MakeUseOf Directory » car

Honk: Social Network For Car Buyers

deans — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:28:58 +0000

Buying a new car can be stressful for some. Especially those of us who can’t distinguish sparkplugs from catalytic converters. There’s always that worry in the back of your mind that the dealer is trying to palm a lemon off on you – the unsuspecting customer. That’s why when we hear good things about a particular make or model from friends and co-workers, we tend to follow their lead.

Honk is a new social network for car buyers, which is built around that idea – to help us find great cars using actual ‘user’ reviews.

The main thing that I liked about Honk is that it uses existing networks to enable its users to sign up quickly and easily and get going within a few minutes. Let’s be honest, we’re not going to use it outside of the small period when we’re considering buying a car so there’s no point in jazzing up your profile. By using Facebook connect you can also see what cars your friends or people you are in contact with have had. They can then tell you the good and the bad about the car. There are also saved user reviews for each car available by clicking on the car in question.

You can also simply browse through a list of cars or (and this is my favourite) you can use your personality traits and current demographic position to refines the search results. So for example your personality is assessed, how many children, what it will be used for, your age and your gender. This then gives you a list of cars which the app thinks are suitable to for you.

There are also traditional features such as removing certain manufacturers and car classes.

Features:

Social network for buying cars.
Provides you unbiased reviews from real people.
Compatible with MySpace and Facebook.
Huge database of cars.
Really easy to use with simple features and layout.
Similar tools: Mota, MotorTopia and TrueCar.

Check out Ho9nk @ www.honk.com (by Dean Sherwin)

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Honk: Social Network For Car Buyers

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Mota: Easy Way To Sell Your Car

deans — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:28:01 +0000

Selling a car can be a tough task; so many places to advertise plus you have to value your own vehicle as though you were an impartial observer. Mota.com is recently launched cool website for selling your car in a quick and easy way. In “four easy steps” actually.

Basically, it will ask you dozens of questions about your vehicle; they’re as detailed as “Do you smoke in the car” and “Is the ‘Check Engine’ light on?”. While you enter in streams of information about your car a counter style price up the top will change depending on your answers.

After this, you select which publications and websites you want to have your car listed for sale in. Some of the top ones include Auto Trader, AOL Autos, Google BASE, Ebay Autos, Oodle and Cars.com. These sites get millions of hits every month and make thousands of sales. The database will also suggest specific car magazines and websites for your particular make of car.

In the next step, you answer a few more questions and customize your advertising preferences and you’re done! Your car will be listed on all of your selected sites within a matter of minutes.

Mota.com isn’t only for the sellers though, they also cater to buyers needs. You can search through their ever growing database of cars up for sale that sellers have posted for sale in the steps I demonstrated above. So instead of searching through eBay, Cars.com and countless other you can have them all in the one place!

Check out Mota @ www.mota.com (by Dean Sherwin)

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Mota: Easy Way To Sell Your Car

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NationOfGo: Discover Cool Driving Trails & Roads

kaly — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:56:52 +0000

NationOfGo is a neat Google Maps based social networking site for those who love to drive. It enables you to share your favorite drives (dirt roads or desert highways) and discover new places where people go. You can join or create groups, upload photos, videos, and check for upcoming driving events in your area.

The site lets you search for drives by location on the map or browse by categories like road drives, trail drives and track drives. Each entry is presented with a distinctive marker clicking on which shows you more details.

The site also offer iPhone and Blackberry apps which enable you to easily plot your drives with photos, videos, notes, and then upload them to your NationOfGo profile.

Demo video:

Features:

Discover cool driving trails in your city or state.
Share your favorite places with other enthusiasts.
Join groups and find driving events.
Upload photos and videos.
Search driving trails by location or by category.
iPhone and Blackberry apps are available.
Similar sitea: MotorTopia.

Check out NationOfGo @ www.nationofgo.com

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NationOfGo: Discover Cool Driving Trails & Roads

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EMAILACAR: Site For Reporting Bad Drivers

kaly — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:36:56 +0000

EMAILACAR offers you an alternative way to take out your frustration after crossing a reckless driver. It’s a site for reporting bad drivers. Here you can check if that driver has been reported previously by someone else. It also allows you to leave messages to that “reckless” driver entering his/her number/registration plate. No sign up required for posting and checking messages.

