rpmGo.com

Follow @rpmgo

Used Car Lemon Law

If you’re planning on buying a used car in the state of Massachusetts than you’ve picked probably the safest place to buy. Have you heard of the Lemon Law? Well, the Lemon Law, also known as the Used Vehicle Warranty law, is meant to protect buyers that purchase cars from dealers or private parties. This law obligates dealers to offer the customer a written warranty. Private parties are also forced to disclose any safety defects or known use. Not doing so make the buyer eligible to sue and 95% of the time win the case.

The Used Vehicle Warranty Law offers protection and remedies such as mandatory repairs, possible refunds or repurchases. Of course this doesn’t mean that any defect found on the car makes you eligible to get refund or repurchase possibilities. In case you’ve purchased a vehicle no later than 14 days ago, than the fastest way to get help is through the conditions developed by the Lemon Aid Law.

This law covers used cars, vans, or trucks and demonstration vehicles which are not covered by the New Car Lemon Law and respect a certain set of conditions such as: being sold by a dealer in Massachusetts or a private party in the same state, vehicles with a minimum value of $700 (dealer sales only), and a limit of 125000 miles registered on the odometer.

Used Car Lemon Law

The vehicles that aren’t covered by the Lemon Law are: motorcycles and mopeds, leased vehicles, auto homes or vehicles that are built for off roads.

When it comes to private parties, the Used Warranty Law applies differently compared to vehicles purchased from dealers. A dealer can be classified as a person that sells a minimum of 4 cars in a 12 month period. This law requires private parties to tell the potential buyer about all the known defects their car holds, that could affect its safety ratings or impair its use. This law applies no matter what car is sold. If you find out a defect that severely impairs the vehicle’s safety performance and you can prove that the seller has known about it, than you may cancel the sale if you keep within the 30 days limit. In this case the seller must refund the entire sum, minus the number of miles taxed 15 cents per mile.

You must know that the Lemon Law covers only defects that affect the vehicle’s performance or its defects. Defects will not be covered if they only affect the appearance, or are covered by the express warranty provided by the manufacturer, are caused by abuse or vandalism, negligence or possible accidents.

Any individual that sells four or more vehicles in a 12 months period is automatically considered as dealer and therefore is obliged to provide any buyer with a warranty. These warranties cannot be avoided under any circumstances. As a dealer you are forced to provide the buyer with a legal, correct, signed and dated paper that proves the fact that you’re offering a warranty that covers a series of components on the car. This automatically means that any defects that might occur to one of the covered components must be covered by the dealer that emits the warranty.

If the dealer does not provide a correct warranty, or provides you as a buyer with n incorrect or incomplete warranty, you are still entitled to all the warranty repairs. Furthermore, your warranty will not suffer from any countdown until you receive a complete and correct warranty.

This law is one of the best safety nets, the government has to offer.

Buy An Arizona Used Car

If you you’ve recently moved in Arizona or you have been a resident for some years and you are in search of a used car, then it would help if you would know a thing or two about the local law and those tips that will help you find a great deal.

Buying a used car from a private seller you can find by checking out online or newspaper ads is a great way to save money but you should also take into consideration the risks involved by such a transaction. That’s why, first of all, you should test-drive the vehicle before buying it and also have a mechanic look at it in order to make sure you aren’t buying a weekend car.

Another issue is represented by the car’s title which has to be closely inspected. You should match the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) number on the title with the one you will find inside the car, usually on the dashboard. If those numbers fail to match, you will have problems at the MVD, when you will try to register the car. Then, take a look at the car’s type, status or brand specified on the title. If you read the word ”dismantled” or “salvage”, that should make you think that the car you are willing to buy it’s a combination of stolen parts put together. Other tricky words you shouldn’t find are “reconstructed” and “homemade” because if the car has been constructed from scratch it might not have the VIN and once again registering problems may occur. You should also be interested in checking the current ownership. That’s because if the seller is not the lienholder of the vehicle, then you will need a release from the true lienholder specified on the title. Also, if the car is owned by multiple persons you will need all their signatures in order to register your car. So, pay attention to all these details before actually paying up or signing something.

