January 29th, 2011 by cheapcar

Getting The Best Price For Your Used Car

You can get the best price for your used car only when a new car of the same model is being sold at the highest price. If a manufacturer gives discounted prices for a new car of the same model, you can’t sell your car at the best price. In other words, the best time to sell your used car is when the prices for the model you have are at the highest.

Hence the important factor that affects the price of a used car is the price of a new car of that model you own. So it is better to wait until the price of a new car of your model goes up rather than selling it when the manufacturer gives discounts for a new car of your model.

Preparing your car for selling it is a must. You have to consider what the potential buyer thinks of your car. So you have to maintain the interior and the exteriors of your car properly.

If your car is not clean inside and out, the potential buyer may not think positively about your car. This simple issue might make you lose a possible deal.

Therefore proper maintenance of your car is essential to fetch a good price for your used car. Some people might overlook some serious problems in the car if the car looks shiny and glowing.

Touch up scratches on the exterior and interior. Make up the small dents in it. Balance the tires properly. Clean inside and out. This might fetch you a profitable deal.

The price of your car should take into consideration the mileage and the condition of the car. You might also consider the demand for that model.

Cars that have run for more miles are often not preferred and they are considered ‘used up’. Hence most of the people prefer cars that have run for fewer miles per year.

Usually a potential buyer would consider the price that you have fixed for your car as the asking price and he would negotiate the price. It is always better to have a margin of 5% of the price that you want to sell so that your can negotiate that 5% with the buyer of your car.

Finding places to sell your used car? There are sites that specialize in selling and buying cars. You can also rely on the local auto traders in your locality to sell them. Or, place classifieds in the newspapers to get your deal.

About the Author: Pete Lance
Complements of http://www.USGasTracker.org, a premier company which helps the consumer save money on gasoline. Thousands of gas stations across the nation are tracked daily to guarantee the lowest prices on gasoline anywhere in the United States.

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January 26th, 2011 by cheapcar

Negotiating With a Car Dealer

Best Negotiating Tips When Buying A Used Car

Being a good negotiator doesn’t have to be difficult. Sooner or later everyone has to negotiate with someone if they want to get a good deal on a purchase.

When you are trying to negotiate with a car dealer, you should know that they are very practiced in the art already. You will need to know how to get through their car speak in order to be successful.

You should get a copy of the paperwork from a friend that recently bought a car, so that you can become familiar with what you will see on your paperwork. They are all generally the same.

The key is for you to get in and out of the dealership as quickly as possible because the salesman will definitely find more loopholes to up your charges if you stay.

Here are a few tips to successful negotiating.

• Remain positive and confident
• Don’t talk down to your opponent
• Show up prepared and ready to counter anything that may come up
• Bring ads from other dealerships with you as an extra weapon
• Finance your loan before you arrive at the dealership so as to avoid paying unnecessary extra fees
• Bring a friend with you for extra support

Something that you should look out for from salesmen, is the extra little tricks that you will likely encounter that will try, to force or rush into a buying decision.

You have to remember that they are trying to negotiate you into paying more money just as you are trying to negotiate paying less. Here are some of the things that you can expect to hear from them.

1. These cars are flying off of the lot. It may not be available for the same deal tomorrow. (Threaten to leave and they will ease up and try to change their strategy)

2. This deal is only good for today. If you come back tomorrow I can’t guarantee that the deal will be the same.

3. I’m an honest man. Look at how many cars I’ve sold this weekend (This is where he will show you his list of sold cars. If he does this, then tell him that he doesn’t need your money).

4. I hate to tell you this but I have another offer on the table from a man that is willing to pay more money than this. I am just waiting for his paperwork to be returned. (Tell him that if he promised the car to someone else, you don’t want to step on someone else’s toes and that you should leave then).

5. To cover the overhead costs, we have paid $13,000 for this car (Just check your paperwork in your folder and prove them wrong).

About the Author: Robert Smith
Find more articles and tips about buying an used car by visiting http://www.buy-a-used-car-ez.com
This article is available for reprint in your opt-in ezine, web site or ebook. You MUST agree not to make any changes to the article and the RESOURCE BOX MUST be included.
(c) 2002-2005 www.buy-a-used-car-ez.com All Rights Reserved

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Helping Buyers Steer Clear of Clunkers

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January 23rd, 2011 by cheapcar

Repo Car Auctions

How To Save up to 97% On Your Next Used Car!

I was shocked when I discovered the truth.

Did you know that each month across the country, thousands of used cars are being sold ‘in secret’ for a fraction of what they are really worth?

