Do you remember the last speeding ticket that you received? Do you remember thinking that you should have had a radar detector? Do you remember thinking that you didn’t even know how to start looking or what to look for when getting one? Well, life just got a little easier; follow these tips when you decide you don’t want another speeding ticket to remember.

The internet is the best source of information for most people. There are a number of sites that offer expert testimony regarding the options and models that will best suit your specific needs and budget.

An interesting fact to keep in mind when deciding whether to purchase a radar detector, there are over 100,000 radar detectors in use by law enforcement everyday in this country. That number is steadily climbing by approximately 20,000 more every year. Are these odds that you want to be up against the next time you are speeding?

Price is also a consideration for most people. However, the old adage, you get what you pay for, is incredibly true in the case of radar detectors. When you think about the money that is spent when you get a speeding ticket (the cost of the ticket, time away from work to pay for it, increased insurance costs, etc), it is worth it for most people to spend the extra money to buy a high quality radar detector. That being said, most detectors can be found starting at around $90.00.

Do you remember the last speeding ticket that you received? Do you remember thinking that you should have had a radar detector? Do you remember thinking that you didn’t even know how to start looking or what to look for when getting one? Well, life just got a little easier; follow these tips when you decide you don’t want another speeding ticket to remember.

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Want Your Body Repair to be Green?

It’s amazing to me how many Americans are embracing the concept of Green living. We’re not only recycling, but it seems more and more people are starting to make regular decisions based on their impact on the environment. I think it’s great! Well, unless it means I can’t drive my vintage cars anymore, I’ll jump teams for that. But in the spirit of a more Green lifestyle, I think it’s always a good idea to consider Mother Earth when we have the chance. Repairing your car after it suffers body or paint damage is a good opportunity to make a Green decision. Auto painting is traditionally an environmentally unfriendly process. Chemicals in the paint are very hard on the atmosphere. With no alternative, body shops are forced to make the sacrifice and minimize the harm done by incorporating expensive filtration systems and efficient use of materials. Even then auto painting is an environmental disaster. Thankfully, we now have a Green alternative for painting your car. Newly adopted water-based paints are making a huge difference in the environmental impact of auto painting. Brands like PPG’s Envirobase auto paint provide the same paint quality your car came with without the headache. If you’re having body work or paint repair done on your car, make it a Green repair and find a shop who uses a water-based paint exclusively.

Want Your Body Repair to be Green? originally appeared on About.com Auto Repair on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 22:18:58.

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Is some maintenance unnecessary?
We all know how important it is to keep up with our car or truck’s regular maintenance. Without the attention it needs, your vehicle will surely fail you sooner than it should. Oil changes are a given maintenance procedure, but what about some of the less common jobs? Are they necessary or just a way for repair shops and auto parts stores to get a few more dollars out of your pocket? The debates over necessary or unnecessary maintenance procedures have been raging for as long as cars have been on the road. Every mechanic and do-it-yourself car owner has an opinion about what cars need and how often they need it. So what maintenance fits into the don’t-need-it category? I’ll throw the first one out there — the chassis lube. Most cars made in the past few decades have almost nothing to lubricate chassis-wise. The cars’ aren’t even built the way they were back in the chassis lube days!

What maintenance do you see as unnecessary? Engine flushes? 3000-mile oil changes? Let me know!

Is some maintenance unnecessary? originally appeared on About.com Auto Repair on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 21:03:43.

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Fun With Car Myths
One of my fellow About.com Guides, Cars Guide Aaron Gold, has a funny blog entry going on common car myths. It’s worth checking out, and adding to if you have any of your own. You can see it here.

Fun With Car Myths originally appeared on About.com Auto Repair on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 22:16:22.

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Hybrids Not the Only Answer
There’s more to higher gas mileage than hybrids, such as new fuel injection and turbocharging.

More Fords to Offer Collision-Warning Systems in 2010
System uses radar to reduce year-end accidents

Video: Test-Driving a Used Car
Car expert Russ Heaps shows you how to test-drive a used car to find signs of trouble

GM Introduces Wi-Fi in Cars
But how about an Internet radio system?

Suit Says Graco Car Seat Caused Daughter Severe Burns
Ohio couple seeking damages from Graco and Rubbermaid

Many of us have been at the car dealership and have been drained by a salesperson during price negotiations for the purchase of a new car. Most people give in too easily or do not negotiate at all to avoid the dreadful act. This only means more money in the car dealers pocket, while you are out of several thousand dollars! Yes, they make that much in profit per car.

This article unveils the dealer s selling tactics and how you can get around them. But before we dive into the new car buying tips, we need to understand what makes up the dealer s profits.

In addition to the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price), which is the dealer s cost for the car plus an additional 20-25% profit, a dealer also gets financial incentives from the manufacturer when a new car is sold. This is called Holdback.

Depending on the car, dealers can make hundreds on each car through holdbacks. Dealers also get additional incentives and bonuses on selling a car before the end of the month and/or quarter.