Features:

Leave public anonymous message to drivers.
Check any car number and see if it has been reported before.
Browse recent and most popular reports posted by other users.
No registration needed.
Similar websites: Zapatag.

Check out EMAILACAR @ www.emailacar.com (via TechnoSpot)

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CarComplaints: Common Car Mechanical Problems Shared by Car Owners

kaly — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:38:21 +0000

If you are having problems with you car make sure to check CarComplaints.com. On this website you can check if someone experienced same car mechanical problems and whether they are common among car owners. Plus you can get some information on how much it might cost you to fix it.

The site has a database of user submitted complaints searchable by make, model, and year. Moreover, it includes sections for the worst cars, most amusing owner complaints, current vehicle trends, vehicles with the most problems, latest car problems etc.

Features:

Database of common car problems submitted by users.
Search cars by make, model, and year.
Check current vehicle trends.
See vehicles with the most problems.
Read latest car problems as reported by press.
Check out worst cars and amusing owner complaints.
Contribute by adding your car problems.
Similar sites: MotorMouths and CarBibles.

Check out CarComplaints @ www.carcomplaints.com

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CarComplaints: Common Car Mechanical Problems Shared by Car Owners

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BestParking: Find Cheap Parking in NYC, Chicago, Boston & Other Major Cities

kaly — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:25:32 +0000

BestParking is a handy site that allows drivers to compare and find cheap parking in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and all major airports. It can show both short-term and long-term parking rates for more then 3,000 parking garages run by different parking operators.

You can search for parking by neighborhood, address, cross street, or attraction. All available parking facilities near the search destination will be presented on a map along with the list that can be sorted by name and distance. Details for each facility including addresses and phone numbers are also presented.

As it was mentioned above BestParking also covers parking garages in every major U.S. airport enabling you find cheap parking spaces there as well.

Features:

Compare and find cheap parking in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and all major airports.
Both short-term and long-term parking rates are available.
Search for parking by neighborhood, address, cross street, or attraction.
Sort parking spaces by name, distance and price.
Details for each facility including addresses and phone numbers are also presented.
Mobile friendly version supported at mobile.bestparking.com.
Free and no registration.
Similar websites: PrimoSpot and AboutAirportParking.

Check out BestParking @ www.bestparking.com

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BestParking: Find Cheap Parking in NYC, Chicago, Boston & Other Major Cities

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AboutAirportParking: Reserve Airport Parking Spots Online

kaly — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:50:20 +0000

AboutAirportParking is a website that lets you find and reserve parking spot at airports online. It lists information on more then 400 airport parking lots at more than 100 airports. You can compare prices for different lots and save money by parking at remote ones.

To reserve parking spot online, first locate the airport from the drop down list and enter the travel dates. You may also select some optional services. Then click on “Go”. Next, all available parking lots will be displayed along with their prices. You can sort them further by top results, highest rated, lowest price and the distance.

Features:

Reserve airport parking online.
Lists information on more then 400 parking lots at more than 100 airports.
Lets you save money by comparing and parking at remote lots.
Sort results by highest rated, lowest price and the distance.
Similar website: PrimoSpot.

View AboutAirportParking @ www.aboutairportparking.com

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AboutAirportParking: Reserve Airport Parking Spots Online

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PITA: Personal Travel Agent for Car Travelers

kaly — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:27:39 +0000

PITA (Personal Interactive Travel Agent) is a useful Google Maps mashup for car travelers. It can show important information along the driving route entered by the user. This information includes detailed directions, traffic data, nearby businesses and weather forecasts.

The site is easy to use and has straightforward interface, just click anywhere on the map and get information on weather and local services for that point. You can further filter results by the service type (food, shopping, hotels, tourist attractions, gas stations) and also search for something more specific by choosing “Other” and using related keywords.

Features:

Online travel assistant for car travelers.
Get detailed driving directions.
See traffic data and weather forecasts for the points on the route.
Search for particular location or zoom in to a point on the map.
No sign up needed.
US only.
Also see: NPRRoadTrip and The Route Planner.

