Want Employee Prices On Cars? Better Shop Soon

We all knew it would end some time soon. This doesn't mean that you won't be able to save on a new car, it just means you will have to try a little harder to get a great price on your car.

NBC10.com - Automotive - Want Employee Prices On Cars? Better Shop Soon: "Want Employee Prices On Cars? Better Shop Soon
GM Plan Ends Friday; Ford, Chrysler Stop Monday
POSTED: 12:08 pm EDT September 30, 2005
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp., the world's biggest automaker, is ending its popular discount program that let buyers pay the same price its employees pay for vehicles throughout the summer.
The promotion was scheduled to end Friday at the close of business for each dealer, GM spokeswoman Deborah Silverman said.
GM introduced the incentive in June and originally planned to end it in July, but it proved so popular that the company extended it several times. GM's U.S. sales shot up 41 percent in June and 19 percent in July. The discount was in place on most 2005 vehicles as well as some 2006 full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles."

Buying a new car - real world example from fivecentnickel

fivecentnickel.com , which features " the money musings of a thirty-something family man..." has a great series of posts on buying a new car, in this case a Honda CRV. The example shows how to save money on your next car purchase and make sure you got the best deal possible.

Buying a new car
My modus operandi when it comes to car shopping is to keep the dealers at arm’s length until we find the deal that we want. To this end, I tend to rely on faxes and, more recently, e-mail. In short, I start by soliciting bids from all dealerships within about two hours of here. What follows is an example of the sort of message that I send. You should either direct it to the sales manager, or send it via e-mail to their internet sales person.

Tags Car - Buying - Shopping - Tip

What is the "Kelley Blue Book" Price?

A few years back Edmunds.com posted a great article about Kelly Blue Book prices, what they are and how to use them. The article is titled, What is the "Kelley Blue Book" Price?

All too often, however, the dealer will direct your attention to a printed price guide — and often it will be the Kelley Blue Book. (Kelley publishes more than one price guide for used cars, but the one your dealer is likely to use is the one labeled "Kelley Blue Book Auto Market Report — Official Guide," the version of the book that Kelley sells to dealers.)

The salesperson will look up the car you are shopping for in the Kelley Blue Book, and will point to the "retail" price for that car. And then he will assert that since the price he is asking is quite a bit less, you should rest assured that he is asking a fair price. The implication is: why negotiate further?

But what is that "Kelley Blue Book" value he showed you? Is it the price at which cars like yours have recently sold to other buyers? Is it even an estimate of the actual transaction prices?

Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - Avoid getting ripped off by scammers

Car Scam - Used Car Buyer Scam
A common scam by pretend used-car buyers can take your money, not your car

A popular scam that has victimized many used-car sellers is one in which the proposed buyer usually claims to be from Africa, or another country, and is eager to buy the advertised car, sight unseen, for the asking price. After some complicated email exchanges with the "buyer," the victim ends up with a worthless cashiers check or money order, a depleted bank account, and is still stuck with the car.

Tags Car - Selling - Tip

Car Buying Tip - Kelly Blue Book reveals new car selling prices

Kelly Blue Book has always been known for their Used Car Value Guides. Now they are offering new car shoppers and buyers actual selling price information in their New Car Kelly Blue Book Value area.

Kelley Blue Book now reveals actual selling price information about new cars. The New Car Blue Book Value includes 3 important elements:

* a new car's most common selling price
* its typical range of selling prices
* the market conditions affecting these sales

This is the most useful information a car-buyer can have before making a final decision.

Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - Selling Your Car on eBay: A Narrative Primer

Selling Your Car on eBay: A Narrative Primer - Autoblog - www.autoblog.com _: "Selling your used car can be a harrowing experience, no matter what channel you work through. Sometimes the always tempting ease of trading in your used machine seems to outweigh the knowledge that you’ll be bent over the table at the dealership. And private party sales always seem so sketchy, especially when you field calls from individuals who end with, ‘I’ll talk to the bank and call you back.’ Somehow, they don’t call back. Those who work at a dealership can testify, but what is it about car buying that turns people into such horrible liars?"

Ever considered selling your car on eBay Motors. If so, you should read this piece. Also check out this link to other car selling tips.



Tags Car - Selling - Tip

Car Buying Tip - Car Owners Owe More Than Car Is Worth

ABC News: Many Car Owners Owe More Than Car Is Worth: "A growing number of new car buyers are finding they owe more on their existing car loans than the vehicles are worth as trade-ins.

The phenomenon, known as being ''upside down' on a loan, is the result of a confluence of changes in the ways Americans buy and finance their vehicles.

To begin with, the prices of new cars and trucks have been held down as manufacturers offer incentives and rebates to lure purchasers. As new car prices flatten, so do resale values. Buyers, meanwhile, are choosing increasingly longer-term loans, sometimes extended over 84 months, to reduce monthly payments."

