Car Buying Tips, Techniques and Resources

Car Buying Tips Blog has tips, techniques and resources you'll need to quickly arrive at a decision that results in you finding the best car you've ever owned.

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Feb 14, 2007, Background Check Services

What to look for in a background check and a Background Check Services Company

Jan 28, 2007, Really Stupid Law Makers in Kansas City Try to Legislate a Law Against Stupidity...Huh!

Yes.  A really stupid move was afoot in the Kansas City halls of justice where a proposal to ban smoking in cars carrying children was floated on the back of a larger bill and was ultimately nixed.  Thank God.  Currently, the proposed law stops people from lighting up in restaurants, most bars and other public places.
 
The proposal to ban smoking in private vehicles lasted only a day as part of  this larger bill dealing with smoking in public places.  Kansas lawmakers removed language from the bill that would make it illegal to smoke in cars with children.

That decision was made by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Smart move!

I'm a smoker and I don't have a problem with that.  I'm respectful of others around me and their right to breath clean air, so if I want to smoke I'll go outside.

But sorry folks...this floated bill was just plain STUPID.

Don't these lawmakers have more important issues to contend with?  

Let's face it.  It's pretty dumb to drive in a car with children and smoke in their presence knowing what we know today about the effects of second-hand smoke.  But come on now!  What's next...legistation against people smoking in their own homes because non-smokers are present?  Smoking bans in public places are one thing, but now non-smokers are infringing on smokers private places too...no not down there silly!

It's a personal choice to smoke.  People around smokers who don't smoke don't have that choice.  I realize that and I respect it.  Maybe some folks still don't realize the effect second-hand smoke has on their children.  Maybe they don't take it seriously enough.  Or maybe their just plain STUPID!  

However you cut it...raising public awareness further is needed, not government involvement our private lives.  Let's face it, you can't legislate STUPID.

Dec 15, 2006, J.D. Power and Associates says that customer satisfaction with new vehicles purchased in 2006 up 5 points from 2005

JDP's 2006 Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study released in November showed that customer satisfaction with the new-vehicle sales process has reached a record high. On a 1,000-point scale the new car industry achieved an SSI score of 847, a 5-point increase from 2006.

The 2006 SSI Study was based on responses from 42,218 new-vehicle buyers who registered their vehicles in May of 2006.

Overall customer satisfaction was measured based on five factors: dealership facility, salesperson, paperwork/finance process, delivery process and vehicle price.

A leading cause cited for lost sales at new-vehicle dealerships was poor customer treatment, according to about 50% of all shoppers who walked away from a dealership.

Vehicle shoppers hit the new car dealerships better informed than ever before and ready to buy with more than one-half visiting only their selling dealer.

A major concern that customers had dealt with the time it took to purchase a new vehicle. On average, the entire purchase process takes approximately 3 hours. Vehicle selection typically takes the most time, averaging 47 minutes, followed by negotiating the deal (38 minutes) and paperwork/finance (32 minutes). One area impacting sales satisfaction is the time customers wait between negotiating the deal and beginning the paperwork and financing process, which currently averages 31 minutes.  It was determined that auto dealerships need to do a better job managing the buyer’s time productively by doing things like introducing the customer to the service department or acquainting them with the features of the new vehicle.

It was determined that nearly one-third of all new-vehicle sales occurred on either a Saturday or Sunday. However, satisfaction was consistently lower on the weekend compared to weekdays on every factor, primarily due to a longer process (more people = longer wait). It took an average of 22 minutes longer to purchase a car on a Saturday or Sunday verses a week day.

The study showed that Jaguar ranked highest in satisfying buyers with the new-vehicle sales process. With an SSI score of 912, Jaguar lead its closest competitor, Cadillac, by 21 points. Jaguar ranked highest for its third consecutive year.

Also, the purchase experience set the tone for the subsequent relationship with customers during the entire vehicle-ownership cycle, according to the study. While four of five new-vehicle buyers expressed a general interest in spending future service dollars at the selling dealer, less than one-half (45%) indicated that they definitely planed on doing so. It appears that when sales satisfaction declines, the intention to return also declines, which is what you would logically expect.

