Archive for April, 2009
Avoid Risk And Be An Informed Car Buyer
Buying a new or used car can prove an expensive education if you dont do your homework before closing the deal. Not only might you end up with a lemon but you might also pay way over the odds for your car finance. So make sure you follow these informal tips before you launch yourself into the market or fall in love with that musthave motor.
First dont aim for something that you cant afford. Make sure you remain realistic about how much you can easily repay each month and remember to include the costs of maintenance and running your vehicle in your calculations. It may be tempting to think you can extend yourself to the limit in your quest for a bigger faster or more luxurious car but before you do think very carefully about whether you really can afford it.
Be knowledgeable about the makes and models that you are thinking of buying. Research current vehicle values on the web so that you can negotiate with some degree of confidence. Avoid being overcharged by knowing exactly what the car you desire is worth. Glasss Guide is a good start as it gives benchmark values for a huge range of vehicles which will be handy if you are hoping to offer a vehicle in part exchange.
Also go a bit further with your research especially if you are interested in particular models. As well as knowing their current worth make sure you are aware of any current mechanical issues such as at what mileage the car would need major work and whether it has any inherent defects.
Unless you are extremely lucky and have cash burning a hole in your pocket you will also need to consider arranging car finance if youre in the market for a new or used vehicle. Financing a car purchase can be a longdrawn out affair if you go down the high street banks route but most used car supermarkets now offer their own car finance which tends to be processed quickly and everything is done from the one location making these types of car dealerships an ideal onestop solution.
However it is best to get some price comparisons rather than accept the first offer but if you shop around for finance make sure that you only request quotes and do not make applications for credit. That is because every loan application impacts negatively upon your credit score. The more applications you make the less chance you will get the deal you want.
About the writer: Adam Singleton is an online freelance journalist and keen gardener. He lives in Scotland with his two dogs.
Avail The Scrappage Scheme To Buy A Ford Cheap
Perhaps the most significant and certainly the most talkedabout part of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s latest Budget speech is the announcement that the UK will follow the example of several other European countries by introducing a scrappage scheme to help boost the sales of new cars and vans.
The basic principle is that owners of older vehicles can trade them in at a value which in the vast majority of cases they could not possibly achieve if sold on the secondhand market. That value has been set at 2000 half of it supplied by manufacturers participating in the scheme on a voluntary basis and half by the Government up to a maximum of 300 million.
There is of course a lot more to this than simply taking an old car to a dealership and asking for 2000. The car itself or the small van of up to 3.5 tonnes has to have been registered in the UK on or before 31 July 1999 it must have a current MOT certificate and it has to be either registered or covered by a Statutory Off Road Notification in the name of a UK resident and to have been so for at least 12 continuous months.
That same person is also the one in whose name the new vehicle must be registered. It can have had no former keepers and must also be of UK specification.
The scheme is due to start in midMay this year and run until the beginning of March 2010 or until the Government’s allocation of money runs out if that comes sooner. This means that there is no point buying an old car for a few hundred pounds and expecting to trade it in for two thousand the scheme would run out before the banger had been registered in your name for the required 12 months.
Within two days of the scheme being announced a large amount of criticism had been voiced. Much of it was based on the fact that there is no special incentive to buy vehicles with low CO2 emission figures except in the sense that new cars are generally much better in this respect than tenyear old ones and there is also concern that people who currently own cars registered before July 1999 are unlikely to be able to raise the finance to switch to a brandnew model even with the 2000 incentive.
The manufacturers however are generally in favour and some have even announced that they will extend the scheme of their own accord. For example it has been confirmed that you will be able to buy a Ford or at least a larger one from the Fusion upwards with the help of an extra donation of between 1250 and 3000 while Renault has announced that it intends to do something similar.
Nissan meanwhile has said that it will extend the scheme to eightyear old cars and pay the extra 1000 which the Government will not in those cases. And Citroen has been quick to point out that it has been offering its own 2000 scrappage incentive since well before the Budget.
About the writer: Oliver Cook is a freelance author who has the vast knowledge in Ford”>http://www.carkeys.co.uk/car_guides/ford/default.asp”>Ford please visit http://www.carkeys.co.uk/ to buy a Ford
Auto Bailout V.s The Alternative
Toronto We can all debate the merits of a government bailout for the Big Three Automakers until we are blue in the face but what we sometimes fail to see are the facts that surround that debate. Whether we like it or not our opinions are largely based on water cooler banter and conflicting news reports from multiple news agencies pushing their agendas and leading us to ignore some of the deeper true meanings behind the debate. I will ask you to push aside any bias you may have against American made new amp; used cars and take a look at those facts and try and come to a conclusion based reason and fact.
Fact: We are no longer driving our fathers used cars.
The big three have made great strides towards producing cleaner greener and more fuel efficient vehicles in the last 15 years and are continuing to invest in environmental technologies for our new and used cars.
Used cars that are made in America and Canada provide hundreds of thousands jobs in the auto trader market today.
Fact: The U.S. congress has the greatest deficit in history.
They continue to hold the auto makers feet over the fire while they bailout companies such as AIG to the tune of 150 billion.
These are the same companies that are responsible for the worldwide economic crisis and the automakers cant get 25 billion Loan.
The new and used cars from an auto trader are responsible for millions of dollars being pumped into our economy. Can AIG or any of the others say the same?
Fact: The job tree starts with manufacturing and the Auto Industry
Every 1 job in the auto industry supports 7.5 more jobs in supporting industries
Fact: The auto industry should be found guilty.
Guilty of paying decent wages and benefits to its members
Guilty of employing millions of Canadians and Americans while other companies are outsourcing all their jobs overseas
Guilty of pumping money into the economy
Guilty of being the last great patriotic companies left in North America
CNN Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM’s contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and Washington during the 9/11 crisis. The findings were as follows…..
1. Ford 10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the same number plus 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept. The company also offered ER response team services and office space to displaced government employees.
2. GM 10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the same number and a fleet of vans SUVs and trucks.
3. Daimler Chrysler 10 million to support of the children and victims of the Sept. 11 attack.
4. Harley Davidson motorcycles 1 million and 30 new motorcycles to the New York Police Dept.
5. Volkswagen Employees and management created a Sept 11 Foundation funded initial with 2 million for the assistance of the children and victims of the WTC.
6. Hyundai 300000 to the American Red Cross.
7. Audi Nothing.
8. BMW Nothing.
9. Daewoo Nothing.
10. Fiat Nothing.
11. Honda Nothing Despite boasting of second best sales month ever in August 2001.
12. Isuzu Nothing.
13. Mitsubishi Nothing.
14. Nissan Nothing.
15. Porsche Nothing Press release with condolences via the Porsche website.
16. Subaru Nothing.
17. Suzuki Nothing.
18. ToyotaNothing despite claims of high sales in July and August 2001. Condolences posted on the website
So next time youre around the water cooler debating the merits of American and Canadian new and used cars to buy or the Big Three bailout program with your colleagues please try and remember that home grown business has multiple benefits that arent always easy to see from the exterior. The Big Three auto makers are the backbone of our countries fiber and economy and assisting them during these turbulent times will have benefits that will last long after AIG has paid out all its executive bonuses.
About the writer: Used Trucks For Sale Low cost used cars trucks for sale.