If you’re driving your pre-certified cars in the northeastern region of the United States, you’re in one of the safest places in the nation. According to a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, there are huge differences in the number of fatal accidents involving motor vehicles among different areas.

According to the report, the number of fatal accidents in the Northeast was 36 percent lower than other areas of the nation. Here are some of the numbers that were released in the report:

• 9.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the Northeast
• 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people in the Midwest
• 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people in the West
• 19.5 deaths per 100,000 people in the South
That basically means that if you are driving through a southern state like Georgia or Mississippi, you are four times more likely to get in a fatal car accident than if you were driving through Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

Keep this in mind when shopping for a car from your Toyota certified dealer. Your pre-certified cars and your lives are safer on the roads here than in any other part of the country.

Did you know that they salt the road crews spread on the roads in the winter can damage your certified used cars? It used to be much worse than it is today, but car manufacturers are giving cars a zinc coating to protect them from the salt. However, this isn’t always 100 percent foolproof.

First of all, the zinc coating is good unless there is a spot where the coating has deteriorated. This spot can still get rusty if it picks up salt from the roads. The road salt can also get in the undercarriage of your certified used car and eat away at vulnerable parts like exhausts, brake lines and more.

Park of the problem is that road crews have used more than just regular road salt. In recent years, they have been using brine solutions that can also damage the paint job and undercarriage of your certified used cars. Since it is a liquid mixture, it is more likely to get in the crevices of your undercarriage that regular road salt may have bounced off of.

You can combat this damage by washing your certified used car after every snow storm. Make sure to wash the undercarriage well, too. Also, you can visit the service garage at your Toyota certified dealer for a checkup to make sure there are no corroding parts caused by road salt or brine. If you take some extra measures to take care of your certified used car, it will take care of you for many years.

Get your pre-certified cars washed and shined to get ready for the Philadelphia Phillies season as World Series Champions. It’s going to be a great season as they defend their championship against other teams in the league. The good news is that season tickets for the Philly’s 2009 season are now on sale!

The tickets went on sale at 7:30 a.m. yesterday morning at the team’s website. So far, thousands of tickets have sold and there has been an increase of about 20 percent in sales over last year’s figures. Part of the reason for the excitement for the upcoming season is due to the fact that the Phillies did not lose a single playoff game at home. As a result, Phillies fans are going to flood Citizens Bank Park this season every chance they get.

The first game of the Phillies season happens at home on Sunday night, April 5. They will be playing the Atlanta Braves. Can you think of any better way to go to the game than in a pre-certified car from your Toyota certified dealer? You may not be on the team, but you can feel like a winner when you arrive in style.

If you forgot to get your significant other something for Valentine’s Day on Saturday, a certified used car may be the ticket out of the doghouse. Imagine pulling into the driveway with a big bow on a new certified used car for your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or even your mom. Here are some advantages that they will enjoy when you buy them a certified used car.

• Long-term warranty – A certified used car comes with a better warranty than a normal used car. Many of them are still under their original new car warranty depending on their age and mileage. Most manufacturers also offer a roadside assistance feature with the warranty on their certified used cars.
• Better price – A certified used car is more affordable than a new car because the previous owner has already taken the “financial hit” of the depreciation.
• Like-new driving – A certified used car drives like a brand new car. And since they go through a strict testing process before getting the “certified” label, they are almost as good as a new car.

Your Toyota certified dealer would be more than happy to help you find a car to get you out of the doghouse. Visit us today and see what we can do for you!

Whether you drive new cars, clunkers, or certified pre-owned cars, texting while driving is dangerous. If you read the newspapers or watch the evening news, you’ve probably seen a number of reports in recent months about accidents caused by texting. The train wreck a few months ago in Chatsworth, California was caused because the conductor was texting somebody on his phone and wasn’t paying attention. There are numerous stories of highway accidents caused because drivers just have to text someone on their phone.

But those days may soon be gone. New Jersey, along with six other states (California, Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, Washington and Minnesota) already ban texting while driving. New Jersey even bans the use of a cell phone while behind the wheel unless it is a hands-free device. Other states are joining in with a ban of their own in hopes of making their state’s roads safer.

Your Toyota certified dealer cares about your safety and the safety of others on the roadways. If you feel the need to text or even talk on the cell phone when you’re behind the wheel, be courteous and pull over. There have been too many deaths attributed to traffic-related fatalities as the result of a distracted driver. And to me, those are senseless deaths that could have easily been prevented.

