Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Warranty Direct
Keeping Up With Payments in A Down Economy
Every three to four years, the big automakers have to come up with something to drag consumers into the showrooms to buy the biggest and best cars out there; their bottom lines are built on the average tenure of car ownership being about four to five years. This is why they give five year, 50,000 mile warranties and more. It also explains cash rebates, 0% interest sales and more.
With the current down economy, the newest wrinkle on this is the Payment Protection Program. In a nutshell, if you meet all the terms and conditions, if you lose your job, the company will take over paying your car payment for a specified period of time. From their perspective, missing X number of months of car payments if you lose your job is roughly the same as giving you a discount…and if you keep your job, the discount doesn’t even come up at all. Read more...
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Filed under: Buying a Car
Posted on June 18th, 2009 by Warranty Direct
Henry Ford famously said that a customer could have a Model T in any color they wanted, so long as it was black.
That idea went overboard quickly as competition came in, and painting cars and getting cars in specific colors has been part of the American automotive experience since the 1910s.
Every decade or so, the preferences for colors in cars shifts, as a new generation of 20-somethings buy their first cars and want something that doesn’t look like a parental hand-me-down. Plus, paint manufacturers are working hard on sprucing up the old tried and true color combinations.
There are, of course, the usual pieces of advice: Lighter colors are more comfortable in sunnier climates, and visibility is important. However, here’s the latest wash of new colors in cars: Read more...
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Filed under: Buying a Car
Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Warranty Direct
Times are tight, and a car is, for many people stuck in suburbia, a necessity.
Just because it’s a necessity doesn’t mean you should leap right into buying a car that you’ve found for sale.
Here are some tips for signs to back away slowly before signing that purchase agreement.
Missing Records
If the seller doesn’t have a service history, you’re taking a big risk. Every major auto shop is computerized; chances that a car made in the last two decades has been serviced without a trace are virtually nil. If you can’t document when it was last serviced, odds are it hasn’t. Read more...
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Filed under: Buying a Car, Used Car Warranty
Posted on May 14th, 2009 by Warranty Direct
Recently I was thinking about the main reasons people decide to buy a car.
The first thing that people think about is the wonderful feeling of status. Ah, yes! I am sitting back in my chair, fingers laced behind my head, and imagining Brad Pitt giving Angelina the hand when he sees me touring down the road in my brand new Lincoln Continental (do they still make them?) or maybe a simple Jaguar will do.
Then you have to consider today’s improved technology. Recent advances mean that every time my mother-in-law speaks, the car makes a humming noise that blocks out the sound of her voice. If little Jimmy spills his bottle of orange juice all over the seats, it’ll wipe right up. Divine! Read more...
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Filed under: Buying a Car
