Category Archives: Automotive Resource Guide

Purchasing A New Recreational Vehicle

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By Shaan Randow

When looking to buy a new recreational vehicle think about what you would do if you were going to purchase a new car.

You certainly aren’t going to take the first deal you’re offered. You certainly aren’t going to purchase from the first dealer you visit without comparing prices. You certainly wouldn’t go without any idea of the value of the vehicle beforehand.

It is very important that you go armed with information when you’re thinking about purchasing a new recreational vehicle. This is some serious cash you’re going to be spending and you want to get the best possible deal. Recreational Vehicle dealers must make a large profit on the sale of each vehicle. They don’t sell the numbers that car dealers do so they have to make the maximum mark up on each vehicle.

There are many sites online that can be a help to you with finding the actual MSRP (manufacturers suggested retail price) of a new recreational vehicle. Recreational Vehicle dealers, like car dealers, buy their vehicles wholesale due to the number they buy, they have a fairly wide profit margin generally 15% to 35%. The dealer price you see on the vehicle isn’t necessarily what he has paid for it with incentives he receives from the manufacturer.

Make sure that you visit at least three recreational vehicle dealers with the same or similar vehicle. When you’re spending potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on a motor home you want to make sure you are getting the best deal. Deals do differ from region to region and from dealer to dealer.

Don’t become attached to any one recreational vehicle. Again, when you’re talking potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars it’s a business deal and not one where you should wear your heart on your sleeve. Remember, this is a new vehicle, and if you bypass this one the factory can always build another exactly like it.

Make sure that you do a little research into the dealers after sales service. Many dealers are your best friends during the deal, but then lose interest in you afterwards. You will want to check with friends and family that own recreational vehicles and perhaps with the Better Business Bureau before you purchase. Also, RV blogs and forums are a good way to get information about a particular dealer.

About the Author: This article courtesy of http://www.rv-traveller.com

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Traveling With Vehicle Tracking

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By Shawn Davis

Vehicle tracking is not just for anti-theft purposes anymore. It used to be that vehicle tracking was mainly put into cars by the wealthy who could afford to buy such high-tech devices. However, with the increasing affordability of technology, it is possible for more people to make use of tracking devices like Lo/Jack and the Spy Matrix GPS in order to prevent long-term loss of property. Now, however, vehicle tracking is a popular thing to use when doing regular travel. With it you need never stop and ask for directions.

Vehicle tracking for use with tourist functions is fast becoming popular because it is a great way to learn an area, and a great way to quickly find destinations. Most tracking devices make use of GPS and interact with satellites in order to give you your current locations. Many of these devices can also help you find other locations in relation to where you happen to be at the moment. All you need to do is type (or sometimes even speak) an address into the car’s on board computer and a map appears to show you where to go.

The amazing thing is that vehicle tracking does not simply show you where to go. GPS systems on cars can be hooked into computers that turn the data into voice signals. It is possible for such programs to interact and for you to actually hear directions such as “turn left on First Street” or “proceed straight through the light at Main Street.” That way you do not have to be worried about looking at a computer generated map. It is still available, if you like to see where you should be going, but the audible directions can help you focus better on driving.

Vehicle tracking can help you track where you are. It can also help you figure out where you have been, so that you can find your way back. And with vehicle tracking standard on many rental cars, you can take advantage of it even when you are away from your own vehicle. When you go on a trip with a properly outfitted car, you will never need to ask for directions again, thanks to vehicle tracking.

(c) 2005 Copyright www.spyassociates.com.

About the Author: To learn more about Spy and Surveillance Products visit http://www.spyassociates.com Read other related articles at http://spyassociates.blogspot.com/

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Do You Own A Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV)?

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By Diane Nassy

What in the world is a Flexible Fuel Vehicle? It’s a car or truck that is capable of burning certain alternative fuels. Now we’re not talking gasoline vs. diesel engines here, we’re talking about gasoline engines that can also burn ethanol, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, methanol, and p-series fuels. According to some chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy, p-series fuels are “a unique blend of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and the biomass-derived co-solvent methyltetrahydrofuran” just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, if you own one of these flexible fuel vehicles, and you could own one without realizing it, then you might be able to save yourself a whopping amount of money now that gas is nearing the price of gold.

Although some of the more exotic alternative fuels may not be flowing out of the pumps at your neighborhood service station, there is a good chance that ethanol is.

