July 31st, 2006
Used Car Buying Guide 2006 (Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide)
These days, there are many advantages to buying a used car over a new car. Unfortunately, purchasing a used car may pose a greater risk to the consumer. A used car in its nature will most likely need more repairs, lack newer safety measures, and may come with a short warranty or none at all. That is why it is so important for consumers to do extensive research so they can avoid all of the pitfalls of the used car market category.The auto experts at Consumer Reports have done the work for you and have compiled their extensive research and report their findings into the 2006 edition of Used Car Buying Guide. This fabulous tool will help steer any consumer who is in the market for a used car towards the better-performing and more reliable used car models and away from those models with a troubled past or substandard performance. Before consumers set foot on a used car lot, they should read all the valuable information provided in this book so they can be armed with as much information as possible and the knowledge to make an educated choice. Consumer Reports knows cars and offers the most detailed and revealing used car reliability information available anywhere including:
- Reviews of every major model from 1998 – 2005
- Lists of the best and worst used vehicles and how to avoid a lemon
- A checklist of what to look for when inspecting a used car
- Tips on negotiating the best price Reliability and crash test information
- Making sense of safety informationThe majority of this book is devoted to the profiles of 256 cars and trucks, presenting all major 1998-2005 models. Each profile contains a photo from the representative year, a write-up of the vehicle, reliability history, crash-test data, and the model years when key safety gear was added and when a major redesign was made.
Customer Review: Need to know basics
My quest for a recent Mercedes SL 350 shifted into an higher gear when I came upon this link and decided to buy this book. It’s brimful of tips ‘n tricks on buying strategies. When visiting several candidates I was able to identify 1. a (possible) leak in the rubber ring of the cilinderhead 2. a simple slipping clutch on the first two candidates (it was a tiptronic)
This is a preview of
Used Car Buying Guide 2006 (Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide)
.
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July 19th, 2006
The Insiders Guide to Buying a New or Used Car (Insider’s Guide to Buying a New Or Used Car)
Customer Review: An excellent resource, ignore ‘sao530′
This book is an excellent resource. Ignore sao530 who doesn’t mention anything about the book, but only has issues with the fact that everyone else loved the book. With the information here, I saved over $5,000 on my used 2002 BMW 530i.
Customer Review: Did anyone notice all previous reader reviews give this 5 stars?
I don’t know, it just seems strange to me that all “reader reviews” of this book give it 5 stars. Doesn’t anyone think this book could be improved, even a little bit?? The previous reviews are so spectacular they almost sound like a SALESMAN might have written them 
Could it be that the author has left all these other reviews of his own book? Naa, that couldn’t be, could it?
Buy Online Today From Amazon.com
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July 19th, 2006
New Car Buying Guide 2006 (Consumer Reports New Car Buying Guide)
Consumer Reports is the definitive authority on unbiased automotive ratings. According to USA Today, “more than 40% of car shoppers use
Consumer Reports for information, and in some segments… nearly 60% of buyers use the magazine. That makes Consumer Reports the biggest single source of information car buyers use.”The latest edition of The
New Car Buying Guide is devoted to profiles of more than 200 new car and truck models available in the 2006 car year. These models not only include the traditional types from sedans to sport-utility vehicles, but also the growing number of “crossover vehicles.” Each profile contains a photo of the automobile, a write-up of the vehicle, reliability history, safety information, crash-test data, as well as information from the test track. Other features include:
· 5 steps to getting the best price
· Step-by-step strategies for buying or leasing a new car
· Unbiased ratings, reliability scores, and safety assessments
· Test reports and comprehensive reviews of more than 200 vehicles
· The top picks for 2006 from the Consumer Reports auto experts
With the largest and most sophisticated auto-test facility in the world, Consumer Reports provides the expertise that readers have come to rely on.
Buy Online Today From Amazon.com
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July 18th, 2006
Researching used car prices on the Internet by Dakota Caudilla
No sooner have you started searching for car prices
on the Internet, your head will be spinning with competitive car prices and
promises of prompt delivery, dedicated customer service response, and huge discounts.
Are all of those promises and claims to be believed? Your guess is as good as
mine, if you want the truth. But then, there are ways to help you find the less
unscrupulous ones on the Internet and bring you honest-to-goodness car prices
that are well worth your time and money.
There are tons of car and used car websites where
you can research on car prices on the Internet. Some of the more popular ones
are www.cars.com, www.invoicedealers.com, www.autoweb.com, www.carsdirect.com,
www.edmunds.com, www.autos.com, www.car.com, and www.autousa.com. These websites
are, essentially, websites that lets car sellers and dealers post their cars
and used cars for sale together with the car prices that they are willing to
sell the car for. Car buyers will log into the website looking for the car that
they want and when the sale goes through, the car seller and car buyer will
perform a transaction and the website gets a cut and the car seller gets the
rest. The car prices consist of the price of the car, the commission of the
seller and the commission due to the listing website. Well, that’s if we assume
that there are no other parties involved in this transaction. If there are more
people stuck in the middle trying to make a quick buck out of the car sale,
the car price will hike up accordingly.
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July 9th, 2006
How to determine a New Car Price.
When I am shopping for a new car, I use the following formula to determine the price I will pay
for a new car. It’s a formula that I have used many times in the past few years and almost always results in the best deal.
Invoice Price
- Rebates
————
True Dealer Cost
True Dealer Cost
x 1.04
————
Your Rock Bottom Price
Step
1: Bookmark
this page, it contains valuable links you will need
in your car buying journey.
Step 2:
Research invoice price at Invoice Dealers Make sure you add the invoice costs of all options you are
looking for to get true invoice
Step 3:
Search for dealer to customer rebates, and manufacturer to dealer rebates. Add these two numbers together to get your total rebate. Most cars will not have a manufacturer to dealer rebate, so don’t worry if you don’t find one.
Step
4: Subtract the total rebate found in step 3 from the invoice price calculated in step 2 and you have true dealer cost.
Step
5: Multiply the true dealer cost by 1.04 to get your bottom line price. This is 4% profit for the dealer, and is more than fair.
Posted in Buying A Car | 3 Comments »
