Strangest
 Car Features

Grabbing the attention of car buyers isn’t made easier when even the most basic economy car often comes loaded with standard equipment such as air conditioning, power door locks and a window-rattling stereo system. Even a supercar costing $1.7 million isn’t immune to adding some razzle dazzle to set it apart from, well, all the other million dollar supercars.

2011 Mini Cooper Convertible – Openometer
2011 Mini Cooper Convertible owners apparently need an added incentive to drop their tops. How else can we explain the “Openometer,” a tiny gauge mounted on the dashboard that records in minutes and hours precisely how long the fabric top has been kept down. Fitted as standard equipment, the Openometer, says Mini, is “a tool to help keep you aware of your openness…so you can revel in the roofless hours you’ve spent on your trip, cultivating your open mind and a tan.” Our guess is that a few BMW-Mini engineers spent too much time in the sun before coming up with this useless gadget.

2011 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 – Top Speed Key
The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is among the fastest and most exclusive cars in the world. Not only do you need approximately $1.7 million to buy one, you’ll also need one very special key if you want to unlock this 1001-bhp supercar’s top speed of more than 250 miles per hour. An owner must fit the (unimaginatively named) “top speed key” before attempting to reach the Veyron’s outer limits. Give it a twist, and the Veyron’s suspension and rear spoiler are lowered for better wind-cheating aerodynamics. The steering input is also limited—at 250 mph, you want to make sure all your steering corrections are minor….

2011 BMW 750i – The “Gentleman Function”
The award for the most regal sounding— and totally bewildering—feature name goes to the BMW 7 series and the “Gentleman Function.” Located deep within the vehicle features of this refined Germany luxury sedan, the actual function of this device is less grandiose than its lofty title. Basically, it’s a clever way for the driver to make more room for rear passengers. With a few clicks of BMW’s iDrive controller, the front passenger seat can be maneuvered using the same controls used for the driver’s seat. Okay, but what’s the point? Unless you’re a limousine driver, there really isn’t one. The “Gentleman Function” allows the driver to increase legroom for rear passengers without forcing him or her to get out of the car and use the front passenger seat controls.

2011 Kia Soul – Glowing and Pulsing Speaker Lights
By now you’ve seen the cutesy commercials and are fully aware that hamsters have given the Kia Soul their full endorsement. Yet these furry household pets have a trick up their sleeve—or more exactly, a frivolous feature located in the front door-mounted speakers. Crank up the stereo in certain models of Kia Soul and watch as lights surrounding the speakers pulse and glow to the beat of the music. It’s fun, for about five minutes. After that, it’s about as enjoyable as having a bratty kid kick the back of your seat. To make matters worse, these illuminated speakers appear to be part of an ongoing recall related to the wiring harness of the 2010 Kia Soul.

2011 Ford Mustang – Adjustable Dashboard Lighting
Lots of cars have adjustable interior lighting, but the Ford Mustang takes top marks for the sheer magnitude of different colors on offer. With the scroll of a button, the Mustang’s gauge cluster can be tuned to one of literally hundreds of hues. This should really be the default sports coupe for any manager of a Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore paint store. What’s even wackier is that, in a weird way, the Mustang’s interior light show really works wonders depending on the mood you’re in. Feeling racy? Switch the gauges to a fiery red and stomp the gas pedal. For relaxed highway cruising, opting for an icy blue or forest green helps calms things down.

2011 Fiat 500 – Perfume dispenser
We tried to limit our selection of wacky features to vehicles sold in North America. But with U.S. sales likely to begin within the next few months, we couldn’t resist offering a sneak preview of the charming (and sweet-smelling) Fiat 500 city car. As an accessory, Fiat offers buyers of the 500 a built-in perfume diffuser for this retro-styled little hatchback. Available in white or black, the electric diffuser fits between the front seats. There are currently three fragrances: Citrus, Essence of Night and Breath of Fresh Air. The intensity of the scent can be adjusted by pushing the plus or minus buttons located on top of the device. About the only drawback—other than the giggling of your friends—is that the diffuser effectively turns the dual front-cupholder into a single drink unit.