A shrewd dealer can make several thousand on a new car even by selling it at invoice price. This is how new car buying can become tricky for the consumer.

Ready to learn how not to put a dent in your wallet on your next car purchase? Here are four tips to get you started. Each one is a dealer tactic to watch out for.

1. The Guilt Trip

As you may have noticed, every desk in a dealership has photos of the salesperson s family, instead of photos of cars. Midway in the negotiation, the sales person will bring them up and make it look like his little commission check can hardly pay for his daughters college and little Bradley s braces.

A seasoned salesperson will soon have you feeling guilty for driving the price down and hurting his commission. Watch out not to fall for this tactic, since you already know about holdbacks and incentive programs from manufacturers.

2. Wearing You Down

Come prepared to spend half a day at the dealership or pay whatever the dealer asks for. Car Dealers are trained to delay and tire you out to the point where you give in and accept their price just to get out of there.

After you make your offer, sales people typically claim they would have to run it by their manager. You may then have to re-start negotiating with the manager, who is also a seasoned salesperson. This dance goes on for a while until you give in.

Remember, there are multiple dealerships in a city, so they need you more than you need them. Demand to speak to the manager after a certain time period or threaten to leave.

Because you are devoting a lot of time to bargain with the dealer, they know you are a serious buyer, so they will not let you leave. The earlier you can speak with the manager, the faster you can leave.

3. The Test Drive

We all enjoy a good test drive and look forward to it. Although it is essential to test drive a car before you buy it, remember to not show your absolute love for the car to the salesperson. Their goal is to get you emotionally attached to the car, so it becomes a must have for you. I have learned it the hard way.

To hide your emotional tears from the salesperson, mention the features of a competing car in the same class, like the new shape, light, leg room, resale value etc. This will make the salesperson a little vulnerable.

4. Monthly Payments

This one is to confuse you. Dealers will start talking about monthly payments rather than the total price of the car. They will start by asking how much you are willing to pay per month and how much of a down payment you are willing to pay. Since people don t want to look like they cannot afford a certain car, they will usually give a higher number. Big Mistake!

You have left little room for negotiation when this happens. Always steer the conversation to the total price of the car and do NOT mention any trade-ins at this point. Only after the total price of the vehicle is completely negotiated then talk about interest, monthly payment and trade-ins.

General Rule;

As a general rule, remember to only focus and negotiate on the Total Price of the vehicle. Everything else is pretty much the car dealer s trough.

If the above new car buying tips seem like a lot of hassle, yet you still want to get the best price in town, there are some websites that do this for you. www.autoauctionbids.com for example is a great website for this because you can collect price quotes from multiple local dealers for a particular car as well as its competing car models (like Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Ford Taurus) and compare them.

The website then allows you to send back the lowest quotes received for each car make to all participating dealers in your area through the website itself.

Dealers view this price and continue to submit new lower prices over a 3 day period. By putting local car dealers in such a price competition allows you to avoid the dreadful face to face negotiation and yet gets you the lowest price in town for up to 3 competing car makes.

The best part about AutoAuctionBids.com is that it is absolutely free for you and there is no obligation to buy after the new car auction is over.

About The Author

Chris Fox

For more information on cars and car auction visit http://cheap-car-auction-portal.com. -

Worst Body Work Ever?

Before today, if I’d been asked about the worst example of body work I’ve ever seen, I’d have been choosing between a few really, really bad Bondo jobs I’ve seen over the years. One poor Ford Fiesta I once knew had so much filler on the front end it looked like a clay pot coming at you. Records are made to be broken, and that Fiesta just got knocked off the block by a maroon conversion van. Wow. I’ll let the photo speak for itself, but I think you’ll agree that it’s some pretty low-quality work.

Don’t let your car or truck be the butt of jokes, learn how to do decent body work and you’ll save serious money at the body shop while keeping your car off blogs like this.

Worst Body Work Ever? originally appeared on About.com Auto Repair on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 23:45:21.

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More Debate Over Tire Pressure

The debate over correct tire pressure never seems to cool. There are actually a few debates. Two favorites are the”tire pressure vs. gas mileage” debate and the “sidewall vs. door jamb” debate. A recent letter from Diana got me interested yet again in the latter argument:

Diana writes: I’m researching this and it seems there is a 50/50 agreement between the tire “experts”. 50 percent say look on side wall of tire and 50 percent say use car rating on inside door panel. I’ve used the inside of door panel rating and my tires wear on the outsides, which proves underinflation and this is evident on all 4 tires.

Aha! Now we have some evidence against the door jambers. If you think of the issue logically, it only makes sense that every tire is different, some vastly, and the tire manufacturer is going to know better what pressure is optimum. I think the info on the door jamb is only reliable if you use the exact tire your car came with every time you buy replacements. I know others of you see things differently — let the debate rage on!

More Debate Over Tire Pressure originally appeared on About.com Auto Repair on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 01:06:19.

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