National Car Rental

You are about to go to your first car auction. You can feel the excitement in the air. There are so many cars to choose from. But do you really know what to expect at a car auction? Do you know the legalities that occur at a car auction? Most people get in way over there heads at a car auction. If this is your first car auction, you better come prepared.

There are a lot of things you need to do and a lot of things you need to pay attention to at a car auction. First off, before you go to a car auction make sure you have enough money in your bank account. All cars purchased at a car auction must be paid in full. You also need to bring your drivers license and any other form of ID to the car auction. This is needed to buy the vehicle and to do the title work and registration.

When you first get to the car auction you should make notes of the cars you are interested in. Then, if you can, go to kellybluebook.com and check the retail value of the vehicles you would like to purchase. This way you know what to go with when you make your bid. At a car auction, many vehicles have a reserve price. This means that the vehicle has a minimum price t be sold at. If it is too high, do not bid on it. Be sure when you do bid that you do not get into a bidding war. Never bid more than you can afford. If the bidding war begins, just walk away. At a car auction, it is every man for himself.

Before you begin to bid on cars, you need to see if the vehicle is a good buy or not. Many vehicles at a car auction could have been previously damaged. An example of this is in Texas and Louisiana many cars were severely damaged by flooding during a hurricane. These vehicles were sent to a car auction and the buyers more than likely had no idea the vehicles had flood damage. You may also wish to take a mechanic to the car auction. A mechanic is a good idea at a car auction because they can see where someone may have tried to hide repairs and damage that the vehicle might have incurred. Lastly, you can get a free Carfax vehicle history report on the vehicle if you get the vehicles identification number (VIN).

Remember, at a car auction vehicles are sold “as is” and they do not come with a warranty. Keep all of these tips in mind to protect yourself from a bad purchase. You are supposed to go to a car auction to get a great deal on a car and to save money. With the proper frame of mind, this is easily accomplished.

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.caronlinecenter.info a blog focusing on the Car, resources and articles. This site provides detailed information on Car. For more info visit his site at: Car

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Filed under: nationalcarrental.car-rental-zone.info on June 20th, 2008 | No Comments »

Each year experts in the automobile industry come up with their lists of the top ten vehicles of the year. Some experts put the vehicles through a series of tests, while others create their lists purely on market and consumer response. Vehicle choice is certainly a personal one, but experts like Cars.com, Consumer Reports magazine, Automobile magazine, and Car and Driver magazine, are certainly worth listening to. What did they have to say this year?

Well, the Cars.com list of most popular vehicles in 2005 was topped by the Honda Civic. Cars.com analyzes the vehicular market to come up with the most popular new car models based on consumer interest (i.e. on the number of email requests for price quotes sent to dealers) and not car tests. Here’s their top ten list for 2005:

1. Honda Civic

2. Honda Accord

3. Toyota Corolla

4. Honda Odyssey

5. Toyota Camry

6. Toyota Prius

7. Toyota Sienna

8. Honda CR-V

9. Toyota Highlander
10. Toyota Tacoma

The Consumer Reports magazine list was also topped by a Honda, only this time it was a Honda Accord Hybrid, but the method of choosing the top cars is very different. Consumer Reports magazine took 200 vehicles and put them through 45 tests. At the end they chose the top cars according to nine categories. For example, the Subaru Forester was the best “Small SUV“, the Lexus RX330 was the best “Midsized SUV”, the Lexus LS430 was the best luxury sedan, the Subaru Impreza was the “most fun to drive”, and the Toyota Prius was the best “green car.”

Meanwhile, Automobile magazine chooses the top vehicles in 13 different performance categories, such as, Coupe, Family Car, Luxury Sedan, Minivan, Pickup, Small car, Sports car, Sport sedan, amongst others. They come up with one “ultimate vehicle” and this year it was the Chrysler 300C.

According to Car and Driver magazine, the Chevrolet Corvette topped the list as a best “performance car” and the Ford Mustang was the best “muscle car”.

Dylan Miles, journalist, and website builder, lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.autocarplanet.com on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

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Filed under: nationalcarrental.car-rental-zone.info on June 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »