Posts Tagged ‘USA’
3 Tips For Buying Seized And Reposesed Cars
June 6, 2010 | 
Author What is your perception of seized and reposesed cars? For far too many people seized and reposesed cars hold a certain stigma and they tend to think that these are all vehicles that’s been battered and bruised. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of these vehicles are in top condition and are in fact the very same vehicles that second hand dealerships are selling.
Seized and reposesed cars are primarily cars that government agencies and private financial institutions lay claim on. The government agencies will usually lay claim on a vehicle if it was used in criminal activity or even if it’s a recovered stolen vehicle that’s not reclaimed by the original owner. The financial institutions in turn lay claim on vehicles where the owner fails to make his monthly payments. These vehicles, as you can imagine, are usually still in top condition and sometimes they are virtually brand new.
As good a deal as these seized and reposesed cars are, there are some pitfalls that you need to watch out for. Here are three invaluable tips that will help you in finding and purchasing a quality reposessed car:
- Do Your Homework…
Firstly you need to do your homework about the cars you are interested in. Make sure you know exactly how much you can get it for both new and second hand. Secondly, do your homework about the company you are buying the reposesed car from. If it’s at an auction make sure you check out their credentials and that they are actually selling reposesed cars. Many companies who claim to sell seized and reposesed cars are only making these claims to get you through their front door or into their website.
- Finding them is half the job done…
Finding decent seized and reposesed cars is probably the biggest challenge. There are some good websites that keep and maintain a database of all the seized vehicles that are for sale throughout the USA. Only a handful of these web services are actually connected to the various agencies and auction houses. Be careful of websites that only act as a middleman – make sure the give you direct access to their database that will enable you to search for specific vehicles and their locations. Finding the best deals is all about the quality of the website you are searching on and their database. Some dealerships claim to sell bargain reposesed cars, but it’s usually just an incentive for you to buy. Go instead to the source. Go and buy where the dealerships buy. This is where you will find the real deals.
- Be auction sassy…
When you do find your dream vehicle at that unbelievable price, you still need to be vigilant – especially at auctions. If you are not very good with cars and engines, then ask someone who is to accompany you. Check the vehicle thoroughly before bidding starts. Auctioned vehicles are sold ‘as-is’. If a third party grades or examines the vehicles, make sure they are reliable, especially at online auctions. And when you bid…don’t get caught up in the bidding. Fix your price and don’t bid above that!
If you just can’t afford that car that you really want, then seized and reposesed cars might just be what you are looking for. This is by no means an inferior source. Dealers and wholesaler have been buying their stock from these seized and repossessed auctions for a long time. With the internet these databases are available to the general public and you no longer need any special ‘contacts’ to get access to this great resource. Providing that you are vigilant and you do your due diligence you can’t really go wrong.
Auto Repair Estimates And Car Repair Prices – The Real Information To Avoid Car Repair Scams
Worrying whether or not you were overcharged for your car repair is an awful feeling. There’s tons of advice on how to avoid getting ripped-off, but few discuss the actual car repair prices. We really need to look at the charges on a car repair estimate or auto repair invoice to determine if we’re paying too much.
The focus needs to shift from giving outdated and ineffective advice to addressing the “actual” and “specific” charges. Are they legitimate charges? Can they be justified by industry guidelines?
Now car repair estimates can be confusing. So let’s break it down to get a better idea if your auto repair shop is billing you appropriately.
First, a glossary of terms is in order, as the auto industry has a language of its own…
Aftermarket Parts: parts not made by the manufacturer.
MSRP: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer. Manufacturer approved parts designed specifically for your vehicle.
TSBs: Technical Service Bulletins. Notes and instructions provided by the manufacturer for known and specific concerns(they are not recalls).
Flat Fees: services such as alignments that don’t get broken down into parts, tax, labor
Miscellaneous Charges: these can include, but are not limited to shop supplies – rags, chemicals, hazardous waste disposal fees, waste oil …etc.