2011 Honda Element – Dog Friendly Package
Your opinion of this next feature might be determined by whether or not you have paws and a tail. If you do—or happen to live with a creature that does—then the “Dog Friendly package” offered in the Honda Element could be your (second) best friend. For $995, this option package adds pooch-friendly features like a custom-fitted, soft-sided crate, spill-resistant water bowl, electric cooling fan mounted in the cargo bay, portable ramp, dog-patterned rear seat covers and heavy-duty dogbone- patterned floormats. Extra accessories include a leash, collar, ID tag and, yes, even a dispenser for dog-waste bags. Exterior paw-print badges on the tailgate and front fenders lets everyone know you’re a proud dog owner—as if being constantly covered in Fido’s hair wasn’t proof enough.

Source: autos.yahoo.com | Nick Kurczewski

5 Things Every Driver Should Know

Although the average owner’s manual overdoes it, that doesn’t mean we can’t all use an occasional refresher course in automotive common sense. And, don’t take this wrong, but we know there are plenty of you out there who won’t admit to the simple things you flat never learned.

So here is our unabashed (but slightly bashed) guide to the most elementary challenges of automotive operation. This is the stuff you didn’t necessarily learn in drivers’ education and your father just assumed you learned through transgenerational osmosis.

How to Change a Tire
It used to be that blowouts were a regular motoring event—right up there with thumping the occasional headlight-mesmerized raccoon and being forced to use a gnarly gas-station restroom. Thankfully, modern tires rarely shed a tread or spontaneously deteriorate. But guaranteed there will come a time when you’ll be forced to change a tire.

If a tire blows, don’t try to save it or its wheel by stopping immediately in a lousy situation; the shoulder of a busy freeway counts as a lousy situation. If possible, find a level, solid, well-lit surface and park, even if that means driving a mile at low speed with your hazard lights on. And for God’s sake, don’t stop in traffic. Ever. Then make sure the car can’t roll. The parking brake should be on, and the transmission in park (in an automatic) or in gear (in a manual).

Grab the spare, lug wrench, and jack. Most newer cars use scissors-type jacks that raise the car up at a predefined point on the car’s structure. All the info on where the tools and jacking points are is in the owner’s manual.

Now, lift the car using the jacking point nearest the disabled wheel so that the weight of the car is on the jack but the tire is still in contact with the road. If there’s a hubcap, that will need to be removed so the lug nuts can be accessed.

With the tire still in contact with the road, the lug nuts should be cracked loose (counterclockwise) but not removed. The car can then be jacked up farther and the lugs removed. With the nuts off, the tire and wheel assembly can be removed.

Put the spare on, and hand-tighten the lug nuts (clockwise). The car can now be lowered so the tire is touching the ground, although the car’s weight should remain on the jack. The lug nuts should then be tightened further using a star pattern (around the wheel, skipping every other lug) to ensure that they snug down evenly on the wheel.

Lower the car all the way onto the ground. Tighten the lug nuts down as snugly as possible. Hit the road.

Alternatively: Call the auto club.

How to Jump-Start a Car
First, make sure it’s the battery that’s really the problem. If the car’s lights come on brightly and the starter motor churns with its usual ferocity, the battery is likely heaving out plenty of amps.

Second, make sure you have a good set of jumper cables—robust, rubber-coated cables that can handle the amperage. Virtually all jumper cables should be color-coded with the red clamp intended for the positive pole on the battery and the black clamp for the negative.

Ideally, the car with the bum battery and the jump car should be parked on a clean, dry surface. And they should be parked so that the cars’ batteries are accessible and close enough to each other that the cables can comfortably span the space between them without being taut.

With both cars off, attach one of the red clamps to the positive (+) terminal on the battery that’s presumed bad. Be careful of the other red clamp—it’s now live. Then connect that other red clamp to the positive terminal on the jump car’s battery. After that, one black clamp goes to the negative (-) terminal on the good battery while the other black clamp should go to an unpainted steel surface on the stalled car, to be grounded.

Start the car with the good battery. Routing the cables this way uses the battery on the live car to start the disabled car, so there is no need to wait for the dead battery to charge. Start the dead car. Remove the cables in reverse order, close the respective hoods, and operate the two cars as usual.

If the electrical system in the car with the drained battery is otherwise okay, the battery should be recharged after about 15 minutes of driving and the whole thing should be okey-dokey.

Alternatively: If the car with the dead battery has a manual transmission, there’s always bump-starting the car, too. With the key turned on, the car in first gear, and the clutch pushed in, get the car rolling forward (by pushing it or by rolling down a conveniently located hill), and once up to jogging speed, quickly release the clutch. The car should jerk, then start.

