2015 Spring Drive Whatcom

The Lynden Tribune and Ferndale Record present

What’s Inside: A Roger Jobs Motors technician places high in a national service competition.........C3 Even with small footprint, the new Jeep Renegade impresses........................................................ C6

Spring 2015

Drive

WHATCOM Wednesday, March 18, 2015

A supplement of the

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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1 APR offer good on new, unused 2015 Jetta and Passat models. APR offered to highly qualified customers on approved credit by Volkswagen Credit through participating dealers. Down payment may be required. Not all customers will qualify for advertised rate. APR offer ends March 31, 2015. Volkswagen Credit will give you a $1,000 Bonus when you purchase a new, unused 2015 Volkswagen Jetta or Passat through a participating dealer and finance through Volkswagen Credit from March 3, 2015 to March 31, 2015. Subject to credit approval.

Bonus paid towards MSRP and is not available for cash. See your local Volkswagen dealer for financing details or, for general product information, call 1-800-Drive-VW. ©2015 Volkswagen of America, Inc.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Roger Jobs tech places third nationwide in VW service competition Joe Gastineau has competed all three years, working locally

By Brent Lindquist reporter@lyndentribune.com

BELLINGHAM — Normally, when Joe Gastineau fixes cars at Roger Jobs Motors on Iowa Street, he does it because he enjoys doing his job as a factory-certified Volkswagen technician.

In December 2014, however, Gastineau had a very different goal in mind. He placed third in the annual Volkswagen Nationwide Service Qualification Championship, held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Gastineau, who is originally from Belfair on the Kitsap Peninsula, began workSee Gastineau on C4

Joe Gastineau works on a vehicle at Roger Jobs Motors in Bellingham. (Brent Lindquist/Lynden Tribune)

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Gastineau: Focus on Kia overhauls the process key to high Sedona for a new nationwide finish Continued from C3 ing at Roger Jobs a little over three years ago. He has participated in the national competition all three of those years.

“It’s a country-wide deal. Usually around 4,000 techs participate in it,” Gastineau said. “There are four different stages. Last year, the first three stages were an online test. The third stage had a video diagnosis test we had to send in.”

Only 100 technicians make it far enough to participate in the third stage.

From there, the top 16 make it to the fourth stage, the semifinals.

“We went to Florida for a week and we competed hands-on,” Gastineau said.

“You and a proctor are on a car and he hands you a repair order and he says you have an hour. There are cameras in your face and there’s a guy standing there with a clipboard watching you the whole time.”

After a few days of semifinal testing, the top four competitors in each category (categories cover various job roles) are awarded prizes, and the national champion moves on to Germany to compete at the worldwide level.

Gastineau took third place in the United States, and he believes his high placing was a result of his focus on his process.

“No matter what they give you, you have a certain process that you go through,” he said. “If you get that process down, it makes finding the problem so

much easier, no matter what it is.”

Gastineau said there are many ways to prepare for the competition, including watching training videos and focusing on the new technology included in the newest Volkswagen models, such as hybrid engines. This helps with the very specific information that the proctors request, such as the voltage of a hybrid system or where the battery disconnect is located.

But Gastineau said that, at a certain point, a technician can’t really study anymore.

“You just have to know,” he said. “It’s just your general knowledge.”

Gastineau said he enjoys the competition because it’s a fun opportunity to do his job and show his skills in a different setting.

“It makes you feel good about working for Volkswagen,” he said. “It’s a pretty cool company.”

Gastineau earned a business degree from Western Washington University before attending Bellingham Technical College and earning an AA degree in automotive technology. He is a Ferndale resident.

“Joe has been a model employee and is committed to providing excellent service to our customers” said Byron Sprague, general manager of Roger Jobs Motors. “We believe the extra effort Joe has unselfishly given to bring his technical skills to such a high level among his peers nationally ultimately results in the best service available right here in Bellingham at our store.”

take on a minivan

The restyled Sedona travels in a luxury lane now. (Courtesy photo/Kia)

Comfort and safety take center stage

By Tim Newcomb tim@lyndentribune.com

BELLINGHAM — For someone accustomed to a traditional minivan, Smith Kia general manager Adam Thurmond says the 2015 Kia Sedona doesn’t drive like a minivan.

