Did You Say Import?

Aug 13 2010

We would all like to save money when it comes to purchasing an automobile, right? Good, now that we have that understood let’s get to the heart of this article…saving money.
The good ole days when Detroit belched out as many V-8 muscle cars as humanly possible, young roadsters spent their parents hard-earned cash on the Camaro, Trans-Am, and Firebird in order to rule the streets. Unfortunately, those days have long since vanished. Not that muscle cars are not available, because they are, but the notion of owning a vehicle that one can watch the gas-hand move as you drive, is almost scary. Enter the imports.
Notwithstanding, import automobiles have made a huge impression upon millions of drivers in the U.S. and around the world, and with gasoline prices expected to top $5 a gallon, owning a gas-saving import makes more sense each trip to the pump, wouldn’t you agree?

Belonging to the demographic preferring imported autos such as Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, which by the way is the approximate age group of 30-55 respectively. The expense of petroleum alone is enough incentive to say goodbye to the V-8 engine, but then again, if you have the money to invest in such luxuries, be my guest. Just don’t come crying to the Toyota owner when your gas-hog ends up sitting in the driveway while you invest in a bicycle.
Another money saving aspect of the import vs. the domestic is the cost of repair and parts. Even thought most American built autos are comprised of some import parts, they mark the replacement parts up at such an exorbitant amount, most do-it-yourself mechanics invest in less expensive to maintain vehicles like the import. True, if your import is a Ferrari or Lamborghini, just to pull into the service bay is enough to buy a Toyota, well, almost.

This last bit of information will be slated for the savings realized when purchasing an import automobile; Toyota has several manufacturing plants in the U.S., so, when you purchase one of these babies you’re supporting American-made autos. Go figure. Nothing like the feel, of American steel.

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Save Money on Maintaining Your Car

Aug 07 2010

Unfortunately, cars can cost quite a bit of money in the long term when it comes to maintenance. Cars require lots of time, effort, and cash to be fed into them to keep them running well. They need oil to be changed, tires to be replaced, interiors and exterior to be cleaned, coolant to be filled, and a bunch of other little odds and ends that need to be done. Over time, these little expenses can add up. In this economy, sometimes every little dollar saved can mean quite alot. Maintaining your car so that it runs well and long doesn’t have to be as expensive as most think.

One easy way to save on maintenance is to do everything yourself. Changing your own oil is honestly not too hard, and if you don’t know it is plenty easy to google it and figure it out. Buying a whole container of oil will last you a while and will be cheaper over than paying someone else to do it for you. Plus, it is less of a hassle and saves you some time as well. Other things like coolant can be done by yourself as well, as well as checking and filling your tires with air. Cleaning out your car can be done either at home with your own supplies, or at various cas stations and do-it-yourself car wash stations for cheap. Often the do-it-yourself places cost less than $4 overall to use their super vacuum and to wash your own car. Every dollar saved is a dollar earned! So don’t waste money, effort, and precious time having someone else keep up with your car when you can.

Have friends help and lend a hand. If you really don’t have time to do some of those things yourself, or you don’t know how and would feel more comfortable having someone else do, then ask a friend or neighbor! Many of us know people that can do a simple oil change or help you clean out your car. Most are probably more than willing as well, and its a great chance to get to be with your friend and get to know them better! Maybe you could even go out to lunch or coffee after as a cheap form of compensation for them.
Whatever way you choose, there are many options and ways to get out of paying ridiculously high rates for maintaining a car, so don’t fall for the expensive stuff!

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Saving Money With Car Insurance

Jul 26 2010

Now you could think that your car insurance plan that you have is perfect, but you could find that it is costing you more money than what you thought. That is the time that you may want to know about how you can start to save money on your car insurance. A couple of the ways that you can do this is by shopping on the Internet, talking to the local agent, and avoiding the national companies that are present.

With the Internet, you could find that some of the sites will allow you to input your information and they will compare multiple companies at one time. That is one of the great benefits of shopping for cheap car insurance quotes online before committing to any single company. Then you will also notice that you could start to put in your coverage limits to determine which of the companies will be offering you the best deal possible. Without knowing about this, you could think that the first quote that you see is the best one available.

