1. Take your Time

Make sure you have a good amount of time set aside, not just your hour lunch break. You need time to properly test out the car.

2. Drive in a Variety of Conditions

Don’t just take it for a loop around the block; test it on a variety of different roads, speeds and situations. City streets, highway, residential, corners, curves, maybe even a speed bump or two–everything you would experience in your average driving day. You want to make sure you get a proper feel for the various components of the car such as the brakes, steering and suspension.

3. Parking

Not only will you be driving the car but you will be parking it as well; so don’t forget to test this. Check the maneuverability of parking the car in different situations such as parallel parking, tight spaces and parking stalls.

4. Play with the Features

New cars tend to come with a large variety of features. You’ll want to get yourself at least acquainted with them before you buy the car. Check that all the controls are easily accessible and try out the navigation, radio and speakers. If the car is Bluetooth compatible, try linking your phone to see how easily it syncs. Don’t forget to look at the non-technological features as well. For example, see if the seats fold down and how easily as well as how luggage rack works if it has one.

5. Test as a Passenger

If you’re going to be carrying a lot of passengers, it’s a good thing to try the car out from their perspective too. Sit in the passenger and back seat to see how they feel. You want to make sure your passengers are also going to get a comfortable experience. Make sure there is enough head and leg room and try out the ride experience to see if the passengers will feel every little bump when driving. Check the ease of entry and exit into the rear seats, including the third row if it has them. If your passengers may need a car seat, check out the ease of installation of child seats.

6. Bring a Friend

It’s always good to get a second opinion and buying a car is no exception. Bring a friend with you when you go for your test drive. They may catch something you have missed.

7. Listen

Turn off the radio and listen. How is the wind noise? Is it going to bother you? Are there any odd noises that probably shouldn’t be there such as rattle in the engine or car?

8. Ask Questions

If the sales person comes along with you for the test drive, they are there specifically to answer any questions you may have about the car, as well as to explain how to use certain features. Don’t be shy, take advantage of this.  If you have a question about anything at all, they will be more than happy to help.

9. Test Drive Consecutively

Test drive your potential cars consecutively on the same day if possible. This is the best way to get a direct comparison between the cars and how they drive.

10. Night Driving

Come back at night if possible so you can see how the headlights preform and see how well the interior is illuminated.

How to avoid potholes and minimize vehicle damage:

• Make sure your tires have enough tread and are properly inflated.
• Watch the car in front of you; if they are swerving in their lane, they’re most likely trying to avoid a pothole.
• Avoid puddles as they may be hiding deep potholes.
• If you do notice potholes in the road ahead, reduce speed and try to avoid them.
• Don’t swerve out of your lane as you may find yourself hitting another vehicle instead of the pothole.
• If you can’t avoid the pothole slow down as much as possible, but don’t break when driving over it as this may cause more damage. You should instead:

1. Take your foot off the brake
2. Roll over the hole at a low speed
3. Hold the steering wheel firmly to avoid losing control

What to do if you hit a pothole:

• If you do hit a pothole pull over and inspect your vehicle, especially the tires and rims, for damage.
• If you see a bulge or visible cord material on the tires sidewall it should be replaced as soon as possible.
• If you notice your vehicle pulling to the side, your alignment may have been affected. Take your vehicle in to have the wheel alignment checked by a qualified technician.

If you notice a particularly bad pothole, visit Winnipeg 311 Online or call 311 to report it.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/8529109764/

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, the major types of which include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both of these diseases are incurable chronic diseases that can be found in the intestinal tract. There are currently over 200,000 Canadians are living with IBD.

The gala will be held on Wednesday, May 15th at the Victoria Inn located at 1808 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year, CCFC is proud to honor Jacqueline Stillwater as this year’s recipient of the National Unsung Hero award.  Jacqueline was chosen for her years of dedication and contribution to the fulfillment of the foundations mission and will receive her award at the gala.

