It’s always a conundrum faced every year at the holidays. What gift can I buy for the car nut on my holiday shopping list? Well, car nuts come in many different shapes, sizes and tastes, so here is some advice that I hope meets the needs of most car nuts out there. Plus, most of them will instantly enhance the value of your used car.
A Self-Diagnostic Tool
Black & Decker’s new SmartScan ($79.95) is a self-diagnostic tool that displays the same information stored in a car’s computer that a mechanic uses to diagnose and fix problems. It’s a great gift for the car lover who knows a little about cars, but panics when the check engine light comes on.
The SmartScan is sold with a reference manual of the fault codes that easily stores in the glove box. Urgency indicators also display how serious the problem is. A green light indicates the car’s computer is not reporting a problem and turns off the check engine light. A yellow light means the car should be looked at in the next five days. An amber light means a mechanic should see the car soon. Red, as one might expect, means an immediate repair is needed.
Backup Camera System
This is for the safety-minded car nut on our shopping list. Normally, back-up cameras cost hundreds of dollars when bought new. Audiovox has taken these products to a new level with its $129.99 retail, do-it-yourself install wireless color monitor and back-up camera system, model ACA250.
Metal brackets as well as a full metal camera housing provide maximum durability. The wide-angle view completely eliminates the need for up and down manual adjustment and the IP66-rated camera means it is designed for even more extreme yet everyday conditions like car wash strength water pressure and is completely dust-proof. Installation is a snap as the back-up lamp powers the camera. The monitor plugs into a 12-volt cigarette lighter or can be hardwired for permanent installation.
A Flashlight for the Glove Box
The Duracell Daylite is a practical gift more to keep in the car that is good for anybody with a glove box. The heavy-duty Duracell Daylite was developed with patented “TrueBeam” technology which captures, focuses and projects more light than the typical LED and bulb technologies currently on the store shelves with settings from a focused spotlight to floodlight. The Daylite takes typical LED lighting technology to the next level.
Duracell says even with a reflector or lens, a standard LED light source emits and captures light so inefficiently in a 180-degree pattern that it captures less than 70 percent of the total light produced. Duracell’s TrueBeam Technology uses both a lens and a reflector to capture and project up to 100 percent of the light, delivering a brighter, whiter beam that totally eliminates the dark spot that plagues the typical flashlight.
It’s a great, lightweight, compact flashlight that even my three-year-old daughter can use. I finally had to hide it from her, but it did come in handy during a brief power outage one night. It now sits in my glove box awaiting more nighttime duty. The suggested retail price is $24.99 for AA and AAA models. The CR123 will have a suggested retail of $34.99.
Navigation at the Next Level
A premium portable navigation device for those looking for style and substance, the Navigon 7200T offers features no other GPS system has such as Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro and free real-time traffic updates for life. (Most navigation systems charge an annual fee for that feature.)
It features a host of next generation features such as voice destination entry, allowing drivers to specify their destination by simply speaking the address, and Landmark View 3D, which brings a new dimension to the map with hundreds of richly-textured 3D landmarks across the U.S. and Canada. The display was fairly stunning during a demonstration I saw in New York City.
The Navigon 7200T employs Navigon’s next generation software, on average requiring fewer clicks than any other GPS product to enter a destination. And navigation has never looked so good. Reflecting Navigon’s award-winning DNA, the new premium GPS is not only slim and portable, but also nicely designed with its flat-panel touch screen creating a sleek, frameless display. It sells for $449. It’s a little pricier, but the technology seems well worth the cost.
Sleek Hands Free Calling
Parrot, the world leader in hands-free car kits, has announced its next-generation hands-free speakerphone – the new super-slim Parrot MINIKIT Slim. The sleek Bluetooth car kit uses Parrot’s latest voice recognition and DSP technology, which means it has user-independent voice recognition and text-to-speech capability. As a result, once you have paired your phone, the phonebook automatically loads and you can place calls by simply saying “Call George, cell phone” and it will find and dial the number. I have a Parrot hands-free device that I really like (when I remember to use it).
Make Your Car a Safe Haven
Here’s an idea for the car lover who likes to have peace of mind with valuables in the car. I think the Sentry Safe AS-1 autosafe is the perfect antidote for people who are concerned about reprobates breaking into their vehicles.
The SentrySafe AS-1 autosafe (MSRP $100) protects personal items from opportunistic automobile crimes and break-ins. The compact unit, designed with a high-security key lock with two steel locking bolts, is fastened with a theft-resistant steel cable. Fitting neatly under a seat or out of sight in a trunk, the AS-1 autosafe is foam-lined to cushion valuable contents. The safe comes complete with anti-slip protection, rubber feet, Velcro pads and/or a carpet screw to prevent the unit from shifting while the car is in motion.
