How to Get The Best New Car Warranty

Not all new car warranties are a great deal. Consider what most warranties for products you buy are really designed to do--protect the seller. So when you are looking for a new car, you need to be shopping for a good warranty as much as you are shopping for the right color and options.

You will typically find two parts to any new car warranty. There is the "bumper to bumper" part, which covers everything but your tires and brakes, and the powertrain part, which covers everything that moves your car, like the transmission and engine. These warranties usually cover your car for a certain number of years, or a certain number of miles, whichever comes first.

When you are shopping for a car, you should be asking questions to find the right vehicle for the right price. Some of those questions should specifically deal with the new car warranty you'll get, such as:

What is covered?
For how long?
Is rust and corrosion damage included?
Does the warranty provide roadside assistance if your car breaks down?

A new car warranty that is good for 10 years or 100,000 miles might sound like a great deal, but don't forget the fine print. What's specifically included and excluded? Details count. You might not be a car expert, but if your dealer can't explain things in plain language, it might be good to shop around some more.

In particular, consider going prepared with a few scenarios to ask about. For example, if your car hits a pothole and you found out later that it threw something off in your engine, is that covered? Do you have to jump through any hoops and deal with any hassles?

Once you've determined what the basic warranty (sometimes called the factory warranty) covers, you'll be in better shape to determine if you need or want some kind of extended warranty coverage.

An extended warranty is basically insurance for your factory warranty. It is a service contract that guarantees you lower rates on parts and repairs. You can get an extended warranty through the car dealer, or from a third party in what's called the aftermarket.

An extended warranty is a bit like buying health insurance. You will need to shop around, compare deductibles, determine if the company selling the warranty is a good company to do business with, find out if the warranty is transferable when you sell your car, etc.

Do not be afraid to ask your dealer to do some legwork for you when it comes to extended warranties. Some car manufacturers (like Ford) do offer their own branded extended warranties, but dealers often make less money on those than they do by selling aftermarket extended warranties. If you press them, though, they'll give you the branded extended warranty, which can give you some additional piece of mind that you're getting the "official" version.

Car warranties are not mysterious, but do not assume you'll be getting a good one. Make it part of your car shopping menu so you're shopping for the future of your car, not just for the here and now.

Used Car Warranties - 5 Key Questions To Ask Before Buying A Used Car

If you are in the market for a used car, you need to be in another market at the same time--the market for used car warranties. You need to shop for both. And if you're not careful, you can end up costing yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars on a bad extended warranty.

When you are shopping, remember what an extended warranty is. It is essentially a service contract that covers things after the new car warranty (the factory warranty) ends. You will not get all of the new car coverage, even in a great extended warranty, so don't let that bother you. But be smart about what you do get. Here are some questions to ask.

Do you really need an extended warranty? You might not if there is a big portion of the original warranty left. If the warranty transfers to a new buyer, you might be covered as much as you need or want. Saving the money you would have spent on an extended warranty might be a smart option.

What is covered by an extended warranty you're considering? This is an extremely important question to answer. Many people shop for an extended warranty like they shop for gas--they buy the cheapest they can find. That is often a big mistake. In the world of extended warranties, you often get what you pay for.

What you want is a warranty that covers mechanical breakdown and "wear and tear." Wear and tear refers to items that tend to wear out and degrade the performance of your car. That means things like worn rings, shot pistons, overheating damage, leaks, etc. Stuff in your car tends to wear out, not fail, so do not settle for a warranty that does not cover wear and tear.

Is the warranty company reputable? If you can not get information about the company from the Better Business Bureau or Web Assured, avoid them like the plague.

You will find that many companies offering cheap extended warranties with low teaser rates reject most (or even all) claims. That's the way they make money on such a cheap product. They might not answer their phones. They might not send you a contract to review before you agree to the warranty. These are all bad signs.

Will the warranty pay the repair shop directly? If they make you pay first, they can quibble about reimbursing you. This is one of the biggest scam tactics out there. You should pick a warranty that will pay the repair shop directly and not force you to shell out your own money and hope for reimbursement.

Can you get repairs at any ASE certified shop? You don't want a warranty that forces you get service where you bought the warranty, or that restricts you to a few repair shops in the greater Newark area (although that might be convenient if you live in New Jersey). You want a warranty that will let you get your service at any shop certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). That gives you the flexibility to have 400,000 professionals to choose from.

Used car warranties can be a great way to protect your purchase, if you know what to look for. If you answer these five key questions, you will be able to protect yourself as much as you are trying to protect your car.

Choosing Your Alloys - Some Points To Remember

If you have found a set of alloys you like the look of make sure you read up on user reviews and reports before buying them, so you get an idea of the handling and performance from other owners Big wheels can look brilliant but will not necessarily improve the handling of the car. If you really want the big wheel look try to go for an ultra low profile tyre on a larger alloy wheel. And remember the handling of your car will differ depending on which wheels you choose. It is worth remembering that low profile tyres will improve the handling of your car, but the tyres are more expensive and the ride will be harder.

