World Wide Automotive

The Key To Saving On New Cars

(NAPSI)-Auto customers have helped drive down new car, truck and SUV prices over the past year. Many car manufacturers now offer models for significantly less than they did just one year ago. However, prices aren't all that have changed. Available and standard features have changed as well.

As a result, with a little research, savvy car buyers can now get much more bang for their buck. For instance, Saturn recently announced that it will lower sticker prices or add features to every vehicle in its 2006 lineup.

Analysts say the 2006 Vue presents a particularly attractive value-combining a lower price with enhancements to its interior and exterior design. The Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of a popularly-equipped 2006 Vue (front-wheel drive, automatic, four-cylinder) has been reduced to $19,345, more than $1,800 less than the 2005 model.

Vue V6 models, which feature a 250-horsepower engine and best-in-class (compact V6 SUVs) 28 miles per gallon EPA highway fuel economy, also have a reduced price. The VUE V6 model starts with a base MSRP of $21,990, down over $1,200 from last year.

All Vues feature a new front-end design and a restyled interior, with new accents on the dash, a new center console and a more premium appearance. Saturn has also made the Vue's power package standard, including power windows, door locks and side-view mirrors; remote keyless entry; cruise control; automatic headlights; map lights and an auto-dimming mirror with compass and outside temperature gauge.

Pricing levels for the Saturn Ion have also been restructured. For example, the MSRP for a popularly-equipped Ion 2 sedan (with optional air-conditioning and automatic transmission) has been reduced by nearly $1,500 to $14,350. Similarly, the price of the 205-horsepower Ion Red Line has been reduced to $19,990, down nearly $1,500 from 2005.

All 2006 Vue and Ion models feature all-new radios with an auxiliary input jack that allows for plug and play connectivity with devices such as an iPod.

The MSRP for the seven-passenger Relay 2 sport van has been reduced by about $900 to $23,590.

In addition, all Saturn vehicles feature the OnStar safety and security system as standard equipment, along with one-year of free Safe & Sound service.

Saturn also has announced plans to introduce three new vehicles next year: the Sky roadster, Aura midsize sedan and the Outlook midsize crossover utility vehicle.

For more information, visit www.saturn.com.

Many car manufacturers have lowered prices and increased standard features on 2006 models.

Our neighbor Jose doesn't speak much English, which makes it tough to live here in northern Michigan. Despite that, he made a profit of over $30,000 last year selling cars out of his front yard. It's true that he's a mechanic, and that helps, but it isn't the key to his success.

The Key To Buying And Selling Cars

To make money selling cars you have to know the value of cars. Knowing which cars people most want might help too, but any car will sell for some price, and you need to know that price. Drive around looking at cars for sale, or cars just sitting idle in people's yards. When you can easily look at a car and guess how much it will sell for, the rest is easy - just offer $1000 less. You'll eventually buy a car, and sell it for a profit. Then you can and repeat the process.

To start learning about the used car market, you can watch the classified ads, keeping in mind that the asking prices are not the sales prices. Take notes. Used car pricing guides, such as the "bluebook," generally show inflated retail prices. Use them, but assume you'll sell the car for the "loan value", or average wholesale price. In any case they are good to show to your prospective buyers.

If You Know Nothing About Cars

What if, like myself, you know nothing about buying and selling cars and don't want to learn? Find a friend who knows cars and wants to make money. For example, I gave my brother $950 to buy an old truck because he said it was worth more than twice that. Sure enough, he sold it in a week and returned my money, plus half of the $900 profit.

I gave another friend $3200 to buy an old plastic-bodied car. He paid $2200 for it, and put a transmission in it, along with other minor repairs. I didn't know what a Corvette was, why anyone would want a car from 1976, or where to go to get a transmission put in for $800. Fortunately, my friend did.

Less than two weeks later he sold the car for $4200 and returned my money plus my half of the profit: $500. I've done this a number of times now with friends who know more about cars than I do. Are you cash poor? A short term cash advance on a credit card would have cost me about $50, still leaving a profit of $450.

Here in Michigan, the law says you need a dealer's license if you sell more than six cars in a year. You could have six titled in your name, six in your friend's name, and six in your wife's name. That gives you a good chance to see if you like the business enough to get a car dealers license. Check the relevant laws in your state.

The key to buying and selling cars for profit is knowledge - but you can get that from a friend.

Steve Gillman has been studying every aspect of money for thirty years. You can find more interesting and useful information on his website; http://www.UnusualWaysToMakeMoney.com

eBay cars and vehiclesare among the top sellers on this enormously popular auction site. In fact, eBay claims that they sell more cars online than anyone - and more than many dealers. To make it easier for eager buyers to purchase cars, eBay offers many services like 'Live Chat' help for listing and buying vehicles between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 PM MST, Monday through Friday.

There are car dealers whose business is primarily on eBay, like the seller of the Lexus below who states, "We are a licensed and bonded auto dealer in Florida, specializing in top quality pre-owned vehicles. We sell 90% of our cars and trucks on eBay, and our low overhead allows us to pass the savings on to you!"

The lure of savings, is of course, what brings buyers in droves to eBay. And it is a great boon to car sellers who don't have to spend large sums of money on salesmen or physical facilities.