The second page explains how this happens...stretching a car loan over too many payments, then trading in the car before it's paid off. You can avoid this situation by financing your car over a shorter period of time than you wish to keep the car. Your monthly payments will probably be higher, but you will be in a much better position to buy your next car if your trade-in is paid for.



Tags Car - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Buying Tip - The Car Connection - 2006 Buyer's Guide

The Car Connection - 2006 Buyer's Guide: The news on the new 2006 models.: " 2006 BUYER'S GUIDE" The Car Connection just released their 2006 Car Buyer's Guide which covers each car and truck manufacturer's latest model line-up.



Tags Car - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Buying Tip - Shopping Tips to make you an educated consumer!

Buying a New Car - Shopping Tips to make you an educated consumer!: "Shopping Tips

Assistance for the Timid, Faint of Heart, Restless, Angry or Those Who Feel
Inadequate, Fearful and Just Plain Disgusted With Trying to Buy a
New Car!

To overcome the dread of buying a new car, you merely need some knowledge of the business. You are about to embark on making a purchase that is second in magnitude only to buying a new home."

This brief guide was written by a person that claims to be a former dealer. Very basic advice but simple to read and understand.



Tags Car - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Buying Tip - Test Drive Notes from Car Talk

Car Talk: "We drive lots of cars. Some of them are magnificent. Others make us yearn to get back behind the wheels of our '52 MG TD and '87 Colt Vista, respectively.

After we've had a chance to drive a new car, we'll sit down and spend hours debating everything from the car's handling, reliabilty, and comfort...right down to the relative merits of the cupholder. The results are our test drive notes. We hope you find them useful."

There are not many cars listed here but their notes are typical "Car Talk" no-holds-barred style.



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Car Buying Tip - Confessions of a Car Salesman

Confessions of a Car Salesman: "Buying Tips
Confessions of a Car Salesman"

Learn the ins and outs of car sales from a writer from Edmunds that went to work as a car salesman for a few months. Pretty entertaining.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - List your car for free at these sites

We already mentioned Craigslist a few days ago. When you first go to Craigslist, make sure you click on your city or area on the right side of the homepage, otherwise you'll end up posting your car in San Francisco (Craigslist first city).

Other free classified listings include:

LiveDeal - started by some former eBay folks. LiveDeal is like CraigsList with color. Posting "local" listings are free and "national" listings are free after a $5.00 "verification. If you have a specialty car definitely do the $5.00 verification and get the national listing.

eDirection (with tag line - "your online space")- I don't know much about this site yet but they are advertising on Google.

Other free classified listing sites are popping up all the time. To find the latest simply do a a search on Google for free classified listing (follow the last link to perform that search automatically). Look on the right column for companies advertising free listings.



Tags Car - Selling - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - 10 Steps to Selling Your Car

Edmunds.com 10 Steps to Selling Your Car: "Here are 10 simple steps that will help you turn your used car into cash. Everything from pricing, advertising and negotiating is covered in this short, easy-to-follow process."

Edmunds editors put together a brief guide to car selling. They cover how to price your car and how to negotiate your best price.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - Where to list your car? Craigslist

If you are looking for a place to sell your used car, especially cars that sell for less than $10,000, I highly recommend that you list it on your local Craigslist site. A friend was moving out of town and didn't want to drive his VERY used Nissan Pathfinder with 200,000+ miles to the South from the Seattle area. He listed his truck on Craigslist and had several phone calls within a few days and eventually sold the truck to one of those buyers.

One tip is to be sure and put at least one picture of your vehicle in your posting otherwise people won't even look at the post. Also, now that Craigslist automotive classifieds are syndicated on other sites, some sites allow people to only view listings with photos and you wouldn't want someone to neglect your car listing simply because you were lazy.

One car shopping study I saw found that car shoppers were more than twice as likely to review an online vehicle listing with a photo.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

General Car Info - Hybrid Cars and Vehicles

Mixed Power is a great site with lots of information on Hybrid Electric vehicles. The site started in waaaay back in the year 2000. If you're curious about Hybrids or already own one...check it out.

MixedPower.com - World Largest Source of Information about Hybrid Cars and Vehicles

Car Buying Tip - Monthly car payment estimator

(NOTE: Click on the table to enlarge the image or download the spreadsheet by following this link)

Here is a table and spreadsheet I put together to show you how much your monthly payment is for various terms and amounts borrowed. The interest rate for the table is 6%. If you download the car loan payment spreadsheet, you can vary the interest rate and see the effect on payment over various terms and amounts borrowed. (NOTE: This is for illustration purposes and uses simple compounding rather than the more complicated compounding banks use these days.)

There are two main points I am trying to illustrate:
1. New cars are very expensive. Let's say you buy a new car for say, $25,000. and put down $2,500, you are going to end up with a car payment of $684/month for three years or $528/month for four years or $435/month for five years. In light of this monthly expense you may want to consider purchasing a newer used car. There are great values in used cars today.

