Steven Helmer Publications

Six months ago, I helped my oldest daughter buy her first car. She's still in college and doesn't have a lot of money and had even less credit so, despite my apprehension, we ended up buying her a used 2016 Chevy Cruze. A little background. My history with used cars is long and full of disappointment. My very first car, an 80s Ford Escort that had severe deer damage was the lone exception. Everything from that point forward, not so much. The Dodge Aries I owned right after had the gas tank rust off. The Ford Mustang I had in college had a long list of issues, the wrong head gasket, a bad fuel pump, a carburetor that would stick shut to name a few. I had a Pontiac that had the paint come off it in flakes, a PT Cruiser that would stall out at random for unknown reasons, a Chevy Sebring that had the front tire break off it, a Mitsubishi that blew out a transmission and another (2017) Cruze that, after I bought out my lease, began to burn out oxygen sensors on a regular basis. We c...

This may seem strange, but I've been driving for about 34 years and never used cruise control until today. This is primarily because every car prior to the 2024 Chevy Trax I now drive didn't have that feature. Plus, when I did attempt to use it last year (while driving to Mississippi), I couldn't get it to work and just figured the car wasn't equipped with it either (it wouldn't be the first time I've driven a car that had buttons that didn't work). However, while driving home from a Costco run in Sun Prairie, I noticed the speed enforcement signs up on the highway and since I've been known to have a bit of a lead foot, decided it would be a good excuse to give the cruise control feature another try. After two failed attempts, I figured out how to get it to work and used it for the last half of the drive. My opinion is a bit mixed. It was nice not to worry about getting pulled over because my foot got a little heavy on the accelerator. At the same time, ...

  About a year ago, after a series of mechanical issues made me decide to get a different car, I took out a lease on a 2024 Chevy Trax. Now that I've had nearly 12 months to test it out, driving to the store and as far as the Mississippi Gulf Coast , I think I can accurately give my opinion of this vehicle. I'll start with the positives of this car. One of the main things is I am very impressed with the gas mileage. The car, at least in appearance, is larger than the Chevy Cruze I replaced it with but gets just as many miles to the gallon. Part of the reason for this is the three-cylinder engine, which I was admittedly skeptical about, but doesn't seem to have any impact as far as horsepower is concerned. No issues at all getting it up to 70 mph. Unlike the Cruze, this car does have quite a bit of leg room in it, enough for my daughters (15 and 20) to sit in the back seat without complaining about being cramped. The cargo space is a bit lacking, at least compared to what I ...

I'm burning off some of my vacation time by taking Wednesday afternoons off (it helps reduce some of my wife's stress because I can get our oldest daughter after school). I had a "check engine" light on in my 2017 Chevy Cruze and decided to make an appointment to get that checked out right after work yesterday. I figured the appointment would take, at most, an hour, with them diagnosing the problem and, if they couldn't fix it easily, having me make another appointment. I was definitely wrong about that one. I was there 3 1/2 hours as they took half the engine apart trying to figure out what was causing that light to come on only to have them not really knowing what the problem was but essentially making an educated guess and suggesting I change where I get my gas. My biggest concern, of course, was I wasn't going to be able to get my daughter. Fortunately, I did get out of there just in time. But, I'm still a bit irritated considering I have only had...

My family and I continued an (almost) annual tradition by walking down to the Swan City Car Show yesterday. We weren't there long but did manage to see all the cars. Here are some of the photos I took:

One of the main reasons I choose to lease a new car rather than buy a pre-owned (more affordable) one is I simply do not trust cars enough to feel comfortable having one without a warranty. Today, that decision paid off for me because the 2017 Chevy Cruze I leased just a few months ago had its first mechanical problem. To tell you the truth, I was a bit surprised by this. My "check engine" light came on while my wife and I were at Costco on Saturday and I just figured I didn't get the gas cap tight enough the last time I filled it. The fact the car seemed to be running just fine supported that theory. However, the light stayed on and I ended up taking it to the dealer today. Two hours later, the check engine light is off and the car has a new oxygen sensor. The fact that sensor already needed to be replaced (the car only has 3500 miles on it) is something I'm definitely going to be taking note of. It might just be a fluke. But, it might also be a sign of mo...

My wife and I had planned on getting new tires for her Mitsubishi Outlander last night. However, after a set of surprise developments, we will be looking for a different car for her instead. The plan was to get the tires after the girls were done with school. Only, when my wife was picking up our youngest daughter, her car stopped running outside of the school and she couldn't get it re-started so I had to come to her rescue and, eventually, had to call a tow truck (good thing we have towing insurance). The problem was actually a small one, her battery just decided to die and needed to be replaced. It was an easy enough fix. But, after switching the battery, her "check engine" light came on and the mechanic, after investigating, found a bigger problem. Apparently, there are a lot of red flag codes popping up that are an indication the transmission is about to go. As a result, we are following his advice and are looking at a different car. Yes, we could simply get th...