“It is a luxury car,” he said about the minivan top-rated by Motor Trend. “For someone to sit in the seat, I don’t know if I have sat in a more comfortable seat.”

The Sedona isn’t a new line of vehicle for Kia, but the 2015 model is a complete

body overhaul.

“The Sedona has evolved quite a bit,” Thurmond said. “They hadn’t changed the body style in a long time. They made a lot of changes.”

The first focus, Thurmond said, was on safety and technology. Systems include Advanced Smart Cruise Control, Blind-Spot Detection with Lane-Change Assist, voice-command navigation, controls mounted in the steering wheel, a forward collision warning system and a lane departure warning system. The safety features tucked into the body include multiple crumple zones and an airbag system that wraps the vehicle. There are also the standard DVD players and navigation systems that have been in vans for a while,

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Inside, the Sedona offers seating for up to eight with its multiple seating configurations, fold-in-the-floor third-row seats and tri-zone climate control. In terms of comfort, Thurmand said a simple example is the middle row of seats reclining, as if you were in a La-Z-Boy in your living room.

“I’ve never seen that in a van before,” he said. “For someone sitting in that middle row, there is a pretty high level of comfort.”

Optional features raise the comfort quotient too, including the choice for dual sunroofs.

2015 Kia Sedonas have been on the Smith Kia lot in Bellingham for about 90 days, and since it had been a while that Kia had redone the van, they are selling more in the last few months than before. Thurmond, though, said that as the van has gone out of vogue, people have trended toward the SUV — the Kia Sorento is his top-selling vehicle for Smith Kia — and it may take some time for people to rethink the idea of a van.

“The van market isn’t what it used to be,” he said. “People are thinking more along the lines of SUVs. But this is not really the soccer-mom van. It is a nice luxury car, super comfortable with a lot of features. It is different than it used to be.”

On the entry side, whether a van

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The airbag protection system is truly all-around in the 2015 Sedona. (Courtesy photo/Kia) or SUV, the vehicles start in the mid- to high-$20,000 range and can reach into the $40,000 price bracket on the high end.

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The van still proves popular for those who want a vehicle that sits lower to the ground than a SUV, but higher than a sedan. “You

have good visibility and feel you have a lot of metal around you,” Thurmond said.

“The convenience is significant.”

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Jeep Renegade: Don’t be fooled by small footprint While cute and compact, it’s still an invitation to adventure travel

By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

The Northwest high country could be one good place to try out the Renegade’s offroad capabilities. (Courtesy photo/Jeep)

WHATCOM ­ — The 2015 Jeep Renegade is out, and it’s possibly just as good as anyone could have hoped.

The all-new compact SUV with fullsize capability is arriving at local dealers this spring, with the first one rolling onto the lot of Rairdon’s of Bellingham in April.

Designed in the U.S. and built in Italy, the Renegade represents a key piece of Chrysler’s quest to get the Jeep brand back into the hearts and consciousnesses of buyers around the world, and it just might succeed — “it’s a cracking little cute ute,” says Andrew Collins for truckyeah.jalopnik.com.

It offers something not seen in the U.S. since the Suzuki Samurai, a compact four-wheel-drive with an opening roof that’s not a Wrangler, Collins explains.

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huge host of features, and some off-road chops, the 2015 Jeep Renegade could be Chrysler’s ticket across the bridge between old Jeep fans and new ones, and spread their brand around the world,” he elaborates.

The enjoyment could be so much the greater exploring around the terrain of the Pacific Northwest.

The Renegade will be sold globally with four conventional gas engines, two diesel (not in the U.S.) and a flexfuel engine depending on markets.

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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An all-new nine-speed automatic transmission is likely to be the most commonly ordered gearbox, although two manual and one dual-dry clutch transmission will also see duty in Renegades.

Nine speeds may sound like a lot, but that feature will achieve greater efficiency, say Jeep’s engineers — and probably also better reliability, one might add.

Here’s what may be best of all: price.

The 2015 Renegade Sport starts at $17,995.

The Latitude model starts at $21,295, See Renegade on C8

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Renegade: Hill Start Assist comes standard

Continued from C7 the Limited at $24,795, and the ready-foranything Trailhawk at $25,995.