Arizona Used Car

If you decide to go with a used car dealer when buying an Arizona used car, you should check that dealer’s reputation with the Better Business Bureau in order to make sure your investment is safe. Also, take your time and do some research, having an idea of the cars available in this dealer’s lot, the make and model you would like and the price range of that specific car. All these details will help you negotiate with the dealer a better price, because no matter what the dealer is trying to tell you, everything is negotiable as long as you play your cards right. After the price is set, read carefully the contract you are going to sign and also have a mechanic perform an inspection on the car. You can also easily obtain a history report on the car.

What you should also know about buying a used car in Arizona is that in this state, any used car you purchase is protected by the Arizona Used Car Lemon Law. This law states that if a major component of the used vehicle you just bought breaks within 15 days or 500 miles of driving you will be responsible only for paying a small amount of the repair cost. This amount is limited by the purchase price paid to the seller.

These are the main issues you should take care of when buying a used car in Arizona. Also make sure that the car you buy, no matter the make and model, is equipped with air conditioning because Arizona summers can be challenging for a driver.

Used Car Lease

 

Felling envious towards your neighbor because he’s got a shiny new car through the popular leasing system? Do not despair, there is a good chance that you can get a car as well. It may not be new as his but if you orientate well, you might end up with something a lot better. The used car leasing is still in its infant stages yet growing more and more with each passing year. Since you have a considerable lower monthly fee and the ability to lease certain “certified” cars, used car leasing is growing more and more in the people’s minds. Think about it: while your neighbor is goofing around in his brand new 2011Toyota, you can smoke him with your 2006 BMW, and pay less than him a month as well.

 

The entire set of benefits such as low payments determined by comparison, alongside wit the no-hassle leasing method, are valid to the used car leasing system as well as the new ones. Since new cars suffer dramatic depreciation, especially during first year, payments for new car lease may reach really steep levels, on the other hand, an used car will suffer a much attenuated depreciation over time therefore making leasing feels a lot easier to bear, or it can get you a much better car with the same price you’d pay for a new one with considerable lower performances. Naturally, there are some higher risks involved as well in leasing a used car.

Used Car Lease

Let’s see some of the leasing risks. First of all, comes the set of problems of maintenance and services. Data gathered from customers say that in most cases, a 4 year old car will pose nearly twice as many problems in maintenance and service than a one year old car. Keep in mind the fact that any repairs that need to be done that aren’t covered by your warranty are bared by you, despite the fact that legally the car is not yours. Therefore it may be a good idea to get the bumper to bumper warranty when heading for a lease and try to extend it to cover the full lease term.

 

Another risk encountered in used car leases is the difficult predictability of a used car’s depreciation on a period of, let’s say five years. There are enormous car variations in the five years old used car segment. Even the exact same model can be found $2000 cheaper or pricier, making it really difficult for the customer to appreciate the true value correctly. Considering that your monthly fees depend directly on that depreciation, the dealer can very well make the depreciation very low, so in result, you pay higher monthly fees, or he can claim high depreciation therefore feeling entitled to push the car’s price upward.

 

So if you want to lease a used car, head for one that holds its ground extremely well on the market. Cars like BMW, Audi, Mercedes and such will always be considered valuable since they’re not just another nameless brand.

 

Another good idea is to play your cars right and bargain the price down using all the market evidence you can get. Show the dealer some car evaluation results from Kelley Blue Book, or Edmunds TMV so that he cannot “horse around” with the price.

 

Always check any kind of warranty that is given to you. Look for comprehensive ones and those that last the entire lease duration.

And most importantly, don’t sign ANYTHING until a trusted mechanic gives a the car proper evaluation containing repairs, possible problems, and maintenance.

 

 

Best Way To Sell Used Car

 

When it comes to selling a car by your own, you better be prepared for several headaches and some complications. That is in case you want to sell it relatively fast. If you’re not in a hurry than you might as well do like most do. Slap a “FOR SALE” sign with some details and your phone number on the window and let it stay in its place until, finally somebody get’s interested. Eventually you might run a few classifieds to “pump up” the people’s interest. Yet all you could do in this case is cross your fingers and hope that someone will see the car and give you a call.

 

Best Way To Sell Used Car

 

To avoid all the hassle and complications, many folk choose simply to go to a dealership and trade their cars there. It is a very convenient thing to do since there is no hassle and you can be sure 90% of the times that they will buy it. On the other hand going for the dealership option has a single yet very big drawback since a dealership will value a car that really is worth over $5000 at $4000 or even less in some cases, making it the worst place to sell. If you simply want to get rid of the car, than a dealership can be a good choice for you. But if you want to get good cash for your car, you might want to try different tactics.