In fact, used car dealers buy these new (or almost new) cars for pennies on the dollar and then turn around and sell them to people just like us for huge profits.

Now that might be good for them, but wouldn’t it be great if you could get your next used car from the same place that the dealers get theirs?

Well, now you can. Take a look at Buying Cheap Cars where you will discover exactly where you can get access to these ‘secret car sales’ and how you could get your next car where prices start from as little as $100.

No, that’s not a misprint. And I’m talking about late-model cars here, not old bombs held together with bits of string!

I guess you’re wondering why these nice cars are so cheap? It’s because every week, hundreds of ordinary Americans default on their car loans and lease payments.

As a result, banks and other financial institutions are being forced to repossess more and more cars. At the same time, thousands more cars become government property every month through various seizure and surplus laws.

Auto storage is a real problem for these organizations because it’s very expensive. It actually costs them millions of dollars a year to store these cars, even just for a few days.

The result: they need to get rid of them as fast as they can so that they don’t lose any more money. So, each month, all across the country there are thousands of cars being sold at huge automotive auctions.

And many bids start at $100 … see it for yourself at Buying Cheap Cars
This is a very protected source of revenue for the majority of car dealerships and is not advertised to the general public – even though the public is welcome.

The simple fact is that many people don’t have any idea that they can purchase cars this way so they lose money by paying highly inflated prices to car dealerships.

Lots of consumers think these auctions are only available to licensed dealers because they’re not advertised. And the car dealerships obviously aren’t going to tell you about it!

But, they do at Buying Cheap Cars. This site gives you access to the direct sources where you can literally find a vehicle for 10 cents on the dollar. You can even do it online!

The internet has dramatically changed the way auto auctions are done, increasing the ease of access for the public. There are a number of seized auto auctions being conducted online and you can save money right from your own home. The only problem is, there are so many different places on the net to look for a new car that finding the ‘secret’ auctions is a real challenge.

You can look for your car in these ‘secret’ government and finance company auctions, you can do a search through hundreds of thousands of classified ads, and you can search listings in hundreds of internet auctions.

And the great thing is you don’t have to spend hours looking through hundreds of different places. You just use this one site, tell it what you’re looking for, and presto – it does all the work for you.

About the Author: Jim Douglas
Jim Douglas is just an ordinary guy who scored an extra-ordinary deal when he discovered the secret to saving up to 97% off the sticker price of any used car, without leaving home and without ever speaking to a car dealer.

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January 22nd, 2011 by cheapcar

Flood Damaged Car

Drying Out Your Flooded Car

We’ve all seen it on TV: rainstorms of biblical proportions sweeping entire villages into the sea, and damp, devastated flood victims being interviewed in front of a pile of sodden furnishings and clothing.

But then it happens closer to home–only this time it’s your car, not the entire village. There’s a high-water line halfway up the windshield, and several inches of mud in the interior and the trunk. It smells like a swamp, and it’s only getting worse in the hot sun. And the insurance adjuster says he’ll be by in a few days.

How Dry I Am
Don’t wait for the adjuster to arrive. Mold and corrosion are setting in now. You need to clean out as much liquid and mud as you can and dry out your car as soon as possible. Don’t try to start the car. If there’s water in the engine, transmission or fuel system, you’ll just compound the damage.

Disconnect the battery ground strap first-you must do this, otherwise you’ll fry something.

Next, begin assessing just how deep the water got. Frankly, if the waterline is as high as the dashboard, you will probably be better off talking the adjuster into totaling the car and getting another. Double that for salt water.

The mechanical systems and the interior can be dried out or cleaned with a lot of labor, but the electrical systems on modern cars are extremely complex.

These systems rely on a lot of low-voltage signals from sensors in the engine management system and ABS. These low-voltage signals are extremely sensitive to corrosion on connectors, and problems can crop up for years.

Look for a high-water mark. That can be easy–if the water was muddy or there was a lot of floating grass and leaves. But clean water may leave no residue.

Look for water inside the doors and the taillights, and dampness in the carpets and interior trim. This will allow you to eliminate cleaning some areas or systems on the car unnecessarily. Let’s go through those systems.

Drivetrain
Check the dipsticks for the engine and transmission. If there are water droplets clinging to the end of either dipstick, you absolutely, positively need to change the oil and filter before even thinking about starting the engine.

If the water was muddy, it’s probably wisest to remove the oil pan from the engine and wash the mud out. Change the oil and filter again in a few hundred miles, too.

