Commercial Auto Dealers

Today is our final part in our series of ways you can maintain your funeral cars without much effort at all. Follow these and the suggestions in the previous two parts and you’ll enjoy your hearse for many years to come.

• Tape cracked light covers. Cracked light covers do not always need to be replaced right away, but you should put some waterproof tape over the crack to prevent moisture from getting inside and messing up the electrical parts of the light.
• Give it a wax job every now and then. A good wax job will protect the paint from fading and it will make your hearse sparkle!
• Perform regular maintenance procedures. Oil changes, tire rotations, tune ups and other maintenance procedures are important to keeping your Cadillac hearses in tip-top shape. Check your owner’s manual for a schedule of these procedures.
• Run the air conditioner a few times in the winter. This will keep the parts lubricated and keep the A/C compressor from seizing. Just a few times throughout the season should be good for keeping it in working order for the summer.

Hopefully, you have learned some new ways to get the longest life out of your Cadillac hearse as possible.

With the uncertain economy and prices of fuel, many people are choosing to save their money this year and forego a vacation. Many of them, however, are taking a “staycation” instead. A staycation typically means you are staying close to home and enjoying something in your area and enjoying something you may have never tried before. Your GMC dealer offers these tips if you want to take a staycation instead of going somewhere far away.

Unique Tours
Many towns have museums and other facilities within driving distance that you can take advantage of during this summer. But if you have kids, you can also ask other places for behind-the-scenes tours. See if you can get a tour of a fire station, a bowling alley or anywhere else where you frequent. You may get a new appreciation for those places when you know what goes on behind the scenes.

Local Water Parks
Just like museums, water parks are plentiful in many parts of the country. Take the kids and make an entire day out of it.

Local GMC Dealer
Visit your local GMC dealer and take a look at the newest vehicles on the market. Take one for a test drive and see what it’s like to have a luxurious ride. You may just end up buying one this summer!

We all know now the dangers of talking on your cell phone when you are driving. However, we continue to do it even in places where the legislature has made it against the law. So how can we stop drivers from engaging in this dangerous activity? Your GMC dealer offers these tips from a column in a Dallas newspaper to help combat this problem.

1. Designated talking areas. What if there were small places along the roads and highways where drivers could pull over and make their phone calls? Would that cut down on drivers talking on their phones while driving?

2. Carpool with others. If you have a habit of doing a lot of important business on the way to work and on the way home, carpooling may be a good idea. That way you can still talk on your cell phone without needing to worry about the road.

3. Use mass transit. You can talk on your cell phone all you want when you’re sitting on a bus. If some buses do not allow it, you can at least text while on your way to somewhere.

4. Blocking system. Some companies are creating software devices that block cell phone signals while the car is moving. This would be an ideal way to stop the activity, but that would mean others in the car could not talk on their cell phone either.

Talking on cell phones while driving seems like a problem where there is no easy solution. The best thing to do is to just avoid it altogether because it might just save your life.

Taking care of your Cadillac hearse takes preventative maintenance, a change in some driving habits and some common sense. Here is part two in our series of tips and suggestions for maintaining your hearses and funeral cars so they will last for a long time.

• Record your gas usage. Keep a log inside your hearse so you can write down how many miles you are getting with each fill up. This will tell you if your hearse is dropping in efficiency which can be a sign of something more serious. At least you can get it checked before it’s too late.
• Keep your hearse parked in a garage or in the shade. The sun can crack and fade the leather interior of your Cadillac hearse and make it look much older than it is.
• Clean the inside regularly. Dirt and grime can be corrosive when it gets between the carpet and the bare metal underneath. This can cause rust and holes in the body of your hearse. Besides, keeping the inside clean helps you take pride in your vehicle, too. Also, make sure you have quality floor mats in your hearse during the winter to help shield your floor from the snow and ice from your shoes.
On Friday, we’ll give you several more tips for maintaining your Cadillac hearse for many years.

Whether you own a Cadillac hearse for your own personal enjoyment or a fleet of them for your funeral business, proper maintenance is essential for keeping it running smoothly. Today, we are starting a three-part series filled with tips and suggestions for maintaining your Cadillac hearses so you can get many years out of them.

• Save some wear and tear on your engine and transmission by shifting your hearse into neutral when stopped for more than a few seconds. Otherwise the engine is still trying to push the car forward.
• Do not drive at high speeds in extreme temperatures. It’s not good for the engine and it could damage it.
• Do not turn the steering wheel to the extreme right or extreme left for more than a couple seconds. You can damage the power steering pump this way.
• Do several errands at once rather than making several short trips. Longer trips help get the oil and fluids flowing better for less wear and tear on your engine.
• Remove some unnecessary keys from your keychain. Having many keys on your keychain can wear out the parts in the ignition. If possible, get a keychain that allows you to quickly disconnect the ignition key so the other keys are not just dead weight hanging in the ignition.