Check out PITA @ www.pita.comuv.com

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PITA: Personal Travel Agent for Car Travelers

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Zapatag: Report Bad Drivers Online

kaly — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:17:04 +0000

Encountered a reckless driver? Next time you can avoid the middle finger gesture and take out your frustration on the web. Zapatag is a website where you can report bad drivers online. You can submit drivers plate number and report what s/he had done wrong. The site also lets you search and check if someone had already reported that same driver before.

Besides the website allows you to browse and view latest, most commented and most favorite submissions. No registration required for browsing and searching the site however if you want to submit a report or comment on the posts of others then sign up is needed.

Features:

Report bad driving online.
Search site by license plate and see if it has been reported before.
Browse the site and view latest, most commented and most favorited submissions.
Comment on other reports and collect your favorites.

Check out Zapatag @ www.zapatag.com (via Downloadsquad)

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Zapatag: Report Bad Drivers Online

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TrueCar: Find Out Real Prices Paid For New Cars

azim — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:06:17 +0000

Prices of new cars vary based on the model, location and their popularity with the buyers. Now, using TrueCar you can access this information and view new car prices paid by real buyers, find out what the dealers paid, view the average invoice and sticker prices for a particular car model.

Armed with this information you can negotiate a better car price at your local dealership and won’t have to overpay for the vehicle. The data is based on recent car sales statistics from your area and lets you see whether you are getting it at a great price, good price or it’s overpriced.

It works in 3 steps: Select your zip code, choose car model and options and click to view the price report on an interactive chart. View the dealer, invoice, sticker and overall average prices. See additional details such as historical prices and find out what others paid for the model nationally. No registration needed.

Features:

Find out what people pay for new cars in your area.
Browse the average invoice and sticker prices of recently sold cars.
Select your area, choose the vehicle model and options and click to view the car price report on an interactive chart.
View historical prices and the average national prices for the car.
No registration needed.
Similar sites: PriceHub and MotorMouths.

Check out Truecar @ www.truecar.com

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TrueCar: Find Out Real Prices Paid For New Cars

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CarBibles: Comprehensive Auto Maintenance Guide

azim — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:10:27 +0000

CarBibles is a comprehensive auto maintenance guide, useful both for DIY car enthusiasts and ordinary vehicle owners. Site explains in detail how different car parts work (suspension, brakes, engine, transmission, steering etc.) includes useful car maintenance tips, product reviews and general advice for car owners.

Features:

Car maintenance guides to you look after your car like a pro.
Detailed illustrated guides on different car parts such as suspension, brakes, engines, transmissions and more.
General car maintenance tips and advice.
No signup or registration needed to access the guides.
Similar websites: VehicleFixer.

Check out CarBibles @ www.carbibles.com

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CommutePrice: Car Commuting Expense Calculator

kaly — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:50:23 +0000

CommutePrice is simple commuting expense calculator that lets you quickly calculate your monthly spending on car travels. To start add your commute start and end points, enter vehicle fuel consumption, the petrol price, and then click on the “Calculate” button. The application will present you with one way, roundtrip, weekly and monthly expenses.

Features:

Calculate your car commuting expenses.
View your you daily, weekly and monthly totals.
Integrated Google Maps showing the commute route.
Available only for United States.
No signup required.
Similar websites: Drive Pricing and MyMileMaker.

Check out CommutePrice @ www.commuteprice.com

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CommutePrice: Car Commuting Expense Calculator

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CarRentals.com: Site For Comparing Car Rental Rates

azim — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:02:29 +0000

CarRentals.com is the biggest car rentals aggregator site that makes comparing car rental rates really easy. You just need to select when and where you want to pick up and drop off the car, CarRentals does the rest. It searches offers from different vendors and displays a list of available cars sorted based on the daily rental rate startong from the cheapest. These car vendors include major car rental companies like Avis, Hertz, Sixt, National, Alarmo and other smaller firms.

By default CarRentals brings results sorted by price but you can easily sort them further by vendor, distance, car type and vendor location.

Features:

Car rental rate comparison site.
Compare car rental rates from major vendorslike Avis, Hertz, Sixt and many others.
Sort results by daily rental price, car type, location and more.
Toll free support number available 24 hours a day.
No signup required.

Check out CarRentals @ www.carrentals.com

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CarRentals.com: Site For Comparing Car Rental Rates

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MotorMouths: New Car Reviews And Ratings by Critics

azim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:58:02 +0000

MotorMouths lets you search for published new car reviews and ratings. It aggregates reviews from dozens of automobile publications and provides you with an overall average vehicle score given to it by car critics.