Late-model cars have sealed fuel systems, and probably won’t get any water in them. But that classic ’55 T-Bird probably ingested some water if it was deep enough and lingered long enough.

Siphon the fuel out into a container and look for water. If you find any, it’s probably best to drop the tank and get it cleaned professionally.

Blow out the fuel line, and you may need to get water out of the carburetor float bowls as well. If you find evidence of water in a fuel-injected car or truck’s tank, replace the fuel filter as well.

That paper element will disintegrate if it gets waterlogged. It’s not that a few drops of clean water are bad, but floodwater is usually pretty foul with silt and sludge.

Muddy water can infiltrate its way past engine seals within a few hours. Crankshaft seals, transmission seals and axle and CV joint seals are adequate to keep lubricants in, but they are not designed to keep standing water from creeping in.

Before you start the engine, or tow a car with the wheels on the ground, drain and change the oil, transmission fluid and final-drive lube. Check the dipstick for water droplets.

And don’t forget wheel bearings and constant velocity joints, which will need to be cleaned and repacked. Some front-drive cars have sealed-for-life front axle bearings, and you’ll simply have to wait for those to fail, because it’s nearly impossible to clean and relube them.

And then change those fluids again in a thousand miles or so if there was evidence of muddy water.

HOW IT WORKS: Salvage Titles
As incredible as it may seem, it’s possible for a dealer or an individual to acquire, legally, a title for a car that’s been flood-damaged and totaled that doesn’t reflect the damage.

In most states, totaled cars’ titles bear a salvage tag on the title. But a dealer can wholesale the car out to a state that issues the fresh title without tagging the car as salvage.

Which states? It doesn’t matter because once the title has been laundered, it can be retitled in any state, clean as a whistle. And I’d rather not say, so nobody gets any ideas about laundering the title to a damaged car.

So caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). Always examine any potential used car or truck purchases with a jaundiced eye. Look carefully for evidence that the vehicle has been wet: i.e., mud in unusual places in the trunk, water marks inside the instruments, an owner’s manual that looks like it’s been wet, warped fiberboard door panels or glovebox interiors.

By Mike Allen: Popular Mechanics

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January 22nd, 2011 by cheapcar

Flood-damaged cars headed to market

* Mark Hinchliffe and Brendan Quirk * From: The Courier-Mail * March 13, 2008 11:00PM

(editor’s note: although this article is some years old, the information is nonetheless still relevant)

THOUSANDS of flood-damaged cars are about to hit the second-hand and auction markets in Queensland.

While most will be advertised as flood damaged, others may be offered for sale without buyers being told of the damage.

About 700 vehicles swamped in Queensland and NSW during flooding last month will be auctioned on Tuesday in Brisbane with about 1000 more in Townsville, of which 400 will be auctioned on Monday.

These are the first of thousands of written-off flood-damaged vehicles to hit the Queensland used-car market.

Insurance industry representatives said they had written off more vehicles than normal because of the lack of skilled repairers to work on the damaged vehicles.

The written-off vehicles up for auction will be declared as flood damaged to buyers and will be repairable – but not all will be driveable.

What to check for:

• The glovebox for a tide mark
• Under the seat mountings for signs of water
• Debris in suspension components
• Open the fuse box and check for debris or rust
• Lift seat covers and inspect original fabric
• Get a V-check from Queensland Transport detailing whether a Queensland-registered vehicle was classified as a repairable write-off Source: RACQ

RACQ technologies manager Steve Spalding said buyers should be aware of the repercussions of buying these water-damaged vehicles.

“Unfortunately, many of the problems with these cars won’t become evident until some time in the future, even 12 months or longer down the track,” he said.

He also warned there were several ways flooded vehicles could be offered for sale without the buyer being notified:

• A vehicle can be placed on the “repairable written off” register, repaired, inspected and then taken off the register.

• Dealers and private agents buy flood-damaged vehicles at auction houses are not obliged to pass on this information to subsequent purchasers.

• Flood damaged cars from NSW can be sold in Queensland without any history of damage.

• Private owners of flooded vehicles have no obligation to declare the damage to buyers.

Members of the Motor Trades Association of Queensland must declare a vehicle’s damage under the association’s code of conduct, chief executive Aivars Blums said.

Dealers’ conduct also was governed by the Fair Trading and Property Agents and Motor Dealers acts, he said.

Although he acknowledged leaks in the system, he rejected any further tightening of laws.

“I don’t think you can ever come up with a water-tight situation that totally protects consumers,” he said.

Mr Spalding warned new vehicles damaged in floods would not carry manufacturer warranties.

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