cars | At Home with Tech

November 17, 2024

How my Lost Amazon Package Led to this Walmart+ Discount at the Gas Pump

My missing Amazon order unexpectedly steered me toward Walmart+ with its promise to save me 10¢ per gallon when filling up my hybrid SUV. Here’s what happened.

Yes, my Amazon order never showed up. I’ve been patiently tracking the delivery of a new black belt. (My old belt wore out where my work badge clips on.) The package is way overdue, and the tracking number stopped posting updates a week ago. (It left Windsor Locks, CT at 4:56am.)

I think my belt is likely lost in transit.

Uncertainty Leads to Opportunity
No worries. My life will continue without disruption. I have other belts, and of course, I’ll buy another one. But I’m first interested to see what happens next. Amazon is now kindly offering me the opportunity to cancel my order. But that’s too easy. Will Amazon blink first? Will someone or something refund me or alternatively mail out another belt? We’ll find out…

The good news is Amazon has a delivery success rate of about 99.9998% to my house. Sometimes packages just get lost.

But these infrequent moments do remind me how much my online shopping has consolidated around Amazon. And that’s not always good. More choice is better. It would be nice if Amazon had a little more competition. Of course, they’ve run most everyone else out of business.

But there is… Walmart.

Time to Try Out Walmart+
Yes, I’ve shopped at walmart.com a few times across the pandemic. But its marketplace is often flooded with any number of third-party sellers with more expensive pricing. So, you’ve got to really know the correct price points. (To be fair, Amazon sometimes has that problem too.)

So, my relationship with Walmart has remained an in-store experience. Then, my new belt got lost and I happened to simultaneously find a discount opportunity to join Walmart+.

Walmart’s paid membership is like Amazon Prime in that you get free shipping and delivery, plus other member benefits.

Yes, I pay for Amazon Prime, and yes, I believe I’m getting value in the annual cost, mostly due to the Prime Video platform, in addition to the free shipping.

So, with an easy onramp to join Walmart+, I decided to give it a spin. Plus, I was especially attracted to one big perk.

Save 10¢ on a Gallon of Gas
I’ve always been interested in signing up for a fuel-discount program, and Walmart+ has one. I’ve previously hedged on other opportunities that are more complex than I really wanted to deal with. But the strong Walmart brand and the simple set up on the Walmart app gave me confidence to explore this discount gas deal.

The Walmart+ program saves you 10¢ per gallon at Exxon, Mobil, Walmart and Murphy stations. Again, you need the Walmart app on your phone to access the special pricing. Here’s how it worked when I drove into a Mobil station.

As soon as I opened the Walmart+ app, it asked if I wanted to gas up. It had already sensed the Mobil station wirelessly. I said, “Yes, please!”
As soon as I tapped in the pump number, it confirmed the credit card I wanted to use.
And that was really it. The pump activated, I selected 87 octane, and I was ready to go.
When I was done, I received a receipt on my app, which confirmed my discount, and I drove away.

Really easy. Never had to swipe a credit card at the pump.

So now, I’ve got a new hybrid SUV which needs less gas, and a new way to save money on the gas that I do buy.

Hallucination Vs. Reality
I have this silly vision that the Amazon delivery van with my belt ran out of gas, and the van is abandoned on the side of the road somewhere.

If only the Amazon driver had a Walmart+ account. That extra 10¢/gallon savings might have provided a little more fuel to get that van to my house.

Maybe my belt will find its way home in time for the holidays. Perhaps someone else is already wearing it.

Yes, it’s just a belt, but the butterfly effect from its disappearance has strangely led me to save some money at the gas pump.

Now, I’m even more intrigued with how my belt story will end.

November 3, 2024

Updated Safety Gear for Your Car

It was time for me to update and replace the decade-old emergency/safety kit items I had happily never had to use in my SUV. Here’s where I upgraded.

Taking a road trip without a spare tire is my new standard, now that I’ve bought my Honda CR-V Hybrid. As I mentioned last time, many new vehicles no longer come with a spare. (They’ve been replaced with tire repair kits.) But driving about without a net doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for the unexpected.

When I said goodbye to my old Toyota RAV4 and traded it in, of course, I first cleared out all my stuff. (Don’t forget the E-ZPass puck that’s stuck to your windshield and erase your personal information from your car’s voice prompt computer.)

I also found my ‘emergency gear’ that I had packed in the back of my RAV4 years ago and thankfully never had to use.

My first thought was to simply transfer it over to my new CR-V. But when I looked closer at some of the aging items, it was clear some of it needed replacing, often with next-generation tech.

So, I proceeded to do a bit more shopping, and here’s my list of updated emergency gear for my hybrid SUV that I hope I’ll never need.

