| The questions you should ask yourself before buying a car | | Posted Friday, May 12, 2006 12:26:03 AM by Blog 57 Team |  MG Cars Meetup Groups
Some say buying a car is one of the major decisions in a person’s life.
Others will not give this action that much weight but will not argue with this statement - buying a car can be a difficult decision that requires lots of preparations, knowledge, financial means and patience.
Most of us don’t know which car is best for our needs, especially today, when there are so many models to choose from. We are tempted to listen to others advice but we should remember that they speak from their point of view and their needs – this is not necessarily what we need.
How can you really know what your needs are and what you should look in your new car?
Answering some simple questions and taking into consideration some advices we offer here, will make your task easier:
Questions about your life style
- Are you single, married, do you have children?
- Do you live in the city, suburbs or rural areas?
- What are your hobbies, your work?
- What is y our income?
Analyze your answers in terms of functionality: "What should this new car do for me? What will be its mission?"
Questions about your driving style
Some advices to consider:
- Never buy more horses than you really need. Modern 4-cylinder engines, for example, are remarkably powerful, with smoothness to match. And they can cut fuel and maintenance bills substantially over the life of the vehicle. Some of the newest V-6 engines are capable of outperforming yesterday's V-8's.
- If you enjoy operating clutch and gears with precision, a manual will be more fun and save cash in fuel expenses.
- However, today's automatics are far more efficient than they once were so a manual is redundant except for hard-core enthusiasts.
- Unless you can afford to replace your car every three or four years the safest route is to avoid vehicles with trendy shapes. Your beautiful car will look outdated in no time.
- Some features offered today, are very important (such as ABS brakes and stability control) while others are simply luxuries, not essentials to your everyday driving and it is nice to have if you can afford them. Before you visit the car dealer, investigate th...
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| | | Polished Chrome Stiletto Charm Key Ring - 4-1/4" | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:17:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | Elegant in size, shape and finish, our Shoe Key Ring by Stephanie Imports is perfectly sized to carry all your keys without being obtrusive. This polished chrome stilleto shaped key ring features a unique open-ended key holder equipped with 1 screw on ball ends that keep your keys securely on the ring. The fashionable shoe shape and cubic zirconia studded charm will bring style and functionality to your purse or handbag.... | |
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| | | OCPD looking to buy restored police car | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 10:49:00 AM by Blog57 Team | | OAKLAND CITY-One of the city's newest police officers made a bid Tuesday for city officials to help with the purchase of a refurbished squad car, which he said would alleviate the reliance of all the department's part-time officers on a single vehicle.Michael Collins, hired in July as an Oakland City police officer, said he has researched the possible purchase of a renovated former police car and believed the department's need for an additional vehicle makes such a purchase necessary. Of the three cars currently used by the department, one is used by full-time officers, one is designated for the department's K-9 unit and the other is shared between all part-time officers.Collins said not only are the current cars racking up mileage, but this situation has at times created problems for officers who were forced to respond to calls or transfer suspects in their personal vehicles.“There have been many circumstances where we needed an extra car and have not had it," he told the board.A Ford dealership in Bloomington upgrades older-model police cars and sells them to police departments looking for a less expensive option to buying a new vehicle, Collins said.... | |
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| | | Trucks feel weight of small-car popularity | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 10:51:57 PM by Blog57 Team | | Gas prices are widely credited with fueling a surge in small-car sales this year and a decline in large pickup trucks. But industry analysts attributed those sales trends to a stale lineup of pickups and the rollout of new small-car models. John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at industry forecaster Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., predicted that the interest in small cars will ease and that Americans' appetite for trucks will bounce back. "You don't drive small unless you are an environmentalist and all your friends are too," he said. "I don't see the small-car craze having any longevity unless gas reaches $7 a gallon, and then it's a new ballgame." But Andrew Coetzee, vice president of product planning for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said more consumers are worried about fuel efficiency and global energy resources, so small cars should continue to grow.... | |
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| | | Looking to save money on buying a car? Use the telephone! | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 12:51:49 PM by Blog57 Team | | With lots of new inventory on the market, including brand new 2006 models that dealers what to move to make room for the 2007 arrivals, I've got a way to shave off hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of dollars on your next new car deal.The key is to use the telephone! We all enjoy looking, but when it comes time to buying that new car, most people dread negotiating at the dealership.So Robert Krughoff says, don't."You might go into the dealership to try out a car -- to test drive or whatever -- but once you've decided what make, model and style you want, then do all the competitive bidding by phone," said Krughoff.That's right, the telephone! Krughoff runs the non-profit service and magazine Consumer's Checkbook, which rates hundreds of local businesses to save you time and money.They also have a service called CarBargains.... | |
