Archive for April, 2010
Since late 2008, Chrysler and General Motors have received over $85 billion in loans from the federal government. These funds were designed to revamp their current manufacturing and assembling processes. Additionally, these funds were appropriated for research and development for the production of advanced vehicles with fuel economies of at least 35 mpg by 2020. However, recent reports suggest about $30 billion will never be recovered. Consequently, both companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. Since this filing, General Motors has unloaded four brands from their lineup: Saturn, Pontiac, Saab, and Hummer. Moreover, Chrysler has merged with Fiat, with plans to create smaller, more profitable vehicles. The 2009 car and light truck sales totals are at their lowest in 28 years, leaving plenty of room for speculation of these companies potential sustainability.
The beginning of 2010 continues to be a good time for car buyers. Creative buying incentives from the “Big Three” U.S. automotive companies have enticing offers to any customer walking through their dealership doors. General Motors just ended their campaign to unload all of their Pontiac and Saturn inventories with savings of up to over $7,000 per vehicle. Currently, GM is offering 0% APR financing or up to $4,500 cash back on new vehicles. Chrysler is offering incentives similar to that of GM. However, their cash back options are about $2,000 less than that of GM. Toyota, seeing a significant decrease in profits last year, are also promising low APR financing options. Expect to continue to see these specials for at least the next two quarters.
1. Initial homework – Find out about the car you are considering. Check out any known mechanical problems with that model. The consumer magazine Which! offers good long term reviews on cars. Which! offers a 1-month trial for just £1.
2. Current prices – Check out the current second hand value for the car. A good place to start is www.whatcar.com. Also get your local paper and some of the specialist second hand car magazines and look up the prices of similar cars.
3. Running costs – Plenty of costs in relation to running a car, including -
- Insurance – do a quick check on the internet. Also do a search for the car’s ‘insurance band’ which will be quoted between 1-20, 20 being the most expensive
- Road tax – is the car currently taxed, if so when does it run out. Cars are now taxed depending on CO2 emissions – check here
- General running costs – fuel economy, servicing, tyres etc.