www.enginebody.co.uk

Your autos and travel wizard website

  • Home
  • Buying
  • Maintaining
  • Selling
  • Travel & Adventure

Archive for the ‘BUYING’ Category

Where to buy? And what to do if……………?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Very important question which needs to be answered before leaving your doorstep with a rough idea of where to buy and problems you can come across.
• Smaller independents garages usually stock used cars but may lack the variety. Types of the cars they sell are usually rejects by main dealers.
• Importers sometime can help in getting a real bargain. But be careful that you are getting a car with correct specs.
• Independent supermarkets offer a high stock mainly of popular brands.
• Net based companies allow you to quickly search and find best price. But always remember their delivery can take time.
• Brokers only direct you to dealers, but you have to travel all the way there.
• Main dealers get biggest no. of first time buyers. That dealer’s are major player in car retail industry. They maintain Hugh showrooms displaying latest models in their windows and keep an army of well trained and ambitious sales-man who love to shoot at you from that very moment when you entered in their showroom like a seasoned sniper who never misses. If you don’t let all these factors to intimidate you, you will be the king getting best price. You only need to learn how to get a bargain.
• EBay is one of the most popular places, if you decide to buy online. Please further read from buying from internet.


• Always remember if buying privately that cars are sold as seen, so be extra vigilant.
• Check carefully service history and note locations of garages. Don’t forget to check invoices if any other work has been done.
• Always ask sellers, for how long they have been using this car, why they are selling and check that they are the owner or they have implied authorization from legal owner.
• Always insist to see VSC (or logbook as commonly known) and compare your date with it.
• Pay for a vehicle history to see how many owners the car has, any outstanding finance or is not a written off.
• If buying privately, arrange to view the car at seller’s house. Dealers have bigger obligations and to escape from them, sometime they pretend as private sellers.

Now we are going to give you list of all useful contacts which come handy in case of any problems which arise before and after buying.

(a) HPI
Tel: 0845 300 8905
www.hpicheck.com

(b) Institute of Automotive Engineers Assessors
Tel: 01543 266906
www.iaea.uk.com

(c) Insurance Ombudsman
Tel: 0845 080 1800
www.financial_ombudsman.org.uk

(d) AA
Tel; 0800 085 3007
www.theaa.com

(e) RAC
www.rac.com

(f) Vehicle & Operator Services Agency
Tel: 0870 6060 440
www.vosa.gov.uk

(g) Local County Courts
www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Only cost will be issue fee of summons eventually added to your claim if successful but you will not be penalized even if you loose.Best way to sue any company is by providing concise and concrete information. Initially state only facts. As a standard practice 90% of cases settle well before litigation. If you obtain a CCJ that will be entered on a central register, companies will do their utmost effort to avoid this.

YOUR OWN GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE

Google
Custom Search

MAKE US YOUR HOME PAGE OR ADD INTO FAVORITE,CLICK BELOW TO SHARE US,TRANSLATE OR PRINT

Bookmark and Share

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Tool

Posted in BUYING | No Comments »

Buying a New Car

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010


——————————————————————–
As we are committed to make all posts having concise, concrete and complete information as much as possible. So instead of writing long bull and cock stories I am going to give you a checklist which every buyer of new cars must consider.
1- Never ever forget to add up Motor Insurance, servicing and fuel bills and interest charges to find out total cost.
2- Always stick with your plan and stay in your Finance.
3- Still you need to consider exactly what you are looking into your car.


4- Thrill of having a brand new virgin car can’t be compared with anything else, (This point applies if you can really afford a new car).
5- Most of car finance offers interest free loans for new cars only, in case you are thinking to avail one.
6- Zero-meter new cars come with 3 years peace of mind manufacturer’s warranty only KIA is more generous one to give up to 07 years.
7- Always haggle hard and learn here how to haggle like a pro.Only in this way you will be able to get some discounts.
8- Just be flexible and always remember (if you are concerned with warranty) that you can buy an extended warranty privately.
9- Net is full of information, make sure you fully use of it to find reviews of other car users to decide for a more robust model.
10- Now you can get benefit from buying a second hand car which is less then 1-3 years old.
11- Depreciation is the biggest loss of value in first 1-3 years of a new car. As a matter of fact car losses biggest chunk of its value in first 12 months.

