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Show W I' F , P' Friday, November 22, 1999, THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah Page El Transportation news for Utah Valley maays ay i ne uany neraia KUDiisnea Brakes are no place to save money Dear Tom and Ray: I have a 1992 Toyota Tercel which has never given me any trouble. I have more than 100,000 miles on it, and Pve never even had it serviced. Risky, I know, but in retrospect, nothing has ever gone wrong! Until .npw. The brakes are GONE. ;The least expensive estimate is $500 for all four wheels. Here's my question: How easy would it be for me, a woman, to fix the brakes with help from my husband, who, incidentally, has replaced his love of horsepower with a love of RAM? I know my way around cars a bit. I have installed an fuel filter on a '76 Nova and replaced thermostats in cars ranging from a Willys Jeep to a Pontiac Grand Prix. I have never fixed brakes, though. I'd like to save the labor charges. Should I try it? Bede headlights a glimpse (rf future Eye-catchi- ng ; in-li- ne TOM: Bede, I would guess from your question that you I are an absolute, world-clas- s cheapskate. Am I right? ' RAY: This, from a man who would reuse his toothpaste if it were possible to separate it from his spit. TOM: Seriously, Bede. You've gone 100,000 miles and haven't spent a penny on this jtar. Now. THE roost important safety feature on the car the brakes are shot, endangering you and everybody you : By GLEN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Mercedes, Lexus and other high-en- d cars have an feature that may soon be found on everyday automobiles: bright, bluish headlights. discharge lamps, which started as a $1,000 option, provide about twice the brightness of ordinary headlights, closely approximating daylight. At the same time, HID lights use less power and can last for 100,000 miles of driving time. Some experts believe the lights will soon displace halogen headlights, the current technology, just as other lighting systems bettered the oil lamps first used on cars. "HID is kind of a prestige thing, but over time, and it will be a relatively short period of time, people are going to expect them on their car" said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, an automotive consulting company. Some motorists have complained about being dazzled by the HID lighta A lighting specialist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said some people are more sensitive to light that has a blue cast But he said the lights meet the same intensity and beam shape standards in place since 1978, the last time the government made a i 1 U IS High-intensit- y Tom & Ray drive past on the road, and your biggest concern is saving a few bucks? RAY: I'd have to agree. While it's not impossible for you to do it, a complete brake job (pads, rotors, possibly calipers) on a modern car is a significant step up, mechani- cally, from throwing a fuel filter in a '76 Nova. And, more importantly, the stakes are a lot higher. TOM: Right. If you screw up the fuel filter, the worst that will happen is that the car won't start. If the brakes don't work, the car won't stop! It's just not the kind of job you want to do for the first time unsupervised. RAY: So, you should just swallow your pride and pay a trained mechanic the $500 to do the brake job professionally. And do it immediately. If your brakes really are completely "GONE," (and they probably See CLICK, E2 The Associated Press disIlluminating technology: Shown are two BMW sedans, the left is equipped with new car and the shines The standard are bluish (HID) lamps, charge right halogen lights. headlights beginning to move from luxury to economy vehicles. The new headlights are twice as bright as ordinary headlights. high-intensi- It also appears blue. "HID is kind of a prestige thing, but over time, and it will be a relatively short period of time, people are going to expect them on their car." More powerful headlights have long been popular in Europe, where driving speeds can double those in the United States. Over the past few years, American car buyers have started ordering HID lamps as an option. -- George Peterson, president of AutoPacific major revision of its standards. Halogen vs. HID Halogen lamps on most of today's cars generate light by heating a tungsten filament inside a halogen capsule. The halogen gas helps prevent blackening of the capsule as the filament slowly burns out. y discharge lamps streetloperate more like vapor-filleights. They don't have a filament High-intensit- d but create light by zapping an arc between two electrodes. That arc excites a different kind of gas, usually xenon, which in turn ignites metallic salts. The lights appear brighter to the eye because of their spectral content. Although their beams travel no farther or wider than those produced by halogen lights, they contain more light at the margins. It fades less at the edges. Eager to tap the marker, lighting companies are now investigating two other options for HID lamps. One is as a replacement bulb for existing halogen headlights. The other is as an auxiliary light, such as a fog lamp. The light is amazing, and customers love them," said Lou Brown, a salesman at a Lexus dealership in Alexandria, Va. 'You really have to drive the car at night to appreciate the ... , " At J J ? ft . - . , .... s a ii II-- ' imw.u, mm CELEBRATION . I ;.; S MS Wj I feft . W Leaso The Nissan Maxima Lease The Nissan Pathfinder HE 4x4 RUGGEDNESS: shiff-on-the-f- 3.3-lit- er LUXURY: four-whe- el SOHC V6 engine, V : 1 1 drive, railing remote keyless entry and vehicle security system, power windows and door locks 39 r.QfflllS$1,999 V roof-rac- k G3LE SELLING IMPORT V6 SEDAN IN AMERICA' row." PERFORMANCE: "One of tha 10 Best Engines for the 6th year (n Ward's Auto World, 190 horsepower engine, rear murtHink beam suspension LUXURY: remote keyless entry and security system, AC, MonoFrame construction, ly A power window and door locks 39t;o;miss999;imM.ranHi!T INITIAL F.TiT.iEflT . . . WMV WHO, . I puUIH nr aruM, tax .h pus eiauUMnv mi m,mm,v K7 W,WOft auk .rw w rww, MBMMWMmaWWn - MI lfk Mf r IMaM WW ITItHatWM W 1 Villi FMaM taW VkW. i UHBBnVUII I ' llllaTal IMBalH VTMKetB IMinSU T mmma (K U. BeWUBMHBW mini "V I |