LED Flares
Long gone are the days when you need to use actual flares or clunky emergency blinking lights powered by giant type C batteries. Now, you can buy packs of compact orange LED circular pucks that blink brightly. I recommend you buy the ones that are rechargeable. Older models are powered by AAA batteries, which are more expensive to maintain and bad for the environment. (That said, you still need to test the rechargeable pucks occasionally to make sure they’re ready to go.)
Compact Flashlight
It’s always important in an emergency to preserve the battery on your cell phone and not drain it on illumination needs. It’s your lifeline to the outside world. Give that job to a separate flashlight.
Portable Cell Phone Charger
If your car battery dies, having some extra juice onboard for your tech is always a good idea.
Small Cargo Bag for Break-Glass Hammer
I didn’t have to replace my break-glass hammer, but I wanted to place it in a small protective pouch that would be placed in the bin under my elbow when I’m driving. (I didn’t want the sharp tool to scratch the interior.)
Warm Blanket
It may be cold out there, and having a warm blanket as an extra layer can make all the difference.
Jumper Cables
This is standard protocol, though my Honda salesman did warn me not to use jumper cables on my CR-V hybrid’s battery.
First Aid Kit
Hopefully, you’ll never have to break the seal.
Duct Tape
Yes, there was that time when a wild turkey flew into my car and obliterated my side mirror.
Enough said.

Don’t Pack It
Sometimes less is more.

I threw out my old collapsible traffic safety cone, because the base was leaking sand. Even collapsed, it still took up a lot of room in the back of my old RAV4, and I figured my blinking orange LED pucks would now be sufficient for my CR-V. So, I didn’t replace the orange cone.

Decades ago, my father told me to stash a big bag of sand in the back. (That’s still a best practice on certain auto emergency kit lists.) I did that for my very first car (Honda Accord), but that was it. I know sand can get you out of a slick spot, but I’ve got an AWD SUV. Hopefully, that will be enough.

The back of my old RAV4 eventually looked like a messy corner in my attic. So, I’m trying something a bit different this time. Yes, I think it has to do with not cluttering up a new vehicle. But throwing the kitchen sink in the back “just in case” is no longer my standard practice.

Pack what you really need and then hope you’ll never have to touch it ever again… until you move it to your next car.

Safe travels!

October 27, 2024

Does Your Car Really Need a Spare Tire?

Some new cars don’t come with spare tires anymore. Doesn’t that seem like a shocking omission? And I had to face that change when shopping for a new SUV. What’s behind this disruptive removal?

Does the car you drive have a spare tire? Chances are it does. That’s standard equipment all cars used to come with, right? But my new Honda CR-V Hybrid SUV doesn’t. You may imagine how I initially reacted to this missing feature.

My new Honda CR-V was the first SUV I test drove during my research phase, and though I loved every part of the vehicle, I didn’t like the fact that there wasn’t a spare. In fact, I was shocked.

Blame the Battery?
My hybrid’s battery apparently takes up too much space in the rear that’s normally reserved for a spare or donut. (There are other factors at play, which I’ll get into.)

I thought the minus-one-wheel factor would be a deal breaker. But by the end of my car-buying journey, I discovered other competing car manufacturers had gone the same route.

Increased Profit Margins
Why? Well, it would seem it’s about saving money and increasing profit margins.

One car salesman I spoke with told me the reason for this trend was to save on weight when new cars are transported on cargo ships to their destinations. That means the auto manufactures don’t spend as much shipping each vehicle overseas (less per-pound delivery cost).

And of course, an absent spare tire saves the manufacturer the cost of the tire.

On the upside, a car that weighs less also helps with its fuel efficiency. So, those savings go to you.

Use the Tire Repair Kit
Instead, these ‘spare-less’ cars are outfitted with tire repair kits. You can ‘easily’ inject a gooey tire sealant into a flat tire to plug up the hole from the inside. (This assumes the hole is a textbook tear in the tread.)

And that’s the tire-repair strategy for my Honda CR-V Hybrid.
Take it or leave it.

Every part of my fight/flight id rebelled against this seemingly irresponsible choice. But my calmer ego saw this challenge differently.

AAA Vs. Self-Reliance
Once upon a time, driving a car was a disconnected experience. It was you against the road. There were no cell phones. You couldn’t call AAA. If you needed to change your tire, you had to do it yourself.

Now, driving is an entirely ‘connected’ experience. There are any number of ways to reach out for help should you need it.

Well, I certainly don’t want to tempt fate, but fortunately, I’ve never had to change out a flat. And to tell you the truth, at this point, even with a jack and a spare tire, I’d probably still call AAA.

And granted, without a spare tire, you may not be on your way again, even with AAA. A tow to a gas station late at night will only get you so far.

Self-reliance is certainly the best option. That’s what my father taught me. (And when I was learning to drive, he also insisted I stick my hand out the window whenever I made a turn.)

Times change.

Still, a spare tire supports the equation of self-reliance. You can’t deny that.

Driving with No Net?
I know I can probably get by without a spare tire. Honda certainly thinks so. (Or it’s counting on there being enough people like me, who accept this ‘downgrade.’)

So, I bought my Honda CR-V Hybrid. Yes, I’m now driving with no net. But at least I’m not driving alone, even if I’m driving all by myself.

That’s the trade-off.

Say Goodbye to Five Tires
Yes, I’m rationalizing my choice to drive without five tires. I’m still a bit unsettled. But I’m okay.

Nobody likes change. Yet change is inevitable. Sometimes that comes from innovation. In other situations, it’s more about dollars and cents. Often, it can be about both.

All you can do is pay attention and make the best decisions you can for yourself.

Life doesn’t come with a spare tire. Now, some cars don’t either.

Category: cars

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