Automotive Blog

The previous article discussed how to find out the worth of your own car as well as any vehicle that you want to buy, how to find all available vehicles in your area that you want to see, and how to arrange your financing in advance to save you money in the car buying process. Now it is time to actually visit those dealers or private parties that have the cars you want to see. Here are some important things to keep in mind as you do:

If you are visiting a dealer you will most likely be greeted by a friendly car salesperson who will start asking very soon if you have a vehicle to trade in. It’s vital that you keep the car buying and car trading segments of the process completely separate if you want to get your best deal and know what you are spending, so just tell the salesperson that you are only interested in a straight sale at this point. Then let then know what vehicles you are here to see, and don’t let them steer you away to another model instead.

Be sure to make a thorough visual inspection of each vehicle that meets your criteria and make notes as you do so you can remember what your impressions were about each car that you looked at. It can even be a good idea to make up a checklist of things that you want to inspect on each vehicle in advance, to make sure that you are as thorough as possible about your inspection. Once you have settled on one vehicle that interests you, start the price negotiations as if it were a straight cash sale, since you have your financing already arranged that will give you the cash needed for the purchase. Get as close as possible to the real worth of the vehicle that you have established by doing your advance research online.

Now is when you can ask them to also appraise your vehicle afterward and give you a trade-in figure. Because you kept the sale of the used car and the trade-in of your car totally separate you can now see clearly how good each price is and can negotiate each price to your benefit.

Once you have their best offer, leave and continue shopping elsewhere. Of course, the dealer will not want you to leave and will try to get you to buy right then and there, but it’s usually not best to give in to the pressure. Keep shopping until you have 2-3 cars that are good candidates for purchase, and also can be bought in a fair price range. Now begin the final negotiation process on those three cars letting the dealers know that they must compete with other cars that you could be buying soon. Let the bidding war begin and see who wins.

Once you have your best deal, test drive that car thoroughly to make sure that it will indeed meet your needs and then have an independent mechanic inspect it to be sure of it’s mechanical condition. If a dealer balks at this, just pass them by as there is usually a reason why they don’t want you to know the true condition of that car. Then go to the next best deal on your list and repeat the final inspection process if necessary. Ultimately you will be able to get the car you want at the best price possible, and know that it is a quality vehicle when you buy it.

If you follow these simple suggestions you can usually negotiate the best price for the best cars, and stay in complete control of the whole buying process as you do.

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Have you been drinking and driving? Or perhaps chatting on your mobile while driving? If you are a little careless while you drive and are prone to having a bump here and there you are better off getting your hands on a new set of wheels with active safety technologies. Car manufacturers such as Mercedes are incorporating space age technology into their cars to save lives or rather save us from crashing our buggies when we are simply too careless with our own lives. This might sound science fiction to you but these are some of the technologies Mercedes’s latest S Class has:

Auto cruise control warns you if you are getting too close to the car in front and if you don’t react it applies brakes on its own to maintain a safe driving distance.

Traction control sense when you steer too sharply or lose traction in the wet and cuts engine power and limits the power individually to each wheel to bring you back on track.

Anti Lock Braking System, this has been around for quite some time now. ABS helps in achieving best possible braking performance, it prevent jamming of the wheel which results in skids and loss of vehicle control. The computer senses when the wheels are about to lock and releases the brakes momentarily and then applies them again.

Airbags, as many as 8 airbags protect you in the unlikely event of a crash. Airbags exist for all passengers and are inflated in milliseconds when the care ’senses’ a crash. Airbags can protect the occupant even at 100mph crashes.

Space Age Safety Technology

Now this is the most impressive of them all, the Mercedes S Class sense when the car is going to meet with a crash using it 360 degree radar and braces for impact. It rolls up windows if they are down, inflates the seat cushions to protect occupants and lowers the steering to save the driver from chest injuries and lowers pedals to prevent foot injuries.

Now that’s some technology, all to save our lives when we lose control. Maybe if Diana was riding this S Class she would have been amongst us. So lets not crash it, for if you do the car will save you but repairing the high tech car will burn your pockets for technology doesn’t come cheap. The fully loaded Mercedes S500 with all the safety features retails at over $1,25,000!

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One of the hardest decisions is deciding to buy a WRX STI or a Lancer Evolution. Both of the cars are very similar and are fantastic. The new MR edition (Mitsubishi Racing) has created a more competition for the WRX this year. The MR edition is not as quite as nice as the British version that sports 342 HP and a 60 thousand dollar price tag but it is better than last years Evolution. The new Lancer has 5 more ponies than last years model and has many more features that give the STI a run for its money.

We will start out with the Lancer Evolution MR edition. The lancer starts slightly under $35,000 and has many added benefits from last years Evolution. For starters it has more power because of redesigned airflow to the turbo, something that I believe should have happened a long time ago. Some say the biggest change is the new BBS wheels, the wheel way almost 3 pounds lighter than last years model. Also the true auto enthusiasts will spot the MR edition different with the cool new badging, and around the rear window the impressive “shark teeth” which are vortex generators with the ability to create 35% less lift at 110 mph and helps the wing create more down force by reducing turbulence.

Now for the 2005 Subaru WRX STI, the car just goes to show that Subaru is one tough competitor. When you sit down in the car the first thing you notice is the smaller diameter steering wheel, a smaller wheel creates more of a rally sport feel to the auto. Next is the redesigned helical type front limited slip differential. It does a much better job transferring power to those front wheels for added handling. Next is the braking, the brakes on the WRX have been upgraded via adjustable ABS controller that allows more feedback from the brakes to the driver.

In conclusion both of the cars have almost identical performance numbers with the Mitsubishi coming out slightly I mean slightly ahead. But having only 1000 MR Mitsubishis built will put a dampener on sales. I think this is and will continue to be one of the best rivalries in the import community. So I say let the battle for rally bred street supremacy go, all it will bring is better and better cars by both manufacturers.

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