2. Don't be a "monthly payment" shopper. Car dealers love monthly payment shoppers because they are focused on the payment, not the interest rate or the length (number of payments) of the loan. If you belong to a credit union, you should talk to them about a car loan BEFORE you visit a dealer. Most credit unions offer very competitive interest rates.

Finally - consider the length of the contract. Just one more year (12 payments) on a loan dramatically changes the overall amount your are paying. For example, one more year of payments at $400 is $4,800.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Buying Tip - Crash Test Results

IIHS Crash Test Results: "Institute Test Results

Crashworthiness refers to how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash.

Choose from the list below to see results for frontal offset and side impact crash tests as well as rear crash protection/head restraint ratings for all current and earlier designs the Institute has tested."

Look before you buy - vehicle crash test ratings from the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety. This organization is funded by you if you have car insurance in the United States.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Shopping Tip - FTC - Used Car Shopping Info

Federal Trade Commission: "Buying a Used Car

Before you start shopping for a car, you'll need to do some homework. Spending time now may save you serious money later. Think about your driving habits, your needs, and your budget. You can learn about car models, options, and prices by reading newspaper ads, both display and classified. There is a wealth of information about used cars on the Internet: enter 'used car' as the key words and you'll find additional information on how to buy a used car, detailed instructions for conducting a pre-purchase inspection, and ads for cars available for sale, among other information. Libraries and book stores also have publications that compare car models, options, and costs, and offer information about frequency-of-repair records, safety tests, and mileage. Many of these publications have details on the do's and don'ts of buying a used car.

Once you've narrowed your car choices, research the frequency of repair and maintenance costs on the models in auto-related consumer magazines. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Auto Safety Hotline (1-800-424-9393) gives information on recalls."

Most of the FTC advice is common sense, however the free safety hotline number could come in real handy when you want to check the safety of a car and don't have access to the web. This site give you an explanation of used car warranties in plain english.


Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

Car Selling Tip - How to use Kelly Blue Book

The Next Car - What is my car worth: "How to determine what your car is worth."
This is a brief page on how to determine the value of a used car or truck using Kelly Blue Book and Nada Guides. Be sure to read this before visiting either site.



Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

General Car Info - Find cheap gas prices in your city

GasBuddy.com - Find cheap gas prices in your city
Gasbuddy relies on consumers to report local gas prices. I found one problem is that some of the prices reported are from the signs at the station rather than the actual price at the pump. I was pleasantly surprised when I filled up the other day...the price on the sign was five cents per gallon higher than the actual price at the pump. If you're looking for lower gas prices, check gasbuddy first.

General Car Info - Gas Price Watch

GPW
GasPriceWatch helps you find the cheapest gas prices in your area. The site is OK but a little hard to use. GasBuddy is better in my opinion...see above post.

Car Buying and Selling Tip - Vehicle History Reports

CARFAX - Vehicle History Reports on all used cars, just enter your VIN!

If you are buying or selling a used car you must get a vehicle history report. One day we ran the Vehicle Identification of a Pontiac Grand Am for a woman I worked with found out that the vehicle had been considered "totaled" and the car had been re-titled which means that the people who bought it from the wrecking yard applied to the state of Washington for a new title. When she bought the car from a very large dealer in our area, she had no idea the car had been in a major wreck and apparently they didn't know either so they bought the car back and helped her get buy a different car.

The last thing you want to do is try to sell a used car that has been wrecked...and you didn't know it. Your credibility is ruined and you'll have a hard time selling the car.


Tags Car - Selling - Buying - Shopping - Tip

General Car Info - Automakers jack up mpg PDQ

USATODAY.com - Automakers jack up mpg PDQ: "Automakers jack up mpg PDQ
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — At the debut of its new midsize sedan here last month, Ford Motor honchos noted that the Fusion's raised rear will give it a gas-saving edge as it slips through the wind."

What car makers are doing to improve mileage. There is an interesting sidebar about a guy with a 2003 VW Beetle TDI that got 78 miles per gallon on a 1,200 mile trip.

General Car Info - Tips to improve your Gas Mileage

Tips to improve your Gas Mileage US EPA and DOE web site with tips on how to improve your gas mileage. They also have mileage or MPG (miles per gallon) ratings for all cars and trucks sold in the US.

Car Buying Tip - 10 common car-buying mistakes

ConsumerReports.org - 10 common car-buying mistakes 9/05: "10 common car-buying mistakes

Buying a new car can be exciting. But it's also a complex process through which you can end up overpaying by hundreds or thousands of dollars or with a vehicle that you won't be happy with down the road. Below are 10 mistakes that car buyers often make that can quickly turn that initial excitement into buyer remorse--and how to avoid them. "

This short list of ideas are common sense items but very often overlooked in the "heat of the moment" at the dealership. Ignore at your peril.


Tags Car - Buying - Shopping - Tip