 

Currently the best rated buy/ sell tactics on the car market (as is with anything else as a matter of fact) is heading for the virtual car market. If you move your entire operation online, your success will be guaranteed. A good or popular car website will be visited by tens, even hundreds of thousands of people every day. A recent study made by J.D. Power tells us that no less than 65% of the people who decide to buy a used car, at some point during their car buying process they head online.

 

 

 

So firstly you need to get your act together. No matter through what means you may try to sell, the same rules apply. You cannot present yourself with a car that is dirty, or with knobs or other parts falling from it. If your car is in that state than you need to grab a wrench and screwdriver, a cloth and some cleaning supplies and start working. No matter how you sell, you need to be honest about your car’s condition. If you’re feeding the customer lies you may loose a lot more than him. He may loose some gas money for the trip to your place, but a bad review from him, will cost you the interest of possible hundreds.

 

One of the most important things when attempting to sell is location. The website you chose is crucial. Huge sites like AutoTrader or Edmunds can help out enormously since they get thousands of visitors each day. Consider that the advertising fee is only $90 per listing. You get a full page in which to place tons of pictures of your car. So take pictures from all sides and try to capture the car’s appeal. Try to show the customer what attracted you in the first place when you bought it.

 

 

 

Than do a bit of research and come up with the best price for your car. You can do this two ways: either you look around for similar cars like yours. Or you can head to websites like Kelley Blue Book, or Edmunds TMV to be estimated by professionals.

 

Where To Buy A Used Car

When it comes to buying a new car, there are many options you can head to, but how do you know the best one? Is buying a used car from a private party more profitable than heading to a certified used car dealership? Would you even go to a used car dealership or head directly to CarMax? The marketing experts from Edmunds have devised a ranking system that takes into consideration: selection, price, warranty, buying experience and quality of car. These will be ranked on a scale starting with 1 (as the lowest) and 5 (as best). These rankings are dead useful when you’re in doubt or missing a heading. Have a look and you may get the main idea of the best place for you, depending on what’s most important to you: price, warranty, quality etc.

Let’s start with the biggest. CarMax is an independent chain of dealerships that has over 100 stores throughout the country. They have established a foothold as one of the best option on the used car market. They have many rigorous tests done on each vehicle. If you look on the website you’ll find that not even 50% of the cars pass their standards and be sold at their dealerships. The rest are simply sold for parts or at auction houses.

Where To Buy A Used Car

The best thing about buying from CarMax is that there is no 3 hours hassle for every little feature of the car. They don’t pay their employees with commissions, they have salaries which imply that, no matter if you buy a Prius or a Lamborghini, they get paid the same. This allows the dealer to focus best on what the client needs, not on gathering sales.

If you bring a trade in car, you will also get a fixed price on that too (no more headaches). Every CarMax vehicles comes with a limited warranty of 30 days. Even more, they offer a five day refund in case you feel like getting another car. Since it’s such a wide business, there are many vehicles to select from and it can be done online as well. If you found the vehicle you want but it’s at another branched, they will ship it at your location for a small fee. All these options got them the highest marks receiving 4 out of 5 in selection, 3 in price, 4 in warranty, 4 in buying experience and 4 in quality of car. Which makes a total of 19.

The second best is the CPO (Certified Pre Owned) and for good reason. This is the best way to get rid of all doubts regarding the condition of the car. Since they specialize in a single brand, CPO vehicles receive a thorough inspection before they are placed on display and reconditioning is made with factory parts alone. But where they excel, is at the warranty department. A CPO will offer you a warranty of 1 year or 12.000 miles and 5 years or 100.000 miles powertrain warranty, no matter what you choose.

On the other side, this warranty and peace of mind comes at a high cost. The CPO is the most expensive used car option you have. The marketing research shows us that a customer will pay for a CPO car from 2006 nothing less than $1900 premium. If you decide to go for a luxury CPO vehicle than that price can increase dramatically. For that reason they get the lowest mark in price, but receive 3 out of 5 in selection, a maximum of 5 in warranty and quality of car, and 4 in buying experience

Used Chevrolet Cars

Over the last couple of years Chevrolet has been working around the clock to place on the market some of the best sold and successful cars covering just about every market sector. There are literally hundreds of models for each release, trims, specs, and personalization packages, more than the average user could possibly remember. If you’re on the market for a used car, whether you are a Chevrolet fan or not, you should check out some of the best used car deals and you might become a fan.

