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October 5, 2009

Who’s the next Toyota… Is it Hyundai?

Filed under: Car Buying Help, Industry Information — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 8:37 pm
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In the auto business everyone’s trying to be the next Toyota.  The next car brand the surges to the top and appears to completely bullet-proof.  Well, the next Toyota might end up being Hyundai.  For the last 3 months Hyundai sales have bucked the auto industry trend of decreasing sales.  Something the big guys like Honda and Toyota could not do.  The only question left for Hyundai to answer is can they keep this up?  Well their product is not just affordable, but very well made and that’s the real key.  No they just need to continue increasing sales and they will be on their way to becoming a force in the auto industry.

October 2, 2009

October is looking like a different kind of month

Filed under: Car Buying Help, Dealerships — Tags: , , , — admin @ 7:41 pm
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Car dealers are coming off a very soft month for sales (October 2009) so buying a car early in the month should provide you with better than normal negotiating opportunities.  Your local car dealer is DESPERATE to sell cars!  Go in with my car buying program (available at www.autoinsidertips.om) and you’ll have the salesperson eating out of your hand!

September 29, 2009

An Ebay car scam

Filed under: Car Buying Help — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 4:13 pm
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Please be very careful of a car scam that involves used cars and Ebay.  The set-up is you find a car that’s a great deal and when you contact the owner he tells you he will sell it to you through Ebay Motors.  Then you find out that the vehicle is no longer listed on Ebay so they tell you that you can not purchase it there.  At the same time the seller sends you an invoice via email and tells you to make payment via a money gram to an agent that has been assigned to you.  This is a scam and you need to run, not walk away from this!

September 28, 2009

Slim pickings right now

Filed under: Car Buying Help — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 3:36 pm
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If you are shopping for a new car now do not be surprised if you find picking pretty slim at your local car dealerships.  The combination of Cash for Clunkers and the factory shutdowns of last spring/summer has left car dealers with very little inventory.  Now car dealers are faced with a conundrum: do they sell a car at any price because of the severe lack of customers or do they try and hold some profit because they only have a few cars on their lots? 

It’s a hard problem.  If you are shopping for a car now and you are not too concerned about things like the car’s color, sound system or other available options you can get a tremendous deal now because some dealers will wheel and deal to move a car because they need to generate cash flow.  So shop smart and you’ll save big!

September 25, 2009

Ally Bank is giving money away, be sure to get your share

Filed under: Car Buying Help, Dealerships, Industry Information — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 4:20 pm
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Ally Bank is a financial institution created from the old GMAC.  They are an internet based bank that has been trying to gain market-share by offering better interest rates than the competition.  Now, starting October 1, 2009 they will be making a strong push to get car dealers to finance their customers through their bank.

So, based on their business principle you should assume nothing but the best rate possible from an Ally loan.  This is where you need to be careful; Ally is giving big incentives to dealers.  Dealers will want to put that money in their pocket.  If your dealer tells you that Ally will be your lending institution ask what the rates are from other banks.  Do not be surprised if their response is, “another bank has the same rate as Ally…” but you get a silly reason to do business with Ally like, “but Ally is better to work with.”  That’s nonsense.  At this point you should pressure the dealership to give you a better rate.  Tell them you are aware of Ally Banks incentives and as the one who’s going to be making the payments, you feel you should share in their incentives.  Mention that you can take your lending out of their dealership completely and that you understand that this will cost them money.  Be strong here and save money.

September 23, 2009

GM’s Money-back Guarantee Has Customers Weary

Filed under: Car Buying Help — Tags: , — admin @ 4:03 pm
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At first glance the 60-day money-back guarantee program GM is offering looks great.  But some consumers are concerned that if they attempt to return their car they will not get back 100% of their trade-in amount, their sales tax and when you read the fine print it mentions if there is more than $200 of damage done to the car you can not return it.  And it doesn’t take much of a collision to do $200 worth of damage; we are talking another car door or a shopping cart.  So I do not suggest using this program to drive the GM car of your dreams for free for 60 days.

September 22, 2009

Cash for clunkers will have a big hangover

Filed under: Car Buying Help — Tags: , — admin @ 5:33 pm
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Many car dealers are starting to get the cash for clunkers hangover.  You see, during cash for clunkers car dealers were fat, drunk and happy – full of sales.  The program was great at creating new car sales demand; the only problem with that program (and others like it) is the demand comes at the price of future sales.  There is a finite number of customers out there and when a program creates an increase in immediate sales it is at the expense of future sales.  

So if you are shopping now or in the near future you may find dealers with a limited amount of inventory, but they will be anxious to give you a great deal because they are becoming desperate for sales again.

September 18, 2009

Soon you will be able to lease a Chrysler again

Filed under: Car Buying Help — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:47 pm
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Chrysler recently announced that their dealers will soon be able to offer customers the option to lease their vehicles again.  This is obviously good news for the company and its dealers, but I wonder what type of residual will some of these cars have?  The residual is best explained this way: if you lease a car for 3 years the residual determines what percentage of the car you will pay for during those 3 years. 

The higher the residual, the less you pay for your car.  For example if the residual is 59% you lease 41 % of the car, if the residual is 58% you pay for 42% of the car.  Companies like Toyota and Honda lease with very high residuals.  Before they terminated leasing, Chrysler’s residuals were VERY low.  So if you are considering leasing a Chrysler, check the residual!

September 16, 2009

Toyota’s going a different way, should they be followed?

Filed under: Industry Information — Tags: , — admin @ 4:38 pm
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Electric cars are getting a ton of buzz right now, I think people are more environmentally conscious now than any other time and that’s all good.  Hybrid and electric cars are on the menu for virtually every manufacturer including GM, Ford, Renault, BMW and VW.  And Toyota of course has the Prius.  But what’s really interesting is Toyota’s direction for the future; they are developing a hydrogen powered car. 

 Hydrogen has some real appeal.  It burns virtually emission-free and it is available in North America in such abundance that it costs next to nothing (33 cents a gallon for example).  Could Toyota be looking at this possible scenario in the next couple of years, a market with several different hybrid and electric cars for sale along with a strong green demand?  But, the electric cars come with a big price (estimates say an electric car will carry a $15,000 premium).  For example, the Chevy Volt is expected to have a price tag of $40,000 and its competition (similar gas-powered cars) will be priced at $25,000. 

 Now if at the same time Toyota steps in with hydrogen powered car in the $25,000 price range my question is who would want to buy a Volt?  Toyota’s car will be just as green if not more so than the Volt, cost about $5.00 to fill up and have a price tag $15,000 less.  So is this another situation when everyone will look back and say Toyota out-smarted everyone?

September 15, 2009

Has the time come for an electric car, ask Jay Leno?

Filed under: Industry Information — admin @ 3:40 pm
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It seems like the idea of an electric car is very 21st century.  But what most people do not know is that electric cars have been for sale for over 100 years (1909 Baker Electric).  The electric car is nothing new, but it may now finally be moving into the spotlight.  As you probably know, Jay Leno has a ground-breaking new television show that debuted last night.  What you might not know is that on the new Jay Leno show there are plans to have a reoccurring segment that features an electric car. 

 The plan is to have a segment, Green Car Challenge, 2 or 3 times a week featuring a celebrity driving an electric Ford Focus.  This could be tremendous advertising and PR for an electric car!  Imagine if the Leno show is successful and a couple of times a week America gets the chance to see different celebrities drive an electric car that is fast and fun, it could completely change millions of people’s opinion of an electric car.  Could Jay Leno be the man that finally brings the electric car to mainstream America?  Time will tell.

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