End of December Is a Great Time To Buy A Car

If you have been planning a new vehicle purchase, today and tomorrow could be one of the best times to purchase a 2011 vehicle.  If you can find something in stock that works for you, here are a few reasons now may be better than later to buy.

- Dealers would prefer not to have to pay taxes on these vehicles by having them in their inventory for 2012.

- Dealers and manufacturers have sales quotas they are striving to meet by the end of a month and the end of a year.

- Incentives by the manufacturers are in place that may not be renewed after the first of the year.

As reported in TIME recently, New Year's Eve is expected to be the second biggest day for discounts (only behind Black Friday) with an average 9.32% off the MSRP.  And according to U.S. News and World Report here are some of the current incentives being offered by manufacturers:

Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet:   Low-interest financing or cash back on some models.  Expires:  1/2/12
Ford, Lincoln:  Cash back on some models, 0 to 1.9% financing on most models in some regions.  Expires:  1/3/12
Toyota:  0% financing for up to 36 months on many models. Expires:  1/3/12
Honda:   0.9 or 1.9% financing on select models.  Expires:  1/3/12
Mazda:   0.9% financing on many models.  Expires:  /3/12
Hyundai, Kia:  1.9% financing on many models.  Expires:  1/3/12
Volkswagen:   0.9% or 1.9% financing on many models.  Expires:  1/3/12

Check ZoomAutosUt.com for a wide selection of vehicles from Utah auto dealers and celebrate the New Year with a new car or truck!

Most Googled Cars of 2011

The Honda Civic is the most Googled car in the U.S. for 2011 and Ford is the most Googled U.S. based car maker.  Take a look at this infographic to see where other brands landed on the list.


Source: Most Googled Cars Of 2011

Utah Subaru Dealers "Share The Love"

For the fourth year in a row Subaru is participating in the Share The Love Event - a sales event that generates a donation of $250 for every Subaru sold to one of five charities.  Each year five charities are chosen to be recipients of the donations and new Subaru owners can choose which charity they would like to have receive the $250 donation.  This year's chosen charities for the event are:

- American Forests
- The ASPCA
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
- Meals On Wheels
- Special Olympics

The Share The Love event has raised over $15 million for charity over the past three years and Subaru hopes to donate another $5 million this year.

In the spirit of "sharing the love", local Utah Subaru dealer, Mark Miller Subaru - Midtown, has a Forester wrapped in Share The Love imaging that is being used to take volunteers from the dealership out to deliver hot meals to local recipients through Meals On Wheels.

Also, the Humane Society of Utah held a pet adoption event at the dealership recently - finding forever homes for some wonderful animals and helping to spread the word to "never breed or buy animals. Adopt, don't shop."

Another Utah Subaru dealer, Nate Wade Subaru is "Packing an Outback" to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  The Outback, sitting on the Nate Wade showroom floor, has been filling up fast over the last few weeks.  For every toy you put inside the Outback you get one entry into a drawing for a 16GB iPad2.  Pretty sweet!


The Share The Love Event is taking place now through January 3rd.  To learn more about the event and the five associated charities take a look at this video:

Utah Chevy Dealers Support Holiday Giving

For those wanting to lend a helping hand this holiday season, several Chevrolet dealerships across the Wasatch front are offering their showrooms as drop off locations for different local charities.  You can stop in and leave a donation to help spread some holiday cheer!

JERRY SEINER CHEVROLET is collecting winter coats for The Road Home homeless shelter.  You can drop off coats on the showroom floor or leave them with the cashiers in their service office.
1530 S  500 W, Salt Lake City, Utah



GUS PAULOS CHEVROLET is an official drop off location for Toys For Tots. You can drop off unwrapped toys at the dealership between 8am and 7pm through this Friday, the 16th.
4050 W 3500 S, West Valley City, Utah


JOHN WATSON CHEVROLET is helping the Humane Society of Northern Utah collect much needed items for local animal shelters.  The dealership is one of several drop off locations and a list of the most needed items can be found in this story published in The Standard - Examiner:  http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/12/11/many-items-needed-animal-shelters 
3535 Wall Ave, Ogden, Utah


RIVERTON CHEVROLET is collecting food donations for the Utah Food Bank at their dealership in the SouthTowne Auto Mall in Sandy.
10770 South Automall Drive, Sandy, Utah


Stay tuned because later this week we will be spotlighting what local Utah Subaru dealers are doing as part of their annual "Share The Love" event.

Dealer Spotlight: Riverton Chevrolet

ZoomAutosUtah.com sponsored a Utah Food Bank fund raising luncheon at Riverton Chevrolet recently. The luncheon is a monthly program that will bring in over $35,000 this year for the Utah Food Bank.  Mark Kristensen and Steve Stauffer of the Angel's Hands Foundation was on hand to make a donation to the Utah Food Bank to help assist hungry kids.  Riverton Chevrolet, along with all the dealers in the SouthTowne Auto Mall, is making a donation to the Angel's Hands Foundation for every vehicle sold during the month of December.  Dawn Page, board member for the Utah Food Bank and Chris Page, owner of Riverton Motors were also on hand at the luncheon.

