Automotive Tweeting

We are in the middle of a full blown recession, yet people are still keen to own the latest new cars. No matter how poor people are they still love to splash out on a new vehicle.

Let’s have a look at a few reasons why people love new cars so much and why they are happy to struggle financially just to drive in luxury.

Peer Pressure
This is most probably the reason many people are buying new, prestigious vehicles. What is worse than going out in an old heap and then seeing your friends or a family member driving a fantastic top of the range car. People do not want other people to see that they are struggling, so they borrow cash to buy a new car even though they can’t really afford it, just to show off to everyone that they have made it in there lives.

Show off
A lot of people want to buy a new vehicle just to show off, they love all the attention they get from having people look at them when they stop next to traffic lights or pull up in a busy area.

Speed
Some people love cars that go super fast and they know that by buying a new vehicle it will ultimately fill there thirst for driving at high speeds. New vehicles have a lot more pull and can go from 0mph to 60mph in much quicker times. Even diesels are quite quick off the mark.

Relaxation
A lot of people just buy a new car simply for the comfort and relaxation factor. This is especially true if people are travelling long distances on a daily basis. They want to relax and have all of the latest technologies that are open.

Collectors
There are some people who are lucky enough to be very well off. These lucky people tend to have a habit of just buying new cars and collecting them. Their newly acquired cars can often end up unused, sitting on the front drive waiting to be sold off in a few months time. But to the buyer it does not really matter as they have the money to effectively feed their collection habit.

There is nothing wrong with buying a new vehicle; I myself tend always look at new cars. But make sure that you have the correct finances in place to actually pay for the vehicle as if not you will probably end up getting yourself into a lot of debt and the debt company may well take back the car from you, leaving you with nothing.

I recommend car leasing as a sensible way to finance the acquisition of all new vehicles. I have my 5 series BMW on a very affordable BMW lease deal and all of my companies commercial vehicles are on very cheap van lease contracts.

Technorati Tags: auto finance, automobiles, car finance, car leasing, cheap new cars, motoring

Getting a new car always involves choices.  Pay money or finance?  Buy or lease your new car? 

There’s no wrong or right answer.  Cash upfront, financing, and leasing all have advantages and downsides.  As is the case with each other common dilemma, there is no slam-dunk answer.  Ultimately it boils down to personal choice and a group of basic fiscal concerns. 

First, affordability is obviously key.  How how stable is your job?  How good are your finances?  If cash flow is a concern then leasing with its short term regular payments is a good option.  With a lease, monthly costs are seriously lower than payments when purchasing.  In fact , with a lease you just pay for a fraction of the vehicle’s’s cost — the part used up in the time you drive it. 

purchasing an auto with cash is a choice of course.  Or you might decide to make a giant downpayment and still lease of finance.  You could choose to pay the down the payment or sales taxes and costs.  Otherwise all of these extras are rolled into the loan. 

With any kind of financing the interest rate is set by the bank and lendor.  It pays to shop around for a good rate.  Infrequently the dealer has special financing but many times your local bank is the best bet. 

Suspect you want to get into luxury models but can’t afford the upfront money to buy the car.  If you’ve a good job and credit you’re likely a good candidate for leasing.  Unlike buying, leasing gives you the option of not needing to fork out the down-payment up front.  And the interest rate will be like what you would pay if you purchased the auto but you’ll only be financing a fragment ofthe total automobile costs. 

Leasing does have its risks though.  Terminating a lease early or defaulting on your monthly lease payments includes stiff fiscal penalties.  Your credit could be ruined.  As with any loan or financing, you need to make sure you carve out the monthly lease payment in your budget for the obvious future, at least for the period of the lease. 

Besides the financial aspect, making a buy or lease decision depends on your own particular approach to life selections and preferences.  Think about what the vehicle means to you : are you the sort of person to bond with the vehicle or would you rather have the fun of something new?  If you’d like to drive a car for more than 5s years, negotiate carefully and buy the auto you like.  If, on the other hand, you don’t like the idea of ownership and prefer to drive a new car every two to three years then you should lease.  Next, factor your transportation wants : How many miles do you drive a year?  How correctly do you maintain your cars?  If you respond is : “I drive 40,000 miles a year and I don’t truly care much about my cars as I do not mind dealing with repair bills”, then you’re likely better off buying.  Leasing is reliant on the presumption of limited-mileage, customarily not more than 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year, and wear-and-tear considerations.  Unless you can keep within the prescribed mileage limits and keep the vehicle in a good condition at the end of your lease, you might incur wide end-of-lease costs.