You can search the site by car model or browse reviews by make, style, score or MPG. Car reviews can be sorted by critic credibility, review date and score given to the vehicle. Sources for car reviews include Car & Driver, MotorAuthority.com, Road & Truck, Cars.com, Automobile magazine, automobile sections of New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others.

Features:

Find published car reviews and rankings.
See the average vehicle score given to a new car by car critics.
Search for make/model or browse reviewed cars by make, style, score and MPG.
Sort reviews by critic credibility, review date and score given to the vehicle.
Reviews are aggregated from online car publications such as Car and Driver, MotorAuthority, Road & Truck, Cars.com, Automobile magazine, automobile sections of New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others.
Clean interface and easy navigation.
No registration or email needed.
Other sites for car reviews: CarZen and PriceHub.

Check out MotorMouths @ www.motormouths.com

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MotorMouths: New Car Reviews And Ratings by Critics

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VehicleFixer: Car Repair Videos for Beginners

kaly — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:57:17 +0000

If you want to save money on your car maintenance and do basic car repairing yourself then VehicleFixer.com might be what you need. On this website you can find and watch guided car repair videos such as how to change brakes, check fluids and tire pressure, change battery, improve gas mileage… etc. You can browse videos by vehicle type or search by job that needs to be done.

The site is completely free and no registration required for watching videos. Registering on the site will let you keep track of your gas mileage, keep track of maintenance schedule and get alerts.

Features:

Collection of free guided auto repair videos.
Browse videos by vehicle name or job type.
Register to keep track keep track of your gas mileage, maintenance schedule and get alerts.

Check out VehicleFixer @ www.vehiclefixer.com

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ZimRide: Carpooling Website To Find & Share Rides

taubah — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:59:02 +0000

ZimRide is a carpooling website with an online community where you can find a ride for your one time trips or regular commutes. You simply create an account, add your preferences such as music level and driving speed and then enter the destination you need to go to. Driver users who are heading towards the same place will contact you and give you a lift. If you have a car and would like to give others a ride then you can sign-up as a driver.

Features:

Find a ride to location you’re travelling to.
Sign-up as a driver and share your ride with others.
Google maps integrated.
Facebook application available.
Meet new people.
Rate your experiences.
Over 300,000 people are currently using Zimride.
Free and simple to use.
Available only for United States

Check our Zimride @ www.zimride.com

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ZimRide: Carpooling Website To Find & Share Rides

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OhMyGas: Find The Cheapest Gas Prices In Your Area

abhijeet — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:42:43 +0000

OhMyGas, as they mention is a ” social gas price finder “. It’s a US only site and lets you find the cheapest gas prices in your area after you input the zipcode. It relies on user submissions and the users who find cheap gas in their towns report it to the site which updates the information on the site. It’s a free service not requiring registration, however you are encouraged to register to get much more information and cool gas tips and facts.

Features

Find cheapest gas prices in your area
Track your gas spending
Report cheapest gas prices in town
Similar websites: Fuelly, GasBuddy, FuelMeUp and GasPenny.

Check out OhMyGas @ www.ohmygas.com ( Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

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Car Performance: Track Fuel Consumption Of Your Car

kaly — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:20:04 +0000

Easy mobile site from where you can track fuel consumption for your car (aka mpg calculator). The idea is simple, every time you refill the tank you log in and enter the current odometer reading and the refill amount. Car Performance then calculates your car’s fuel consumption and adds it to the record. After a certain period of time you will have enough data to visualize the gas consumption of your car and see if it’s with an acceptable range.

Features:

Track fuel efficiency of your car.
Mobile optimized: easy to use interface when accessed from mobile phone.
Customizable metrics: Liters/Kilometer or Miles/Gallon.
Similar websites: Fuelly (compare with others) and MyMileMaker.

There is one thing to keep in mind though, by default the site reports numbers as km/l (kilometers per liter). If that doesn’t tell you much you can easily convert the units to miles per gallon using earlier mentioned ConvertCenter.