Local agents will commonly be a great option to talk to. When you talk to them, you will find that they are going to be more understanding of your needs. Then you may find that they will be able to help you in getting the proper plan to help you meet your needs. However, you need to recall that they will be taking a percentage of the bill that you are paying as their paycheck. So the amount that you are paying could be slightly higher than going to the company directly.

National companies that have huge marketing campaigns could easily be some of the highest ones that you can find in terms of payment. The reason for this is those marketing campaigns are not cheap, but rather than absorb the cost of this they will typically pass that cost on to the people they insure. Then you will notice that the commercials will keep coming, but by avoiding these companies you can save quite a bit of money.

Being able to find savings on your bills is always a great thing for many people. The problem that you may run into is not knowing that one of the bills that they could be overpaying for is the car insurance bill. That is when they should know that by shopping on the Internet, talking to the local agents that are present, and avoiding the national companies, it will be easy to experience the savings that you want to have on this bill.

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Do It Yourself Hints on How To Save Money On Your Car

Jul 04 2010

One way to save money on your car is to do as much cleaning and maintenance on your own as possible.

Even though the convenience of going to the car wash is very attractive, doing it on your own can save hundreds of dollars in just one year. In what a person spends in one visit to a car wash, they can buy everything they need in car washing supplies that will last a year.

You will need basic supplies. A good car wash soap, a large sponge, towels, paper towels, a good chammy, window cleaner, vinyl/dash board conditioner, and aerosol tire conditioner. It may seem like a long list and seem expensive at first, but while pay for itself in a short time. And in the long run, save a lot of money.

Make sure you give yourself enough time, at least an hour to do a good job. And try to find a nice spot in a shaded area.

Rinse first, start at the top and work your way down. Be sure to rinse very well to get any sand off, so as not to scratch the surface when washing. Next step is to follow the mixing directions on the car wash bottle. It is very important to only use soap made exclusively for washing cars. Any other soaps could leave a residue, and even possibly ruin the finish on your cars paint.

After washing your car, rinse well. And if necessary rinse again. Try to start drying while it is still wet with your towels. Then go over it with a damp chammy.

After the body is finished, it is time to do the windows inside and out. It is best to start with the outside first, because it easier to see places that you have missed while cleaning the inside.

Next, clean the interior with a good vinyl/dash cleaner. It is best to spray it on the cloth first and then apply. Otherwise you may spray on the widows and other surfaces that will require additional cleaning. For small dirty areas, use cotton swabs to get into hard to reach crevices.

Now that you are almost finished, vacuum the seats and carpet. It you like, sprinkle some carpet freshener first.

Finish up on the tires, with a quick spray of tire conditioner. Now, stand back and admire your work. And though it is a bit of work, it is work you can be proud of, while saving you money.

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Carpool to save money

Jun 21 2010

One of these toughest things about our current economy is how expensive it is to keep a car on the roads these days. Between the rising gas prices, the constant oil changes on an already tight budget or the basic wear and tear that seems to always hit at the wrong time.

This article will help you learn ways to lower the cost of all these problems many of us face today. It will teach you the right steps and guide you through the actual process. You’re only job is to incorporated this into your daily lives.

Lets start with the ever present rising gas prices! If you’re anything like me, these prices are getting out of control! I can barely make is three days on what I use to make it all week on. It has really affected my families budget and I found ways to help. The first is I started carpooling with people. This automatically did two things for my budget.

The first thing it did was to lower my monthly gas prices. Instead of paying to fill my car every three days, I went to paying a portion of a tank with other people every three days. This increased my budget a good bit right there. The other thing that carpooling will do to help you save money is sharing the wear and tear of a car. With carpooling, you are not always driving your car, so the mechanics of your car should last longer in the overall life. This is a great way to save money when owning a car.

