Cars in Gear

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What to Do and Photograph in the First Ten Minutes After a Crash

Adrenaline makes you stupid for about five minutes. Have a plan so your hands know what to do while your brain catches up.

GuideAutosRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

What to do before you add your teenager to the policy

The rate hike is real, but most of it is negotiable if you start during the permit year instead of the week after the road test.

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

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GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

The minivan wins more often than you want it to

Before you spend sixty grand on a three-row SUV, go sit in the third row with a car seat already installed.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

PartnerNames.com

Autos6 min read

Change Your Own Brake Pads Before Lunch on Saturday

Front pads on a normal car take about ninety minutes, two jack stands and one tool most guys don't own yet. What goes wrong, and how to avoid it.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

Rotate your tires at home and read what the tread tells you

An hour in the driveway twice a year buys you thousands of extra miles and an early warning on your alignment, your shocks and your right foot.

GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

Electric, Hybrid or Gas for a Family of Five

Eight years, 120,000 miles, five seatbelts. Run the arithmetic yourself before a salesman runs it for you.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

PartnerCancerDefying.com

GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

The first car for your teenager should be dull and heavy

Skip the horsepower, skip the hand-me-down subcompact, and make one phone call before you hand over any money.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20265 min

Winter Driving When You Have the Whole Family in the Car

The decision that matters most happens twelve hours before the first flake. Then there's the tires, the trunk, and knowing when to quit.

GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20265 min

Restoring a car with your son without ruining it for both of you

Pick the right car, sequence the work so he sees wins early, and know the month where most projects die in the driveway.

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Plan a cook for eight people

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GuideAutosDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

The Saturday morning truck detail, start to finish

Five hours, one driveway, and an order of operations that keeps you from scratching the paint you just cleaned.

Shirts.com — Design it with AI. Wear it this week.

PartnerShirts.com

GuideAutosWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

The used car tricks that still work, and how to beat them

Curbstoning, title washing, flood cars and the finance office. What the seller is hoping you won't check, and the ten minutes it takes to check it.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

GuideAutosDean Shaw22 Sept 20266 min

Five car jobs worth learning before you pay someone else

Basic maintenance most drivers outsource, what each one actually takes, and the mistakes that turn a twenty-minute job into a tow truck.

GuideAutosDean Shaw22 Sept 20266 min

Jump a dead battery without wrecking either car

The clamp order, the one connection everybody gets wrong, and why a twenty-minute drive home doesn't actually recharge anything.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

GuideAutosDean Shaw22 Sept 20265 min

The used cars still worth buying and how to spot one

Boring, high-volume, mechanically simple and four to eight years old. That profile still beats almost anything clever on the lot.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next fortnight.

Autos6 min

What should actually be in your boot from November to March

Autos6 min

The car servicing that can't wait, and the kind that can

Ask BRO

Build me a 30-day training plan around two sessions a week

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GuideAutosDean Shaw22 Sept 20266 min

Twenty minutes with the engine off tells you most of it

Before you turn the key on a used car, the metal, the tires and the carpet have already told you what kind of life it had.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

Autos6 min read

Your first project car should be boring, cheap and popular

The car you learn on should be dull, plentiful and easy to get parts for. Three tempting alternatives will quietly eat your budget instead.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

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