Check out Car Performance @ miles.dynadel.com

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Car Performance: Track Fuel Consumption Of Your Car

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The Route Planner: Get Route Map & Directions Online

kaly — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:59:59 +0000

The Route Planner is a simple website that lets you quickly get a route map and directions to a destination of your choice. Although most of online route mapping websites already let you do this, The Route Planner stands out from the pack with its clean and easy to use interface.

Just type in the details of your journey and almost instantly get the driving directions and a route a map. See above screenshot.

Features:

Plan travel route and get driving directions online.
Plan and print as many directions as you like.
Clutter free and easy to use interface.
No signup needed.

Check out TheRoutePlanner @ www.the-routeplanner.com

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CarZen: Tells you What Car to Buy

kaly — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:43:18 +0000

Having a hard time finding reliable and practical information that can help you choose what car to buy? Enter CarZen.com – a new web service that simplifies the car searching process by letting you quickly find the vehicles that match your needs best.

Here is how it works:

First it asks you what you are looking for in terms of price, size, needs, comfort, convenience, entertainment, safety, make, and quality. And also how important each of those factors.

Once you have give the info, it will return you a list of cars that it believes suite your needs best. From here you can easily choose the ones you like most and them to favorites.

Features:

Discover cars that fit your needs most.
Narrow searches by brand, car accessories (sunroof, power seats), cargo capacity, etc.
Keep a history for your searches and save selected cars in yor account (signup needed).
Get additional info and tips on buying a car.

Check out CarZen @ www.carzen.com

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GasPenny: Find The Cheapest Gas Station in Your Area

kaly — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:57:26 +0000

GasPenny is another money-saver for car owners. It lets you find cheap gas stations in your area by letting you quickly compare gas prices in the area. Just type in your zip code and get a list of gas pumps along with the gas price at each of them.

Features:

Find the cheapest gas station in your area.
Simple to use and no registration.
United States only
Similar websites: Fuelly, GasBuddy and FuelMeUp.

Apart from websites for checking gas prices we covered several other tools that savvy car owners might find useful. For instance, using CostToDrive drivers are able to easimate the cost of dricing from one city to another. See MakeUseOf cars category for more.

Go to GasPenny @ www.gaspenny.com (via Technospot)

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RealCarTips: Find Out How Much Others Paid for Their Car

kaly — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:10:50 +0000

Despite the horrible economy and credit crunch, over 12 million Americans will still be buying a new car
over the next 12 months (according to Global Insight Inc). For those who still have the money to spend,
you can be sure they will be hunting for a good deal. One reference point they can use is RealCarTips, a website where they can find out how much others paid for their car and what is a fair price for it.

The site shows real prices paid at dealerships by actual consumers. For those who have already purchased a car, they can submit the price and see how they rank compared to other buyers of the same vehicle. Great way to find out whether it was a good deal or a rip off.

See a sample screenshot showing Prices Paid for 2008 Honda Civic

Feature List:

Browse Prices Paid for cars by car model and make.
See MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), invoice price, price paid, and dollar savings.
Also see dealership name, date of purchase, and buyer rating & comments.
Sort listings by largest “% off MSRP”, city and state.
Prices are ranked and given a letter grade from A to F.
Submit your price and see how you rank compared to other buyers.
Check out the avg. % off MSRP and avg. dollar savings for each make/model.

Visit RealCarTips @ www.realcartips.com

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CostToDrive: Estimate Gas Cost For Your Next Travel

kaly — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:24:06 +0000

Want to get a fairly good estimate on how much it would cost you to drive in your car from one place to another? Check out CostToDrive.com, a free gas cost calculator for driving within the United Status. Quite useful to help budget out for time and gas costs before a big trip. Or even for figuring out driving vs. flying costs.

As some of you might rememeber we have already covered DrivePricing. CostToDrive does pretty much the same thing. Enter your starting and destination points, car model and make year, and get back an estimated gas mileage cost.

Features :

Get estimates on how much it will cost you to drive from one city to another.
See the route map (covers only routes within United States).
No registration required.

Check out CostToDrive @ www.costtodrive.com

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CostToDrive: Estimate Gas Cost For Your Next Travel

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Trapster: Get Alerted About Speed Traps On Your Way

abhijeet — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Remember the day when you were driving fast and suddenly a police man appeared from no where, stopped you and booked you for driving faster than the permitted speed levels ? Didn’t you wish if you could know there was a speed trap on the way ? Trapster offers just that. It’s a free web tool which creates maps of speed traps on the roads near you and alerts you on your cell phone by its mobile app, whenever you are approaching such a trap.