YOUR OWN GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE

Google
Custom Search

MAKE US YOUR HOME PAGE OR ADD INTO FAVORITE,CLICK BELOW TO SHARE US,TRANSLATE OR PRINT

Bookmark and Share

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Tool

Posted in BUYING | No Comments »

Buying A Used Car

Monday, March 15th, 2010


As few of our readers may be bit bored with repetition of our advice to do home work, most of you will agree that buying a car is not a everyday routine but a one off investment, which will stay with you for years if not whole life. Buying a used car may sound like a frightening experience but if you make note of everything given below, you will be able to find your dream car like a professional.
HOME WORK
Make sure you have arranged for your finances.
Number on car’s VIN plate and Engine plate should match with registration documents.
a. Must test drive.
b. Always carry out hpi.
c. A car’s average mileage is 10,000 miles per year, so calculate to find out if car has spent a tough life.
d. Always try to make an approximate price of your prospective car.
e. Shop around from a variety of sellers.
f. As a standard myth, British are not very tactful when it comes to haggling. But be ready to haggle. Haggling is compulsory and everyone in car industry expects you to haggle. So if you don’t haggle, you are sending wrong signals. But never haggle aggressively. Bit of humour is best way to be a successful haggler.
g. If car is more then 03 years old, check it has current MOT certificate.
h. When checking service history, compare details of mileage etc with current readings.
i. Ask for a valid power of attorney, if seller is not title holder of V5C doc and check their ID also.
j. Never leave without V5C, so before leaving your home, ask seller to confirm they have logbook.

Now you have to look out for following signs of wear and tear, make a prudent judgement considering life of car.

Rust
Check your car in good day light. Rust can easily be spotted on wings, sills and under bumpers. Now if this rust produces a cracking sound, it is evident of corrosion. If any brake pipes have signs of rust, they will mostly like to be replaced.
Look out for signs of rust on back of under bonnet, corners of windscreen, around door frame and on back of under bonnet area.


Accident Damage
See your car from all sides. Most common signs are different doors and wings. If paint work is looking different, that’s why it is advised to view car in dry weather, water drops alter view. Steering should be straight with no tendency to pull right or left.
Carry a magnet to find out if any filler has used to fix rusty areas.

Mileage
A possible sign of odometer tempering is out of line numbers. You can guess about mileage by looking at general condition of car, brake pedal, gear level, steering, loose belt are strong signs of age.
If condition is too good along with unusual low mileage and it (if owner tells you or not) may be unused for long times or used for shorter journeys. You may be surprise to know that this kind of car usage can also cause engine malfunctions.

Transmission Function
Clutch is supposed to operate smoothly engaging all gears with ease. If gear change function gets stiffed at higher revs, clutch may have been worn. Also to make sure clutch doesn’t get, drive the car up a hill in top gears. When you test drive, change from one gear to next upper gear and see how car reacts. Also coming down from higher speed to lower change from highest to lower step wise. If gears are crunching / baulking or gearbox is whining, car may require a new gearbox.

Tyres
Always check spare tyre also for correct tread (lesser then 1.6mm is illegal) and sidewalls which should be from any sign of damage or bulges.
Any uneven wear suggests steering tracking or suspension issues.

Suspension
Push down the car at its corners and leave, it will adjust to normal in no matter of time after rebounding if everything regarding suspension is working worn bushes, joints and shock absorbers can be spotted by imprecise handling or if suspension knocks on uneven roads.

