Save Your Money When Buying a New Car

Executive Summary about Go Car by David Calgarich

The automobile dealership is basically a franchise granted to a car dealer by the manufacturer. These dealerships are exclusive franchises. This gives the car dealer many marketing advantages. Car dealers will use their proprietary knowledge to inflate the
cost of your car purchase. Although the car dealer may be reputable, the industry of car sales has adopted selling methods, practices and techniques that cause unsuspecting car buyers to pay more than they should for a new automobile.

These front-end charges are unnecessary and should be avoided:

Car Buyer Mistake #1 –

If you are charged a large amount of money for “set-up and prep charges”, then beware. The total preparation to sell you the car really amounts to a quick car wash. Prep charges can run up to $800.

Trade-in Trickery –

Dealers hate to take trade-ins. It generally costs a dealer $600 to handle your trade-in.

Dealer Periodic Maintenance:

Don’t fall for this one. The dealer will charge you $40 per hour or more for every scheduled visit back to the dealer. You can get the same quality of service at Jiffy Lube for $20.

Vehicle Undercoating:

Even though the dealer might insist that you need this option, the truth is that the body of the car will begin to rust before the undercarriage will.

Credit Life and Disability Insurance:

You will be offered this insurance if you finance your car through the dealer. It pays off the car if you become disabled or die. Save your money.

And always get your car loan from the bank, not the dealer. Don’t buy a car just because of a rebate or low interest incentive either. These don’t really save you all that much and you can pay less for the car you really want by knowing the following information about car dealerships:

The dealer’s markup on a new car is between 18%-20%. This little bit of information will allow you to save money because you will know what the dealer actually paid for the car. If you do buy a brand new car, expect the car to depreciate immediately by 20% when you drive it off the dealer’s lot. This is because it is now a used car. In the next year, your car will depreciate by another 10%.

Buying A Car - Tips On How To Maintain It

Executive Summary about Go Car by Farnam Toussi

Check with friends or business associates to see where thery get their car serviced. Many shops offer free shuttle transportation when you drop off or pick up your car. If you have a more exotic car, be sure they specialize in that kind of car. Abnd it also looks good when it comes time to sell the car. Oil Changes

The average new car recommends an oil change every 7500 miles. Motor oil is cheap and nothing wears an engine out faster than dirty motor oil. I change it at 4000 but not the oil filter, and then again at 7500 and change the oil filter at that time. If you have an expensive car, it’s probably well worth the extra cost for the higher quality motor oil. Transmission oil is another item. Factory service often doesn’t require it be changed more than every 30,000 miles. Many cars do not allow an easy change of the transmission fluid.
Some cars like my Mercury Mountaineer, have a separate drain plug for the torque converter and allow a change of fluid to be relatively complete. Changing the fluid by dropping the pan only changed 1/3 the tranmission fluid, so if I waited til it was brown and burnt, one change did not do it. I installed a drain plug in my transmission pan, and changed it 5 times running it a few miles after each change, until I figured I had diluted the old burnt fluid adequately enough.  Older cars all used carburettors to mix gas and air and squirt it into the engine for combustion. Newer cars mostly use fuel injection, and while this often works really well and controls emissions, you need to keep those fuel injectors clean. Tires, Brakes and Shock Aborbers

Other items like tires, brakes and shock aborbers are generally not covered by warranties… they are considered routine maintenance items. Choose your tires carefully… there are a wide range of tire grades, priced accordingly. Invariably those bargain prices you see advertised are junk tires and not worth your time unless you are just fixing the car up to sell.
In general, always buy tires at least in pairs. Bad alignment or balance will wear out new tires much more quickly and can severely impact the handling and ride quality. I like to buy my tires from a tire dealer that offers free rotation and rebalancing for the life of the tire. I look for tires which handle well in wet conditions and avoid aquaplaning. Invest in good quality tires… it’s a sound investment. Worn shocks mean faster tire and suspension wear, particularly the ball joints in the front end. If the car bounces up and down several times above the wheel, the shocks are worn and should be replaced. Also not covered by most warranties, the brakes should be checked regularly (whenever you rotate your tires and replaced when they get low. Driving with worn brakes (typically they squeal badly when you come to a stop) will quickly score your brake rotors or drums and make replacing them essential as well as brake pads or brake shoes. A good brake shop will turn the rotors or drums, replace the pads or brake shoes, and rebuilt the calipers or wheel cylinders as needed. As the brakes pads or shoes wear, the fluid level will drop. Car Paint and Interior

Keep the car washed and clean. Be careful about automatic car washes. Many news ones do a fine job, but some of the older ones with stiff brushes can scratch your paint badly. Remove bird droppings and tree. A freshly waxed car will cause water to bead up in little round beads on the surface. It will keep the car’s interior cooler and also protect the car’s dash from cracking. And if your car has leather seats, treat them to a quality leather preservative on a regular basis. Nothing makes a car harder to sell than cracked worn leather seats.