How to Check Your Tire Pressure
Everything any car does depends on the four rubber donuts on which it sits. Making sure those tires are properly inflated is the best way to guarantee your car performs at its best from a handling and fuel-efficiency standpoint.

There are fancy tire gauges and straightforward tire gauges, but they all work pretty much the same way. Simply take the gauge to each tire, remove the valve-stem cap (and put it in your pocket so you don’t lose it on the ground), press the gauge flat against the valve stem, and the gauge will read the pressure. If you hear air hissing out of the valve alongside the gauge, you don’t have a complete seal and will get an inaccurate reading. What that reading should be is usually listed on a sticker in one of the front doorjambs. Or it’s in the owner’s manual. The proper pressure is not the maximum listed on the tire itself; that’s often far too high.

After that, it’s a matter of adding air and rechecking the pressure until the tires are at their correct inflation. But be careful not to overinflate, because that leaves the car riding on smaller, less stable contact patches.

Remember, it’s best to measure your tire pressure when the tires are cold—after the car has been parked for the night is ideal. Tires that are warm after running all day will have a higher pressure from the additional heat. Tire pressures should be checked at least once a month.

Alternatively: When tires shred, steel wheels make beautiful sparks against the pavement.

How to Check Your Oil
The oil in your car’s engine is there to lubricate, not burn. So checking your oil is a way to determine if there’s enough of the stuff aboard and if the engine has developed an appetite for it.

First, look in the owner’s manual and determine where the oil dipstick is. In most cars it’s alongside the engine block and marked with a brightly colored handle and an oil-can icon.

Take your car for a spin to warm the oil to normal operating temperature. Then park the car on a level surface and let it sit with the engine off for at least five or ten minutes. Open the hood, find the dipstick, and pull it out by the handle. The long shaft of metal that makes up the majority of the stick should be covered in engine oil. Wipe that off with a clean rag.

Reinsert the dipstick, and then pull it out again. At the bottom of the stick will be markings showing where the normal oil level should be. If there’s oil on those markings, you’re good. If it’s below them, add a half a quart of oil at a time until you reach the appropriate level. If there’s no oil on the stick at all, you have a problem.

Don’t run your engine on a measly oil supply. Add the appropriate type of motor oil (that’s in the owner’s manual, too) as soon as possible to an engine that’s low. Even if it’s only been a few hundred miles since the oil sump was filled, you could have serious problems.

Alternatively: Throwing a bearing is destructive and dramatic.

How to Get Unstuck
You just drove into muck, and the car is stuck. What to do?

From snow: It’s critical to keep a light foot on the gas, because too much throttle merely spins the tires, heating them up and melting the snow around them, which will refreeze into ice.

First, get out and see how bad you are stuck. If it is just your drive wheels that are blocked, the process will be much simpler. But if you tried to plow through a drift and the whole car is angled on a mound of snow, you’re going to have to do some digging first to get the car back on solid ground.

If you can move at all, “rock” the vehicle back and forth by shifting between drive and reverse and going as far as you can in either direction. Be careful not to step on the gas before the gear engages, or you could do serious damage to the transmission. Sometimes it helps to clear a little space around your front tires by cranking the steering wheel back and forth. You can get a little extra traction by putting cardboard under the drive wheels, too. If there’s no cardboard around and the situation is desperate, the car’s floor mats might also work. If that fails, keep shoveling.

From mud or sand: Whatever you do, don’t spin the tires. That will just dig a deeper hole. Instead, put something in the intended path of the drive wheels—palm fronds, branches, beach towels, wood blocks, your kid brother, anything—and proceed slowly.

Ideally, if you’re wandering off-road, you should bring a mud ladder or sand ladder with you. Mud and sand ladders are basically small bridges made of steel, rope, or wood that can be placed before the drive wheels and driven across. Of course, anyone so well prepared as to have a sand or mud ladder along is also more likely to have a buddy with a winch nearby.

Alternatively: Abandon the vehicle in place and buy a new one.

Source: Yahoo.com

American Cars - Red, White and Cheap

Many American cars and trucks are going for below the dealer’s wholesale price, according the real-world pricing data provided by Vincentric for AOL Autos. That includes truly top-notch vehicles that are competitive, on every level, with foreign competitors.

