Monday, July 28, 2008

How to Choose the Best Car for You

With the millions of choices for that best car, it would take quite a long time for you to figure what it is. To lessen the hassles and seemingly unending time of negotiation and/or interrogation, we came up with these steps to follow:

Know what kind of car is it that you need.

The keyword here is need, not want. You better ask yourself what is your primary use of the car, how many people will usually ride on it, how long is the range of your driving, and in what terrain do you usually use it for.

You can ask these defining questions: Do I like automatic or manual transmission? A 4-wheel or 2-wheel car? What safety features do you want and what is its capacity?

How much is the car that you can afford?

It’s rule of thumb among veteran car buyers that 20% of your take-home pay should be the only amount that you can shed for your car. So calculate how much you can afford for a car before you do the shopping.

Should you buy or lease that car?

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages for buying or leasing a car. If you are in for the latest model for a few years for a lesser pay, and no hassles when you want to sell or trade in your car, then leasing is for you. But if in case what you want is a car that you want to own for good with no mileage penalty then buying is for you.

How much would the car cost to own it?

There are four things you need to consider before you buy or lease a car: maintenance cost, fuel economy, insurance, and depreciation costs.

Research for options.

It’s not like you have to do the legwork and visit dozens of dealerships in your community; all you need to do is shop online and read, read, read. You will find that more informative that is. You can start by looking for good car sites.

Schedule your test drive.

Before you go to that dealership and ask for the key to test drive your car, you better give a call first just to make sure that the car in the exact model and color is available. Then it would help to build rapport with the salesperson involved in the negotiations.

Get ready for the purchase.

After you test drive all the cars that you found viable for a buy, you come up with a top ten list of all the cars and decide from there.

It can be confusing to choose any thing that you want to purchase, especially if you have a budget to consider; so think before you buy.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com

Monday, July 21, 2008

Gearing Up for That Car Accident Culprit

You came from a soiree with some of your colleagues at work. Your half-drunk and half-driving, then wham! These pointers would help you out when you’re in that scenario:

Any driver or car owner should have the always-neglected first aid kit which should include flares, cones, or warning triangles, to aid you in case you’re in a remote area. It might help to have camera or a mobile with cam always to help you document the event and/or gather evidence of the accident.

Move your vehicle, any person involved in the accident, or any matter at that, that may cause further damage to the area or what might happen to be a traffic obstruction. Call for a tow truck if necessary.

Cooperate with any authorities but ask for your Miranda rights. Don’t divulge anything other than facts because it might incriminate you.

Document everything. Make a sketch of the accident scene and gather the specific info on the make, model, license plate of the car. Take pictures or videos of the accident scene.

Ask and get the license plate number, driver’s license number, name of driver and owner, address, contact info, insurance company, insurance policy numbers.

If there are witnesses, ask for their name, age, address, other contact details. Entrust them or their testimonies to the police and no one else.

Report all the pertinent information you gave to the police to your insurance company. You may include the evidence you had gathered.

No man in his right mind would like to have an accident, but it’s a must to be ready if it happens.

Source:

http://www.articlecity.com

Monday, July 14, 2008

What Does Your Car Insurance Cover?

Bodily Injury Liability- Your insurance covers the claims against you when you have an accident and somebody died or was injured.

Property Damage Liability- Your insurance covers the property damages you have incurred in a car accident. It’s a requirement for all states except three.

Medical Payments- Your insurance takes care of all charges when you are injured or any occupants of your car in an accident. This is optional in some states, and in others, medical payments is replaced by personal injury coverage.

Uninsured Motorist Protection- Gives you coverage when you or any occupants of your car are injured by an uninsured or hit-and-run drivers. You also have underinsurance coverage when you’re injured by any driver who has minimal insurance coverage.

Collision Coverage- Your insurance covers all damages to your car up to its book value. Collision coverage has a deductible. It’s the amount you have to pay per claim before the insurance takes effect. The lower the deductible, the higher the premium.

Comprehensive (Physical Damage)- It covers all damages you incur from nonaccident causes like vandalism, flood, theft, wind, hailstorms. Like the collision coverage, it also has a deductible.

Source: http://auto.howstuffworks.com

Monday, July 7, 2008

How to Give Your Car a New Look

Repainting your car takes a lot of cash from your pocket and a lot of time too. So before you decide to hand in your car to the nearest repair shop, it’s worth to consider a few tips first. The following are some pointers for evaluation to find out if your car is really worth the repairman’s time:

Even before you start shopping for a body paint and repair shop to help you with the repaint job, try to check first the level of repair needed for your car’s body. It might be that you can use some paints and other products for car finishing that can enhance the original color of your car. These products can help you for proper oxidation of your car and for removing light scratches and chalky feel. All you need is a can of primer, spray paint, sandpaper, and some car wax. You also need to have a discerning mind to know if you would have to do some patch-up work or a total body repaint for your car, and if you can do the patch-up by yourself or ask assistance from a repairman.

Another factor to consider whether to give it a custom or production repair is the length of time you will be using the car. Whether it is under lease and your contract is about to end or it would be a long time first before you can surrender your car to the dealership, try to figure out what costs more. Usually, car owners would resort to a repaint before returning the car to the dealership since it would cost much to be paying for the car’s residual value. Repaint is better for luxury cars but if your car is an old model and the scratch is not that visible then go for a patch-up job.

Source: http://www.automedia.com