Read more: discount auto insurance

Technorati Tags: auto financing, auto leasing, buying a car, car financing, car leasing

Car leasing was traditionally only used by businesses, however it is now becoming more popular than ever with personal customers. In the UK the percentage of personal leasing is increasing year on year.Personal customers can gain many benefits through leasing a car rather than choosing to own it out right.

Leasing a car through contract hire or personal contract hire is not for everyone but can be very beneficial if your change your car often, especially if you normally take out a standard loan to cover the costs. Car leasing an average can be up to 60% less per month than taking out a standard car loan, you don’t need a huge deposit with road tax and brake down cover normally coming included in the monthly payments.

More desirable cars are often more affordable to lease as contract hire prices are calculated on the cars depreciation. The more expensive cars tend to hold their value making the monthly leasing cost far lower than trying to finance all of the cars value. Volvo car leasing and BMW car leasing prices are great examples of this. The hassle of owning a car is taken away and with delivery and collocation at the end of the contract included you don’t even have to worry about finding a buyer.

Businesses switching to car leasing can expand their fleet without the need for a hugh cash injection, whilst also keeping the vehicle off the balance sheet. Maintenance can be included to offer fixed price motoring, meaning you will always know how much your vehicles are costing you and you will avoid sudden costs related to owning the vehicle out right. With most contracts lasting between 24 and 36 months you can keep your vehicles up to date and take advantage of the manufactures warranty.

Technorati Tags: car leasing

Cars: Lease or Buy?

There are certainly no denying the fact that there are several benefits to leasing a care but before analyzing them we need to find out what care leasing is all about. Before you lease a car you will have to pay a down payment which will be small percentage of the total cost of the vehicle. You will then have to fix the duration for which you want to lease it and once that has been ascertained your monthly payment is fixed. The calculation of the total payable amount is very simple and it is the difference in the car’s current value and its expected value at the end of the lease period. This amount is equally divided over the lease period and added to the monthly interest. Normally it shouldn’t take you more than two days to drive away in your new car. What you do at the end of the lease is entirely at your discretion and you can either keep the car buy paying the residual value or return the vehicle.

Advantages:

Leasing is a perfect option for people who want to drive a brand new car for a really low price. Since people generally opt for the one year lease it means that they can drive in a new car every year. And the timing is perfect because most new models are introduced in fall which means that you can get a new car for Christmas.

Most establishments that deal with auto leasing have the more upscale models which are always brand new.

One of the problems if owning a car is that you have to take care of all the expenditure involved in maintaining it but when you lease a car it is covered by a warranty because it is brand new. So if you meet with a minor accident the dealership will take care of all the structural damage

Another advantage to reckon with is the substantially lower cost involved in leasing a car which stands at just 40 to 70 % of the value of a new car. If you want to negotiate further on the amount you have to pay as the down payment or even the monthly payment you should consider trading your old car for the leased vehicle

Leasing a car is considerably hassle free as compared to owning a used car which would involve not only buying it but also selling it eventually, plus the insurance is taken care of by the dealer when you lease a car.

You are also protected against theft or total loss due to accident with a free gap protection

Disadvantages:

Unfortunately a leased car cannot be included in your assets list because you dont actually own it.

If you own a car you can sell it anytime you want of course you will not make the same amount that you spent for it but something is better than nothing.

Before you lease a car you will have to contact the dealership to determine if you are eligible for a car lease

However, the biggest issue with car leasing is the fixed mileage. What this means is that you will have to pay extra for each mile above a predetermined limit which is set when you sign the lease To read more about this and virtual currency then visit the link in this sentence.

Technorati Tags: Automobile, car lease, car leasing, Cars

General Motors, the owners of big car brands like Chevrolet and Pontiac, earlier this year filed for bankruptcy. However, they have now sorted themselves out, and from July, they have stopped receiving bankruptcy protection from the government.

