Everything You Need To Know About How To Buy A Car

Knowing how to buy a car is important because it’s a huge cost and it has a major impact on your lifestyle. So the questions are, which car fits your purpose and what car fits your purse?

What you already know and what you need to know about buying a car will be the topics for your research both on and off-line.

Below is everything you need to know about how to buy a car. I’ll look deeper into each subject in later posts.

You need to know:

• what’s important and interesting to YOU.
• About different types of cars. Over on car buyersinfo you’ll find descriptions of what is an estate car, a crossover and what are people carriers?
• The features to look out for.
• What to pay attention to in a test drive.
• How to negotiate and weigh-up a deal.
• Paperwork, payment and taking delivery.

There are other topics: car dealers, buying on the internet, guarantees. You might be interested in child seats, electric cars, hybrids.

When you do your research how do you read reviews and understand all the data and specifications and make comparisons? You can compare car differences and similarities over on carbuyersinfo.co.uk.

If you’re looking to save money then the type of car you buy will determine depreciation and many maintainance costs. You also need to carefully compare new v used, diesel v petrol. Then you need to negotiate a good deal including discount part-exchange and finance.

We looked at running costs in my previous post. Insurance, mpg, vehicle excise duty, servicing and breakdown cover are all important topics in themselves. For example there’s a lot to know before getting online car insurance quotes. Other points to consider if you don’t part-exchange your car are where to sell it, its value, preparing your car for sale, writing the ad, the sales process and the paperwork.

You can see you need a lot of information. There are opportunities to find the best car for your purpose and purse but there’s also the risks of making some very costly mistakes. If you buy a car that doesn’t fit your family and finances and are forced to change it earlier than planned the cost is horrendous because of the hidden horror – depreciation.

Once you’ve found the right car for you, safety is normally the next consideration. Did you know car safety isn’t just about crash protection? Perception and prevention are equally if not more important because they help you avoid an accident in the first place.

As we found out in the previous post the cost of a car can be 25% of your take home pay so the detail of all the above topics are very important which we’ll look at it future posts.

Regards
Ralph

Why you should keep using your car’s air conditioning

Now the weather is turning colder and the days are darker – couldn’t get any wetter – we tend to forget our air conditioning and stop using it.

With some systems this can mean the contents settle and separate which then means it won’t work when you fire it up next year. In some cases the seals can dry out and cause leaks. If this happens you’ll be asked to pay for the system to be recharged.

You should use your air conditioning once a week to keep it in working order. During the winter months you can use air conditioning on the hot setting to demist your windscreen more quickly rather than wait for your engine to warm up and provide heat through the normal heater.

This also helps avoid your car air conditioning getting smelly. As they get older  or not regularly used bacteria can build up in the system and smell stale.

Air conditioning is an important safety feature. A clear screen aids visibility and perception which comes before prevention and protection in car safety. Did you know in the summer if the cabin temperature exceed 30 the driver is 30% more likely to become drowsy and have an accident.

So it pays to look after your car’s air-con. It should be regularly serviced with a clean and lubrication. However it’s not included most service schedules. It’s worth thinking about or looking out for offers as air-con makes your car more comfortable.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo.co.uk car comparison site differences and similarities revealed

Car Insurance Companies Comments On Young Drivers

Yesterday young car drivers and their driving competence came in for some stick from the car insurance companies.

This may be a worry if you’re looking for car insurance for young drivers under £1,000. However there are safety issues that weren’t mentioned. They’re important and if understood by younger drivers might improve their driving.

According to Renault there are four aspects to car safety:

• Education
• Perception
• Prevention
• Protection

Education. Young drivers seem to be totally unaware of the shocking figures for car safety. Here are a few:

• 80% of accidents involve human error
• 70% of motorists have experienced emergency braking
• 66% of rear end collisions are caused by inattention
• 60% of fatal accidents are caused by side impact due to skidding
• 33% of accidents are caused by lane changes
• 30% of accidents happen at night
• 9% of accidents are caused by tailgating

Perception. Accidents can be prevented if the driver anticipates a hazard. Car manufacturers have made significant advances in visibility, lighting, mirrors, wipers, ergonomics and comfort. Note 30% of accidents happen at night but account for 50% of deaths.

All this equipment is of little use when awareness is focused on loud music and mobile devices. When we focus, we reduce the number of cues from the environment to concentrate on the object of focus. Any distraction further reduces the number of cues reducing awareness. But you still see motorists, especially the young, holding mobile phones.

Prevention. In 2005 only 50% of motorist knew what ABS does, only 18% identified it as an active safety system. Only 1% knew of ESP. My experience is the majority of motorists don’t even know whether or not these systems are fitted to their cars. Worse still, some regards them as enhancing performance rather than safety.

Protection. 89% of motorists are aware of airbags, 76% of seat belts. I’ve yet to meet a motorist who understands Euro NCAP ratings. Motorists, especially the young, seem to think they’re protected or can be repaired by the NHS. They forget immoveable objects like bridges, trees and lorries. And there’s another mistaken idea – people in SUVs and 4x4s thinking they’re safer when nothing could be farther from the truth.

From memory, the figures above were findings by Bosch who manufacture ABS and ESP and Mori on behalf of Euro NCAP.

I’m sorry to deliver such a gloomy message. However, I sold cars for over four decades and thoroughly enjoyed delivering something that improved peoples’ lifestyles, but working in garages all with body repair shops really drives the consequences of safety issues home.

Young drivers should be aware insurance premiums are a reflection of risk which means how safe they are. It’s common for young drivers to be quoted £1,500 to £2,000 by most car insurance companies – generally. To find car insurance for young drivers under £1,000 is going to take a lot of shopping around direct car insurance companies.

You can find car insurance for young drivers tips over on carbuyersinfo. For more information about ESP see the link at the bottom of carbuyersinfo home page.

Regards
Ralph