Come back on Wednesday for several more tips for caring for your Cadillac hearses.

Your GMC dealers would like to discuss and get your thoughts on a recent article that says the federal government withheld information regarding the correlation between cell phone usage and driving. According to a consumer advocate group, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “shelved” a study in 2002 that showed the dangers of talking on your cell phone when behind the wheel of a car.

According to researchers who discovered the report, distracted drivers were to blame for almost 1,000 traffic deaths and more than 240,000 accidents in 2002 alone. The report also showed that talking on your cell phone when driving tripled or even quadrupled your risk of getting into an accident. If the government released that information when it was collected, who knows how many lives could have been saved?

“The idea that the federal government can withhold important safety data and its research on public safety is really disasterous,” said Margaret Kwoka, an attorney for Public Citizen, a consumer advocate group.

What are you thoughts about this? While it is a little shady that the report was withheld from the public, do you really think it would have made a huge difference? I mean, state after state is banning talking on your cell phone when you are driving, but people keep doing it despite the risk of a ticket.

If you truly must use your cell phone when you are driving, visit your Trenton area GMC dealer for a deal on a model that features Bluetooth connectivity so you can be safer when having a conversation.

There is a road in the UK that runs through the town of Wootton Bassett that is often referred to as the Highway for Heroes. The reason for this name is because deceased English soldiers coming back from Afghanistan are taken down this road in hearses before getting to their final resting place.

That’s all been well and good for the last couple years as 80 repatriated soldiers have traveled the highway. However, the media has turned their attention to this road and made it less sacred and special than it actually is.

On Tuesday of this week, the town was “invaded” by press, journalists and TV cameras. Instead of the normal silence that thousands of residents offered in memorial for the fallen soldiers as they passed by, there was the sound of camera equipment and much more that distracted and angered the crowds.

“It took away the dignity of the tribute,” said one resident. “The silence of it all is very important. With so many journalists there it was no longer a silent affair [sic].”

Leave the Cadillac hearses alone when they are carrying fallen soldiers. Between the media, those clueless protesters and others, it’s difficult to pay the proper respects to those who are fighting for our country.

A new OnStar feature is available on several vehicles at your local GMC dealer and it could save you tons of money if your car gets stolen.

The Remote Ignition Block feature was announced earlier this week and went into effect last week. The new service lets an OnStar adviser permission to keep the vehicle from restarting after the ignition is turned off.

“This capability will not only help authorities recover stolen vehicles, but can also prevent dangerous high speed pursuits from starting,” explained officials at GM in a statement. According to Chet Huber, the president of OnStar, the service has already been utilized seven times since last Friday. Surprisingly (or not), the first time it was used was in New Jersey.

OnStar is trying to add a number of new services for subscribers for safety and other reasons. The service already pinpoints the location of stolen vehicles and OnStar advisers can also slow a stolen vehicle down to an idling speed if needed. The service gets about 600 requests each month to help with stolen vehicles and advisers have helped with more than 28,000 requests in the last ten years.

If you have been looking for a practical SUV with a smaller size and better fuel efficiency, the new 2009 GMC Acadia may be exactly what you need. Your Philadelphia area GMC dealers would like to tell you about some of the more exciting and practical features you will find on the new Acadia.

• One of the most exciting features you will find on the new Acadia and many other GMC models for that matter is a 100,000 mile/five year warranty. This extensive warranty plan also includes roadside assistance and courtesy transportation or reimbursement for transportation needed while your vehicle is being repaired.
• A touch-screen navigation system and radio is available for the 2009 GMC Acadia. Maps and music are at your fingertips!
• Bluetooth capabilities allow you to use hands-free calling and other activities without taking your hands off the wheel. This is safe because you can keep your focus on the road and your hands on the steering wheel while doing other things you need to do.
• A power rear liftgate is available on the 2009 Acadia to make loading and unloading easier. You can even control it remotely.

Visit your GMC dealer today and see why the Acadia is one of the more popular SUVs on the market today!

Many owners of Cadillac hearses enjoy their unique choice in vehicle. Many others, however, are taking their interest in their hearse and sharing it with others. That’s the idea behind a hearse club. Here are some tips for joining a hearse club in case you have never considered it or if you have considered it and did not know where to begin.

• Look in your local newspaper for any clubs doing a show in your town. Many hearse clubs have gatherings in different parts of the country where enthusiasts come together with their hearses to have fun and discuss their interest with others.

• Look through various car magazines and websites. Although many of these may be nationwide, you can still find contact numbers and such for calling people who are in charge of hearse clubs and enthusiast gatherings.

• Check online for local hearse clubs. There is no better place to search for hearse clubs in your area than the Internet. Simply type in your city and “hearse clubs” in a search engine and you should get some results. If nothing comes up, expand your search to include surrounding areas or even your state.

Joining a hearse club is a fun way to enjoy your passion with other enthusiasts. Don’t keep your hearse to yourself. Join a club and show it off!