Whether you’re driving your certified used cars or old clunkers, there is no excuse for drunk driving. In fact, drunk driving is just selfish. If you don’t think it’s a problem, here are some statistics and facts to consider:

• In 2006, there were at least 13,470 fatalities related to a driver who was impaired by alcohol. That accounts for 32 percent of the traffic fatalities in that year.
• In 2006, nearly 1,800 kids under the age of 15 were killed in auto accidents. More than 300 of those were due to alcohol-related incidents. More than half of that number involved kids riding in a car with a driver who was under the influence of alcohol.
• The 2006 statistics represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 39 minutes.
• Four times as many alcohol-related accidents occur at night than during the day.
• Males account for about 81 percent of alcohol-related fatalities.
• Texas and California typically have the highest number of alcohol-related fatalities each year. However, in terms of percentage of drivers in each state involved in alcohol-related fatalities, Wisconsin and Hawaii have higher numbers.

Your Toyota certified dealers want to remind you to have a designated driver if you plan on drinking. It’s just the safe and responsible thing to do.

How would you like to have a “pay as you go” insurance plan to insure your pre-certified cars? Legislators in Washington State are discussing such a plan that would base insurance rates and premiums on the number of miles a person drives.

The bill for “pay as you go” insurance could go into effect as early as next year. If it’s popular, you know it’s going to spread to other parts of the nation and it won’t be long before it hits the East Coast. But do the lawmakers have ulterior motives for wanting to pass this bill?

Offering a “pay as you go” insurance plan makes drivers want to cut back on their driving in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And in order to make sure you are driving your allotted miles each month or year, the insurance companies that offer this plan will electronically track how far a person drives so they can determine how much they should pay. In addition to this, you know this electronic tracking is also going to monitor HOW your drive, which will affect your premiums as well.

While you might like the “pay as you go” policy for your pre-certified cars, it could be a complete invasion of your privacy. Your Toyota certified dealer wants to know how you would feel about this type of insurance plan. Would you consider it or would you be afraid of it invading your privacy too much? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Getting pulled over in your certified pre-owned cars is no picnic. There probably isn’t a driver on the road that actually wants to get pulled over. However, if you are driving your certified pre-owned cars too fast or breaking a traffic law, it’s going to happen sooner or later. Here are some tips to consider if you get pulled over so you can stay on the officer’s good side.

1. Pull over when it’s safe. When the officer flashes the lights behind you, slow down and find a safe place to pull over. You won’t get on the officer’s good side if you put them in danger because of where you decide to stop.
2. Look harmless. Once you have stopped, turn off your car and roll down your window. Keep your hands on the steering wheel where the officer can see them. They tend to get nervous if they don’t know where your hands are.
3. Move slowly. When the officer asks for your license and registration, tell him where it is and slowly reach for them. Also, if you have a firearm in the car, let the officer know. They will be more at ease if you tell them rather than if they see it themselves.

Here are just a few tips from your Toyota certified dealer to help you when getting pulled over. Of course, as long as you obey the traffic laws, you shouldn’t have to worry about this problem in the first place.

Keeping your certified used car performing at its optimum level is not difficult. It does, however, take some precautionary and proactive action on your part. Here are some simple things you can do to keep your certified used car running great for many years to come.

1. Park your car in the shade or in a garage. UV sunlight rays can be brutal on a car’s interior over the years. However, you can minimize the damage by keeping it out of the sun when you have it parked.
2. Fix windshield chips immediately. The longer you let a chip in your windshield go, the worse (and more expensive) it will be to fix. Chips can often get fixed cheaply if you catch it before it begins to spread.
3. Wax it! A wax job will protect your car’s paint and make your car look like brand new. If you have any chips in your paint job, there are also new self-adhering urethane films you can apply so you can wash and wax your car just like normal.

These are just a few tips from your Toyota certified dealer for your certified used cars. Keep these in mind when purchase a certified used car and you’ll be able to enjoy it for many years.

Many people who have decided to purchase used cars instead of pre-certified cars have made a huge mistake. Many times, dealers and private sellers will sell used cars that have been involved in accidents or other catastrophes to unsuspecting buyers. This only creates a large number of problems for the new owner of the used car.

This is why the United States Department of Justice is launching a new system today. The new system includes a database that will “attempt to reduce the amount of title-washing that plagues used car buyers when unsavory characters rebuild a totaled vehicle and sell it with a clean title, normally out of state.” By January 1 of next year, all 50 states will be required to be in the system.

If you’re looking for a used car that meets federal standards, you can pay a membership fee to one of the online providers so you can access the database. Or you can forego those fees and just visit your Toyota certified dealer and search the inventory for quality pre-certified cars. With pre-certified cars, you know you are getting a vehicle that has passed rigorous inspections and has a warranty that offers you peace of mind. Don’t fool around with used cars that could give you problems a week after you buy them. Just search for pre-certified cars in order to get the best overall value.