Dec 2, 2006, 50 Million Souls May Now Be In Reach Of Credit Bliss!

Listen up all you credit underserved (no...not undeserved...silly)!  Fair Isaac, those FICO score guys, recently completed a study for the credit industry, whereby, they proved that they could reliably and consistently predicts credit risk levels using non-traditional credit data.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking..."so what does this mean and what does it have to do with me?"

Right! Well...  

Maybe nothing if you've got a long established credit history, but this is really big for the younglings just starting out on their own, or immigrants for that matter.
 
Why?  Because now they won't have to get turned down for a Visa, MasterCard or major store credit card, or an auto loan, or a mortgage.  A lack of credit history to base their credit worthiness on may not be a barrier to those just starting out any longer.

What happened that's so unique is that the Fair Isaac Corporation, provider of analytics and decision management technology, announced that their FICO® Expansion™ credit risk score has proven in a major lending-industry study to be the first strong and reliable credit score for assessing the risk of millions of Americans who have little or no credit information on file at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The study also demonstrated that FICO Expansion score aligns with the company’s industry-standard Classic FICO score for quicker adoption by lenders and combined coverage of as many as 50 million more American consumers than can be addressed by any competing credit risk model.

Among the study’s participants were more than a dozen of the largest lenders from the credit card, auto finance and mortgage industries.

FICO Expansion score is designed to tap non-traditional sources of consumer data not found at the national credit reporting agencies in order to assess the credit risk of adults who have minimal or no credit history on file. By using FICO Expansion score for these consumers businesses can make more financial services available to more people who have traditionally missed out on opportunities simply because they lacked a credit history.

If you are within this target Group and looking to establish your credit, then contact your lender and ask if they've adopted the FICO Expansion score into their current credit evaluation mix. And if so, then apply away.

Nov 21, 2006, Make sure you know the repair history of the brand-new car you buy!

...That's right -- repair history; Believe me folks, it's not a misprint.

Did you know that the new car you brought or may be thinking of buying may have been damaged and repaired before you even bought it? And the dealership doesn't even have to let you know.

Yeah, it's true.

And if the damage is under a certain amount, which is defined by the State where you brought the car, the dealership can pass it off as brand new.

There was this fella in Ohio who brought a new car in Kentucky who said he found out about the damage to his new car, with only 34 miles on it, only after he had been driving it for a few months. He said he learned of it after trying to trade it in at another dealership when he decided he didn't like the car.

The dealer he took the car to wanted to know how bad the accident was that his car was in? The guy then contacted the dealership that sold him the car and asked what was up. They said it was a minor repair costing no more than $300. But later, a receipt was produced claiming to show the repair was nearly $800, including a new tire and fender. The owner got his own estimate from a body shop, and they said the damage would have been $1700 to repair.

As a result of all this, the value of his trade-in vehicle is considerably less than it should have been.

The lawyer this guy retained contended that the repairs really cost more than $1,000. If that's true, Kentucky state law would have been violated. Under the law, any repair costing more than $1,000 to fix must be disclosed to the buyer, who must sign paperwork acknowledging it.

In his native state of Ohio, the damage disclosure law states that nothing has to be disclosed if the repairs cost less than 6 percent of the new vehicle's purchase price.

So, one of the questions you should ask when buying a new vehicle is if it has ever been damaged or sold before. You may think that the question sounds funny or awkward to ask, but you need to ask because the dealership must then disclose it, or risk violating deceptive sales laws.

Nov 13, 2006, How to stop all those credit card and insurance offers coming to your mail box.

Are you tired of having to wade through a pile of credit card and insurance offers bulging out of your mail box to find the real mail that's meant for you?  Do you wonder how they even got your information in the first place to send you these annoying offers you don't want anyway?  Well, I'll tell you. 

You see, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you; they're called "Firm Offers". 

Hey, some people don't mind getting this stuff in the mail because it allows them to screen for better opportunities than they already have, and that's OK.  

And if you're not getting your fair share of mail offers, then you can "opt-in" by contacting the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies.  The FCRA also provides you the right to "opt-out", which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers from creditors and insurance companies.  All you have to do is notify the three major credit bureaus.