The Cadillac CTS could be the poster child for this crazy car sale of the century. Even at its full sticker price, the CTS is well worth the money. Here you have a car with the outstanding handling and ride qualities of its German competitors but with more room inside than a similarly-priced BMW or Mercedes-Benz.

The interior is also one of the prettiest in the business. Plus, the controls for navigation, climate control and entertainment are much easier to use than those found in most luxury cars. The CTS was also named a “Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Source: cnn.com

GM falls behind Toyota in annual global sales

GM said Wednesday it sold 8,355,947 cars and trucks around the world in 2008, falling about 616,000 vehicles short of the 8.972 million Toyota announced Tuesday. GM said the shortfall was mainly caused by the economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe that slashed vehicle demand in those major markets, where Toyota doesn’t have as large of a presence.

Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, downplayed the significance of the drop to No. 2, saying that the automaker is focused on profitability rather than sales volume.

“I don’t think being No. 1 in vehicle sales means much at all to the American consumer,” DiGiovanni said in a conference call with reporters and analysts. “I think what matters most to the consumer is strong brands and strong products. And the key thing right now with what the industry is going through now is viability and profitability.”

Detroit-based GM, which has closed plants and laid off workers to cut production as it faces the worst U.S. auto market in more than 25 years, received a $13.4 billion lifeline from the federal government last month. But the bailout requires GM to submit a plan for long-term viability, and the loan may be called back if the government hasn’t determined by March 31 that the plan can succeed.

DiGiovanni said all automakers are currently facing risks and challenges not seen since the Great Depression, and he pointed out that even Toyota expects to post an operating loss for the current fiscal year — its first in 70 years.

Toyota’s overall global sales fell 4 percent for 2008, marking that automaker’s first decline in a decade. The Japanese automaker has cut production in both North America and Japan to align its product offerings with slowing consumer demand.

GM posted an 11 percent drop in global sales, including a 21 percent drop in North America. GM Europe sales fell 6.5 percent, including a 21 percent plunge in the fourth quarter as the global economy melted down.

Those declines were partially offset by a 3.2 percent increase in sales at GM’s Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, and 2.7 percent growth in Asia-Pacific sales. Sales outside of the U.S. accounted for 64 percent of GM’s global sales in 2008, up from 59 percent the year before.

Toyota’s move into the top sales spot wasn’t unexpected. The automaker nearly leapfrogged GM in 2007, selling only about 3,000 fewer vehicles than the U.S. company did that year.

DiGiovanni said Toyota’s move to the top of the sales rankings doesn’t necessarily signal a turning point in the industry. He said it’s entirely possible that GM could regain the No. 1 spot once U.S. and European markets recover and sales in key emerging markets pick up.

“That story has yet to be written,” DiGiovanni said. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen.”

GM shares rose 3 cents to end at $3.53, while Toyota’s U.S. shares rose $1.64, or 2.5 percent, to $67.52.

Source: yahoo.com

Ford, Toyota post sharp drop in Sales

GM said it will start its annual “Red Tag” sale on Tuesday rather than in mid-November, as is customary. GM will offer as much as $8,500 off select 2008 and 2009 models, according to a dealer who listened to a GM broadcast outlining the sale.

A drop-off in personal spending tied to economic woes and the credit crunch kept buyers out of U.S. showrooms for much of the month, even as auto makers boosted incentives to spur sales and once sky-high gas prices collapsed to a nationwide average of about $2.65 a gallon.

Ford, in reporting its results, referred to “an economic gauntlet, the likes of which haven’t been seen in more than two decades.”

Toyota, the second-largest auto seller in the U.S. behind GM, reported light-vehicle sales of 152,101. There were 27 selling days in October — one more than a year earlier.

It was Toyota’s sixth-straight month of sales drops, reflecting how the Japanese giant has been suffering from the same forces that have battered its Detroit-based rivals despite its strong lineup of fuel-efficient passenger cars.

In October, Toyota’s Camry car failed to outsell Ford’s F-150 pickup truck, trailing 30,556 to 43,324, as Camry sales fell 9.4%. The last two weeks of the month saw buyers starting to warm up again to gas-guzzling pickups and sport utility vehicles because of bargain prices.