Labor Rate: a repair center’s hourly charge to service your vehicle
Labor Time: the amount of time or hours determined that it will take to fix your vehicle
Labor Description: the step-by-step written details of repairs and/or services
Ok, let’s look at the Anatomy of an Auto Repair Estimate:
There are six basic components to a car repair estimate
1) Customer/Vehicle Information
2) Parts
3) Labor
4) Miscellaneous Charges
5) Flat Fees
6) Summary of Charges
Customer and Vehicle Information
Using a generic “top down” style estimate, the top portion simply contains your personal information and your vehicle’s specifics: year, make, model, mileage…etc, as well as your request or concern.
We also want find the shop’s labor rate. The labor rate is critical in determining if you paid too much. Most repair centers don’t list the labor rate. We’ll discuss why shortly.
Auto Parts
Parts are listed usually with a brief description, as well as the quantity, and the price. There are three types of parts: OEM (parts made by or for a manufacturer). These are the parts installed by a dealer, although many local shops use OEM parts too.
Aftermarket parts are non OEM parts, and there are various degrees of quality, depending on the brand and where they’re made – China versus USA, for example.
Then there are Used parts purchased from a salvage yard.
To determine if you paid too much for parts, first find out what type of parts are being used. With OEM parts, you don’t want to pay more than MSRP, although most people do without realizing it. Premium aftermarket parts are similarly priced across brands, although beware not to pay more than MSRP, which again, many folks do. Used part prices are all over the place, so pick the price in the middle.
Auto Repair Labor
Labor is billed in tenths. So 1.0 equals 1 hour. 1.5 equals an hour and a half.
Labor rates range from $60 to $100 per hour at local repair shops and $80 to $140 per hour at the dealer level. Labor times are based off established industry guidelines, which are frequently abused.
If you don’t see the shop’s labor rate posted on the car repair invoice, ask your service center for the rate. Repair shops can manipulate the labor rate (among other things) with a labor matrix. Matrix pricing is a complicated and ethically questionable practice discussed at length in RepairTrust literature. What you need to know is that you can pay as high as $150 per hour rather than the posted labor rate of $105 per hour.
To ensure that you’re being charged properly, you’ll want to multiply the number of hours billed (which is also often not posted) by the shop’s labor rate.
Most labor descriptions are poorly written and difficult to understand. So ask questions.
Here’s a “clear” labor description for a 30,000 mile service on a Toyota Camry.
Performed 30,000 mile service per customer request, and in accordance with manufacturer guidelines. Changed oil and filter, installed new air filter, cabin filter and performed all necessary tests, checks, and procedures, including road test (miles 30,123 – 30,125). Performed lubrication services and confirmed proper vehicle operation. Set tire pressures, and checked fluids, belts and hoses. Note: vehicle is pulling slightly left. Needs alignment
Miscellaneous Charges
The bulk of your car repair invoice will be parts and labor, but we can’t forget about Miscellaneous Charges. These charges can include, but are not limited to, shop supplies – rags, chemicals, hazardous waste, disposal fees, waste oil …etc. The latter of these may be billed out separately in a summary at the bottom of your repair invoice.
Very few of these “extras” are actually used during regular repairs. Miscellaneous charges are calculated off the amount of labor hours billed, not the amount of miscellaneous items used.
Flat Fees
Flat fees can be another very tricky area. Flat fees are services, such as an alignment, which don’t get broken down into parts, tax and labor. This makes it difficult to determine the real and fair price. On the plus side, most flat fees are competitively priced.
Be warned however, another term for Flat Fee is called Menu Selling. In other words, you might see Tune Up: $99.99 or Transmission Flush: $89.99. Follow your manufacturer’s recommendations only, not a dealer’s or repair shop’s menu.
Summary of Charges
The last part of an auto repair estimate is the summary of charges. It’s usually found in the bottom right hand corner of the invoice. Check it against the charges above to ensure that it all adds up mathematically, as well as logically.
This basic estimate outline may differ from your particular invoice, which may have other categories such as “Sublet” or “HazMat.”
A sublet charge is added when your auto repair shop uses another vender to fix or repair your car, such as a glass company that replaces your windshield.
