LemonFree.com Blog

When I was around 10 years old, cable TV came to the small western Canadian town I grew up in. For whatever reason all of the non-Canadian channels originated in Detroit.  It was quite the culture shock, coming from a small prairie town and seeing the news from Detroit.

In addition to the news, I got to see thousands of local Detroit advertisements.  The one I will always remember is… Mel Farr Superstar!!!  He was in the used car business. The commercials featured Mel Farr, wearing a cape, and flying around the world like Superman getting the best deals for people.  He must have been quite successful with his ad campaigns, as it seemed that nobody ran as many ads as Mel.  I actually found some of his ads on Youtube!

Thinking about Mel Farr led me to wonder how many car ads have a seen in my life? Thousands?  Tens of thousands?  Compared to how many cars I have bought… six.  The ratio of ads to purchases is really small.  Then it made me wonder, why did I buy the six cars that I did? Did Mel Farr influence me?  Was it the thousands of ads?

I would like to think that my decision making is rational, but it probably isn’t, and it probably doesn’t matter much.   And maybe Mel didn’t have an impact.  After all, I have never bought a car from a person wearing a cape!

It makes me wonder how 10 year olds today are being exposed to auto marketing. What influences them?  And what will influence them in the future? Whatever it is, I am sure it is something greatly different than Mel Farr Superstar!

7. Your car has more fumes coming out of it than a hair salon with 50% off perms.

6. Your total at the pumps is more than the net value of your vehicle.

5. The main connective material in your car is duct tape.

4. To get into your car you have to jiggle the handle and hip check the door just the right way.

3. The smell coming from the upholstery resembles the green steam coming from a garbage bin.

2. Your tape deck has had the same cassette stuck in it since 1991.

1. Your grandmother makes you park down the block so nobody sees your ‘eyesore’ near her flowers

1. Jump Start a Vehicle – because we all leave the lights on once and awhile. This is very easy to learn how to do and can save a trip from the tow truck.
2. Change a Tire – just in case your knight in shining armor all doesn’t show up on the side of the road when your tire blows out.
3. Replace Wiper Blades – this is so important for safety sake. When your wiper blades don’t work and you can’t see the car in front of you being able to pop by a parts store and pop a new one back on can save you a few bucks and from the car in the next lane that you didn’t see.
4. Add Windshield Washer Fluid – so easy to do and again so important for safety sake.
5. Cool off an Overheated Engine – being able to cool off your engine when steam starts pouring out from under your hood can save you from a large repair bill later on.

For other great resources and easy how to guides on how to perform these basic car care functions check out http://www.carsforgirls.com/index.php/guides/