The last several months have seen a seesaw battle between the Camry, Toyota’s Corolla, two cars from Honda Motor Co. and the F-150, a mainstay of Ford’s product line, for the status of top-selling U.S. vehicle. The Corolla racked up 27,386 sales, up 6.1%.

Toyota, which is battling GM for the crown of the world’s best-selling auto maker, said passenger car sales fell 15%, while sport-utility sales slumped 29%. Light-truck sales dropped 34%.

Toyota division sales fell 21%, and Lexus recorded a 35% decline.

For Toyota, the last five years have seen particularly rapid sales growth, as the company expanded in the U.S. and other overseas markets. But the past year has delivered more bad news for the auto industry than anyone imagined, making it difficult for Toyota and other auto makers to use emerging-market sales to offset huge U.S. losses.

Ford reported light-vehicle sales of 132,248 as Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped 27%. Ford truck and van sales fell 19%, with SUV sales tumbling 54% and F-series truck sales dropping 16%. Last week, Ford announced it plans to recall more than 1,000 laid-off workers to accelerate production of the redesigned F-150. Some 3,000 of the 2009 models were sold last month as the vehicles begin their rollout to showrooms.

Sales of the Edge “crossover” vehicle fell 39%. The car-based wagon — designed to look and function like an SUV but boasting modestly better fuel economy — has seen waning demand as consumers flock to cars that are less expensive and more efficient.

The Focus, a hot-selling small car, saw an 18% decrease. Ford sales analyst George Pipas had said recently that small cars were on track to have the highest share of the October market, accounting for 23% of overall U.S. sales. October was also poised to mark the first time since 2000 that passenger cars and crossovers outsell pickups and SUVs.

In general, U.S. auto sales were expected to tumble about 29% in October to their lowest level in nearly 17 years, according to car-shopping Web site Edmunds.com. And November, traditionally one of the year’s weakest sales months, is forecast to be “terrible,” Edmunds added. The latest results come on the heels of a September that saw double-digit sales declines from all major auto makers and the slowest sales pace in 15 years.

Source: online.wsj.com

7 Ways Dealers Make You Pay Extra

1. Mixing negotiations. Salespeople like to combine the vehicle price, trade-in, and/or financing negotiation, often asking you what you can afford to pay per month. This gives them more latitude to provide a favorable figure in one area while inflating figures in other areas. In the end, this could cost you more overall.

Avoid this trap by negotiating one thing at a time, starting with the price of the car. Approach this as if you were paying cash, with no trade-in. To get the best deal, you should go in with a starting price thats based not on the vehicles sticker price but on how much the dealer paid for it. The dealer invoice price is commonly available on Web sites and in pricing guides, but that isnt necessarily what the dealer paid. Behind-the-scenes bonuses, such as dealer incentives and holdbacks, give the dealer more profit margin–sometimes thousands of dollars–which gives you more room to haggle. To help, Consumer Reports New Car Price Reports (available via ConsumerReports.org) includes the CR Bottom Line Price, which is the dealer invoice minus any incentives, holdbacks, or rebates. A reasonable starting price is 4 to 8 percent over the CR Bottom Line Price, depending on how much demand there is for the model.

Make it clear to the salesperson that you want the lowest possible markup over your starting price, and that youll visit other dealerships selling the same vehicle and will buy from the one with the best price.

Once you’ve settled on a price, discuss financing and any trade-in separately. This makes it easier to get the best deal at every step of the transaction.

2. 0 down, 0 interest, 0 payments for one year. This may sound good, but there are downsides that can cost you money. After the first year, you still owe all the monthly payments youve delayed, often at a higher-than-necessary interest rate. In short, you end up owing much more than the sticker price on a vehicle that is now a used car.

Consider this kind of deal carefully. No down payment, for instance, means youll have to finance more, which makes the monthly payments higher and increases the amount you pay in interest over the life of the loan. Be sure you know what the interest rate will be after the first year, and compare with rates that are currently available. Keep in mind that many buyers dont qualify for zero-percent loans and other low rates. Knowing the current rates can also help you avoid being talked into a rate thats higher than what you could get elsewhere.

3. The leasing game. Many leasing customers assume that the monthly payment the salesperson quotes is a nonnegotiable figure. Thats not true. The figure is often based on a vehicles sticker price with no discount, and can be negotiated just as if you were buying the car. In fact, to keep the transaction simple, you can negotiate the vehicle price before mentioning that you want to lease.

