« 2008 Audi TT Coupe: | Main | Buying a New Car Can Improve Your Credit Score »
Cars.com releases revised American-made index
Written by paul on July 3rd, 2008 with
no comments.
Read more articles on Car Buying.
Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Plants/Manufacturing
Cars.com has updated its American Made Index, and the list has flip-flopped some models right off, while others have hopped onto the top ten. Cars.com uses the parts origin information from the window sticker, along with the location the vehicle is manufacture at and sales numbers to determine which vehicles have the most US-based content. Ford’s F150 and Explorer are the chocolate wafer to the rest of the list’s cream filling, sandwiching everyone else between their respective #1 and #10 rankings. General Motors has the most vehicles in the top ten list, with the quartet of Cobalt, Malibu, G6, and Silverado 1500. Not surprisingly, Toyota’s Tundra, built in Indiana and Texas, makes the grade at #5. Chrysler’s Sebring is that company’s only placing on the list, though even the same generation of a particular model can place high one year and fall off the next as automakers juggle OEMs and running changes. If sales of light trucks continue their precipitous fall, the AMI may look radically different the next time around. Four of the ten are body-on-frame trucks, and there’s also a pair of minivans, all set to suffer in sales as buyers start to move en masse to more efficient vehicles.
[Source: Cars.com]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Don’t Overlook These Car Buying Tips 
Don’t want to become another one of those car buying horror stories?
There are so many options that exist in buying a car in this day in age. For example, buying a new car is certainly an option and buying a used car is another possibility. Add all the amenities that come with purchasing a car, especially a brand new car, and you’ve just increased your options.
With the widespread use of the internet, buying a car online is becoming a more common tactic in purchasing a new vehicle.
Here are some car buying tips that can prevent you from making a mistake that you could initially regret, whether it’s online or in a physical dealership.
Get your credit report. Go to annualcreditreport.com for a free credit report. This is one of the most important car buying tips because it effects your payments in the long run. You get 3 free chances to check your credit report per year through the following companies: Experian, Equifax, and True Credit. The rule of thumb as long as you verify that your credit score is above 680, you won’t have to pay a high APR. It’s important to be highly aware of what your credit score is, so you can prevent paying a high APR, especially when you don’t need to.
Get a vehicle history report. If you’re thinking about buying a used car, be sure to get a vehicle history report. Through using Experian AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports you can essentially avoid thousands in potential losses when you buy a used car. Through using AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports you can see if your used car has had any of the following problems: been stolen, flooded, totaled, accidents, etc. Imagine purchasing a used car that appears to be in great shape on the outside, but is actually falling apart in the inside? Checking a vehicle history report is one of the most important car buying tips in any used car sale.
Find government auctions for the best used car deals. This is certainly one of the lesser known car buying tips. Most car auctions are widely unknown. They are typically done by banks, IRS, and other government agencies that sell repossessed vehicle because failure to pay payments or seized by the police. Many of these cars that are given up for auction are fixed up and are in excellent condition. You can find these auctions online. Be sure to check the following government website: http://www.usa.gov/shopping/shopping.shtml
Do some research. In the end, it’s up to you to be smart enough to know exactly what you want. If you want to purchase a car online or at a dealership, you can do the bulk of your research online. Also, know if you can find the car cheaper, so that you can bargain with the car salesman.
Remember, in the end, it’s up to you whether or not you should take this car buying advice to heart.
States start paying people to buy new, cleaner cars
Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal, Green, Canada
All of the clean new vehicles in the world won’t amount to much if they don’t replace the older, dirtier fleet of cars currently on the roads. For this reason, some U.S. states are beginning to offer programs which pay drivers to turn in their old clunkers for new, cleaner cars and trucks. In Texas, for instance, up to $3,500 is available to qualifying families which earn less than $63,000 per year in combined income and own a vehicle which fails current emissions testing. Texas was able to retire 11,000 vehicles last year alone by using this cash-based incentive. California too has begun offering a similar program, and though its $1,500 offer is a bit less generous, that state has no income restrictions.
Even our neighbors up north have plans to reduce their older vehicle fleet by one-percent starting January 1st of next year. Canada’s plan would offer drivers either $300 towards a new vehicle, a discount bicycle or a bus pass, which seems a bit suck-tastic next to the program in Texas.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Getting your first car can be a daunting task. That s why you really need to ask around for car buying tips so that you don t get fooled by the used car salesman. For most of us our first car will be a used car and therefore we will have to face off with the local used car salesman. You must go into that car lot with the attitude that you will eat that salesman alive he has nothing on you and you know it. Your local used car salesman can smell a sucker coming from miles away and can feel the fear in you, but these is no way you are going to let him see of feel any fear in you. Make sure that you go into that car lot with all the information you need about the car you want. Go online and check for the car s blue book value depending on mileage and the current quality of the car. Your local used car salesman knows all these numbers and you don t want to give him a leg up on you by not doing this very simple research. In addition, make sure you low ball the used car salesman but not too much where he gets mad at you. Depending on the blue book value, offer the used car salesman $200-$300 less than the price tag and he might agree to half of that going any lower might get you thrown out of the car lot. Before you buy the car, check the oil, I have heard some real life horror stories of people buying a used car and the engine breaking down on them, because the lot never checked the oil on any of the cars in the lot. So there it is. Go get your first car and if you follow these tips your dignity will come home with you too.
Topics: Car Buying |
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article
Related articles
If you found this page useful, consider linking to it.
Simply copy and paste the code below into your web site (Ctrl+C to copy)
It will look like this: Cars.com releases revised American-made index
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.