The 2010 Chevrolet Colorado is a big player on the trucks market segment. Available in three versions: the regular, extended and crew cab. A 220 hp 3.5 liter inline with five cylinders is enough to keep the car going whether it’s at full load or completely empty. Equipped with overhead cams and an automatic transmission, that governs perfectly the all wheel drive, makes the Colorado a truck to be trusted. It can be yours with only $21.600.

Need I even present the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette? The famous 2 seat sports car comes with a lot more power, an even more sporty style and naturally, more power. A huge 5.7 liter V8 engine powers up the Corvette bringing it to a total of 450 hp. Coming with both options for transmission: manual with six speed and a four speed automatic. Radical acceleration has made it one of the top American choices in sports cars. Other big standouts are the braking performance that continues to amaze and the steering and handling behavior at top speed. It may be a bit dicey on the pocket though, costing nothing less than $85,500.

Chevrolet Aveo

Switching to a more docile section, we encounter the 2010 Chevrolet Aveo. It’s actually a Daewoo manufacture with a Chevrolet badge on it. Yet it’s not to be discarded because of it. The little  “tyke” has incredible maneuverability and it’s highly economic. Powered up by a simple yet efficient 103 hp 4 cylinder engine, this is the perfect car for crowded cities and little space. It may be less than satisfactory in the acceleration department but let’s face it for $6.500 you’re not exactly going to take it to the race track.

The first compact in 10 years, the Chevrolet Cobalt was introduced in 2005 as a replacement for the Chevrolet Cavalier. Being a bit larger and costlier than the Korean built Chevrolet Aveo gave it a little edge over it. The standard trim came more equipped containing 18 inch wheels, sport suspension, air conditioning system, a CD player with 4 speakers and OnStar assistance. It’s very economic and has a surprisingly swift acceleration for such a small car. The only drawback to it is the fact that it’s noisy. If you’re interested in a reliable small, maneuverable car you can own a Cobalt for $15500.

If you’re on the market for a sturdy, strong van and it so happens that you’re a bit short on cash, than the 2005 Chevrolet Astro is exactly the thing you need. A properly maintained and equipped Astro can carry no less than 6000 pounds. So unless you plan on moving the entire house, this is exactly what you need. It has anti lock brakes equipped on all the wheels, the optional AWD traction will keep you on the road no matter what the payload is, and not only you carry  yourself but with a trailer towing capability, you will be handling a lot more. All that only with $7900.

Nada Used Car Values

Nada guides are the power car information, and not only car, but all vehicles (trucks, motorcycles and others). The nadaguides.com website is the home of cars. This is the place where you can find everything regarding vehicles, from new cars, used cars, classic cars, motorcycles, boats and also you can find all the car dealers and their websites and addresses.

A very important feature is Nada used car values. Like on other websites (Kelley Blue Book for example), Nada Guides are offering the value of your car according to thousands of car price listings that are updates daily by the specialists. So, if you want to buy a car, to sell one or if you are a dealer, Nada used car values is giving the opportunity to find the market price for the car you search or offer. But Nada price guides are not free. You can have this awesome database of prices of vehicles as books or on cd-s, for around 200 USD. If you are a simple people that wants to use it only one time for searching the price of a car you are interested in, maybe you will look for a free car values, but if you are a dealer that have to be always updated to the car prices you want to deal with, Nada used car values is the perfect tool for you and considering that you make a lot of money from trading used car, the amount that you will pay for this guide is insignificant.

Nada Used Car Values

Nada used car values for 2011 is now available and it contains prices of cars starting with 2004 until now. It also includes trade-in, M.S.R.P. prices, loan and retail prices, information about weight of the cars and photos of the car you are searching for. For only 90 USD you can have this great guide and you can also receive 12 updates, these mean one update for every month of the year you paid for. The updates are for 10 separate regions all over U.S.A.

So, if you want a good appreciation of your car or if you want to know the right price for the car that you intend to buy, don’t hesitate to buy the Nada used car values guide. This guide is also helping you negotiate the price of a car you want to purchase if you think that the sellers are asking too much money on the car. And no matter how much we want to know everything about car prices, there are always surprises and we can find them by using the Nada used car guide. And we can think that price is not comparable to what this guide is capable of.