Other negotiable lease items include the down payment, annual mileage limit, and purchase-option price. Just as when buying, you can have dealers compete against each other, giving your business to the one that offers you the best deal.

4. Financing and your credit score. Dealers like to arrange the financing for your vehicle because it gives them another source of profit. But the interest rate they offer may be higher than you could get elsewhere. Dont make financing a purchase-time decision. Before visiting the dealership, make sure you know how youll pay for the vehicle. Call ahead to find out what the dealers rate is, and compare it with what you could get from banks, credit unions, or other lending institutions. If you are preapproved for a loan, you can keep the financial arrangements out of the negotiations.

Remember that your credit score will affect what interest rate youre offered, so its good to know it in advance. Ideally, check your credit score a couple months before buying the car so that you have time to correct any errors in your report.

Knowing your credit score can also protect you if a disreputable dealer tries to give you a higher interest rate than you deserve. Any score over 700 should ensure you the lowest rates. A report with a credit score costs $15 or less at each of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, www.equifax.com, 800-685-1111; Experian, www.experian.com, 888-397-3742; and TransUnion, www.transunion.com, 800-888-4213.

5. Loading on the options. Salespeople will sometimes try to make up for a low price on a vehicle by talking you into a lot of optional equipment. Do your homework, so you know what options you want and which you can live without. Many options are available separately, but others can only be bought as part of a package. Consider these carefully. Option packages can make you pay for features you dont need to get a few you want. Its best to choose a vehicle trim level that gives you most of the options you want, then add other options separately. If a model doesnt have the features at the price you want, consider another.

Remember that you can negotiate the price of options. Various Web sites and Consumer Reports New Car Price Reports give you dealer invoice price for all available options.

6. Extras you dont need. Another profit source for dealers is extras such as rustproofing, fabric protection, paint sealant, and etching your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on windows to deter thieves. Sometimes, these types of charges will simply appear on your bill of sale without anyone having mentioned them to you. Dont waste your money. What could cost the dealer about $90 can cost you $1,000 or more.

Vehicle bodies are already treated to protect against rust. Upholstery is typically treated at the factory, or you can do it yourself with a can of spray-on fabric protectant. Paint sealants and waxes are available for under $15 at any auto-parts store or supermarket. Some states do require dealers to offer VIN etching, but none require that you buy it from them. If you want VIN etching, you can do it yourself with a $25 kit.

Dealer prep fees–such as checking tire pressure–should be included in the purchase price, not listed as extras. If these items are on your bill of sale, refuse to pay for them.

7. The question of extended warranties. At some point in the buying process, the dealerships financing manager will try to sell you an extended warranty, which can cost hundreds of dollars. Consumer Reports does not recommend buying an extended warranty unless you plan on keeping a trouble-prone vehicle for an extended time after the original warranty runs out. Most manufacturer warranties are sufficient, with bumper-to-bumper coverage of at least three years or 36,000 miles and powertrain coverage thats often longer. If you want an extended warranty, ones offered by the auto manufacturer are typically better than those offered by third-party companies.

Some disreputable dealers may tell you that you must buy an extended warranty because the bank requires it. In fact, lenders typically dont require it, and making you pay for one under these pretenses is illegal in some states.

Source: yahoo.com

Hundreds of car dealerships are apparently doomed

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years in some form or another, and I have never seen consolidation like this going on,” said Peter Welch, association president.

The National Automobile Dealers Association says that they expect 600 dealerships to close this year, and domestic dealerships are going to be the hardest hit. There are just too many dealerships and not enough market share for domestic cars:

There were just too many GM dealers chasing dwindling market share, he said. GM commanded 40 percent of the market in the 1980s, selling cars through 7,000 dealerships. But while GM’s slice of the market tumbled by 40 percent or more, the number of dealers has declined by 1 or 2 percent, Mattia said.

“The dealers will have to suck it up and go away,” said Mattia, who now leads Auto Engage, a consulting firm for dealers and manufacturers. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t have a nationwide loss of 10 percent of the dealers.”

Source: consumerist.com

Should You Lease a car or buy New?

What? With gas prices spiking, shouldn’t you be looking to trade down for something more fuel-efficient? Shouldn’t you consider that $2.99 gas guarantee Chrysler keeps advertising? We’ve all seen the stories about record low auto sales this year. Isn’t this a buyer’s market?