A HazMat charge may include waste oil or other disposal fees. Just make sure that the charges are warranted, as again, they too are often calculated off the labor time rather than actual need.
In sum, understanding the “actual” charges, asking the right questions, and breaking down your auto repair costs is the best way to avoid paying excessive car repair prices.
1,000 Bhp Exotic Cars – Three To Choose From
If you love sheer power, and you want a car that produces 1,000 bhp, you now have three to choose from – and that is without going to the tuners like Ruf ofr Callaway, who will get this much power from engines that are currently in the 500- 700 bhp range. The tjree in the 1000 bhp club are the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the Bristol Fighter T, and the Koenigsegg CCXR. Theoretically, these are all good for 250 mph in theory, but not in practice.
First on the scene was the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the world’s fastest and most powerful exotic car, with a top speed of 248 mph.
Engineering masterpiece
The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is quite an engineering masterpiece, with a W-16 8.0 liter cylinder engine mid-mounted driving through a seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox to all four wheels – four-wheel drive is definitely a good idea with this amount of power. Not only is it immensely fast, but with four-wheel drives it is very stable. It has ceramic brake discs and an air brake to help you slow down from over 125 mph.
A very surprising addition to the 1,000 bhp plus club is the Bristol Fighter T, which has an engine developing 1,012 bhp, just 11 more than the Bugatti! This is a front-engine, rear-drive car designed for high-speed touring.
To be precise, the V-10 engine in the Fighter T whacks out 1,012 bhp at 5,600 rpm. Bristol says that the top speed of the car is around 270 mph, but it has a limiter at 225 mph, which is just 4,.500 rpm in top! Not many will be made, making this a really exotic car.
Acceleration is not as good as you might expect – or maybe it is just modesty at Bristol Cars – at ‘under 3.5 seconds’ whereas the Bugatti Veyron is well under 3 seconds. The difference is largely academic – like the top speeds – but a mid-engined four-wheel drive car will accelerate more quickly than a front-engined rear-drive car. The Bristol Fighter just doesn’t have enough weight on the rear wheels to get under 3 seconds.
Twin turbo V-10
How did they get this huge amount of power? Well, like the other Bristol Fighters, the T has a tuned Chrysler V-10 engine of 8 liters. For the Fighter T they have added a pair of water-cooled turbochargers to almost double power so they could exceed that magic 1,000 bhp figure, getting 1,012 bhp at 5,600 rpm, with 1,036 lb ft (1,400 Nm) of torque at 4,500 rpm. That is quite a high speed for maximum torque, but the engine still produces a massive 800 lb ft (1,080 Nm) of torque from 3,000 rpm, upward.
The Bristol Fighter S has a top speed of over 200 mph, partly owing to good aerodynamics, but The Fighter T is an absolute stormer with a power-to-weight ratio of about 600 bhp per ton and a top speed of well, you name it!
Koenigsegg CCXR runs on ethanol
Now, along comes Koenigsegg with the Koenigsegg CCXR, based on the CCX supercar, but now this version is able to run on ethanol biofuel – E85. Because ethanol has an octane rating of over 100 RON – like racing fuel in the 30s – it gives more power than gasoline, as Saab has demonstrated.
In the Koenigsegg CCXR, power is up from 806 bhp – more than enough for almost everyone – to 1,018 bhp! Peak torque is an incredible 780 lb ft (1,060 Nm) at 6,100 rpm. That’s 25% more power.
With ethanol, power increases of 15-25% can be obtained for any engine so long as it is optimised with high compression ratio and other changes. In other words, don’t just pull up at a gas station, put ethanol in your tank and get 20% more power. It doesn’t work unless the engine is designed to run on it.
But that is not so difficult to do, and with George Bush trying to get more ethanol used in the USA, expect more to follow this route. After all, almost everyone loves power, even if they drive a car that is not very fast.
Posted in Trucks and SUVs | 
Tags: auto, automatic gearbox, automotive, bhp, Bristol, bristol cars, bristol fighter, bugatti veyron, car, Cars, fast cars, George Bush, power, sport and recreation, supercars, USA, wheel drive car | 
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