ZoomAutosUtah.com is proud to support the Riverton Motors dealerships and the Utah Food Bank in their efforts to end hunger in Utah as well as the SouthTowne Auto Mall dealers and the Angel's Hands Foundation.  Be sure to stop by Riverton Chevrolet at 10770 South Automall Drive in Sandy to drop off your Food Bank donations and to test drive one of their great vehicles, including the all new 2012 Chevy Volt!

For Sale: 1972 Chevy Frame Off Restoration

Every now and then we come across some really cool vehicles for sale.  This 1972 Chevrolet pickup truck is the latest.

1972 Chevy frame off restoration, 383 Stroker motor dyno to 685, powerglide transmission with 3500 stall.  If interested contact Roger at  801-558-3077   or  rogertincher@aol.com

Holiday Gift Guide

If your next step after the big Thanksgiving meal is to do some shopping, we put together this little gift guide to give you a few ideas:


GoPro HD Motorsports Hero

This entry in the Hero series is a full 1080 HD camera for the motorsports enthusiast and comes with mounts that easily attach to your helmet, car, motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile or virtually any vehicle. The impact resistant housing is waterproof to 180 ft. This camera is known for recording very stable video even at high speeds or extreme conditions. $200 Link to Buy



Lego Volkswagen Camper Van

This authentic 1962 VW T1 Camper Van Lego set has 1332 pieces and features a "spittie" safari windshield, a pop-up roof, opening doors and a rear door that opens to reveal the detailed engine.  Perfect for the Volkswagen enthusiast on your list.  $120  Link to Buy        View Video

Joby GorillaTorch Blade

This hands free flashlight is perfect for changing a flat tire or working on your car in the garage. The removable flashlight features an ultra bright light and the bendable legs on the tripod have magnetic tips.  It comes with a USB/AC adapter and a USB cable for recharging.  $55 Link to Buy    View VIDEO


CarLashes

CarLashes are a product made right here in Utah (Park City) and loved the world over by those who want to add some style and whimsy to their car's headlights.  Want to go extra fancy?  Add the crystal eyeliner (sold separately).  Put these on your car and you are sure to turn some heads.  $27  Link to Buy 



2011 Harley-Davidson Christmas Ornament


This 2011 Holiday Ball Ornament from Harley-Davidson features a biker Santa.  Holiday graphics are accented with small LED lights.  The ornament measures 4 inches in diameter.  $16 Link to Buy

Dealer Spotlight: Rocky Mountain Motor Cars

In this week's Dealer Spotlight we talk to Troy Long at Rocky Mountain Motor Cars.  Troy grew up in Utah and has been in business for 6 years. You can find Rocky Mountain Motor Cars in two locations - 369 E. State St, Pleasant Grove and 344 Washington Blvd in Ogden.

Easter in November

We've had a lot of talk about Turkeys over on the ZoomAutosUtah.com web site recently, but this morning I found an Easter Egg.  Not the kind you hide in the grass, but those fun little surprises you find in computer programs or websites.  The new Android.com site has its little green robot in the lower left corner of the page waving, juggling and even doing the moonwalk! Try it out by moving your pointer over the little green guy. (Warning:  This appears to work best with Firefox and Chrome browsers.)

Here are some other favorites:

Visit the BMW Mini car site at www.miniusa.com and enter "reverse" into the search box on the main page. When you see a gear shifter appear in the bottom left corner of the page, hold down "Shift" on your keyboard and click the shifter.

Or, go to www.yahoo.com and click the exclamation point in Yahoo! at the top of the page.

If you've found an easter egg that you want to share with others, leave a comment below.

Krawdaddy Hot Rod Photography Featured in Hot Rod Art Exhibit

David "Krawdaddy" Davis started taking pictures as a child and almost 50 years later his signature photography of classic and hot rod cars will be showcased in an exhibit this weekend presented by the Butch Cassidy Gang Car Club in Helper, Utah.   The car club has been around since the late '80s and David says the Helper community is "a wonderful place for hot rodders."  He says he feels an allegiance to them and wants to do whatever he can to support them.

If your are driving through or live near Helper you can see this Art Photography today and tomorrow from noon to 9pm both days (Friday, Nov 18 and Saturday, Nov 19) at Aldy's Speed Shop, 159 N Main in Helper.  If you're more into cars than photography, not to worry, word is, many of the cars featured in the photographs have already arrived on site at Aldy's, ready for the car show/exhibit.  Sounds like a win, win!   If you can't make it to Helper, but want to see more of David Davis' Krawdaddy Hot Rod Photography check out www.iphotocars.com.

Come Along For the Ride

There may only be a few of you so far, but welcome to our first blog post!

Since the beginning of Zoom almost 3 years ago, we've worked with lots of dealerships in northern Utah to present their new and pre-owned vehicle inventories through our website or in our free weekly magazine. 

And, like many other businesses, we've searched out ways through social media channels to interact with our business peers and those of you who use our services.

So today we take another step along that path.  

We'll use this space to share interesting things we find along the way.  Some of it related to cars and trucks or motorcycles and RVs and the people or businesses that are in some way associated with them.  But not always.  Sometimes it may just be something funny or inspiring that we want to share.  It should be fun to see where the road takes us and we hope you will want to come along for the ride.

Now, who calls "shotgun"?