After sorting themselves out, they are now trying some new methods in an attempt to bring more sales to the business. They are currently looking into 2 new methods to selling their cars. The first method is car leasing, which they has already tried back in 2008 but pulled out of the same time last year. They have put together plans to once again return to the contract hire market this month. General Motors, being the manufacturer, may be able to give some extremely cheap van leasing offers as they can sell the cars right off the production line.

The other method they are trying to the more news worthy one, they are going to be making deals with eBay, the online auction site. Starting from August 11th, General Motors began listing, within the California area, new Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC and Buick cars on the auction website.

The system is being run on a trial basis up until the beginning of September, however, currently over 225 of the 250 Californian dealers for General Motors are signed up for the scheme. The system will work by website users either haggling for a price or paying the listed price for the car. Once the customer buys the car, they then have to travel to their closest registered dealer to pick up their new vehicle.

If eBay and General Motors find the system to work well, they will consider spanning it across the US. Also if other companies see the methods being successful, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw other manufacturers offering car leases such as a Mazda lease.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Cars, eBay, general motors, leasing

Back in May this year, the UK government launched a scheme that would reward car buyers when they scrapped their old cars. Oddly enough it was called the ‘Car Scrappage Scheme’ and it gave car buyers 2000 towards a new car when they scrapped a car that’s more than 10 years old.

600 million pounds was the total price to run the scheme. Half of the total was payed by car manufacturers and the other half was handled by the tax payers. Despite this being a large sum to invest in a scheme, it’s certainly proving successful for the market.

The overall amount of new registered cars for this July was announced the other day and they showed a rise of 2.4% compared to July last year. Overall, 157,149 new cars were registered in July, making a 2.4% on July 2008. Out of those 157,000 odd cars, around 33,000 of them were bought as part of the scrappage scheme. The last sales rise seen was back in April 2008, so although 2.4% is not a huge number, it’s still a number to be happy about.

Due to the good results the scheme has created, many MPs are looking to extend the scheme for throughout 2010. Currently the scheme is due to end either when the tax payers money input runs out, or in February 2010. However, as it has proved so popular with over 144,000 cars registered with the scheme since it’s start back in May, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was continued.

Car retailers will be hoping that if the scheme is kept going, the amount of cars being registered will continue to rise.

Even though the scheme has proved to be good for the new car market, it’s not so good for other parts of the industry. The first one affected is the second hand car market. Due to the large number of cars being scrapped, the amount of second hand cars on the market are being reduced. The second problem occurs with the cheap car leasing market.

Due to the high number of new cars being registered, the leasing sector is loosing out because people are opting for a new car rather than a Nissan lease when they can just scrap their older car for savings off a new one. Fortunately, this problem isn’t also passed onto the van contract hire sector because the scheme doesn’t benefit van scrappage as yet.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Cars, leasing, scrappage scheme, Vans

In an attempt to reduce traffic congestion, Heathrow Airport are implementing a new, state-of-the-art, traffic system. The system being created is the first of it’s kind, it will feature over 20 electric shuttles that will have no need for drivers.

The electric shuttles will be going along a 2 and a half mile path connecting Terminal 5 to the business car park. Every shuttle will travel at 25mph and has enough space to carry 4 passengers with all their luggage, the system has a target of delivering over half a million passengers each year.

Advanced Transport Systems Ltd, alongside Bristol University, is the company that are developing the state-of-the-art transport system. They claim that the shuttles are comfortable to use and environmentally friendly because they use computers and laser guidance technology to get to the destination.

This new system is the stepping stone towards the creation of fully driverless cars which will take us to any destination that we input into the on-board system. Systems that we see in futuristic films such as I-Robot and Minority Report look like less of a dream and more like reality.

As this technology is developed even further, we could see our lives improved as this system could help to save lives as the computers could plan where other cars are moving and avoid collision. All these changes may sound beneficial for us, but whether the motor industry and the contract hire industry will like this change is another matter.

With all the money being lost currently within the motor industry, the absolute last thing car companies and businesses offering cheap van leasing will want is to have to build and buy in a new range of driverless cars. Despite the companies most likely not liking the change, with technology moving the speed it does, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the not too distant future we do see companies offering a driverless BMW lease.

Technorati Tags: airports, car leasing, Cars, heathrow, planes

Van and car leasing is currently helping many businesses to weather the current economic crisis. Many businesses have been forced to look carefully at their cash flow and capital expenditure. Van leasing provides business with a way to finance their essential transport needs with fixed, known monthly payments.