Here’s what comes standard in the Sport: a 1.4-liter turbo engine with sixspeed manual transmission; 16-inch steel wheels; a 3.4-inch personalized instrument cluster; remote keyless entry with panic alarm; height-adjustable rear cargo floor; front and rear power windows with driver and passenger one-touch up and down; steering wheel-mounted audio controls; a fold-forward front passenger seat; and Hill Start Assist.

Either 4-by-2 or 4-by-4 is available in the Sport and Latitude.

Move up to the Limited and you get

the 2.4-liter Tigershark engine and 184 horsepower, now with nine speeds. In the Trailhawk get the 4x4 featuring a 20:1 crawl ratio and Jeep’s terrain-response control, called Selec-Terrain, which adjusts suspension, traction control and shift points according to five types of terrain.

Going off-road? “Based on what Jeep has presented on paper, the 2015 Renegade looks plenty capable of leaving the bitumen, bringing passengers to interesting places, and rocking roads marked '4WD Only.' For most people’s daily driver, not being able to do the Rubicon is a small price to pay for better fuel efficiency and some modern conveniences,” sums up Collins.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Drowsy driving linked to 1 in 5 fatal accidents Get proper sleep, and simply pull over when road drowsiness hits One in five fatal accidents in America involves a drowsy driver, according to a recent report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Unfortunately, driving while fatigued is common in today’s busy world. Yet the consequences of driving when you’re tired can be tragic.

“Drowsiness is similar to alcohol in how it compromises driving ability by reducing alertness and attentiveness, delaying reaction times and hindering decision-making skills,” said Dr. Nathaniel Watson, president-elect of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and national spokesperson for the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, which is raising awareness of the dangers of driving while fatigued.

“Drowsy driving is deadly, but it can be prevented,” he said.

The Healthy Sleep Project has issued a Drowsy Driving Health Advisory urging every driver to take responsibility for staying “Awake at the Wheel.” Drivers should make it a daily priority to get sufficient sleep, refuse to drive when sleep-deprived, recognize the signs of drowsiness, and pull off the road to a safe location when sleepy.

“Rolling down the windows or turning up the music will do little to increase your alertness while driving,” Watson says.

“You can drink coffee for a short-term energy boost, but if you catch yourself drifting into other lanes or nodding off, it’s absolutely time to pull over and take a nap.”

Getting seven to nine hours of sleep nightly is the best way to prevent drowsy driving, according to the Healthy Sleep Project. Drivers should also avoid driv-

Drowsiness is a driving factor that might be hidden until it suddenly crashes up against hard reality. (Courtesy photo/ Brandpoint Content)

ing late at night or alone, and they should share the driving with another passenger on long trips.

How do you know if you’re too sleepy to drive? If you experience any of these warning signs, you should pull over or have another passenger take the wheel: • You keep yawning or are unable to keep your eyes open.

• You catch yourself “nodding off” and have trouble keeping your head up.

• You can’t remember driving the last few miles.

• You end up too close to cars in front

of you.

• You miss road signs or drive past your turn.

• You drift into other lanes of traffic.

• You drift onto the “rumble strip” or onto the shoulder of the road.

The Healthy Sleep Project also encourages transportation companies to promote public safety by adhering to hours-of-service regulations, scheduling work shifts based on sleep need and circadian timing (your internal biological clock), implementing an evidence-based fatigue management system, and screen-

ing commercial drivers for sleep diseases such as obstructive sleep apnea.

“There is no substitute for healthy sleep. It’s essential to promote personal safety and optimal alertness behind the wheel,” Watson said. “Evaluate your sleep habits, address potential problems with a board-certified sleep specialist and make sleep a priority to protect yourself, your passengers and other drivers from avoidable, life-threatening accidents caused by drowsiness.”

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Car buying should not be stress-inducing Follow some proven paths to a better outcome Having a car is a necessity for most people, but buying and selling one shouldn’t cause headaches and waste time.

Industry insiders know there are steps that can help both buyers and sellers maximize their investment while minimizing stress.

“The process of buying or selling a car can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be,” said Mike Dodd, a 25-year veteran of the automotive industry and CEO of Carphoria, a consumer service company that streamlines car acquisitions and sales.