Be careful when choosing your alloy wheels; remember what they will look like if you have the misfortune of curbing your wheels. Some designs will curb better than others so try to go for a design that does not protrude too much, and also have a look at the split rim designs. Also remember that some designs have been known to crack when hitting a curb or pothole at high speed.

Remember to make sure the pattern of the wheel nuts (PCD) matches your car before buying and also check the bore and offset measurements. If the measurements are not correct the wheel may not fit properly over your brake discs and you may find the wheels grinding into your arches when you either go over a bump or turn a corner. If this does happen you may need to get your wheel arches cut or rolled to make them fit.

Try to make sure the overall rotational diameter of the car wheels and tyres is the same as originally specified for your car or you will need to get your Speedo recalibrated as well as having your tracking and suspension realigned so that you don't have uneven tyre wear under acceleration.

One last thing to consider is to choose wheels that will be easy to clean.

New website about tuning cars.

New website about tuning cars: www.Modified.tv

New website about tuning cars. www.Modified.tv is a youtube clone site where members can share their tuning / modified cars videos. You can also share your tips / info about tuning via forum.

Car tuning (or car modding) is both an industry and a popular hobby, in which a car is

modified in order to improve its performance and handling and better suit the owners

driving style. As most cars leave the factory set up for average driver expectations and

average conditions. For example cars may be altered to provide better fuel economy, produce

more power at high RPM or the ride comfort may be sacrificed to provide better handling.

Car tuning is related to auto racing, although most performance cars never compete. Rather

they are built for the pleasure of owning and driving such a vehicle. Another major facet

of tuning includes performance modification the car exterior. This includes changing the

aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle via side skirts, front and rear bumpers, adding

spoilers, splitters, air vents and light weight wheels.

Tuning Car, at the less, is to put a V8 Engine like one Ford 350, Ford 302, or one Chevrolet Vortec V8 5500 of 295 HP to 5200 RPM with 330 Lb/Ft of Torque to 4000 RPM to one Sentra 2006, Stratus 2007 and quit this 2 horrible doors for get one coupé and one extreme Sentra or Stratus extra modified.This without forget the Nitro Oxide Systems, stabilizer

bar, electronic stability, ABS brakes, and their respective modification to the motor for

get more power, start speed and force for to do "Drift" when this become a need...

Tuning has become a way to personalize the characteristics of the vehicle to the owners

preference

That's why www.modified.tv is here to share your own cars with others tuning cars fans.

Selling A Used Car Versus Trading It In - Which Is Best?

You've decided to buy a new car. The natural question is what to do with your current car. You've got a couple options, so you need to understand the relative value of selling a used car versus trading it in when you buy.

The good news is that understanding the trade-in math can help put a nice chunk of change in your pocket. The bad news is that the math is not quite as straightforward as you might think.

Let's say you have a car that you can sell for privately for $5,000. And let's say you're in the market for a $25,000 new car. Should you sell your car yourself, or should you trade it in when you buy the new one?

You might put more cash in your pocket by selling it yourself, but your net gain on the sale might be lower than if you traded it in. That might sound strange, but it's really not. The missing piece of the puzzle is the impact of sales tax.

When you buy a new car, you have to pay sales tax only on the difference between the purchase price of the car and the trade-in amount.

So if you can find a dealer who will give you $10,000 for your trade-in (and he very well might in order to move a car off of his lot), you'll owe tax on $15,000. If the tax rate is six percent, that's $900. Consider that savings when you're deciding whether to sell your used car on your own.

If you sold your car on your own, you'd have to sell it for $10,000 plus $900 (your tax savings) to equal what your dealer was going to give you. That's a pretty high hurdle.

But that's really only one consideration.

The other big thing to consider is the hassle of selling on your own, or to look at the other side of the coin, the convenience of letting your dealer handle the entire transaction.

If you sell on your own, you have to advertise the vehicle and try to market it in your area. Do you know the right price to charge? What sells where you are, and what does not? You'll also have to show it to interested parties, wait while people let their mechanic look at it, and so on. You'll have to handle all of the paperwork yourself, transfer the title appropriately and meet any requirements your state has for people who sell vehicles.

If you trade in your car, you're pretty much selling your car to the dealer. He does all the paperwork, and he's very likely to offer you more for the car than you'd get from a private buyer. You could have the entire transaction done the day you buy your new car, and never have to deal with another headache.

Selling your own used car and trading it in are both good strategies, and you can make out pretty well with either. But before jump into the seller pool, consider very carefully whether it's worth the bother, or whether trading will net you more money.

How To Get The Best Deal On A Used Mercedes Benz Car

So you want to buy a used Mercedes Benz car. There is nothing wrong with that, and you can save a bundle. But be smart when you buy. You are going to have to make some important decisions as you consider your purchase.