Van leasing and contract hire have become increasingly popular as businesses recognize the benefits of leasing over outright purchase. These advantages include:

• Fixed, known monthly payments enabling businesses to accurately forecast their finances;
• Low initial down payments mean that businesses can secure brand new, top specification vans for very little initial outlay;
• Maintenance and servicing can be included in the lease price which can save a lot of headaches;
• Leasing is a great way to lessen the impact of depreciation;
• The leasing company can often provide commercial vehicle insurance at very competitive rates;
• No problems disposing of vehicles at the end of the lease period;
• There are tax benefits to leasing as it is classed as rental which means that 100% of the lease charge is tax allowable.

Although van leasing is generally advantageous to businesses there are some additional considerations that should be borne in mind. One important consideration is estimating the mileage. Some contracts impose penalties if the anticipated mileage is exceeded but there are contracts that provided unlimited mileage.

Another key consideration for business is exactly what is included in the contract maintenance agreement, if there is one. Replacement tires and windscreens can be included in the van lease contract, but this is not always the case so its worth checking the details.

When researching van leasing options always gather a number of quotations for comparison and be certain to read the specifications and details carefully. Always be certain that you are comparing the exact same vehicles with all of the same options.

Like company car leasing, van leasing is increasingly recognized as a financially viable option for providing a business with the transport needed to stay in business.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, commercial vehicle leasing, contract hire, van leasing

The car manufacturers Ford, Nissan and Tesla have been loaned a total sum of $8 bilion by the US government. The government has planned this money to be used for developing fuel efficient cars which in turn will create new jobs.

The money is designed to help increase jobs in the car industry, aswell as developing new green cars in the process.

Each car manufacturer will be getting a different amount of the overall total. Ford has been given the majority of the loan, $5.9 billion. This money is going to be used to develop entirely new electric cars, aswell as new tech for gasoline engines.

This money received by Ford is very good because of the low interest rate of around 3.75%. If they had attempted to get this money on the market, they would have had to pay interest rates in the double figures.

The second largest amount of the loan will be going to Nissan who are getting $1.6 billion. They have said that this money will be going towards one of their plants that are developing lithium ion batteries. These new batteries will be going into a new electric car that’s being developed for 2012.

Finally, Tesla are walking away will a relatively small amount compared to Ford. Only $465 million will be given to them as a loan. A lump of the money is going to be used to build a factory in California to develop their new Model S Sedan. The other bit of the loan will be spent on building greener car parts which will be sold to other car manufacturers.

Now that these car manufacturers have been given this money, we should see some new electric cars come to the market in the next few years. Being able to lease an electric car would save you even more money. I imagine a huge number of people with a Ford lease or Nissan lease would love to have an electric car as this would save them even more money.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Ford, ford leasing, nissan, nissan leasing, tesla, US, USA

The i-MiEv electric car from Mitsubishi has started being shipped to a range of select customers.

As for the rest of the customers, the Japanese car manufactuers hopes to have the car release in April next year. The car manufacturer is starting to take orders next month at a cost of 34,000 euros.

The car comes with a 64 hp electric engine fitted into the back of the car. The lithium ion battery that powers the engine will give you 160 kilometres of go time. As for the speed, you should be able to reach 130 kmph using the lithium battery.

After you have drained all of your battery power, you will have to wait another 7 hours before heading off again. However, there is an alternate quick charge method which supposedly charges the battery to 80% in just 30 minutes, not sure why the full charge takes 7 hours then.

Although the car is pretty small at only 3.4 metres in total length and 2.5 metres wide, it can carry 4 people. It includes a series of features including a navigation and entertainment system, plus air conditioning.

At 34,000 euros (47,000 dollars) this is not a cheap car to purchase. However, if you really are dedicated to the environment, then you won’t mind paying this sort of cash for a more environmentally friendly car.

No doubt there will be a cheaper method to get this car. By getting a Mitsubishi lease out for this car you often pay less because you don’t buy the entire car. This is the same with any other car maker I must add, whether you want a Chrysler lease or a eco friendly Mitsubishi. Although, when you consider that you don’t have fuel charges on the i-MiEv, by leasing it you could save alot of money.

Technorati Tags: car leasing, Cars, chrysler, electric cars, green cars, mitsubishi