Trapster’s maps are user generated and through it’s mobile app users can report speed traps with a push of a button thereby making the maps more accurate. Currently it offers mobile apps for Windows Mobile, the BlackBerry, S60 smart phones, Nokia N95 and very soon it will offer for iPhone 3G too.

See Trapster Coverage on NBC TechNow

Apart from Trapster, there is also a website called Speedtrap, MakeUseOf writer Karl reviewed it here. And if you’re from Europe, then also check out Foxytag – a free, legal and collaborative system to signal speed cameras on mobile phones.

Check out Trapster @ www.trapster.com ( Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

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PrimoSpot: Find a Parking Spot in New York City (NYC)

kaly — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:21:07 +0000

Here is a nice little web app for New Yorkers. PrimoSpot helps you quickly find free parking spots and garages in busy areas of NYC. At the moment it covers parking spots in Manhattan and Brooklyn areas. Queens, Philadelphia and Boston areas are coming soon.

Enter the address, intersection, or a zip code and click Search. PrimoSpot will then show you a neighborhood map along with available parking spots (see above) in the area. The different color legends indicate the time left at that parking spot. Click on the pin to see some photos and additional details. There are currently over 13,500 locations in the PrimoSpot.

Furthemore you can access PrimoSpot straight from your mobile device. The mobile version of the site can be accessed at m.primospot.com. Search results will be sorted based on the distance from the given address, starting from the closest.

Features:

Find parking spots in the busy areas of New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn).
Coming soon: Queens, Philadelphia and Boston areas.
Access PrimoSpot from PC or mobile phone. (iPhone-optimized version available as well).
Contribute by adding parking spots and garages that aren’t listed.

PrimoSpot Demo

Check out PrimoSpot @ www.primospot.com

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Google Ride Finder: Find Taxi, Limousine or Shuttle in the Area

Aibek — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:37:34 +0000

Looking for a ride to an airport, movie theater, your favorite bar, shopping mall or any other place? Need a limo service as soon as possible? Using Google’s Ride Finder service you can search for available taxis, shuttles and limousines in your locality. It shows you the actual location of each vehicle in the area.

Currently the service supports only 10 major cities in the US. These are:

Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Phoenix, AZ
San Francisco, CA
Washington, DC

There is nothing to install or download, simply enter a zipcode, the name of a city or your exact location and it will give you an area map along with the location of each vehicle. Vehicles are shown as little balloons (see screenshot below). Once you have located the vehicle you need, just call the service provider to reserve it. The company phone numbers are provided as well.

The Google Ride Finder is still a beta product and being constantly improved. So expect a wider coverage in the near future. For additional details see their FAQ section.

Check out Google Ride Finder @ http://labs.google.com/ridefinder

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RepairPal: Get Car Repair Estimates and Service Shops in your Area

kaly — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:45:54 +0000

Ever wondered how good (or rip off) of a deal you are getting when you get a quote on repair services for your car. RepairPal can help you with that. Here you can find out whether your car mechanic is a trustworthy one or trying to rip you off. RepairPal gives you a good price estimate for specific car repair jobs.

Furthermore, you can find out what are the most common problems associated with the model of your car, mechanical details, ask questions, locate service and parts shops in your area, read reviews from other car owners, keep track of service information, get reminders for upcoming services, etc.

Features:

Get independent price estimates for car repairs.
Find out what the most common problems associated with the model of your car.
Search for repair shops in your area. Over 260.000 service shops listed.
Store and organize service and repair related information online.
Get reminders for upcoming services.
Ask live mechanic a specific question (non-free).
Leave feedback about your car, specific repair shop or mechanic.
The service is available only to users within US

Check out RepairPal @ www.repairpal.com

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MobileTraffic : Check Traffic Cameras from Mobile Device

kaly — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:09:24 +0000

Using MobileTraffic you can check live traffic cameras from your mobile phone and see whether one or the other road junction is busy. It helps you find out what is the best road to take. The service is quite new and already has 4,655 cameras across 7 countries, including most of the major cities like New York, Washnigton, London, Sydney etc. You don’t need to register or pay for anything, it’s free and can be accessed both from computer or mobile phone (data usage fees may apply).