We all know that money draws people in droves, including the less than scrupulous, which prompted the dealer to offer all his sales as private auctions: "We have started running our auctions as Private Auctions as many dealers have on eBay. Unfortunately dealers have been trying to skip the eBay fees and are emailing our bidders to the point of "harassment" trying to sell them other cars. The only way we can stop this is to run private auctions where they cannot see the identity of people bidding on our cars." In a private auction, only the seller can see the names and amounts of the bidders, thus preventing unscrupulous outsiders from making contact with bidders and luring them away.

This is truly an interesting business model for eBay sellers. One of my students got his dealer's license and bought cars at local auctions here in Atlanta which he and his wife then resold - very profitably - on eBay. Anything the seller can do to reassure buyers about quality will increase car sales, as the Lexus seller knows well. " I take the additional step, that you will see very few dealers do, of having an oil analysis done through a company here called MOTORCHECK on the engine, which will show up any unusual wear, and tell me the condition of the internal parts of the engine, including bearing wear, piston wear, cylinder wear, ring wear and tests for coolant leaks which could be caused by blown head gaskets, cracked heads etc."

eBay cars are great sellers, and anyone considering them as an eBay 'career' will do well, providing (s)he is able to offer high quality cars and below-showroom dealer prices.

Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay and has been selling on eBay since the winter of 1996. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour multi media seminar on the Internet that teaches her students how to sell on ebay.

Sydney Johnston may be contacted at http://auction-genius-course.com or genius@cyberws.com

Nothing (well, almost nothing) can compare to the thrill of driving a road-hugging high performance sports car. Instant steering response. Power at the exact nanosecond you ask for it.

Then, if you have one of the sexier models, you’ll attract attention on the road, filling up, and in the shopping mall parking lot.

Yes, you can pretend you’re driving the Autobahn with the wind blowing your hair. But beware of state troopers just waiting for an “arrest me red” entry on their ticket issuing track record.

Before You Fall In Love . . .

Before you step into that showroom and fall in love, consider the following practicalities:

1) How much do you want to spend? $20,000? $30,000? Or more?

2) What’s the tradeoff between performance (power) and gas mileage? Higher performance usually equals less gas mileage.

Does the vehicle use premium gas? Right now, the difference between premium and regular is 20 cents per gallon. At 20 miles per gallon and 15,000 miles per year, the cost differential is $150.

3) What about reliability? Some upscale models cost considerably more to maintain and have a higher incidence of repair costs. Would you appreciate paying $125 just to diagnose the problem when the check engine light comes on? Or paying $70 for an oil change?

4) In a climate where snow and ice are winter realities, do you want to drive it year round? Or store it over the winter?

A rear wheel drive sports car is impractical for winter driving. A front, all-wheel, or 4-wheel drive sport car can be driven in snow and ice, if you use all-season tires. If the little devil comes with performance tires, you will want to buy all-season tires (and possibly rims) for winter driving. Add another $1500 to the price of the car for the right tires and rims.

Do Your Homework . . .

5) Once you’ve decided price, performance, gas mileage, reliability, and practicality for all-season driving, get on the Internet. Here you can compare models and pricing and read reviews. Google “buying a new car” or “new car prices” and several sites will pop up.

Another source is Consumer Report (the new car issue) where your criteria will be easy to find. Red dots are good. Black dots are not. Most American car dealers consider this issue of Consumer Report a nightmare because it favors foreign car models, especially Asian cars. However, as explained in the newest version of this report, American car manufacturers are catching up.

6) Find out what you should pay before stepping into a showroom. Dealers will offer below invoice prices even on some sports cars because of rebates, dealer incentives, and dealer returns when they make a sale.

7) Remember the incidentals. Yes, you have to pay to transport the vehicle from the manufacturer. Yes, you have to pay for options. And remember the sales (and sometimes luxury) tax.

The Driving Experience . . .

8) Unless you have driven the exact model and year you want to purchase, step into the showroom and test drive the car. Driving the previous year’s model is unacceptable. If the dealer lures you into his web and asks you to test drive an earlier model, RUN out of the show room. You’re wasting your time.

9) Pick at least 2 different road types for test driving. The winding, hilly road is one road type. Road hugging capabilities are tested here. If the car is standard, smooth-shifting is another test. A car that cuts back after you release the clutch is NOT smooth shifting.

The highway is another road type. Make sure power is sufficient to handle entrance ramps and merging with traffic. If you get an instant response at highway speeds, the car is a possible winner.

Closing the Deal . . .

10) If you like the car, get the dealer’s best quote. Then, find at least one other dealer to give you another quote ON THE SAME CAR. If you don’t like the car in the test drive, you probably won’t like the car – ever. Move on to the next model.

11) When you decide on a car, call your insurance company and find out what the vehicle will cost per year. And don’t choke on your coffee when you hear the amount – you can shop around.

12) Estimate how much the real estate taxes will be on the car, especially if it’s a high-priced model. This could be another financial shocker!

As you can see, sports car buying is a process. Do you need to do all this stuff? Nope, you don’t. But consider the financial sticker shock when you’re paying an extraordinary amount for maintenance, repairs, gas, insurance, and taxes! Just for that Autobahnesque experience!

Solid, proven copy is your key to sales and marketing sucess!

Valerie Mills is your expert sales copywriter/designer for web sites, sales letters, email, articles, ghostwriting and brochures. Specialties are health/fitness and finance.

See http://v.mills.home.att.net and http://www.wordbrains.com for writing style samples and services you can use today to boost your sales.

Also refer to http://teachyourkidsaboutmoney.com to sample the parents' ebook guide to teach kids about money.

Valerie Mills may be contacted at http://v.mills.home.att.net or vmills@comcast.net