The most important decision you will make is where to buy.

You can obviously buy a Mercedes car from an individual owner. You might get a great deal that way, and if there has only been one previous owner, you will have a better chance of getting a car that was taken good care of.

But there are serious advantages to buying a certified, pre-owned Mercedes Benz car from a dealer.

Mercedes Benz prides itself on the quality of its certified, pre-owned cars. They intentionally make the certification process rigorous. The put each vehicle through nine different inspections, with a total of 162 different checks. That includes a complete check of the engine components and compartment (28 points), a road test (14 points) and a check of the electrical system (33 points).

Mercedes wants a certified, pre-owned car to be as close to new quality as it can be, and the results prove it. The reliability of these vehicles is superb. But they don't ask you to trust them on that.

Every certified, pre-owned Mercedes car comes with a comprehensive limited warranty. Any remaining part of the four-year/50,000 mile new vehicle warranty still applies, of course. Beyond that, the certified pre-owned warranty extends the coverage another 12 months, or up to 100,000 total miles. That warranty takes effect at the time of vehicle delivery for any car no longer covered by the new car warranty.

They also offer a Mercedes Extended Warranty that covers just about everything imaginable, including the steering, brakes, engine and powertrain, transmission, and so on. The warranty guarantees the work at over 300 authorized dealers nationwide in the U.S., and you will get all genuine Mercedes-Benz parts. There is no deductible for the extended warranty, and you can transfer it to a new owner if you sell your Mercedes car.

So the cars are exhaustively evaluated, and Mercedes stands behind their reliability with one of the best warranty programs in the business (right up there with BMW--maybe it's a German thing). But Mercedes goes above and beyond with their certified, pre-owned vehicles.

You will get 24-hour roadside assistance, just like new Mercedes owners do. You'll also get what they call Sign and Drive services, which gives you a free jump-start, flat tire change, or gas if your tank is empty and you are stranded.

And when you buy a certified, pre-owned Mercedes Benz car, you will get the seven-day/500 mile exchange privilege. That means you can return the car within that time and swap it for another pre-owned Mercedes of equal value (or greater value, if you want to pay the difference).

If you are considering buying a used Mercedes Benz car, it is certainly worth your time to investigate buying a certified pre-owned vehicle from an authorized Mercedes dealer. You might get a steal if you buy from some other source, but you might be surprised to find that Mercedes itself is the best deal around.

Hybrid Cars - Are They Worth The Extra Cost?

Got $22,000 extra lying around so you can go out and buy a Toyota Prius? That's what the base model costs in the new year. It's not a king's ransom, but it's not cheap either. So it's bound to make you wonder if a hybrid car is really worth the cost.

This is where you have to do a little math.

Let's say your hybrid car (whether it's a Prius or something else) saves you roughly $250 per year in fuel costs due to improved gas mileage. That's not an unreasonable guess if you drive something like 15,000 miles per year and gas costs roughly two bucks a gallon.

And let's say your hybrid costs you roughly $3,000 more than a comparably equipped non-hybrid sedan from the same auto manufacturer.

Now simple division gives you a way to evaluate whether you're actually saving any money. Divide the $3,000 difference in price by the $250 you save on gas each year to get the number of years before you actually start saving money. In this example, it's twelve years.

Yep, you'd have to save $250 per year for over a decade to make up for the price difference when you buy a hybrid. Most people don't keep their cars that long, so their "investment" in a hybrid never pays off.

But what if gas is ridiculously expensive? Let's say it goes back up to almost five bucks a gallon, which it probably will eventually. Now let's do the math again…

We have the same $3,000 price difference we have to overcome before we actually start saving money. But our gas savings is probably closer to $625 per year since gas is two-and-a-half times more expensive in this scenario. The result?

You'd have to drive your hybrid for almost five years before you start saving money. And people usually don't keep their cars that long either!

So based just on price difference and the cost of gasoline, hybrids don't usually save most buyers money. That's not the entire story, though.

A 2006 study by Intellichoice computed the cost savings for hybrids based on total cost of ownership for the vehicles. That means they included depreciation, financing costs, fuel, repairs, maintenance and fees. They noted several facts about hybrids:

They cost more than non-hybrids
They hold their value better over five years
They have higher insurance costs
They save gas

When they added it all up, they showed that hybrids do indeed have a lower total cost of ownership than non-hybrids. (The $2,000 federal Clean Fuel Vehicle Deduction is not around anymore, so that's not worth thinking about.)

So will a hybrid save you money? Or to ask another way, is it worth the extra cost? That's a definite maybe. If you're looking at savings at the gas pump alone, probably not. But you can likely justify the purchase of a hybrid car if you consider the total cost of ownership over five years. The choice is up to you. Now you know how to calculate the costs and savings with hybrid cars