What You Should Never Do When You Buy A Car

Sooner or later most people buy a new car. It doesn't matter if it's your third new car or your first, it almost always happens sometime.

There is an art to buying a new car and if you know it, you're better prepared when that day arrives.

Every car buyer knows that there are tricks to getting a car at a reasonable price. Dealerships and private sellers rarely mark the car at it's actual worth.

Instead, they mark the price up a little so that they make a good profit for themselves. Another reason is that this lets them give their salespeople better commissions, and this makes them work harder to sell the car to you.

Whatever the reason, almost all dealerships can be talked down on their initial prices, if you know how to haggle properly. When you buy a car, keep this in mind all the time.

The savvy buyer will know that they can talk the dealership's prices down a little bit, if he/she knows the dealer's lingo and tricks beforehand and shows that he/she are prepared to deal with them.

Salesmen are there to try and hustle a good price for the company, while you are trying to hustle a good price for yourself.

If you have ever wanted to get your money's worth out of buying a car, then this will be your comprehensive guide to getting through all of the bull and getting a car at a good price.

Most of the time, it isn't even just the deal of buying a car that is the problem. Dealers and salesmen have a way of getting extra money out of you for the "extras".

Many people don't even realize that they purchased the extras until the deal has been closed. And then it's too late.

Salesmen speak their own language, and to know when you are being sold on something that you don't want, you need to know how to speak the same language as the salesmen do. Once you do, you will never again be oversold when you buy a car.

Buying a car doesn't have to be scary and it doesn't have to be the worst experience of your life. Many people are worried when they buy a car because they know that they are likely going to get ripped off.

About the author:
Complements of http://USGasTracker.org,a premier company which helps the consumer save money on gasoline. Thousands of gas stations across the nation are tracked daily to guarantee the lowest prices on gasoline anywhere in the United States.

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Timing belts, the sleeping time bomb

When buying a used car always insist on determining if the vehicle has a rubber timing-belt. Be aware that about five years ago an International Oil Company did a follow up on 5,000 cars it had turned back after 3 year leases and traced them to their eventual private owners. All the cars had by then passed through wholesale auction markets and likely one or more retail dealers before being sold to a private owner. The survey disclosed that 50% of the cars had their odometers illegally turned back.

When buying a used car, supposedly with 40,000 miles for example, and determining it has a rubber timing belt, insist on a written guarantee from the seller to guarantee in writing to replace the timing belt at no charge if it fails within another 20,000 miles, a typical recommended total amount (Call any Dealer to get the recommended amount for the particular make of vehicle). After all, the vehicle may in fact already have 55,000 miles on it. If the seller will not make that guarantee, then he is admitting that the mileage is probably not accurate and by implication may well have been turned back. If the seller will not make that guarantee, consider a compromise, such as $100 maximum cost. If not acceptable, walk away and look elsewhere."

Before buying any car, especially 4-cylinder foreign cars, or even 6-cyl. BMW, be aware of the unavoidable cost of $400-$800 to replace the timing belt at anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 miles if the car has an 'interference' type of engine. The sales person will invariably not mention that an 'interference' type engine powers the vehicle and may not even know what one is. If a timing belt on an interference engine is not replaced at recommended intervals, the repair cost when the belt breaks (not gradually, but always catastrophically) could increase to $3,000 to $5,000 due to engine failure because parts have smashed into each other

An 'interference' engine is an engine design that has been avoided by some manufacturers for well over 80 years. General Motors, Chrysler, etc., typically use a metal chain-type timing belt on push-rod engines (often called a timing chain) to transmit torque from the engine crankshaft o the engine camshaft that opens the valves that admit air and fuel. (Note: on some new cars the fuel is admitted not through the valves but through injectors in the top of the cylinder. Rather than use a steel timing chain, interference engines may use a rubber timing belt with its limited life, whereas steel timing belts typically last 150,000 to 200,000 miles or more.

Valves open further in an interference engine and project further into the combustion chamber than in a 'free-running' engine. This allows outside air at atmospheric pressure flow faster into the combustion chamber through the larger valve opening. The engine can therefore inhale more air, be a little smaller, and still create as much power while reducing its. manufactured cost and also guaranteeing future repair business for its dealer. If a rubber timing belt breaks by not being replaced soon enough, some of the valves stuck in their open position will collide with the top of the pistons, thereby breaking or irreversibly damaging one or the other or both. To make matters worse, it is not possible to measure the wear on such a rubber belt so that it could be replaced when there is some indication of imminent failure. Failure in these belts is catastrophic, without warning. This will require a whole new engine be installed. Woe to the owner.

Finally, the rubber belt may have to be replaced long before 60,000 miles solely due to its age. This is really playing a bad poker hand. Interference engines are like a time bomb waiting to explode unless replacing the timing belt at the recommended interval. Be aware of that guaranteed future expense before buying a new car, or especially a used car, " with such an engine.

For details on this subject or for recommended mileage to replace rubber timing belts on interference engines, connect on the Internet to http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2389&location_id=3053, a worldwide
manufacturer of such belts. When its web site appears, click on Replacement parts/Automotive. Look for 'Timing belt replacement Guide'.

Visit http://www.AutoTruckData.com for related resources
Copyright 2204-2005 by Beacon Data LLC. br>Reprinted with permission

About the author:
Ralph Hoffmann has a major in Applied Mathematics, and became fascinated with the anomalies inherent in automotive leasing. His web site http://www.autotruckdata.comaddresses some of the fascinating results.

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