Ethanol is alcohol-based and it’s made by fermenting and distilling corn, barley, or wheat. It can also be made from “cellulosic biomass”, which is just a fancy phrase for “chunks of trees and grass”, except that this version is called “Bioethanol” instead of plain “Ethanol”.

E85 is an Ethanol/Gasoline product that’s being sold at a lot of gas stations. It’s a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. E95 is a 95/5 blend of ethanol and gasoline. Both blends are capable of being burned by most Flexible Fuel Vehicles.

Some service stations are selling an E10 (10/90 ethanol/gasoline blend), that doesn’t really qualify as an alternative fuel. Its primary purpose is to reduce carbon monoxide levels, and it can be burned by most any engine that burns gasoline.

Unlike Hybrid Vehicles, flexible fuel vehicles are not necessarily more expensive because of the alternative fuel option, and they aren’t anywhere near as rare. In fact, there’s a chance that you’re driving one right now. If the salesperson didn’t tell you, and you’re not the kind that reads owner’s manuals, and you’re ignoring the sticker that’s probably on the inside of your gas tank cover, you could be in for a cash-saving surprise.

If you’re not sure if you own an FFV, or you’re planning on buying a new car soon, then visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Flexible Fuel Vehicle ( http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/afv/models.html ) list.

If there isn’t a FFV in your life, there’s still hope. You can have an aftermarket conversion done. When you do a conversion, your gasoline-only engine ends up being able to burn some particular alternative fuel such as compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane), or Ethanol. You have three conversion choices; “dedicated”, “dual-fuel”, and “bi-fuel”. Dedicated means that your engine only burns one fuel after the conversion. Dual-fuel engines can burn two different fuels, and with a bi-fuel conversion, your engine burns two different fuels at the same time.

So, if you think that you have no choice but to continue paying through the nose when you’re paying at the pump, look into getting a Flexible Fuel Vehicle or an aftermarket conversion.

About the Author: Diane Nassy is the founder of http://www.save-on-gas-prices.com. Visit her website for great tips on ways to save on rising gas prices.
Email : deeljeabiz@gmail.com

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Getting Car Insurance on a Vehicle That You Do Not Own

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By Ed Sneineh

Can people establish an auto insurance contract on a car that they do not have title to? The answer is always ‘yes they can’. There is absolutely nothing illegal or unlawful (ie in the structure of the law, or in the state laws) that forbids insuring any automobile that you do not have possession to. The proper question, however, is if the policy contract that is insuring a vehicle which is not owned by the named insured is a valid contract- policy. The exact answer in this scenario is ‘it depends.’

One of the key principles in the insurance world is the principle of indemnity, which pronounces exactly that the objective of any insurance contract is to bring back the insured persons to their financial settings prior to the loss, and that these people can never advance monetarily from the insurance contract or claims. From this point comes the notion of insurable interest. There has to be some insurable interest among the owner of the contract and the insured subject. Insurable interest dictates that a person has to incur some financial loss as a result of destruction of a property for him or her to have insurable interest in that property. In the insurance business, insurable interest must exit at the time of the loss for property and casualty (including car insurance.) For life insurance contracts, however, the insurable interest must be existing only at the time of the ratification of the application to get the insurance policy.

The reason why insurable interest must exist at the time of the loss is to prevent insurance fraud. Imagine if someone insures his friend’s vehicle while the fiend also has his own insurance, and then later for both him and his friend collecting money for a theft loss of the vehicle. Also, in life insurance there has to be some sort of blood, business, or marriage relationship between the owner of the life insurance policy and the insured at the time of signing the life insurance application (i.e. not necessarily at the time of loss or death). This is needed to prevent wagering upon human life.

If the car in question is a car that you do not own (possess no title for it), then there seems to be no financial loss for you in the event of a loss to the vehicle, therefore you may insure it, but your insurance contract may not be valid because at the time of the loss the car was not yours. Remember that while car insurance is about insuring a car, it is classified as personal insurance, meaning it has to do with a particular person, and not the car itself.