Used Cars Columbus Ohio

The capital of the Ohio state, Columbus is the best city to raise children and keep a family in good conditions, as Forbes Magazine announces in 2008. With very nice and smart habitants and with a great history, city of Columbus had become slowly the city of the future for American persons that live here.

But like in the most parts of United States, Columbus was affected by the economic crises, known also as a global phenomenon that nobody could also escape it. So, during this economic recession, used cars business developed very much.

There are many websites that can help customers to find used cars in Columbus Ohio, but there is only one that is known by all the interested persons and that is visited all the time by the people that are interested in used cars and not only. This website is called columbuscars.com.

Used Cars Columbus Ohio

This website is very complex. It can help you find a car or a dealer in Columbus city, it can help you sell your car or become yourself a dealer of used cars in Columbus Ohio.

Visitors of this website had also available a used car valuator. This is a tool that helps you find the right price for a used car based on millions of used cars price listings from the used car market. Visiting this website you can also watch online videos with cars and you can sort cars by make. There are also available many articles about cars, used or new, release dates of the newest cars built by the car designers and much more.

So if you are interested in buying used cars in Columbus Ohio you can visit this website or you can visit a dealer. There are dealers for every car make and they can help you finding the best option of your needs if you are not decided yet what kind of used car you want to buy.

In Columbus we can also find the Columbus Fair Auto Auction, one of the largest places where people can find used cars, watch them carefully and choose what they like after seeing the used cars for real, not on a website. Auctions are held on every Tuesday and Wednesday. Customers are more dealers than regular people, but that means that used cars business is a trend now and people should take advantages until the economy will start improving. In that moment new cars will be choose again and used cars will no longer be such a good business to deal with.

Finally, if you search a used car in Columbus Ohio, you have 3 options: look on the Columbus Cars website, visit a used car dealer or visiting the used cars fair every Thursday and Wednesday.

1977 Lotus Esprit Used Car Reviews

1977 Lotus Esprit

The car that came from the future: 1977 Lotus Esprit.

That’s what the people believed back at the end of the ’70. When they used to glare at this “Silver Car” they were asking themselves “Where did this crazy contraption came from? ”.

The first time an Esprit prototype was unraveled was at the Paris motor show in 1975. After great demands from the public that wished to own on of these “contraptions”, mass production began in 1976. Thus the famous Lotus Esprit S1 series was born.

It was one of the first concept cars of the age which used fiberglass to construct the body, bringing on the market an unique and futuristic design that afterwards will be followed by many models (not only from Lotus) to come. The low angle of the hood, that seemed to create a sleek slope, the windshield that seemed to be an extension of the hood, the trunk slowly morphing and emerging from the backside of the car, made it look more like a Starwars spaceship than a car. In the design of the fiberglass body and the steel chassis Lotus integrated their creed in making cars “performance through light weight “ and it is because of this that such a big car weights less than 1000kg. In performance terms that meant that this Esprit, as experts would all claim, has the best steering performance of all the Esprit models.

From appearance it gave the impression that it was a very fast car but the reality was different. The Lotus type 907 engine didn’t have the kick that people would expect when it came in comparison with the other technologies integrated in this car. A mere 160 hp was not nearly enough to push this car to its design limits with a top speed of 214 km/h on the race track and an acceleration of 8 seconds on 0-100 km/h.

It sustained rigorous tests in wind tunnels to ensure the maximum aerodynamic efficiency, notmuch needed since the engine could only sustain a decent but not very impressive top speed. Its gearbox and transmission system is the same one as a Formula 1 car, giving it an impressively calibrated weight distribution.

The body kit was manufactured by the latest fiberglass technologies of the age, giving it the award “Don Safety Trophy”, the most prestigious safety award in Europe.

Another seemingly unimportant yet very interesting thing about it was the design of the headlights. They were retractable and were activated and deactivated electrically by the switch of a button. Nowadays it seems a minor adjustment but then, when on-board processors were just about as real as the Millennium Falcon, this little feat created a major impact on the public and it was only natural to think of it more as a spaceship than as a car and expected at any time to spur a couple of wings and a jet and fly into the horizon.

Naturally, because of the future design of the car, James Bond decided to take it for a spin, and MI 6 made it convert into a submarine as well in the famous 1977 “The Spy Who Loved Me” where it was featured in a long chase finishing with the car converting into a submarine.

Mean looking, isn’t it?