Steering
Unbalance wheels can cause steering wheel go wobbly. Turn steering gently and ask someone to see wheel move simultaneously. It is compulsory they do move at same time otherwise this car will be a MOT failure. Low or high tyre pressure can cause steering function vaguely.

Under Bonnet
A dirty engine is evident of neglected car which has not been serviced properly. Now if you come across a sparkling shine engine it may have been steam cleaned to disguise problems. Be careful.
Check oil level and colour before you start engine, if it is low or sludgy/ dirty, check when it was last changed with service schedule. Look for beige “mayonnaise” on oil filler neck or cap and on oil breather pipe (pipe which connects air filter to oil filter), this is sign of head gasket leakage.
Coolant should look like anti-freezer not rust-coloured. An engine that has been run without anti-freeze can have problems.
Make sure no oil is leaking from engine.
Switch on engine and see oil light goes out soon after it starts. There shouldn’t be any knocking or rattle noises.
Rev engine briefly from idle and lookout for blue or black smoke which are evident of problems.
Watch out for overheating on temperature gauges.

Brakes
Brake pedal should feel solid and never sink before functioning, check a brake servo is working easily, pump pedal several times, then hold pedal down and start engine, pedal will go down as engine starts.
Look for car juddering which shows distorted front brake discs.
Make sure brakes hoses (under wheel arches) are not swollen or leaking.
Car is not supposed to veer when brakes are applied hard, even suddenly from high speed. If this happens then seizes or leaking wheel cylinders or callipers may be causing this.

YOUR OWN GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE

Google
Custom Search

MAKE US YOUR HOME PAGE OR ADD INTO FAVORITE,CLICK BELOW TO SHARE US,TRANSLATE OR PRINT

Bookmark and Share

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Tool

Posted in BUYING | No Comments »

Buying a Pre-Reg

Sunday, March 14th, 2010



Any pre-registered car which has fewer than 200 miles on clock and is less then 6- month old is commonly known as Pre-Reg. Best way to spot a Pre-Reg is V5C which probably has dealer’s name and which has price remarkably less then a new model. Buyers usually can get pre reg’s at huge discounts but still buyers must look out for these negatives:-
1- Dealers usually try to increase price by offering you lot of options- carefully check all of them and refuse straight away anything which you don’t want.
2- Always make sure, you get a best deal by finding out price of a new car.


3- Always insist to have a sales invoice which proves your ownership. Please bear in mind that V5c proves you are registered keeper.
4- Some cunning dealers try to sell a pre-reg without revealing its nature, so get all quotes in writing and look for signs of pre-reg. Ask clearly whether it is a pre-reg, now dealer have to tell honestly otherwise you can pursue them for misleading. Some dealers try to sell older models or pre face-lift cars, so be extra vigilant if you are in doubt.
5- As per law, dealer must give you, buyer’s part of V5C registration document, OR you may be in trouble, so refuse to take delivery of car otherwise you may end up in trouble with police, insurance companies and your local council.

YOUR OWN GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE

Google
Custom Search

MAKE US YOUR HOME PAGE OR ADD INTO FAVORITE,CLICK BELOW TO SHARE US,TRANSLATE OR PRINT

Bookmark and Share

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Tool

Posted in BUYING | No Comments »

Buying From A Dealer

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Whenever you buy a vehicle from a dealer, you enter into a valid contract and so you enjoy certain rights as conferred by Sale of Goods Act 1979 which was amended by the Sale & Supply of Goods Act 1994 and Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations.
Now Act says that a car:
1- Should be as good as any reasonable person would expect taking into account what you paid and how it was described. Satisfactory means appearance, safety and durability. For satisfactory condition of new car means “free from any minor defects”. For a second hand car satisfactory condition means it is of condition which should be acceptable of his age.
Fit for purpose.
2- It should do whatever seller guarantees and which you reasonably expect of a car of its size, price and type.
As described.
3- Car should correspond in every detail with any ad or whatever salesman told you. In case it is different, you can make a complaint and expect compensation/refund.


