Your rates of bank

Would you spend $55 to make your time on the road safer?

For little more than the cost of a fill-up at the gas station, you could increase your ability to deal with most road or safety hazards. Yet few cars carry such essential items, which could prove more valuable than a $2,000 satellite navigation system.

Here’s my list of essential safety items (and their cost) that should be in every car. They are available at most auto parts stores and some department stores.

Can of flat-repair sealant and compressed air ($5.99 or less)
This simple-to-use item — attach the can’s tubing to your tire’s valve stem and press the button on top of the can — seals most tread leaks and pumps up the tire so you can safety drive to a service station.

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If you’re looking for a good used car that gets great gas mileage, you’ve probably shopped for what conventional wisdom says is the “best” on the market: Honda and Toyota.

When buying used, it’s hard to go wrong with a Honda or Toyota. However, the downside is that those cars tend to be at the high end of the price ranges for their classes.

So what’s a bargain hunter to do?

Looking deeper into the market, you’ll find cars that are overlooked gems. These bargains have good reliability records, offer space and value for the money, and get at least 20 miles per gallon and as much as 36 mpg, according to federal government ratings.

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Dear Terry,
Is there such a loan for cars where the payment increases over the loan period? Right now, the job I have won’t allow me to pay a normal car loan payment. However, I’m studying to be a certified nursing assistant, so eventually I’ll make more money and will be able to afford a higher payment.
The reason I’m asking is I have 373,000 miles on my present car with bad tires, bad rear axle, bad rear-axle bearing, transmission slippage and so on. It would cost more than my 1994 Jeep Cherokee is worth to repair it.
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