Archive for February, 2009
Costs dealing with Car operation
Posted on February 24, 2009, under Car Financing.
Written by Bill Tsouvalas
A survey was carried out by the National Roads and Motorists’ Association regarding car operation costs where more than 500 motor vehicles were examined under 8 categories. The calculations were done keeping private ownership in the loop all over New South Wales. The national average distance traveled was taken to be 15,000 kilometers and the research went on about 5 years. Now it seems to be that most cars considered were on a car loan or under some form of car credit, car finance or under other type of car loans. (more…)
Vital Questions to Pose When Discussing Car Finance
Posted on February 20, 2009, under Car Financing.
This has been the theme of a lot of my posts recently, but I really can’t stress the importance of doing your homework before you go out to buy a car. I see people around me making mistakes like not taking the trouble of comparing prices or asking questions or just getting so dazzled with the fact that it is their first car or new car. Here are some questions that you must ask when discussing car finance. Write them down or print them out before going to the dealer. Make sure you get answers to these questions that you fully understand. If anything is vague or confusing, walk away and come back after you’ve had time to think about it. If the sales or finance person makes a claim you think is too good to be true, have them write it on the finance contract and get a manager to sign off. (more…)
Ignore the fine print at your own risk!
Posted on February 20, 2009, under Car Financing.
The devil is in the fine print. Ever notice how all the meat of an advert is generally given just 5 seconds of airtime while the remaining one minute or so, or however long the commercial is supposed to be is filled with glorifying specimens of ad copy, fascinating, dazzling visuals and sounds featuring revved up engines, sleek lines of the car body, pretty girls and the like? This text or fine print is actually the matter of the advert that holds the information you require to cut through the shimmer of an advert and reveal the true sense of the deal or scheme. (more…)
Volkswagen Up!: Is it going to be the new Beetle
Posted on February 19, 2009, under Latest News and Trends.
The conversation moved towards whether or not Volkswagen was going to bring out a new version of the Beetle in a strange way as a couple of friends and I sat around on a balmy sort of evening. One of our friends had recently taken a chattel mortgage on a new Toyota Land Cruiser and in between discussing the pros and the cons of the SUV and the car finance scheme he’d chosen, we were pretty much talked out for the evening. (more…)
Car financing terms continued
Posted on February 18, 2009, under Car Financing.
It’s a fine day and we need to get some serious money talk done. Last post I defined what chattel mortgage is and keeping with the tradition of car finance jargon demystification for all you lovely people out there, I’m turning over towards hire purchase in this post.
I’m sure you’ve all heard about hire purchase and that you have some sort of idea about what exactly happens with it. Yes? No? Maybe?
Never mind, that’s what I’m here for – to take you through the stages of definition, comprehension and elucidation of hire purchase. (more…)
Car Financing Terms Made Easy
Posted on February 18, 2009, under Car Financing.
For this post, I thought we should explore the meanings of terms and phrases used very extensively in the car finance sector. You hear terms such as chattel mortgage, hire purchase, novated leasing, closed-end leasing, installment plan and leasing bandied about with great nonchalance, but do you ever pause for a minute and wonder what any of those terms really mean?
I know that I used to be very confused about certain terminology that would be taken for granted by every auto finance agent I met, while I would be struggling to keep up with the conversation. (more…)
Scary and Nonsensical Car Accessories
Posted on February 17, 2009, under Accessories.
Come on now, we’re not being mean to the fine, upstanding individuals that think up concepts for accessories that help us out or make life just that little bit more entertaining or zany but this is just to put a question mark to all those crazy inventions that keep emerging from the toy stores of major automakers. We love ideas that turn into practical solutions like self-warming seats and high-end multimedia systems built into the car, but what about accessories that have the potential to turn your car into a four-wheeled tech disaster?
Look no further than the new General Motors left hand steering stalk that until the very recent past, had the cruise controls, in a tiny three-switch button affair that also houses the high-beam headlights, windshield wipers and the turning signals. See what I’m getting at? Make one wrong move and your car turns into high-speed cruising garbage truck with an attitude problem. (more…)
MR2 Toyotas masquerade as Ferraris
Posted on February 17, 2009, under Latest News and Trends.
Excitement was roaring; splitting the seams of the show as Top Gear Live kicked into high gear. The show was supposed to bring 3 top-of-the-pile Ferrari 360 spiders to do some nail biting, scram – inducing, wheel gymnastics across the Acer Arena. The auto-crazy spectators being dazzled by the sight of three Ferraris crisscrossing wild turns and wheelies around the Arena didn’t have the slightest clues that the three Spiders dancing around the stadium were not actual, bona-fide black horses painted upon yellow. (more…)
More tips on car loans and financing
Posted on February 16, 2009, under Car Financing.
Last time, I discussed how you can use certain tips and ideas to decide when you need car finance and the kind of car finance that works for your car credit situation. In today’s blog post, I’m going to continue with some of the same. It is very important that you know what your car credit situation is before you venture forth to take up a new car loan.
There’s many car finance companies that are willing to offer you auto loans over the phone or through online resources, making the procedure very simple and uncomplicated for your convenience. Affordable car loans that are offered on great terms and options for your dream machine are easily available these days. (more…)
A Lesson in Shilling: Cars and Movies
Posted on February 16, 2009, under Latest News and Trends.
Alright, it’s imagination time! Today we are thinking about cars in movies, don’t we love them. Sleek, lines cut sharp as blades, shining, shimmering cars that make you drool….that’s show biz wheels for you. Cars that have you rushing out the door and racing to the first car dealership, looking for the car finance guy who can show the way to own that beauty on wheels.
I don’t know if you ever think about the cars in certain movies, not think about them in the sense that you can’t think of anything but the car at all times, but think why this particular car and nothing else was used for this movie. (more…)