You are NOT entitled to anything if,
(a) You have been notified of any fault.
(b) Fault was so obvious that you really should have noticed.
(c) Car got damaged by your self.
(d) It was your mistake, buying a too big size car which doesn’t fit into your garage or your girlfriend don’t like colour.
(e) You change your mind may be because you have seen car cheaper.

You can enjoy some additional rights if when,
(a) When you buy over net or without ever visiting dealer’s showroom. In this case you are covered by seven days peace of mind guarantee and you can return your car for any reason though you have to pay for return costs.
b) If your lender is responsible for getting seller put things right. Then you enjoy additional rights. Only exception is when you were notified of defect and price was lowered to adjust for that problem. Now if the car turns up faulty then you can request one of the following:-
1- A full refund.
This is possible when you have not accepted car. Legally acceptance is indicate by any of followings;-
(a) You don’t tell dealer that you have not accepted car.
(b) You have altered car spec’s e.g. adding a spoiler or stereo.
c) You keep the car for longer than standard limit of “reasonable” time though no limit set but it is usually up to 3 weeks. As a standard notify seller as soon as you find any defect.
In case you find defect after accepting then you can ask for following;-

1-Compensation
This should cover for repairs or may be based on price paid for car minus an allowance for time owned/mileages covered. Sometime age of car, extent of repair and preferred outcome for both parties if the case went to court.

2-Repair/ Replacement
Dealer can refuse replacement if a repair is a more sensible solution. Any of these repairs must be carried out by the dealer within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience. If same issue recurs after few weeks then you can ask for compensation or refund. Dealer may not keep repairing same fault again and again unless it is “reasonable” though law doesn’t explain what exactly “reasonable” means.

YOUR OWN GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE

Google
Custom Search

MAKE US YOUR HOME PAGE OR ADD INTO FAVORITE,CLICK BELOW TO SHARE US,TRANSLATE OR PRINT

Bookmark and Share

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Tool

Posted in BUYING | No Comments »

<< Previous

  • Categories

    • About Us (2)
    • BUYING (25)
    • MAINTAINING (25)
    • SELLING (7)
    • Travel & Adventure (4)
  • Tags

    Amazon shopping tips car buying tips cheap breakdown insurance policy cheapest car insurance cheap shopping tips-offers-vouchers codes GAP insurance for cars mot test drive tips and tricks for cheaper car insurance warranty wintor motoring Xmas gifts
  • Recent Posts

    • Xmas / Christmas 2010 gift ideas
    • GAP insurance
    • Cheap Shopping Tips,Special Offers And Voucher Codes
    • Get Cheap Breakdown Insurance Policy
    • If Your Insurer gets bust
    • GET CHEAPEST CAR INSURANCE
    • Car Insurance, Myths And Facts
    • Where to buy? And what to do if……………?
    • Buying a New Car
    • Buying A Used Car
    • Buying a Pre-Reg
    • Buying From A Dealer
    • Cheap Insurance!!! But How?
    • Never Ever Say This To Sales-Man
    • Complain Procedure (Dealers)
  • Popular Posts

    • Buying 0 comment(s) | 1087 view(s)
    • Selling 0 comment(s) | 910 view(s)
    • Maintaining 0 comment(s) | 923 view(s)
    • Travel & Adventure 0 comment(s) | 928 view(s)
    • Part Exchange 0 comment(s) | 1017 view(s)
    • Delivery Time 0 comment(s) | 872 view(s)
    • Paying Deposit 0 comment(s) | 851 view(s)
    • Buying a New Car 0 comment(s) | 1157 view(s)
    • Financial Terms-Be Carefull... 0 comment(s) | 976 view(s)
    • Buying From Showroom 0 comment(s) | 848 view(s)

Copyright © 2012 - www.enginebody.co.uk | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)

Site hosted on 000Webhost

Website Developed by Aqib Mushtaq