For more information about the gala please call 204.231.2115 or visit www.ccfc.ca/winnipeggala.

This distinction was recognized through various surveys completed by the employees of The Dilawri Group; everyone from sales representatives to technicians to executives gave their opinions on what it is like to work for the group. Thanks to their efforts, The Dilawri Group was managed to crack the top 50 small and medium employers in Canada, a distinction that they feel exceptionally honoured to receive.

“It’s super cool working here. I especially love the energy and enthusiasm of Glen Daman.” Gavin Trevan, lot attendant.

Over all the seven dealerships of the Dilawri Group raised 1,026 pounds of food this year!  We’d like to give a big thanks to everyone who helped and brought in food this month.

Global TV was there during the drop off and you can watch what happened at the link below (skip ahead to 11:30).

Global TV: Evening News December 21, 2012

We were also mentioned in the Winnipeg Sun and Winnipeg Free Press and you can read those articles at the links below.

Winnipeg Free Press: Manitoba Dealers Spread Christmas Cheer

Winnipeg Sun: ‘Santa’ Drops off Food at Winnipeg Harvest

Finally, here are a few pictures of Santa and his convoy delivering everything the Dilawri Group collected this December.

Other provinces such as Quebec make winter tires mandatory however the Manitoba government has said that they have no plans to go that route. The roads in Manitoba are different than Quebec since we get less snow and our roads are more likely to be straight and flat.

The Manitoba government does encourage drives to purchase winter tires and use more caution when driving in the winter.

According to MPI data from 2006 to 2010 there are an average of 28,415 crashes in the province each year and about 31% of those happen in December, January and February.

If you’re looking to improve your safety when you’re driving this winter you can’t go wrong with winter tires. They do exactly what they claim to do, they help braking and stopping control on winter road.

You can contact our parts department for more information on winter tires and you can read the original Free Press article by clicking here.

When you purchase a pre-owned car from any of our dealerships as part of the deal we’ll include the following 5 promises to give you peace-of-mind.

• If your vehicle ever needs to be towed, the tow is on us to the nearest Dilawri Group facility (within the Perimeter).
• Every vehicle comes with a minimum of 6 months/10,000 km power-train warranty (unless otherwise stated)
• Receive free fluid top ups (excluding oil) with any service at any one of the Dilawri Group dealerships.
• A 3 Day 300 km exchange policy no questions asked.
• Free check engine light diagnostics.

We want to make sure you feel confident in your purchase. Please feel free to visit Crown Mazda or any of the Dilawri Group’s dealerships or service centres in the future to take advantage of this exciting new program.

So it is now that we gather together and wish to you a very happy Holiday Season on behalf of everyone here at Crown Mazda and The Dilawri Automotive Group.

We understand the holidays can be a very busy time, so it is with great pleasure to introduce our new online service booking system.

For your convenience, all of our new and existing customers are now able to register online for a FREE service account. This will showcase a wide availability of all our products and services to help with any automotive needs throughout the life of your vehicle.

Please click here to sign up for your next service appointment.

It is people like you who make being in business such a pleasure all year long. Your patronage is a source of pride to us. With customers like you, we find going to work each day a rewarding experience.

Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Please bring your non-perishable food items when you visit us at 3690 Portage Ave.

If you would like more information on what to donate or would like to volunteer some time this winter, please visit the link below or call Winnipeg Harvest Cheerboard at 204-982-3663

http://winnipegharvest.org/

Desiree Scott is a midfielder on the Canada National Women’s Soccer Team.  She’s nicknamed “the Destroyer” and when she and her team competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London she won a Bronze Medal.

Mark Carver, General Manager of Crown Mazda was quite excited to see and touch the Bronze Medal as you can see in the photos below.

Mark and everyone else at Crown Mazda would like to congratulate Desiree on her Bronze Medal as well as on her new Mazda6.  Welcome to the Mazda Family Desiree, we all hope you enjoy your new Zoom Zoom.