Features:

Check out live traffic conditions from your mobile phone.
Browse traffic cameras by country, state, city and street.
Includes over 4600 cameras across US, Canada, Austalia, China, Luxemborg, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Requirements: web-enabled mobile device with a data plan.
What’s missing: Maps integration, no search option.

Please note, if you plan to use this service on a regular basis then make sure to check with your mobile carrier about the data usage fees. Unless you are on an unlimited data plan, using MobileTraffic.tv from a mobile phone can be quite costly.

Go to MobileTraffic @ www.mobiletraffic.tv

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GasBuddy: Check Gas Prices by State and City

Aibek — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:21:31 +0000

GasBuddy is another website where you can lookup gas prices in your city and find the lowest prices in the area. GasBuddy consists of about 180 local gas price websites that help you find low gasoline prices anywhere in the US or Canada. Gas prices constantly change and sometimes prices may vary substantially, within only a few blocks. That’s why you need to know about sites like GasBuddy or earlier mentioned FuelMeUp. These sites are especially useful for truck drivers and motorists who spend lots of time on the road and consume lots of gas.

Features:

Browse gas prices by state and city (anywhere in US and Canda).
See 10 lowest prices by state and 10 lowest by city.
Search gas by zip code, city or state.
Check out top fuel saving tips for drivers.
Submit and share info on low priced pumps with other motorists.
and more …

Check out GasBuddy @ www.gasbuddy.com

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FuelMeUp : Check Gas Prices in your Area Online

Aibek — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:28:12 +0000

Gas and Diesel prices change everyday. Sometimes the difference in gas prices between local gas stations can be as much as 25-35 cents. FuelMeUp lets you check gas prices in your area online and find the cheapest gas station. It can save you considerable amount of money over time. Simply enter your zip code (U.S. only) and it will present you a list of nearby gas stations along with the current gas prices. The prices are current and updated thress times a day.

Features:

There are about 82.000 gas stations in FuelMeUp database.
See 10 lowest / highest average gas prices across US.
Browse gas stations by city and state.
Mobile friendly: Access and lookup gas prices from your mobile phone.

Check out FuelMeUp @ www.fuelmeup.com

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SpeedTrap : Locate Road Speed Traps in your Area

kaly — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:28:17 +0000

Want to avoid being pulled by traffic police and getting slapped with a speeding ticket ? Enter SpeedTrap. It is a web-based map mashup (powered by Microsoft Live Maps) where users find and pinpoint speed trap locatitons. The idea behind the service is to find and pinpoint all road speed traps. Currently there are over 50.000 marked speedtraps. SpeedTrap membership is totally free. Speeding tickets are not.

Features

Search and locate red light cameras and speed traps in your area .
Search by City, Zip Code, State, or Cross Street.
View local traffic: Slow / Normal / Fast.
Get a map view of the area along with the location of each trap.
Rate and comment on individual speed cameras.
Improve the service by adding missing speed traps.

SpeedTrap does a pretty good job for marking speed cameras within United States. When it comes to Europeans, they should should check out Foxytag – a free, legal and collaborative system to signal speed cameras on mobile phones. It claims to cover most of the speed cameras on European roads.

Visit SpeedTrap @ [ njection.com/speedtrap]

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ServiceBeacon: Manage your Car’s Service Record Online

kaly — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:03:41 +0000

ServiceBeacon is an all-in-one online solution to manage everything related to your cars online. It reminds you when it is time to do service, notifies you of any recalls issued by manufacturer, keeps an electronic history of all performed services and makes it very easy to book service appointments with a preferred dealer or service shop. It’s free.

Feature List

Manage and track service records for you cars online.
Add as many cars as you like. It’s free.
Get recommended service schedule for your car model. Supports pretty much every known manufacturer: Ford, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Mercedes, Mazda, GM, etc.
Get reminders on due services and receive notifications on manufacturer recalls.
Easily book appointment for upcoming service with your service shop.
Works with over 15.000 dealers and service shops (and growing).
Option to transfer your car and service history to another person.
For more info check out ServiceBeacon tour. or go to FAQ page.

Visit ServiceBeacon @ www.servicebeacon.com

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