With prices averaging more than $20,000 for a new vehicle and $9,500 for a four-year-old vehicle, most consumers need financing or leasing to acquire a vehicle. In some cases, buyers use “direct lending:” they obtain a loan directly from a finance company, bank or credit union.

In direct lending, a buyer agrees to pay the amount financed, plus an agreed-upon finance charge, over a period of time. Once a buyer and a vehicle dealership enter into a contract and the buyer agrees to a vehicle price, the buyer uses the loan proceeds from the direct lender to pay the dealership for the vehicle.

Consumers also may arrange for a vehicle loan over the Internet. The most common type of vehicle financing, is “dealership financing.”, but the smart car buyer knows it’s better to shop for financing before you shop for the car, and the internet is fast becoming the “big dog” in auto financing.

In a dealership financing arrangement, a buyer and a dealership enter into a contract where the buyer agrees to pay the amount financed, plus an agreed-upon finance charge, over a period of time. The dealership may retain the contract, but usually sells it to an assignee (such as a bank, finance company or credit union), which services the account and collects the payments. For a vehicle buyer, internet financing offers:

1. Convenience - Consumers can shop for financing from many different sources (often from one website), from the comfort and privacy of their own home.

2. Multiple financing options - A potential auto buyer now has the power to “shop the nation” for auto financing and get approval within minutes, without ever leaving their den or living room.

3. Special programs - From time to time, online loan entities may offer incentive discounts to buyers who have procured a loan with them previously, or are already doing business with a partnered company.

4. Low overhead - Some financial companies are now “internet only” which allows them to have very low overhead. In turn they tend to pass the savings on to their customers in the form of lower interest rates, and to their employees in the form of better wages. The later usually translates into better customer service.

For the vehicle buyer, dealership financing offers:

1. Convenience - Dealers offer buyers vehicles and financing in one place.

2. Multiple financing relationships - The dealership’s relationships with a variety of banks and finance companies mean they can offer buyers a range of financing options.

3. Special programs - From time to time, dealerships may offer manufacturer-sponsored, low-rate programs to buyers.

One downside of waiting to finance through a dealership is that the customer may get “car fever”, and step into a financing situation that may be less than optimal, just so they can “drive the car home today”. Automobile salesmen are quite aware of this potential, and will sometimes help the customer’s emotions get the best of them.

Do your homework - The complete article can be found at http://www.aloanandlovingit.com/vehicle-finance.html

…Arm yourself with knowledge and you become invincible!

About The Author

John Martin is the owner of aloanandlovingit.com, a personal finance website featuring up to date, informative content. Visit http://www.aloanandlovingit.com and signup for the now famous, seven-day financial awareness e-course.

(c) 2005 eyebye media (John Martin)

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair

(NC)-Many people buy cars privately rather than through dealers. You can often save money going this route, however, keep in mind that if you have problems with the vehicle it may be difficult, if not impossible, to get any assistance or compensation from the vendor. Here are some more tips on how to get the best deal when buying a used car:

It’s “buyer-beware” when purchasing a used car, so, be sure to take it to your mechanic for an inspection before handing over any money. If he (or she) finds the vehicle unsafe and/or in need of repairs, determine who will pay for them beforehand and include this in your written purchase agreement.

Check for liens against the vehicle. A lien means that money is owed on the vehicle and although the vendor is in possession of the vehicle, its legal claim belongs to someone else, such as a bank. If you buy a vehicle with a lien against it, you might be held responsible for future payment. Legislation differs across jurisdictions on the consequences of buying a vehicle with a lien. It is possible that the new owner may be required to pay the money owed or alternately you may risk having the vehicle seized. Contact your provincial or territorial office of consumer affairs for information specific to your jurisdiction or to find the organization in your jurisdiction responsible for conducting lien checks.

Ensure that the person you buy the car from is its registered owner. Remember to ask for repair bills and maintenance records.

If you decide to buy a vehicle from a private seller understand that he or she could be in the business of reselling poor-quality, stolen and/or rebuilt vehicles. Some of these people, frequently referred to as “curbers” or “curbsiders,” may be involved with any number of other scams, such as tampering with the odometer or selling vehicles with liens against them.

The risk of curbsider scams makes it especially important that you get the used vehicle checked by a mechanic. You may want to question a mechanic you know and trust to see if the odometer has been rolled back. They can often tell by comparing wear and tear with the odometer reading.

Remember that you don’t have the right to change your mind after a sale such as this. If you have problems with the vehicle it will most likely be impossible to get any assistance or compensation from the vendor. Litigation may be your only option.

As with any large ticket purchase, there’s a lot to know in order to get the deal that’s right for you. The sources of information about buying cars are limitless. It can be quite frustrating, and time consuming to get what you need. Until now that is. Thanks to a new Web site (ConsumerInformation.ca) created by federal, provincial, territorial governments and their partners, Canadians now have easy access to hundreds of objective, reliable, current consumer information sources.

About The Author

News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial “fill” items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair

CollectorCarTraderOnline.com Restructures with New Name, New Product Lines

August 23, 2005, VIRGINIA BEACH, VA In a move that demonstrates its leadership and accelerates its position in the online advertising sector, CollectorCarTraderOnline.com unveils multiple advanced product offerings for specialty car businesses. Widely known for its large database of classified specialty car listings, CollectorCarTraderOnline.com has reestablished itself with fully integrated Web marketing utilities and a new brand identity. Collector Car Trader Web Services [CCTWS] as its official name, is the company s next step to providing cutting edge technology to the specialty car industry.

The company is focusing on bringing integrated and scalable business consumer marketing solutions to companies operating in the heavily populated Internet world. The number of online users will reach 231 million in 2009, representing 75 percent of the total U.S. population. (Jupiter Research, March 2004) Its latest products, SiteConstruct and LeadSMART, give dealers the opportunity to maximize their Internet presence and better compete for customers. The new line of products deliver everything from preformatted website templates tailored to a dealer s product line, full website customization, access to all sales and customer inquires and more.

SiteConstruct allows dealers to create websites with full control over the design and content. SiteConstruct provides dealer websites with more visibility to search engines for a global reach.

LeadSMART brings together every lead and inquiry that a dealer receives and stores them in a central database management system. It eliminates the need for dealers to log into multiple accounts, or combine data from different sources. In addition, the LeadSMART interface has a Campaign Manager where dealers can design and distribute e-mail marketing campaigns to customers at any time.

We are redefining what online marketing means to the industry, said Marcus Dame, Business Development Manager of Collector Car Trader Web Services. We re beyond the days of the stand-alone portal dealers recognize that they need to maximize their presence on the Internet. With advanced design and product capabilities, we are delivering a new form of high-powered Internet marketing.

Collector Car Trader Web Services will continue to provide its online classified portal, CollectorCarTraderOnline.com. Its Inventory Management Tool makes it easy for specialty car dealers to showcase unlimited new and used inventory with up to 12 color photos per car in a database of more than 65,000 listings. With an average of 1.5 million visitors a month conducting over 9 million searches, the site s heavy traffic volume combined with advanced search features enable dealers to retail their cars online to a large audience of specialty car buyers.

Collector Car Trader Web Services is owned by Trader Publishing Company, the country s largest publisher of classified and photo advertising magazines. Trader Publishing Company s specialty car titles include Old Car Trader , Ford and Mustang Trader and Corvette and Chevy Trader. For more information about Collector Car Trader Web Services, please visit www.collectorcartws.com or call toll-free at 1-877-354-4066.

About the Author

Sarah Breeding is the Marketing Coordinator for Collector Car Trader Web Services.

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair