Auto Warranty Tips

It’s Time for the 21st Century Tune-up

One of the biggest changes in today’s automotive industry is the perception of a “tune-up.” Ask 10 vehicle owners their definition of a tune-up and chances are there’ll be 10 different answers. The classic “tune-up” was once the heart of the automotive business and contrary to some beliefs, today’s modern vehicles still need tune-ups to keep them performing at the most efficient levels.

Times are changing…cars are changing. One of the biggest changes in today’s automotive industry is the perception of a “tune-up.” Ask 10 vehicle owners their definition of a tune-up and chances are there’ll be 10 different answers. The classic “tune-up” was once the heart of the automotive business and contrary to some beliefs, today’s modern vehicles still need tune-ups to keep them performing at the most efficient levels.

The tune-up was historically associated with the routine replacement of key ignition system parts like spark plugs and ignition points, along with some basic adjustments to help “tune” the engine. Mounting pressure for increased fuel economy and lower emissions drove the car manufacturers to adopt electronics and to do away with ignition points in the ’70s, along with the carburetor in the middle ’80s. This eliminated the need for the replacement and adjustment of a growing number of ignition and fuel system parts.

As the pace of technology quickened, the procedures required to perform a traditional tune-up changed dramatically. Highly sophisticated ignition and fuel systems are now the norm, using one or more onboard computers to control critical engine and transmission management functions. Things that were once handled mechanically are now controlled electronically through the widespread use of onboard computer technology.

Because vehicles have changed so much over the years, the Car Care Council has introduced the 21st Century Tune-up. This program is designed to help re-define and educate motorists as to what a tune-up should consist of on today’s modern vehicles.

“There is a misconception that today’s modern vehicles don’t need tune-ups because they never break down, but that simply is not true,” said Rich White, executive director of the Car Care Council. “If you’re at work and your computer goes down, you can’t get any more work done. It’s the same with your vehicle. If the vehicle isn’t being properly maintained, you’re not going to get where you want to go.”

As part of the 21st Century Tune-up on today’s modern vehicles, the following systems should be inspected:

• battery, charging and starting
• engine mechanical
• powertrain control (including onboard diagnostic checks)
• fuel
• ignition
• emissions

Vehicle owners ask for tune-ups for a variety of reasons, including improving performance, maintaining reliability, planning a vacation, preparing for winter/summer or because they’re giving the car to a friend or family member.

To help ensure good performance, fuel economy and emissions, the Car Care Council also recommends that motorists take the time necessary to become familiar with their vehicle from every aspect. Study the owner’s manual to become thoroughly acquainted with the operation of all systems. Pay special attention to the indicator lights and instruments.

“The ‘Be Car Care Aware’ campaign is about helping motorists make informed decisions about their vehicles’ care and maintenance,” said White. “With the 21St Century Tune-up, we will continue to help vehicle owners make great strides in reducing vehicle neglect.”

A new brochure is available that familiarizes motorists with the opportunities for preventive maintenance in and around their vehicle. The brochure contains information about the “Be Car Care Aware” campaign, a full-size schematic of vehicle parts, components and maintenance recommendations. For more information, visit http://www.carcare.org/Industry/BCCA_brochure.shtml.

Warranty Feedback

Customer service is everything.  This has been drilled into my head since the day I started working. So with that being said, I want to know your (the customer) feedback. What do you think about warranties? Do you have any problems with the contract? Is it too pricey? How was the customer service? Were they nice? Did they treat you with respect? I want to know how you see and react to the warranty companies out there. Any and all feedback is welcome. Your opinion matters!

Car Interior Cleaning and Washing

It may not be seen from the outside but it is very important to keep your car interiors clean. Here are some basic tips on how to do it. It will save you money from bringing the car to a washing center.

Cars are rather expensive modes of transportation. We want to keep it clean to keep it always looking in good condition. We make sure it is waxed to keep it very shiny and looking like brand new all the time. We do not want to see scratches on the body, and we make sure it is handled carefully whenever we bring it to a repair or car center.

But this is just the exterior part of the car. Our cars may look beautiful outside but what about the inside? It is equally important that we keep the interiors clean. After all, we sit inside our cars for several hours a day as we drive to and from work. We sometimes let passengers ride with us also.

Keeping the exteriors clean may be for aesthetic reasons, but keeping the interiors clean is largely for health reasons. We want the air we breathe inside fresh and safe. We do not want any unpleasant odors throughout the ride. We do not want to catch bacterial or viral diseases brought about by dust or dirt.

Some car owners take their car into car wash and let them do all the interior and exterior cleaning but it cost them pretty much expensive than expected when doing it all by yourself.

