Q:
Our son recently bought a Ford Fiesta and loves the fuel economy. We thought we might buy one this spring as a second car for ourselves. But he says we should wait because Ford is putting one out in the fall that will get even better mileage. Is that true? Is it worth the wait?
A:
Ford says that its 2014 Fiesta, with a small turbo-charged engine, will deliver the best fuel economy of any nonhybrid car ever sold in this country. There will be a new engine and lots of advanced technology in that car. Some predict that when it comes out in the fall, the new Fiesta will get nearly 45 mpg on the highway.
According to fueleconomy.gov, the current Fiesta gets about 39 mpg on the highway and 29 in the city. Depending on model and features, it runs at least $2,000 less than the predicted price for the 2014 model.
If you don’t drive a huge gas hog or a vehicle that’s likely to need repairs, perhaps you could postpone your decision for a couple of months. Find out the actual price and mpg of the 2014 model, and make a solid decision based on the complete picture.
Q:
Our son has allergies and we take many steps to keep his environments as clean as possible. In the car, we change the cabin air filter at least twice a year, clean the interior with special products and so on. We’ve concluded that an ion machine in his room really helps and have tried to find something portable we can use for the car, too. So far, we’ve had no luck. Do you know if such a product exists?
A:
I’ve received information on something called the Auto Air Tamer that provides electrostatic purification, according to manufacturer FilterStream Products, which it seems you’re using in your house. You can plug it into the 12-volt power socket in your car, and it promises to clean the air with negative ions.
It’s $50 and you can order it from Filter- Stream.com.
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