CAR CARE THAT IS ESSENTIAL

Date: November 29, 2006

If you are like most of us, you forget to maintain your most prized possession, your auto.  We have a tendancy to keep driving and not check important things such as the engine oil level.  If you do this on a regular basis, you can keep your car running well and looking great.

Face it, as humans can not survive without blood and the engine oil is your car's blood.  Oil prevents serious damage to the engine and total destruction of your engine.  You can check your oil level by making sure that the engine is turned off.  Find the engine oil dipstick and remove it.  With a paper towel or rag, wipe off the end of the stick and look at the markings on it.  You will see markings on it that say FUll and Add. Push the stick back into the tube until it is flush with the top, then  immediately pull it out to see what your oil level is.  Do not add oil unless the level is below the Add mark. Never add oil if the oil level is at Full.

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The New Car Negotiation Isn't Over Yet - Watch Out!

by Gregg Hall

So, you just negotiated a good deal on a new car, you did all your research and you knew what the dealer cost was and even got the rebate allowing you to buy the car well back of invoice. You beat that salesman up pretty good and you are feeling pretty good while waiting to go into the finance office to sign your papers. This is where many people let their guard down and where many people get taken. Hey, the industry insiders don't call it the "hot box" for nothing!

That's right, having been in the industry for many years I can tell you that is the truth and there is a lot of money made in that office. For many dealerships half of their revenue is made on the "backend" of the deal by charging higher rates than the rate they can get and selling you products you don't need like extra insurance, warranties, and rust protection.

According to a recent study there is a one out of four chance that finance manager will take you for a ride and you will end up paying way more than you should for that new car especially if you are a woman or a minority. You could end up with payments $30 to $50 higher than they should be and give the dealership thousands in additional profit.

Watch out for the manager trying to point out inconsequential discrepancies in your credit report to try to justify the higher interest rate. You should know what you are qualified for before going in there; make that part of your research.

The mechanics of how financing work at a dealership goes as follows: The dealer submits your information along with the buyers order to lenders who then give the dealer what is called a "buy rate" which is the rate the dealer has to pay. Anything they make above this is profit for the dealer.

There are many states that have set limits on how high an interest rate can be charged for a loan but there is no disclosure to show what the bank's original offer was. If some new laws making disclosure mandatory it would put an end to this mark up.

The best way to avoid this is to be prepared by shopping with your bank or credit union for financing and get pre-approved by them. This doesn't obligate you but it does equip you to deal better with the finance people at the dealership. If you know exactly what the best rate is that you can get as well as what your payments should be then you just see if they can do better, sometimes they can. Banks sometimes give dealers lower rates because of the large volume of business they do.

About the Author

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Get quality car care products for your new car at http://www.shineyourcar.com