Anchorage Used Car Dealers

Seen the situation on the used car market lately? Well it’s improving day by day. Dealers pop-up form every side when it comes to buying, inspecting, insuring, warranties, contracting etc. I’m heading for Anchorage and you should too if you think about buying a car. How do I know this you ask? Why that’s simple. I headed for the fastest way possible. I searched online, and stumbled upon some of the coolest used car dealer websites I’ve ever seen. Let’s check them out.

First of all I stumbled upon http://www.affordableusedcarsanchorage.com/. I entered and I was already impressed. “Your No Nonsense Car dealer” policy greeted me with a hearty hello. So I started snooping around and found out some neat offers from the very beginning, exactly on the “Home” tag. I mean a 2008 Suzuki Forenza with only 28000 miles and a price of 8.995$ isn’t something I’d pass by like a walk in the park. The browsing system is really helpful and the Advanced Search section can reduce the search pattern dramatically by including even Doors and Color options. I just liked that. The only downside is the limited number of Audi models (Audi fan).

Next stop I head for Harley’s Auto Park at http://www.harleysautopark.com/. After getting used to the nearly blinding red background, I realized that the site is actually pretty user friendly and helpful. Offers were jumping from all sides. I didn’t even know what to read first. What captivated my interest, was the fact that, besides the good prices on cars, I am entitled to a 500$ gas cupon by simply coming with a car for an insurance, or a check-up. A simple online form that asks ONLY for my name and last name is required, I don’t have to get tons of information. I snooped around and found out that this site is heavily rewarded by all sorts of associations and companies for honesty, reliability and customer care.

Moving on, I stumbled across the Continental Auto Group located at http://continentalautogroup.com/. I realized that I just found out the best place for Asian made cars. A ton of great prices for every model of Honda, Acura, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, and Suzuki I could think of. A friendly search system that was already sorted by manufacturer enabled me to find every type of car I was interested in. the offers presented are pretty good, some of them include discount at every car part you change or purchase from their location, offer that comes with different amounts at different prices. The “Pre owned specials ” are something to really look at, I mean a Honda Civic LX from 2010 that barely has 7000 miles to be bought at only $14.995 that’s something I can’t easily ignore.

Aaah finally, some genuine muscle. Cal Worthington of http://worthingtonford.dealerconnection.com/ServiceSpecials/, seems to be in tune with the needs of the all american American. Ford cars, and big ones too. Ford pick-up trucks, mustangs, muscle Chevy’s and surprisingly, even Hummers. Big dealership for big cars. Seeking some info about the firm, Cal Worthington sais that he’s been selling cars for over 57 years to the day and probably sold more cars that any other dealership in Anchorage. Their dedication and honesty to the client is almost as passionate as their love for big, strong powerful cars.  The amount of info about cars and prices, and deals and finances is amazing, bigger than any of the sites that I’ve came across. This show’s makes me feel more confident about this site than most. The little script problem is not enough to be unsettling.

Are Used Car Warranties Any Good

All of us worry about buying anything used, whether it’s a car or a house or a toy. We all consider the risk of malfunctioning after a designated period of time, but what happens if the thing you bought crashes the very first day of use?

Nowadays most of the used articles shops, and here we include car shops, which is the object of our study give us a warranty for the object of our purchase. A warranty which is, of course, a considerable smaller period of time than a warranty offered when purchasing a brand new article.

Let’s have a look see through the warranty possibilities given by car dealers, and try to sort out the good things to purchase and the scams.

People presume that the warranty sold by the car dealer is safe. Is that correct? Take another guess. Some warranties, also known by vehicle service contracts, obligates the dealer to offer maintenance and repairs to your car. But what happens when your dealer goes out of business and you remain with a long stare and the null warranty in hand? This situation occurred more than 100000 times after the 2008 recession when many car dealers closed and brands like Pontiac, Saab or Saturn that have been sold went down with them. One situation of avoiding such mishaps is buying directly from the source with a discounted price.

Another good advice from the experts is to use your tax savings to protect your car. Try to invest some of it into an extended warranty which will guarantee you a better coverage than any dealer might get you, so you won’t have to buy an extended warranty from them.

Are used car warranties any good

Be careful when you are choosing extended warranties. Stay as far as possible from cheap auto warranties. Do not let the price be the only guide because without a third party warranty you may end up paying a lot more than a few bucks extra when your car malfunctions and the dealer swiftly “disappears”.