Learn to clean your own car will save you a lot from paying for professional services. You could get useful tips from books or inquire in auto cleaning services to learn how to do it yourself. You will know the right strokes in cleaning the rims, tires, the seats, mats, dashboards and other parts of the car.

Cleaning your own car is a good exercise while you make sure you get rid of the pollutants that may affect you and your family. Here are some tips on cleaning the car interiors.

Vacuum the dirt that sticks to the floor mats and seat covers. Clear all trash and big items inside your car first before vacuuming.

Empty your ashtray, remove floor mats and seat covers, with the help of soft brush attached to the vacuum swipe the floor and the seats up to the dashboard and doors. Just be careful when vacuuming the leather seats because it is very easy to get scratched and damaged.

Spray cleaners evenly on the seats up to the door and dashboard upholstery, rub it evenly afterwards. Keep it dry with the use of dry cloth. Laundry detergent is also one alternative in case a spray cleaner is not available. Just mix it up with warm water. Do not soak the seat with too much water it cause stains and will cause a bad smell.

Some seat covers are made out of different materials and it require proper washing instruction, same way with carpets but don?t soak the carpets in water to avoid decay and mould smell. Dried them up with dryers of under the sun.

Clean the dashboard using wet cloth to gently remove stains and other sticky marks. Dry it with clean and soft cloth or towels. Afterwards spray a little plastic polish and spread it slightly with dry and soft cloth. Polish makes your dashboard shiny and it also protects the plastic cover.

Get rid out of foul smell coming from air conditioner. Check for clogs caused by dirt, a debris build-up, and leaves. Drain the tube. Clean the cowl cover and use antibacterial spray to prevent unpleasant scent.

Change oil regularly also. Otherwise it will also cause unpleasant smells to leak in the interiors. It smells bad especially with the air conditioner on. You could also put air fresheners for a more fragrant smell inside.

Many kinds of leading chemical, wax, polishes, and liquid paste help in cleaning and maintaining a good looking car. Some of these are Resin Glaze Wax, Metal Polish Cream, Liquid Glass Polish, Chrome Polish, Liquid Car Polish and the Cleaner Car Wax.

Other tools and cleaning accessories includes different sizes of brush, brooms, dust pans, flannel, drying cloths, rags, vacuum cleaner, dryer, bucket, car wash mop, squeegees, scrub sponge, wax applicator, car polishing and buffing bonnets.

Cover your car with canvas tarp or car cloth to protect it from heat and harsh weather whenever you park your car outside of your garage.

Oil Prices Today Can Affect Your Lifestyle

Priced in excess of $120 per barrel, oil prices today are about three times the amount from what they used to be four years ago. The result of an explosion in demand unsatisfied by adequate supplies, the surge in oil prices has hit consumers in many ways.

To understand how oil prices today can affect your lifestyle, it is important to examine the effects of increased oil prices on the lives of the average consumer.

The most immediate consequence of high oil prices would be a dramatic increase in fuel prices. Most fuel used in motor vehicles is derived from crude oil. Any increase in crude oil prices would therefore lead to increase in prices of fuel. In another words, you now have to pay more when you visit the gas station to top up fuel in your car as you would require more money to purchase the same amount of fuel. This would in turn increase your cost of transportation. The cost of commuting by car would therefore increase as a result, especially if you drive to work on a daily basis.

Moreover, an increase in oil prices would result in a general increase in inflation across the economy. It is important to note that oil is an important factor of production required to power up machinery. An increase in the price of oil would increase the cost of operating these machines which are important for production.Given such a situation, producers would have little choice but to pass on this increased costs to consumers by increasing the prices of goods and services provided, in order to maintain the same level of profitability as before. As such, for the same amount of money, consumers must now buy lower quantities of goods and services, thus increasing cost of living.

Moreover, the price of electricity would also increase in response to increased oil prices. In many countries, oil fired power stations are still very much prevalent. An increase in oil prices would mean that the cost of operating these power stations would increase substantially as these stations require oil as a fuel in the generation of electricity. This would often be passed on to the average consumer as higher electricity bills each month, which in turn would spell hardship for those living on the edge of poverty. This group of individuals would then not only need to cope with the rising cost of goods and services, but also more costly electricity bills.

It is clear that the high oil prices today do indeed have a multifaceted impact on our daily lives. While consumers who drive may be the worst hit, other groups of individuals are not spared as they have to contend with inflation and more costly electrical bills. Yet, while the average consumer has no control over the direction of oil prices, he would be able to generate savings by saving energy. One good example would be walking instead of driving when going to nearby places and turning off the lights after use. Such measures would thus enable the average consumer to cut down on his spending and save money.
Lewis Hopewell provides valuable advice at http://howtosavemoneyongasoline.com where you can learn to save on high fuel oil prices. Click Here to get his FREE gas saving eBook while it’s still available.