Well, yes. Those are all reasonable arguments. But you still might not want to buy a new car. Hold onto what you have for as long as possible — and if you absolutely must replace your daily driver, lease a new car while you still can. It could make a lot more sense to buy in a few years than to buy now, and a good lease on a 2009 could give you the freedom to do that.

Why Leasing Makes Sense
#1: You don’t want to be stuck with a 2009 car in 2014

Because the design process for a new car takes about two to three years, the new 2009 model-year cars reaching dealership lots this fall were conceived on drawing boards in 2005 or 2006, when gas prices were just over two dollars a gallon. These cars weren’t designed for a world of four-dollars-a-gallon gas. Cars that fit today’s reality are still in the design stages and coming to dealerships in 2010 or later.

The smallest car Ford could sell you today (a 2008 Focus) would net an EPA-estimated combined fuel economy rating of 28 mpg. The most fuel-efficient mass-produced car on the road today, the 2008 Toyota Prius, is rated for 46.

But in just a year or two, you’ll see a much more impressive set of stickers on new car windows. Ford could sell you a Fiesta, a subcompact that wowed the automotive press at the Geneva Motor Show last spring and reportedly gets almost 40 mpg. According to Toyota engineers, the next generation of the Prius could win an EPA rating of 94 mpg.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the average new car buyer will hold onto their purchase for eight years. Edmunds estimates that the term of the average new car loan has stretched to over 62 months. So if you were to buy a 2009 model-year car, you’d probably be paying for it until 2014 and driving it until 2016 — when automakers will have had years to improve on the already-impressive fuel economy numbers of 2010 models.

Oh, and when you decide to get rid of that 2009 car at last, you’ll be left trying to sell an old car with poor fuel economy in a market that long ago passed it by. Most leases, on the other hand, last three years. Lease a 2009 today, and in late 2011 you’ll be able to give it back to the dealer and get one of those post-2010 cars.

#2: Leasing protects you from unexpected depreciation

Millions of drivers who bought SUVs in the world of cheaper gas have learned a harsh truth this year: depreciation is a big risk. SUVs have lost value much quicker than anyone predicted, thanks to soaring gas prices. Some dealerships won’t even accept SUVs as trade-ins anymore, and owners hoping to sell them on the private market are forced to accept offers thousands of dollars below what they thought the car would be worth.

Those who leased an SUV, however, are just handing their headaches back to dealers and walking away scot-free. In fact, Ford — one of the most successful SUV manufacturers in recent years — has lost $2.1 billion on returned trucks and SUVs in the first half of 2008 alone. When customers turn in the vehicles, their residual value is much lower than the company had expected — and Ford Credit eats the difference.

#3: This may be your last chance to lease

In 2004, GM made more money leasing cars than selling them. But today those numbers have completely flip-flopped. Leases are proving to be a huge risk for automakers — a risk they may not take much longer.

On July 27, Chrysler Financial announced it would stop offering leases altogether. Two days after Chrysler’s decision, GMAC, North America’s biggest auto lender, announced an end to lease incentives in Canada. GM hasn’t followed suit in the U.S. yet. All the General will tell its dealers, so far, is that it won’t stop offering leases in August. After that, they make no promises.

Ford, after announcing that jaw-dropping loss on leased vehicles, didn’t stop offering leases. They simply raised the payments on many leases so that they make little sense for buyers.

But some automakers — particularly the imports — still offer favorable lease deals. And if you need a new car this year, it might make sense to get into one of those leases now, return the car in three years and then think about buying.

Why You Might Buy Now Anyway

Leasing has two major drawbacks. The first is mileage limits. If you’re going to exceed them, a lease won’t make sense for you. But with Americans driving fewer miles than ever before as we look to save on gas, agreeing to a mileage limit would make sense for many of us. At $4 a gallon, we’re not going to drive more than we have to, anyway.

The second drawback is that the payments never end. Provided they hold onto it long enough, a buyer will eventually own a car without making payments on it. A lessee never will. In the long run, it often makes more sense to buy and hold onto a vehicle for as long as possible.

But as rapidly as car technology will advance over the next several years, many buyers will soon be dissatisfied with something on lots today. If you’re always on the lookout for the next big thing, avoid buying a new car — and if you find yourself needing one this year, consider leasing it while you still can.

Source: yahoo.com