So how do you deal with situations where a car is given to you, but the title is still in the name of a friend or relative and you are now required to have insurance? The answer is very simply: The insurance must be in the name of the titleholder and you need to be listed as an additional driver. This is the proper way of handling the situation. An exception to that is if the title is in the name of the spouse. In that case the named insured and titleholder can be used interchangeably between husbands and wives. Also, placing insurance under your name for a vehicle that is titled under your child’s name is also acceptable as long as you demonstrate some proof that you will suffer financially as a result of loss to that vehicle and you list the child on the policy as an operator. Perhaps your child lives with you and the child still relies on you financially? That is a good case of proving insurable interest.

When you call your insurance representative to get some car insurance quotes be sure to report this information to your agent. Improper disclosure of the titleholder or Named Insured on the policy is one of the main reasons why insurance companies refuse paying claims later. Certain elder and mature people (over 24 years) insure cars that are titled in the names of other youthful drivers (under age 25) who are normally charged extra by almost all insurers. It is hard to convince the insurance company that a youthful driver who owns a vehicle is not driving it, and since the company issued the policy for the other mature driver without charging the proper premium there is good ground for proving misrepresentation, where in circumstance like that a company may not pay claims. For example, if the automobile was insured full coverage and there was a total loss the insurance company will ask named insured to give up the title of the auto for them to pay you for the auto. In the event that you do not own the vehicle, you cannot legally sign to transfer the title, hence the company may find itself unable to pay you!

About the Author: Ed Sneineh, insurance professional for over 20 years, former college educator of insurance, and founder of Insurance Navy, a leader in providing auto insurance quotes, Chicago. Visit our website and get your car, SR22 insurance quotes in 5 minutes or less. Insurance Navy represents major carriers such as AAA, Travelers, Progressive, Hartford, and more than 20 other carriers.

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The Best Way to Keep Your Vehicle Reliable

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By Chad Slayton

When you get a new car from your Fort Worth ford dealer there is something important you should have in your mind. The car will need regular maintenance to ensure that it is always reliable. Just like your body needs a regular health check-up from your doctor, so does your car. History has taught us that prevention is always better than having a cure. Hence maintaining your car will protect it from regular breakdowns. Even with hard economic times, there are certain areas regarding vehicle maintenance that you cannot ignore.

The first thing you should do to ensure your vehicle stays in good condition is by changing the engine oil at the appropriate time. How long the oil will last for depends on the oil type you are using. There are three oil types available in the market namely synthetic, conventional and full-synthetic. If you are using conventional oil, you need to replace it after 3,000 miles. For a synthetic oil blend, you have to change your oil after 5,000 miles and in the case of full-synthetic oil, you can go for 10,000 miles. Failure to change the oil when the threshold is reached can lead to complex problems such as oil seal problems and engine sludge. Oil sludge is the main cause of engine damage that leads to leakages. It will also add extra costs for having your engine flushed. Sometimes a problem that could have been prevented with a simple oil change will lead to complex problems that require the vehicle to be tied down in the auto repair shop for weeks.

Another area that should be properly monitored is the fuel system. Although newer Ford vehicles do not rely on in-line fuel filters, older models still use this system. If your car uses this system, you should replace it after 19,000 to 29,000 miles. Replacing the fuel filter in time ensures the fuel pump lasts longer. There are also fuel injector cleaners available in the market that you can use to clean your filters. For better results, replace the filter before using the cleaners. You should also check the fuel type you use since fuel injectors usually clog due to regular use of cheap gasoline. Cheap gasoline contains waxy oilfins which, when accumulated, leads to clogging. Good quality gasoline contains detergents that prevent deposition of the oilfins.

Another area that should be properly maintained is the cooling system. Before going for a cooling system service, be sure of the type of anti-freeze your vehicle uses. Most of the new cars in Fort Worth have long lasting anti freeze compounds that last up to five years if the vehicle is used only for normal driving. However, these compounds are expensive compared to the ordinary anti-freeze compounds. Your car manual should indicate when it is best to go for the replacement.

Finally, the belts and hoses should be replaced at least once every two years. This however does not mean you have to wait until the two years are over and they are showing signs of wear. The best time to replace them is every 100,000 miles regardless of their condition since most belts start fail at this time. If you keep these points in mind, your car will remain in a good condition for years.

About the Author: SouthWest Ford is the #1 Fort Worth Ford Dealer offering exclusive internet only discounts on new cars Fort Worth as well as used cars Fort Worth. Visit http://www.southwestford.net/ now for great deals on all Ford vehicles.

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