Now someone who doesn't even know a piston from a pedal can make smart choices about buying a used car. Just point and click your way through this fun and engaging animated CD-Rom.
Remember the first car you bought? For teens, it's like a rite of passage. But rites of passage aren't always all glamour and glory. When it comes to cars, the first step in making it a good experience is knowing how to choose a car that's worth your hard-earned money.
Enter Eric the car dude -- the animated star in Car Dreams. Eric shows us he's the kind of guy who knows how to walk into a used car lot, and walk out with either a good deal, or good deal of confidence that he wasn't going to get a good deal! Eric knows cars, and he's totally cool with showing teens what to look out for when they're buying a used car.
Car Dreams is a fun interactive cartoon that may have been made for teens, but anyone watching will learn a lot. Eric gives you a complete list of common sense checks to see whether the car you're drooling over is worth taking to a mechanic for further inspection.
After watching the introductory story, you'll click your way through three areas for checking out a car: under the hood, the interior, and the exterior. The checks have interactive photos, sounds, actions, and information that show what to look for -- everything from noticing the color of the car's exhaust, to the sound of the car's door when it closes, to the wear and tear on a tire. The visuals, sounds, and text give you a real hands-on feel for doing your own inspections.
Want to go for a road test and do some checks? Okay, Car Dreams can do that. Check the gauges, steering, brakes, leaks, and transmission. It covers everything.
There's more: no experience of owning a first car would be complete without understanding insurance and titles. You'll get a practical feel for the difference between liability, collision, and comprehensive insurance. There's even a game to test your knowledge.
Teens can watch this on their own, but it's also great for classroom use. The CD comes with a Discussion Guide that includes a summary of the key points and review questions. Teachers can use this to give their students a solid foundation in smart consumerism. (Plus they'll gain big points with their students by offering them such a cool and fun program.)
Get in and take this program for a spin!
--Caesar Pacifici, Ph.D.