Buying a Car and Saving Money

Aside from their home, most Americans will spend more money on their car than on anything else they will buy. And yet, when it comes time to buy that car, most people spend far more time researching the engine, the stereo and the moon roof than they will the finances of the purchase. By failing to do a little homework on the finances, many people end up spending more money for their car, truck or van than they otherwise might.

A little bit of work ahead of time can help you save quite a bit of money on your car purchase. Here are some tips that might help:

Check your credit report – A few months before you decide to buy you should check your credit report for errors. Mistakes on your report could adversely affect your credit score, which will prevent you from obtaining financing at the lowest possible interest rate. While you are checking your credit report, check your credit score, too. That way you can avoid an occasional scam where the salesman tries to trick you into paying a higher rate by falsely claiming that your credit score is too low. You can’t fall for that one if you know your score.

Arrange your financing in advance – While you can sometimes get competitive financing from the dealer, you may do better at your bank, credit union, or online lender. Check with those sources ahead of time to find the best possible deal.

Watch for factory incentives – Sometimes, the manufacturer will offer inexpensive financing. In the past, such deals have gone as low as 0%. If such a deal is available, no bank or credit union will be able to match it, so keep an eye out for such incentives. Cash back bonuses are often available from the manufacturer, too, and those can be applied to your down payment.

Check the pricing – A number of Websites, such as Edmunds.com, offer information on pricing. With that information, you can negotiate the best possible deal.

Ponder the extras – Undercoat? Extended warranty? These are things you may wish to consider before the salesman asks you if you want to buy them. Whether you do or not is your own choice, but you don’t want to get caught with the extra expenses if these are things you do not need.

Buying a car need not be a complicated procedure, but it works best if you know ahead of time how you intend to go about it. The better your preparation, the less harrowing your experience of buying a new car will be.

Car Buying Scams

Purchasing a new automobile is hard enough without having to deal with the sales pressure from a car salesman. It’s no big secret that almost every car dealership can be talked down on the initial price they want for a car. The key is to know what scams to watch out for in order to maximize your hard earned dollar. This article details a few sales tactics that you may want to be on the lookout for the next time you purchase a new automobile.

The first money wasting scam deals with etching the vehicle’s VIN# on the window. In some cases a dealership will try to make you pay for this added feature. Please don’t fall for this trick. No lender will require you to pay for any extra options that you don’t require. To be honest all they really care about is whether or not your payments are on time.

Be on the look out for the phrase “subject to loan approval”. Almost every car loan will have this phrase in it and trust me when I say that some dealerships will try and exploit you out of more money using this phrase as the reason why. This scam is usually pulled on consumers that may have bad credit so if your credit score is good you shouldn’t have to worry about being taken advantage of by the dealership. The bad news is for those that are taken advantage of it usually means upwards of $1000 more in finance fees and an additional $50 a month added to your car payment. One way to avoid this scam is to finance the car through your own bank or credit union.

The most abused scam is the credit score scam. This is where the car dealership tells you that your credit score is lower then what it actually is in order to charge you a higher finance rate on your car loan. No one is immune to this scam because the dealership doesn’t care if you have good or bad credit when they attempt to con you. The best way to deal with this greediness is to bring a copy of your credit score with you when you go looking to buy a new car. That way there is no confusion as to what your credit score truly is.

Another favorite scam is the forced warranty scam where the auto dealership will insist that in order to qualify for the car loan you will need to purchase a $2000 2 or 3 year warranty. The bottom line upfront is that it’s hogwash and you don’t need the warranty.

Here’s a good scam that I’m sure you’ve seen often. It’s called the dealer prep scam. Yes that’s right I’m talking about that extra $500 that seems to appear on your contract to compensate the dealer for basically doing nothing since the car arrives in the dealership ready to be driven off the car lot to a prospective buyer. Try an avoid paying this if you can otherwise find a dealer that will knock this ridiculous charge off of the contract.

The dealer markup fee is another phony fee that is made up just to pad the car dealership’s profit margin. This is an unnecessary fee that the dealer charges for no reason other than greed. This fee can be seen on the orange sticker marked on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).
These are just a few of the many scams that can surface from time to time when you are attempting to buy a new car. Although these practices to go on there are many trustworthy car dealerships that can and will sale you a car for the right amount of money allowing you to purchase the car without getting ripped off and still allow the dealership the opportunity to make the compensation they deserve for their efforts. The trick is to find that dealership. Best of luck to you.

by Tim Gorman

Tim is the webmaster of Best-Free-Insurance-Quotes.com. He offers discount auto, life and home insurance and Military-Loans-Online.com – Which provides free money saving loan quotes on all of your loan needs to include home equity loan information.