One of the first articles we published in 2005 commenced the story of a little Gallic number and the horrors of being on the receiving end of a Monday Morning car, or perhaps it was a Friday afternoon example and Les Français were about to demonstrate their Rugby prowess by annihilating their favourite enemy thereby emptying the Factory in record time.
Either way it didn’t make much difference because in all the years of Automotive History there has never been such a car! However if anyone after reading this current chapter can beat the list of faults and eclipse the dissatisfaction rating, we will be glad to hear from them. We might even publish it on our Garage Horror Stories Archive on the Web Site! You are going to have to come up with something the equal of Frankenstein meets Alien or you are simply not at the races! Actually we never got to the races because with just 70 miles on the clock on day two the car went into self destruct mode and refused to take us any further!
Buying an automobile is a big step for many individuals and those who are looking to purchase or lease a car may wonder what things to look for in a car dealership. As each car dealership has their own traits and attributes, there are a few factors one should consider in order to help them choose the best dealership to do business with for the automobile transaction.
Type of Automobile One Is Looking For
Americans like to buy a car at the dealership in one afternoon, and the dealerships try very hard to make you think that is possible and even smart. But it’s not. Realize how big a purchase a car is. And it is complicated.
Buying a car is the second-largest purchase most people make after buying a home. When you buy a home, think about all the help you have: you have a broker to help you find the best home for you, and a mortgage broker to help you find the best financing. And an inspector to make sure the house is safe. Sometimes you also have an attorney to make sure the contract is fair, and a title company makes sure the title is clear before you pay for the home. But when you buy a car, there is not one person there to help you. And the dealers want you to THINK you can waltz in to the dealership and buy a car from start to finish in an afternoon… and sure, you can, but you will pay much much more if you do it that way. Here are four tips to give you an advantage:
Posted in Vehicles | Also tagged Avtorentacar Car, bank, buying, credit union, finance, loan, negotiate, price, salesman, scam, trade in, used car |
Understanding the residual value of used cars can help you make buying decisions that can save you a great deal of money down the road. The residual value is the percentage of the manufacturer’s original value that a car retains after ownership.
If a particular model of used BMW has a lower residual value than another used BMW model, it may be a sign that there are issues that negatively impact a particular model. The residual value is also based on the level of demand for a particular vehicle, offering insight into how easily you’ll be able to sell it.
1. “BE BACK” (BB). A person who leaves the car lot without purchasing a car but whom the salesperson believes will come back (be back) to the lot soon.
2. BURIED. A person who is in debt from a car that has little to no value.
During Hurricanes of any large magnitude all the car dealerships and show rooms are totally demolished. That generally includes much of the inventory of new and used cars. Over 80 car dealership were completely destroyed and that means about 5,500 new cars, 2,000 used cars and all the buildings too. Automakers do not guarantee these cars on the franchised dealership lots. Some are insured thru the flooring cost loan arrangement for inventory or require mandatory insurance. Most of the Gulf Coast Auto Dealerships did not have enough insurance for this level of loss, during Hurricane Katrina. Many did not have such insurance for those levels of losses because of cost and/or underwriters did not wish to cover that eventuality. In the aftermath and in hindsight; if you owned an insurance company would you; heck no!?
Since this is a problem and since so many dealerships need to save all those cars from the storm and since these cars are mobile and since there were people who were told they needed mandatory evacuation, since you can put five people into a car; I think you see where I am going with this?
Whenever you think about a business that has got a bad wrap, often the car dealerships come to mind. This is especially true with the used car dealerships. But why is there so much sneakiness and dishonesty with the trading of autos? What is it about the buying and selling of vehicles that creates conmen and petty crooks out of otherwise honest law abiding citizens?
Over the years, I’ve not found a single car dealership that I can honestly say I trust 100%. A good few years ago, I bought a brand new Ford Sierra XR4 from a local dealer. After it had been in for its first service, I hadn’t been driving around for more than half a day when the red oil warning light came on. Alarmed by this, I immediately drove it back to the service center.
With the technology that is available today, one can purchase almost anything online, even cars. However, although many online car dealers are reputable, there will always be the possibility that some sort of scam can occur. The following paragraphs will highlight a few of these scams relating to online car dealer transactions and detail how one can prevent themselves from becoming a victim of one of these scams.
Escrow Services That Are Fraudulent in Nature
When individuals are looking into the purchase of an automobile, they may feel that they will be safe from being taken advantage of if they are buying a car from a car dealership as opposed to a used car sales lot or private individual. This is not entirely true. Although many automobile dealerships will do business in a fair manner, there are always some which may succumb to the pressure of using various dealership scams in order to sell the vehicles or get a higher priced sale. The following paragraphs will highlight a few of these car dealership scams which do occur from time to time.
Multiple Advertising Fees
Posted in General | Also tagged auto protection, scams |
Purchasing a used car is a great way to obtain an automobile without having to pay a large installment payment each month. Although one has to purchase used cars with care, a used car is useful for individuals on limited budgets or those who are looking for a car to drive around on brief occasions. When purchasing a used car, it is important for the prospective buyers to be on the lookout for a variety of used car scams that occur from time to time.
Odometer Tampering
For those who are considering buying a used automobile, perhaps one of the most highly perpetrated scams of all used car scams is odometer fraud. The following paragraphs will describe this type of fraud and detail ways to prevent becoming a victim of odometer fraud.
Defining Odometer Fraud
Lemon law issues are relatively new in the legal arena. These laws are ones which are used to protect consumers in the purchase of automobiles. The enactment of these laws was for the purpose of providing legal avenues for individuals to pursue when they were sold a defective vehicle. The following paragraphs will describe lemon laws and show how one can go about starting the process to bring a lemon law claim.
What Are Lemon Laws?
According to a recent article in the NY Times:
The Chrysler Group said Monday that it had not yet accounted for tens of thousands of cars in its inventory numbers, which are already considered high by industry standards. Chrysler said it had routinely excluded these vehicles, worth billions of dollars, from its tally of unsold cars and trucks because they had not yet been assigned to a specific dealer or ordered by a customer. (New York Times, October 24, 2006)
Purchasing a new automobile is hard enough without having to deal with the sales pressure from a car salesman. It’s no big secret that almost every car dealership can be talked down on the initial price they want for a car. The key is to know what scams to watch out for in order to maximize your hard earned dollar. This article details a few sales tactics that you may want to be on the lookout for the next time you purchase a new automobile.
The first money wasting scam deals with etching the vehicle’s VIN# on the window. In some cases a dealership will try to make you pay for this added feature. Please don’t fall for this trick. No lender will require you to pay for any extra options that you don’t require. To be honest all they really care about is whether or not your payments are on time.
Today with the technology of computers and the Internet, individuals are able to purchase just about anything online. This is especially true when it comes to automobile sales. There are a variety of online car dealers that sell automobiles at the click of a mouse. The following paragraphs will highlight some of these online car dealers and provide brief details regarding each one.
eBay Motors