“The key is to be smart and thoroughly consider your options. Don’t assume you have to sell and buy the same way your parents did.”

Dodd offers these tips that savvy car owners can rely on when buying and selling a vehicle: Know your budget Buying a car is a large purchase, so make sure to stick to your budget. If you are financing your vehicle, be sure to get pre-approved for a loan at the lowest rate you qualify for.

Often, getting financed at the dealership doesn’t allow you to get the lowest rate. Even a small increase in interest rates can add up to thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

If you do finance through a dealership, ask to speak to the lender directly to confirm you are getting the rate that you actually qualify for, and that you aren’t giving a few percentage points to the dealer as part of a “facilitation fee.”

Buy used rather than brand-new Financially savvy car buyers understand that buying a brand-new car is expensive. In fact, new cars decline in value by about 25 percent each year for the first five years, according to Edmunds.

That means if you change your mind next year, your $40,000 car will only be worth $30,000 (and chances are if you financed it, you owe more for it than it is actually worth).

Instead, research the car you’d like to own and look for one a year old, with less than 15,000 miles on it. That will instantly save you money.

Also, allow yourself some time to shop online and in person so you can find the price you want without feeling pressured to buy on the spot.

Take some of the stress out of a vehicle transaction by doing your preparation work first. (Courtesy photo/Brandpoint Content) Remember, there will always be another car you like — you don’t have to make rushed decisions.

Buy and trade separately Most people leave money on the table by simply trading in their vehicle when they purchase their new one.

You should negotiate your purchase without any sort of trade-in taken into consideration. The same goes for negotiating the sale of your old car.

By separating the two, you are able to focus on getting the best outcome in both transactions.

With a nationwide network of dealer partnerships, selling services like Carphoria find the best price possible for used cars based on nationwide demand, not

just the demand in your city. For example, dealers in the Northeast may pay more for a vehicle from a state like Texas than they would from other northern states because they don’t have to worry about rust damage. Visit www.carphoria.com for more info.

or personal friend, always get a comprehensive inspection done on a used vehicle before signing anything. Having an accurate picture of the current state of everything from the motor to the air conditioner could affect the price you should be paying.

Thoroughly inspect used vehicles Third-party history reports on automobiles are a great starting point when you are looking to purchase a used vehicle.

But be aware that half of motor vehicle crashes go unreported, and more than 450,000 vehicles each year have false odometer readings, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Whether from a dealer, private owner

Get an extended warranty Car repairs are an inevitable part of car ownership. However, extended warranties provide peace of mind and can save you a lot of money on repairs once a manufacturer’s warranty is up.

Shop around to get the highest-quality plan for the lowest cost from a reputable company. For example, Carphoria offers extended warranties at a fraction of the price of what is traditionally charged.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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Why we love our cars more than ever

Reliability, gadgets and efficiency — how far we’ve come!

From the time the Benz Patent Motor Car hit the ground in the late 1880s, the evolution of the car has been a rapid flash of technological advancements that have kept carmakers battling for consumer attention.

Style, affordability and reliability are some of the main reasons that car buying in America is thriving like it is.

Now, automotive eons later, here’s a snapshot of our love affair with cars as it stands in 2015: They’re more reliable Reliability means feeling confident that every time you turn the key, your car’s engine will start. It also means avoiding the repair shop, especially for a brand-new car.

The team at Consumer Reports’ rates reliability among cars every year and in 2014 found that Toyota’s luxury brand Lex-

us to be the most reliable car overall.

Here, in order, is how the other 10 spots filled out: Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Audi, Buick, Subaru, Scion, Porsche, Kia. More gadgets While cars are lasting longer, they are also improving their electronic systems.

Recent advancements include infotainment units, audio, navigation and incar communications systems that span touch-screen and voice-command functionalities that make driving a dream.

These systems give new meaning to the term “driver-friendly” and, once experienced, can be tough to go without.

They’re efficient Especially today’s models, cars are becoming more and more friendly to the environment. In fact, the average new vehicle fuel economy hit a record high in miles per gallon in 2014.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported that overall fuel economy is on the rise because automakers have improved their gas engines and transmissions, as well as added turbochargers to give small motors more power.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | Ferndale Record

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