Look for markers like coverage, track record, or ability to pay claims when you decide to go for an extended warranty. There is a huge risk with cheap warranties, because dealers often use tomorrow’s sales proceeds to pay for today’s claims until finally the car crashes and once again the dealer is nowhere to be found. You’re better off getting a used car with absolutely no warranty than a faulty cheap one that is guaranteed to blow in your face.

These are some of the most important things to look for in an extended warranty:

-          Auto Warranty Coverage For Breakdown AND Wear & Tear

-          Well funded and insured car warranty administrator

-          Auto Warranty Contract that takes effect the day you buy it

-          100% Money Back Guarantee on your Auto Warranty

-          Transferable extended auto warranty when you sell the car

-          Car Warranty Coverage For ABS Brakes and Overheating

-

Bearing all this in mind now I can go with ease and search for the best deal I can get, knowing that my car is insured.

Best Used Cars To Buy

You probably already know that a new car can lose up to 20% of its value the second it is driven off a dealer’s lot so if you want to save a couple of dollars and let someone else lose that 20%, you are probably interested in the best used cars to buy in the beginning of this year.

During last year, the prices for used cars were a little bit higher than expected due to the reason that new car sales did not fully recover after 2009 which was a terrible year. As a consequence, less people traded their used cars for new ones; this resulted in a low stock volume of used cars and for this reason the prices were pretty high.

At the beginning of this year, the number of new car sales has been improving and the prices for used ones should decrease, at least in theory. While some will wait until the prices of used cars go even lower, other want to buy one in the following period.

Compounding the supply issue for buyer is that many automakers do not offer great deals for used cars. Even with those advertised special offers, the financing deals are rarely going below 2%. Of course, this is better than what you will get at the bank, but these deals are not as widespread as they used to be a couple of years ago.

Of course, this does not mean that buying used is not buying smart anymore. More than that, if you have all the necessary information about the latest deals in used cars, you will be buying like a genius. You need to know that some of the automakers offer special deals on their pre-owned vehicles, which will certainly increase your savings furthermore. These certified pre-owned cars (CPOs) usually are in a pretty good shape and they are inspected by the dealer and backed by a CPO warranty. If you are a nervous buyer, this will certainly give you some piece of mind. In addition, there are lots of car manufacturers that give special deals and incentives on their CPO cars.

These used car deals are something to be seriously taken into consideration by buyers. You need to know that many of the credit companies usually see used-car buyers as bigger risks in comparison to new-car buyers, so as a consequence the financing rates for a used car has the tendency to be a little bit higher. When the car manufacturers start rolling out special financing deals, it is your time to make a move.

For February 2011, there are a couple of interesting financing deals from some of the most appreciated names in the car industry, including here Mercedes. Although cash back offers are quite rare on a CPO, buyers can still get an excellent deal by negotiating the sales price and taking full advantage of reducing financing rates. The best used cars to buy for this month would have to be the following:

On selected certified pre-owned Benzes, you can get 1.99% APR financing. The models that you can get at this rate include the entry-level C-Class and the E-Class. In addition, the M-Class is also eligible for this deal if you are in the market for a midsize SUV. The last model that can get this rate is the GL-Class. This promotion is available for the 2007/2008 models and it expires at the end of February.

If you are looking for something from the Blue Oval, you need to know that there are a couple of CPOs like the  Focus, Explorer, Mustang, Fusion, etc that are available with 2.9% financing for 48 months. The deal expires at the end of March.

For those of you that want to purchase a Japanese car, there are a couple of deals on Mazda models with 2.49% financing for up to 36 months. This offer expires at the end of this month.

Lemon Laws For Used Cars

If you decide to purchase a defective pre-owned car, the lemon laws for used cars applicable in your state may offer you the possibility to file a lawsuit against the car’s seller. The lemon laws were created in order to provide consumer protection to people that buy new cars, by guaranteeing that, if the car suffers from mechanical defects, the buyer will be entitled to compensation. While the vast majority of the states have new car lemon laws, some of them also have these laws applicable for used cars.

In most of the cases, these used car lemon laws have different guidelines in comparison to the ones applicable for new cars so you need to be very careful. When a new car has problems, the auto dealership that sold the vehicle has the opportunity to repair the car, pay for the necessary modifications, or compensate the customer with a brand new vehicle.

