by Gabrielle DeSantis

Driving an RV can make for an exciting summer adventure, and there are plenty of scenic drives worth taking across the country. While RV safety is a mixture of traveling safety and vehicle safety, there are a lot of smaller aspects that many drivers and passengers get about. If you’re looking to head out on the ultimate summer road trip, keep these things in mind to ensure you’re RV is prepared so that you can have a safe and stress-free drive.

Stay on top of RV maintainence — even the small stuff

RV maintenance isn’t dissimilar to regular vehicle maintenance, but there are also a few more steps. Owning an RV sits somewhere between owning a vehicle and owning a home — you have to maintain the engine and mechanical components as well as the interior components of the living space. In order for all of these things to operate in harmony, they must be in good, running condition. Any time you set out on a trip, checking the basic, easily overlooked parts of maintenance such as windshield wiper fluid, tire tread wear, and tire pressure is critical to ensuring that your RV stays on the road when you need it to. Consumer Reports also suggests investing in RV tire pressure monitors if yours didn’t come equipped with them from the factory.

Get a backup camera, and maybe even a dash camera

While some new RVs may have a backup camera, older RVs may not. The price of a backup camera doesn’t make it worth it to upgrade to a new RV — well unless you already wanted to — but it isn’t impossible to add a backup camera to your older RV. Having a backup camera may mean having to upgrade your car’s radio to a touchscreen infotainment system, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either, and you can expect to spend less than $1,000 even if you are having it all professionally installed. If you don’t want to replace your infotainment system, you can also opt to upgrade to a new rearview mirror with a screen, which offers the ability to display the feed from a backup camera, and many also have a dash camera mounted to the front for extra security and protection.

Balance the weight throughout the RV

Unbalanced vehicles can be difficult to operate, and add the sheer size, length, and weight of an RV itself, and having a bad balance of weight can be disastrous. Keeping the weight balanced evenly will improve your handling, especially around corners, and it will also help to reduce the wear on your tires. If you are towing another vehicle or recreational vehicle behind, it is important to keep this weight factor in mind and to be careful that you don’t exceed the weight capacity. Remember, even smaller, seemingly light-weight objects add up to the total weight. Just like towing over your vehicle’s towing capacity can prove disastrous, driving an RV over its weight capacity can too.

RELATED: Is Buying an RV a Good Financial Investment?

The post Consumer Reports Reveals Trips for Safe Traveling in Your RV appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Many comedians and television shows made wisecracks about the used car salesman and their assertive and obnoxious methods to jack up prices, intimidate potential buyers, and bring home more money for the dealership. Car sales have been this way for decades, but the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic facilitated the most drastic change to the car dealerships in years.  

Pushy salesmen and stressful negotiations may be a thing of the past for car sales

Various trends in technology have tried pushing the car sales process toward a more modern approach over the past few decades. But dealerships and salesmen have been largely resistant to change because the newer methods will negatively affect their bottom line.

If dealerships switched to solo test drives or online purchasing, how would they be able to feed customers lines like, “I’ll go see what my manager thinks of this price,” to make you feel in control while the dealership remains profitable and in control the whole time?

These games have been a staple in the industry, and they make many people put off buying a car for a long time because they dread these types of unpleasant interactions.  People began getting impatient for car dealerships to evolve with other industries, such as grocery stores, healthcare, and many others that have successfully changed to a lower-pressure online model. 

When COVID-19 took hold, car dealerships had no choice but to adapt to online sales and no contact deliveries of cars. Also, socially distanced solo test drives created a low-pressure environment for the buyer.

What are the benefits to these changes in car sales?

According to Car and Driver, not having to go into a dealership and attempt to negotiate with a salesperson can have major benefits to consumers, especially women and people of color. Subconscious biases can have a major impact on the bottom-line price or financing options offered to women and people of color, as non-white folks pay an average of over $2600 more than white people throughout the duration of their loans. Recent trends and changes from a lower-pressure car buying experience can help level the playing field for these groups and reduce the amount of bias they may experience. 

Buyers can also simultaneously negotiate with more than one dealership at a time online, allowing them to get the best price and financing offers by using online tools that help you determine what price is truly fair. Once you have settled on a price, many online dealerships will deliver the car right to your door. 

Could this be the new normal of the car-buying industry?

The industry as a whole hasn’t been buyer-friendly in a while, if ever. But now, car dealerships will have to adopt these new techniques and services to compete with dealerships that do offer them. U.S. News states that “Dealerships that adapt will thrive, while those that don’t will suffer.”

It’s hard to imagine traditional car dealerships going completely by the wayside, especially since many people still won’t trust the online car-buying process. There are some cons to online car-buying, such as not fully seeing the car in person before purchasing it. At the same time, many online dealerships offer a 7-day money-back guarantee. So if you aren’t satisfied with your purchase, you can return it for a refund. 

Only time will tell if these trends are here to stay, but it will certainly be interesting to see whether these methods stick around.

RELATED: Can You Negotiate a Car’s Price at Carvana?

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