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| | | Mazda Revolutionizes Car Buying With Lee Johnson Dealership | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 2:50:37 AM by Blog57 Team | | KIRKLAND, Wash., Nov. 1 -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) showcased its commitment to enhancing the car-buying experience for customers with the grand opening today of the Retail Revolution at Lee Johnson Mazda in Seattle. Lee Johnson Mazda adopted the company's new retail philosophy that is focused on delivering unique buying experiences for car shoppers through technology, environment and the Mazda Test Drive. "The blueprint for our new retail experience blends modern-day advances such as wireless technology and computer kiosks with sleek architecture and customer-centric design elements to create a car-buying experience like no other," said Jim O'Sullivan, president and CEO of MNAO. "This concept injects our Zoom-Zoom philosophy into our dealer network, and customers will find that purchasing Mazda products mirrors the excitement of driving Mazda products." No example better illustrates Mazda's new concept than the Mazda Test Drive.... | |
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| | | Car vs. Car: Infiniti G35 vs. BMW 3 Series | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 10:51:34 AM by Blog57 Team | | Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see two luxury cars pulled off the showroom floor and put head-to-head in a drag race? Though it would be next to impossible to get a dealership to go along with this experiment, the next best thing would be to pit these cars against each other in a "virtual" drag race and see which one would win. For this first race, I've matched up the BMW 328i with the Infiniti G35 because of the already fierce rivalry between them. After all, BMW's 3 Series have been among the best selling cars in the luxury market for years, but recently, the 3 Series has been challenged by the Infiniti G35 as an entry-level luxury automobile. Given this intensifying competition, I've put the 2006 Infiniti G35 in lane one on our virtual track and the 2006 BMW 3 Series beside it in lane two.... | |
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| | | Get a trip to Europe with that new car | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 6:50:39 PM by Blog57 Team | | Some people travel to Europe to see the Louvre and Saint Peter's Basilica. Chris Basse went there to pick up his BMW M5 in Munich, then drive the $90,000, 500-horsepower vehicle 140 miles an hour on Germany's autobahn. "All I could do was laugh. I never felt anything like it," says the 36-year-old businessman from San Antonio. "The car is just made for those roads." .... | |
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| | | Champ Car driver's fiancee: 'We're going to NASCAR' | | Posted Monday, October 23, 2006 2:48:52 AM by Blog57 Team | | It's hard to fathom, considering all that's transpired during the past five months, but it's real likely we're looking at A.J. Allmendinger's next-to-last race in Champ Car this weekend here in Australia. The 24-year-old American is the hottest property in open-wheel racing, winner of five of his last eight starts, and the only driver in the series who hasn't been mathematically eliminated from the Sebastien Bourdais Show. From go-kart star to Barber Dodge titlist to Formula Atlantic champion, Allmendinger has always been climbing the open-wheel ladder. Now that he's reached the top rung and is an established winner, it appears he's stepping off. It's that NASCAR Money Train, and it's about to derail the best thing that's happened to Champ Car in this decade. We know the scenario: A.J. has a personal-service contract with Red Bull, and the energy drink is partners with Toyota in their entree into NASCAR.... | |
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| | | Utahn faces felony charges over car deals | | Posted Wednesday, October 18, 2006 2:49:01 PM by Blog57 Team | | An alleged car-flipping scheme has resulted in the filing of felony charges against a Salt Lake County man. The charges against Dennis T. Wynn, filed by the Utah Attorney General's Office, include six counts of securities fraud, eight counts of theft, two counts of exploitation of an elder adult, two counts of tampering with a witness and one count for a pattern of unlawful activity. Between 2003 and 2005, Wynn allegedly told victims they could earn huge profits by investing in his business, according to the Utah Division of Securities. Wynn told investors he made money by buying vehicles wholesale. The automobiles were expected to be sold to bad-credit customers at exorbitant interest rates, with profits split between Wynn and the investors.... | |
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| | | Women look at several models before buying a car | | Posted Monday, October 16, 2006 12:48:42 PM by Blog57 Team | | Bangalore: Women car buyers no longer go by the colour of the body, trims or even the matching upholstery, though overall style does count. They are becoming more technology savvy about what is under the bonnet and also the ease of driving. Not to forget the question of parking in a city such as Bangalore. Women consider several models before taking their final purchase, according to the JD Power Asia pacific 2006, Escaped Shopper Study, which has been just released. Reasons The study analyses the reasons why vehicle shoppers consider, but ultimately reject, certain models in favour of others. They study found that 50 per cent of women car shoppers consider more than one model before buying a car. While price and finance-related issues were the main reason why men shoppers rejected a particular car model for another, the study found women were more concerned about the vehicle style.... | |
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