Used Car Prices - Tips To Follow

Writen by Verapol Chaiyapin

When it comes to the price of used cars, it can sometimes be difficult to determine what it should be. After all, there are so many variables that go into figuring out the worth of a used car. Not only do you have to take into consideration what kind of car it is, but you also need to remember that the number of miles as well as the condition of the vehicle are very important as well.

Follow the three tips below so that you have no trouble determining if you are getting a good price on the used car that you are considering.

1. When looking at a used car to buy, consult the Kelly Blue Book to see what the going price is. This way you will be able to at least get an idea of what to expect. This is not the end all, but it can at least give you an idea of your situation.

2. The condition of the car means a lot when it comes to the price. Obviously, if you are going to buy a used car that is a little bit worn, you will not have to pay as much.

3. Just like new car prices, used car prices are negotiable. You should never let the car salesman tell you that there is no room to move on the price. If you do not think that you are getting a fair deal, and that you can do better elsewhere, you should do so by all means. There is no reason to purchase a used car for more money than it is worth; regardless of what the dealership is telling you.

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Car Repair Prices: Why Your Oil Change is Never "Just an Oil Change"

Writen by Theodore Olson

For a repair shop, there is little profit in the $29.95 oil change. By the time a shop pays its technician, pays for the oil, the filter, and the hazardous waste disposal fees, there’s no money left. This low profit margin is worsened by the extremely competitive “Quick Lube” business, which forces local repair shops to refrain from raising prices, despite rising costs.

This all begs the question: If oil change specials, which range from $15.95 to $29.95, clearly produce very low profits, then why do so many service facilities advertise oil change specials?

The answer is actually very simple: It gets you in the door. Service centers know that once they have your vehicle, they can sell you additional work.

Suggesting additional work is called upselling, and it’s a primary profit tactic of every service facility. Here’s a typical example. You drop your vehicle off for “just an oil change.” Upon completion your service representative smiles and proudly states, “We noticed that your air filter was dirty; so we popped in a new one.” You may think great; what wonderful service!”

What really occurred is that you were casually upsold an air filter. It probably wasn’t needed; it
certainly wasn’t replaced according to any factory recommendation, and you were definitely overcharged for what was most likely a poorly-fitting, aftermarket, inferior air filter.

Here’s a real-life example that occurred recently. This particular vehicle had 54,000 miles on it, and was dropped off at a local shop for “just an oil change.” Upon paying the bill, the customer was handed an estimate for $199 to replace his air filter and top radiator hose. Shocked at the price, he called me.

After review, I found that the air filter suggestion was premature. It didn’t need replacement until the manufacturer’s recommended 60,000-mile service interval. The top hose was also premature. In fact, it did not need replacement at all, despite a very minor problem easily addressed during the factory
maintenance scheduleat no extra cost.

Check out the aftermarket part prices quoted below (including the unnecessary radiator hose). Compare these to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for the factory OEM parts (Original Equipment Manufacturer).

• Local Shop Aftermarket Air Filter: $32
• Manufacturer OEM Filter, MSRP: $17
• Local Shop Aftermarket Top Hose: $36
• Manufacturer OEM Top Hose, MSRP: $19

Notice that this local shop was doubling the price of the OEM parts with its inferior aftermarket parts.

Now, let’s look at the labor time that was quoted.

• Local Shop Labor Time: 2.0 @ $60 per hour = $120
• Manufacturer Labor Time: 0.9 @ $60 per hour = $81

Notice that the shop labor time estimate for the repairs was 2 hours. This is more than twice
the manufacturer’s recommendations (even after calculating manufacturer times against the industry standard multiplier).

Had the local shop abided by the vehicle’s particular maintenance intervals instead of trying to make a quick buck, it should have recommended a 60,000-mile service at the next visit. This would have better served the client, saved him $199, and maintained the vehicle properly. Instead, they lost a client forever!

What needs to be made crystal clear is that this type of price-gouging occurs every day in every type of service facility in one form or another across the automotive service industry.

This type of price-gouging is considered normal!

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Alternatives To Oil

Writen by Chris Jacob

It is a debate that probably should have been going on when Henry Ford started mass producing motor vehicles and when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb around the early 1900s. Given that we have a growing number of people owning cars in more places around the world and then a finite resource in oil, it was inevitable that crisis of various forms would eventuate. Of all the technological challenges facing our world that affect our daily lives, this energy source dilemma along with maybe cancer treatment could be the biggest. The question is are their alternatives to things like oil and coal and then how advanced are we in finding a viable alternative. The short answer is yes there are alternatives but how far we are down the track of making them a reality is dependent on who you ask.

One of the major options in regards to alternative fuel for powering things like cars is a hydrogen fuel cell. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. So essentially you are producing energy in the form of electricity and the only by product is water which is good for the environment. This process has the potential to be up to 80% efficient meaning 80% of the resource chemicals initially are able to be converted into energy. Compare this with petrol for your car which is only about 20% efficient. Hydrogen fuel cells were one of the energy sources for Apollo 11 reaching the moon in 1969 so it is not a new concept but it was expensive.

Also as hydrogen and oxygen are not limited to one or a few regions of the world like crude oil, political conflicts over this important resource can also be eliminated. What are the current issues with fuel cells? Well, while 90% of our universe is made up of Hydrogen, it is not readily available in any sort of useful way currently for this technology. Also current methods employed to extract hydrogen don’t give a pure form meaning the energy efficiency drops to about 30-40%. This also increases the cost of the cell. Oxygen is of course readily available in our atmosphere.
A recent discovery on the rings of Saturn of all places could be the major breakthrough for this technology. Scientists have discovered that as water comes off the rings, the hydrogen is lost from it, leaving the oxygen. The method is called electromagnetic bipolar separation; a method used in the laboratories and can be employed deep in earth’s core using the earth’s own electromagnetic field. If the method can be perfected, it can separate hydrogen from water almost free. If Hydrogen can be obtained free of cost, we can have abundance of energy with almost no cost and then the resultant water or steam is totally pollution free.

In short we could have very cheap energy, remove fossil fuels like oil as a source of global political and social conflicts and clean up our environment. If this is the end result then we should all want something to happen now.

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