Detachable and fully portable, this app is a perpetual copilot and might just become your new best friend. This smartphone application operates through a small hardware accessory called a dongle, which extracts information from the car’s computer.
The computer links to the dongle, the dongle links to your smart phone and the smart phone links to the Internet. Due to this, the Link can perform several key functions for the operator.
• It provides information about how a driver is actually using the car – how much power is being used, how significantly the driver’s action is affecting the performance of the car, and how much fuel an action is using.
• It always knows the status of the car, such as which doors are ajar, if the emergency brake is not fully engaged, etc.
• Because it’s talking to the computer of your car, it can tell you exactly what’s wrong when the check engine light comes on.
• It can detect a crash and automatically call 911 for emergency assistance.
The Automatic Link costs about $70. With that in mind, re-read the above bullet points. Once you’ve re-read, Google On-Star and compare prices. If the Automatic Link wasn’t appealing before, it should certainly be now.
The best thing about the Link is that it can save you both a heap of money and a load of trouble. The average American family spends about $8,000 a year per vehicle. Over $3,000 is spent on gas alone. With the Link, you can now see exactly where that money goes. The Link can tell you how to change your driving style to conserve fuel and save money.
For example, dropping from 80 to 70 mph on the highway, and maintaining that change consistently, will increase your gas mileage by 15%. Remember that average American family – the one spending $3,000 a year on gas? Well, they just saved about $500.
That can pay for your kid’s Christmas gifts. Multiply that $500 by the ten-year life of a car, and you have yourself a year’s tuition for the kid, all because you chose to slow down a little. The Link can also track acceleration.
Accelerating more slowly saves gas as well, and the Link can tell you how much extra you spend when you’re passing those vehicles that aren’t moving as quickly as you would like. This just might give you the incentive you need to back off and relax a bit.
The Link can also save you a giant chunk of the remaining $5,000 that is spent annually at the machine shop. Since the dongle can give you the readout from the black box, the check engine light is no longer the zone of owner ambiguity, and you don’t have to take the mechanic’s word for it. You will have assurance as to whether or not your mechanic is being honest, and that alone can save you thousands!
Chris TurbervilleAbout the Guest Author:
Chris Turberville-Tully works with HR Owen, a luxury car dealership in England that sells both new and used Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, BMW, Rolls-Royce and Audi cars. You can follow Chris on Google+ here.