Our bathroom sink is clogged and, before work, I stopped at Wal-mart to pick up something to unclog it (it's the only store open that early in the morning). This was a last-second decision and, since I didn't want my wife to do the same, I sent her a text from Wal-mart's parking lot to let her know. After getting to the office, I checked my phone to see if she replied and was surprised by this message: At first, I was a little confused because I couldn't figure out why my wife was driving (my youngest daughter didn't have to be at school yet) or why she would text me to let me know that when she is opposed to texting and driving. Then, I realized the message came from my phone. She apparently replied to me while I was driving and my car decided to reply back to let her know I was too busy driving to answer her. This was a complete surprise to me. I've never seen it do that and never knew it could. On the surface, this is really cool. But, as...

I've now had my 2017 Cruze for a couple weeks and have had an opportunity to drive it both in town (normal errands) as well as take it on a couple road trips with the family. As a result, I now have enough of a feel for the car to feel comfortable writing my first review of it. Overall, I have to say I'm still happy with my decision to go with this automobile. I originally was looking for something a little bit bigger but, because of budget limitations, this was pretty much the only size sedan I could afford. However, as I've been driving it, I am discovering the car is exceeding my expectations. One of the things that has really impressed me about this car is the way it has given us more space than what we had with my 2014 Cruze. The cars themselves really aren't any different in size. But, the newer version seems to have made better use of the space. My wife and daughters, for example, think it has more leg room than the other car did. This actually surprised m...

Well, I had no complaints about my new 2017 Chevy Cruze until today. When I leased the car, it was with the understanding it had satellite radio. As it turns out, the car doesn't have that capability. To be clear, I don't believe I was intentionally misled. I talked to the dealership's general manager today and it sounds like he and everyone on his staff was under the impression it was a standard feature and were just as surprised as I was. Plus, when I talked to Sirius XM (to cancel) they did confirm it is very rare to see a new car not have that option. Unfortunately, the paperwork is already signed and there is no fix to the problem. The only solution they could offer is purchasing a portable radio (which they offered to reimburse me for) and plugging it in via my USB port. But, I figure, if I'm going to have to do that, I might as well just use the Pandora app on my phone. I did get something else from the dealer. Since I was given the wrong information and th...

I started the car up yesterday afternoon and this message popped up on the radio. I know GM had good intentions when they added features like this. But, it seemed to be worded kind of harshly, especially since the car was still in park at the time.

I did, after a few seconds, realize it was meant to remind me to make sure I wasn't leaving my kids in the car. And, I will admit, that is a great idea, especially with the large number of kids overheating and dying in cars lately. However, when I first saw this on my dash, I immediately had flashbacks to the numerous horror films I've seen with a knife-wielding maniac hiding in the backseat and thought my car was trying to warn me.

There is still some debate as to what color it is. The dealer says blue, my wife says purple and I think it looks silver. I think it really depends on the lighting and angle, which is cool because it means paint is somewhat unique. I ended up going with the 2017 Chevy Cruz because it was the one that fit my budget best. Leg room wise, it seems to have a little more than the 2014 version, though that may just be my imagination (if it does, it isn't much more leg room). But, it definitely has a bigger trunk (a must for the girls' skating/dance competitions and Costco runs) and is supposed to get better gas mileage. I have to wait a day or so for the satellite radio to activate on it, which is a bit of a nuisance (we don't have many traditional radio stations to choose from), especially since CD players are apparently no longer standard. And, I'm sure my daughters won't like the fact there isn't a built-in cup holder in the back seat (I think I still have on...

My lease is running out on this car in a few weeks so I'm going to be going on a test drive later today and will most likely pull the trigger on replacing it (same type car, a Chevy Cruz, just a newer version). Overall, I've had no major complaints about this one, other than maybe the need for a little more leg room (not a problem for me, but my wife and daughters all have long legs). However, I have not had a good history with cars that are no longer under warranty so I'm much more comfortable moving on to a newer car knowing any mechanical issues will be the dealer's responsibility. Not to mention, my wife HATES this car. In addition to the lack of leg room for her, it seems to have it in for her. I nicknamed the car Christine (after Stephen King's book/movie) because the passenger will suddenly close as my wife is trying to get in. She's gotten bruised a couple times as a result and I've never seen that happen with anyone else. Maybe she'll lik...

Just some photos from today's car show, held at Swan Park in Beaver Dam, WI.