Another great way to lower the price of gas is to get it at whole store prices. Places like BJ’s and Sam’s offer price at a discounted price which can help a lot! Grocery store chains usually offer some type of promotion where you can get gas a few cents cheaper if purchased at their pumps using their store cards.

Saving yourself on oil changes and tun ups can be a big help as well. If you or your husband know what you are doing, you can do them yourself at home for a fraction of the cost that you would pay someone to do it. And doing it at home, you are more likely to do it on a regular basis, ensuring your car’s life a little bit longer.

I hope this helped you save money on your car.

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As Opposed To A Bicycle

Jun 11 2010

Well, to begin with, an automobile saves a ton of money for those unfortunate tube repair kits, you know, the ones they sell at the hardware store. Another change saver would be the costly replacement of that suede jacket that was ruined on that rainy Saturday afternoon while peddling to Wal-Mart. Did you actually think $19.99 was a bargain on those Chia-Pets?

The primo example of car ownership is the ability to go really fast. I mean really. True, the high speed availability on an 18-speed mountain bike is quite impressive, although my ride could take you from the jump. All of the hype concerning 18-speeds is a bit much don’t you think? Besides, can it go uphill really, really fast? I didn’t think so.
Another great money saving advantage of owning a car would be the end of those wedgies caused by that very uncomfortable seat, don’t you agree? I mean really, after cruising for a couple of miles one would have to stop in order to remove such baggage, right?

Of course, money isn’t everything, but saving what you do have is ultra-important. That is why one should invest in an auto, and say goodbye to the two-wheeled transportation. I mean, after age 60 or so, it will be almost impossible to peddle at a constant rate, don’t you think? Now, I’m not being discriminatory with that remark, it’s just a logical conclusion since my age category is pushing it a bit as well.

The last tid-bit of money saving suggestions will be spent on the overall cost effectiveness of the automobile, versus the bicycle. Bikes haven’t a back-seat, need I say more. Bikes do not offer a superb sound system by which to impress your friends and that good looking chick pulled alongside you at the red-light. An automobile on the other hand has both a back-seat, and the butt-kicking audio system to lure said female into a more relaxing atmosphere. By the way, bicycles offer little in the way of safety, like when an opposing cyclist slams into your front tire, there is little availed for protection. End of story, get a car.

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Saving Money Through Proper Maintenance

May 25 2010

There are many things you can do to save money once you have paid off a cars loan, or purchased your car at the end of a lease. There are also some myths. Let’s focus on some of the easiest ways to save money.

Probably the number one thing to consider when thinking about saving money once your vehicle is in your name is maintenance of the engine. Simple things such as changing your oil every three thousand miles is important to longevity of your motor.

There are service intervals listed in your owners manual that are important to follow. These are easy to let lapse but are critical to saving you money. Tune-ups are another area that are sometimes overlooked, but can save you money in the long run. Fuel is extremely costly these days, and scheduled tune-ups help by keeping your engine in efficient running condition. On some vehicles part of a tune-up, or even a full tune-up, is possible at home, depending on how comfortable you are using tools. Fouled spark plugs are a leading cause of poor fuel mileage. Bad plugs are inefficient at burning fuel which means unburned fuel escapes the engine and is hard on the supporting systems. This is only one example, other areas to inspect are the spark plug wires, distributor cap, fuel filter, fuel cap, and air cleaner. There are other areas to inspect depending on how your vehicle is equipped, the internet is a good resource for information on your specific vehicles needs.

Maybe the simplest thing you can do to save yourself some money over the life of a car is to monitor the vehicles tire condition. Studies have shown that the majority of tires on the road have low tire pressure. There are two things to keep in mind when maintaining tire pressure. First, make sure you have a quality gauge. There have been many tests showing the inaccuracy of the gauges found at gas stations. Don’t trust them. Buy a decent gauge, generally you get what you pay for. Second, inflate your tires to the pressure printed on the label on the door jamb of the drivers door. The pressure listed on the tire may not match up with the needs of your vehicle, be sure not to over-inflate the tires however as this can create a hazardous condition.

Follow these steps and save a few bucks!

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