Finding Reputable Car Dealers

If you are out in the market to buy a new car, it is absolutely essential to find some reputable car dealers which you can visit.

Before actually going off to a car dealership, it is important to first establish your budget. Are you going to pay cash for the new car or are you going to ask for a payment plan? Once you have established your budget, it is time to start searching for reputable car dealers.

A great way to find out about reputable dealerships in your area is to talk to family and friends, especially those members that have purchased a new car recently. These people can tell you about the dealership they used, how the service was, if they offered insurance or warranties, the customer service level etc.

Family and friends can also tell you which dealerships should be avoided. They can tell you which dealership has bad customer service or is known to scam people out of money. Since you know your family and friends personally, you can be assured that you will get an honest opinion about the car dealerships you inquire about.

Another way to find out if a car dealership is reputable or not, you can check with the BBB (Better Business Bureau). The BBB allows people to check their records to find out if there have been any complaints launched against a business (car dealership included). If so, they will let you know if it has been resolved or is still in dispute.

All the complaints recorded by the BBB are used to rate the business members. The ratings can provide you with a good idea of how others rate the business and how well the business is willing to co-operate with customers.

Opting for Sports Car Storage

Your sports car might be your prized possession, especially if you keep vehicles for a hobby or pastime. Vintage cars, classic cars and sports cars are hugely popular and if you are lucky enough to purchase your dream car you will definitely want to keep it in pristine condition. Some people like to own cars to take to specialist car shows and other events. This is why keeping the vehicle finely tuned and in excellent shape is vital.

Sports car owners might think that their own garage space or even their driveway is a suitable environment for storing the vehicle. Other factors are to be taken into consideration when thinking about storage methods as keeping the car safe and secure is not as simple as it might seem. There are many other elements that may affect the overall condition of the vehicle and protecting the car from these potential damages is essential.

Opting for professional sports car storage might be the way forward and is certainly a great option if you value your vehicle and want to keep it in prime condition. Storing your car with professional experts means the vehicle is kept within high specification, temperature controlled surroundings which means moisture cannot affect the car like it would if it was simply sat in your garage at home. These highly secure storage facilities really do cover all angles when it comes to the upkeep of your vehicle from providing tailored car covers to from rolling the vehicles wheels and altering tyre pressure.

Sports car storage means that your vehicle will be kept in controlled facility that is constantly de-humidified and monitored by expert staff. This stable environment prevents elements such as mildew, damp and mould from building up, avoiding costly damage to the vehicle over time. The temperature is perfectly controlled meaning these storage environments are not too dry either. This avoids any damage to natural materials within the vehicle.

Electric Cars - What Have We Learnt?

Over the last few years we have all been aware at how 'greener' measures are being introduced into our daily lives; from the recycling within a home to the plans to reduce carbon dioxide levels across the breadth of a country. Technology has also of course appeared to help this plight and 'electric cars' have become less of a novelty but more something we are becoming used to.

However how do they really fare for the average person? Do they help save you money as well as the environment around us?

Money in your pocket
Like most things in life, there are two sides to this argument, and there will be different experiences from people depending on where they may live or any problems they may have experienced.

Negatives
Outlay & depreciation - the initial outlay for an electric car (or more likely, a hybrid car) is higher than you would pay for a regular car (regarding performance etc). This is due to the new technology used in the cars and that there isn't widespread demand in the consumer market. Depreciation is also a factor to consider. It is dramatically higher than that of a regular petrol car and therefore means that you stand to make a large loss if you look to sell on.

Technology - with the technology used being new, there is a cost attached. There are also long term considerations that we will see arise - cost of replacement engines, cost of battery replacements, how this effects insurance premiums etc. Of course the more widespread they become, the cheaper this will become, however it may reduce what can be done in the garage at home and that still acts as a deterrent to some.

Positives
Efficiency - one of the great selling points is that a hybrid or electric car will run more efficiently than a petrol car giving not only better performance for your money, but lower bills too. This is of course over the long term, so one of the ways to make an electric car work for you is to hold on to it! However the earliest cars have been out for over a decade now, so we can start to understand how the savings work.

Subsidies - depending on where you live, you could find yourself receiving benefits for owning a hybrid or electric card. For example, in London you will have exclusion from the congestion charges that many face, so a daily drive to London would be considerably cheaper. As mentioned previously, you will also save on fuel bills too with the cost of the fuel being that much cheaper.

The world around us
This is an area that has many shades of grey and can be argued at length on both sides. Of course in a hybrid car, it's only the electric part of it we are dealing with, yet that in itself is not a straight forward case of 'being green'.

Using electricity as a fuel of course means we use less fossil fuels (and therefore cut down the CO2 created by them) while driving, however does this meant it solves our problem? Well according to studies, the production of the cars and their electrical engines mean that there is a high production of fine particles emitted. It has also been shown that when driven, a per mile comparison to a fossil fuel powered car shows that electrical pollution could be greater. This is because you have to take into account the entire lifespan of the vehicle - from production of materials to the power plant that creates and feeds the electricity.

However this can be outweighed by lifespan of the car and by further demand for it. When electricity companies use more renewable energy, the carbon footprint of an electrical car will reduce greatly.