Luckily for the car modifiers, the automotive industry has moved far from that same old fashioned, boring standard plastic. Many types of material like leather, carbon fiber, fur e.t.c are available for dashboard styling. So giving your dashboard a new look is no more difficult. Only your creativity is the limit.

I will be discussing some cool car dashboard styling tips which will be proved helpful in gaining you an extra edge among your peers. First of all complimenting your overall car theme is extremely important. Even the brand reputation of your car is important. For instance if you own a luxury car, motor sport style interior will not be suitable for your car and vice versa, of course!

Modifying or adding new gauges in your dashboard is really helpful. Wide variety of gauges and different meters are available. Even you don’t have to integrate different gauges one by one as the whole complete set of digital dashboards are available making this modification job even more easy. Gauges are helpful in monitoring oil pressure, voltages, temperature e.t.c but don’t get carried away with them and start unnecessarily adding them into your dashboard or you will end up in giving your car a “spaceship look”.

After adding gauges divert your attention towards the steering wheel. New sporty small diameter steering wheel will enhance your sporty looks provided if you are willing to give a sporty look or different varieties are available. The choice is yours. Drilled aluminum pedals are in now a days for accelerators and brakes however even more varieties are available with wider foot prints. Complement the gear knob with dashboard and gauges. Remember being haphazard will ruin your hard work. Always stay consistent to one decided theme.

When modifying the gauges, the standard, factory fitted gauges can be removed by removing the instrument panel. However few cars would require complete disintegration of the dashboard to install these gauges. In most cases the companies provide with the new gauges, complete kits to replace the old one. White backgrounds are preferred in most cases as they are popular and when the dashboard illumination goes on at the night it helps in glowing, the numbers of the gauges and amazingly itself goes darker giving a really clear look to your gauges to the outsiders and as a whole real cool look to the dashboard.