However, many of the used cars are sold by private individuals and not by auto dealerships. If the state you live in has a lemon law for used cars and your vehicle isn’t mechanically sound, the dealership / individual that is selling the car must take it back within a time frame that is set by the state and refund the purchase price that the customer paid for, minus a fee for the miles driven.

In the US, there are 15 states that have lemon laws that protect customers from losing their money on cars that have problems right after they purchase the vehicles. You need to take into consideration the fact that the consumer protection laws vary greatly depending on the state and there are special circumstances that will differentiate the lemon laws from state to state. For this reason, you should check the local laws applicable to the state you live in.

Here are the 15 states that have lemon laws: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

If you are not a citizen of the above 15 states mentioned, it doesn’t mean that you are not still entitled to take your problem to court. There are many examples in which the Supreme Court ruled against a car dealer after a used vehicle that was bought at the dealership suffered important mechanical problems. Despite the fact that the vehicles were categorized as “pre-owned”, some of them had few miles and were classified as “new” under state mileage limitations. As a consequence, setting up a meeting with your attorney will not be a waste your time. On the contrary, it will be in your best interest even if in your state there isn’t a lemon law.

You also need to take into consideration the Federal Trade Commission’s Used Car Rule which requires car dealers in all states to clearly post a “buyer’s guide” in the window of all the vehicles that are on sale. This buyer’s guide must consist of the following: whether the vehicle is sold with a warranty (and how long is it); in case of damages, does the dealer cover a percentage of the repairs; info about the vehicle’s mechanical and electrical systems; the customer’s right to have the vehicle individually inspected prior to buying it and verbal promises made by dealers that are difficult to legally enforce.

The lemon laws for used cars are more complex than you might have thought because they don’t cover as much as the lemon laws for new vehicles. As a vehicle ages, its mechanics will sooner or later fail, even though the owner of the car takes great care of it. Due to this reason, most of these lemon laws that cover used cars are viable only for a limited period of time following the transaction or they protect you within a strict mileage range.

ATVs, motorcycles, boats and motor homes are generally not applicable to these lemon laws. But, some of the states in the US include alternative transportation when forcing car dealers to replace the vehicles or offer customers compensation for the defective products.

You need to be focused and don’t forget that not all of the car dealers are entirely honest. Unless this practice is expressly prohibited – like in Nevada for example – a car dealership may include in the sales contract that by signing it, you will agree not to file a lemon law claim against the auto dealer or any individual employed at the company if your car suffers from mechanical and/or technical problems immediately after you purchased the vehicle.

Even in the aforementioned states where there is a lemon law, some of the dealers will use this document against you in court in order to have your otherwise fully legitimate claims disregarded by the judge. If this happens, the judge has the possibility to either dismiss your case or the dealer’s claim that you had no right to file the lawsuit in the first place. This should be avoided by reading thoroughly all of the sales paperwork prior to purchasing the car, it doesn’t matter if it is new or used.

Ford Focus named best second hand car of the decade


Many people are targeting, especially in these financially troubled times, the second hand car market if they are interested in buying a car. Seeing as how the decade is coming to a end, the jury of UK website CAP decided to analyze that market and see which vehicles are the most popular.

The result was a bit surprising, as the 1998-2005 Ford Focus was found to be the overall winner and the best medium used family car of the decade. That specific generation, revealed the jury, brought style to the hatchback market, and really took the Ford brand quite high in the eyes of consumers. The Focus has overtaken the Volkswagen Golf in the list, largely due to the fact that all of its versions were easily recognizable and great for specific customers.

The Volkswagen Passat‘s B5 and B5.5 versions won the title of best large used car of the decade, being manufactured from 1996 to 2005, with a quick facelift starting life in 2001. Ford also managed to snag another award, for best small used car, for its Ka model, which spanned 1996 to 2008. The executive used car of the decade was the Audi A3, from 2003 to 2008, while the best luxury used car was the BMW X5, from 2000 to 2006. Last but not least, Seat won the most improved used car brand of the decade award, recording a spectacular growth in popularity.

Do you agree with the top? Leave your choices in the comment section below.

(more…)

Another cool BMW ad

It seems that the BMW marketing team is doing a great job, because we’re getting a lot of cool BMW ads lately. Remember the BMW M5 one? This time we’ve got one for BMW Used Cars. I think the tagline, “You know you’re not the first” says it all. Nice, huh?