Car Buying Is Easy If You Have The Right Resources

With car sales expected to be down this year, many dealerships will be desperate for any sale they can get, says Danny Chan, CEO of AutoBrag.com, a car-shopping comparison Web site that compiles price data from no-haggle dealerships. The slow conditions could prompt many of them to accept better deals as they struggle to keep their doors open, he added. But even though dealers might be hungry to make a deal, don’t expect that they’ll give in to your offers without a fight.

If you’re considering the purchase of a new car, you’ll need to prepare before browsing the show floor. Here are five tips on how to get a good deal on your new set of wheels:

1. Hit The Internet
The Web has a wealth of automobile information that can help consumers know how much they should be paying for a car and what deals they can get. AutoBrag.com tells consumers how much cars are selling for at actual no-haggle dealerships, and shoppers can use those quotes during their negotiation. Deals can also be found by expanding your online search to dealers beyond your immediate area. Even if the best deal is states away and the automobile needs to be transported to you, it may be worth the hassle.

2. Know What You Can Afford and Your Loan Options
Before negotiating, it’s also important to know exactly how much you can afford. But don’t max out your budget. Experts also advise not extending the term beyond the standard five years to bring monthly payments down. More manufacturers and dealers are now offering 7-year car loans; for a $20,000 car, the loan would rack up an additional $5,335 in interest.

And investigate loan options before hitting the showroom. Often, credit unions offer favorable automobile financing, Chan said. If opting for dealer financing, make sure you know what interest rate you should be paying before signing, he said.

3. Consider Older Model Years
When the 2009 models come out and 2008 cars are still on the lot, the older new cars can be bought at a decent discount for good reason — their age will cause them to depreciate faster. Two months before the release of the 2009 Toyota Camry, the 2008 model was being sold to consumers for an average of 5.32% below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, Chan said. But during February 2008, when the new model was released, the 2008 model was being sold for an average 10.39% below MSRP.

4. Negotiate Before Incentives
Get down to a good price before adding an incentive, even if adding a manufacturer’s rebate pushes the price below invoice. In fact, keep all the transactions separate — negotiating the price before the financing and the trade-in value. You’ll often get the most for your vehicle if you sell it yourself. But if you decide to trade in your old vehicle, use the Internet to learn what it’s worth. You can simply ask AutoBragBlog.com for your used car value.

5. Don’t Cave To Pressure
It’s a buyer’s market, so don’t be intimidated and be aggressive in your negotiating. If the salesmen won’t budge and you can’t get the price you want, be prepared to walk away and try another dealership, Chan said. He also recommends not paying for extras such as paint protection; dealers often put a huge mark-up on this extra, and you may be better off having it done somewhere else.

GM Posts Record US Automotive Loss of $38.7B for 2007

General Motors Corp. reported a $38.7 billion loss for 2007 on Tuesday, the largest annual loss ever for an automotive company, and said it is making a new round of buyout offers to U.S. hourly workers in hopes of replacing some of them with lower-paid help. GM won’t say how many workers it hopes to shed, but under its new contract with the UAW, it will be able to replace up to 16,000 workers doing non-assembly jobs with new employees who will be paid HALF the old wage of $28 per hour.

Go shopping for a Dodge Ram, and you may find a $4,500 factory incentive awaits.

On top of that, it’s likely a dealer will give you an all-smiles, deep-discount price that’s lower by thousands more. Despite these inducements, Rams are languishing on lots. Jonathan Banks, senior director of the Automotive Leasing Guide, says that excess dealer inventory is a leading indicator that it’s time not just for more incentives but possibly a price cut.

Good thing, because the Dodge Ram is among the most egregiously overpriced cars in the U.S. Rounding out the top five: 

1.) Dodge Ram 1500
2.) Mercury Grand Marquis
3.) Ford’s F-150
4.) Dodge Durango
5.) GMC Envoy.

Here’s a slideshow of the 15 Most Overpriced Cars.

If it’s done anything, it’s made me never, ever want to buy a Chevy.

Who hates those Chevy commercials because of their song “Our Country,” by John Mellencamp? According to Newsweek, everybody hates it. Mellencamp’s melancholy anthem have become so ubiquitous that they’re driving sports fans to distraction. Chevy thinks the campaign has been a success, and are actually making more “Our Country” commercials, despite heavy criticism from people who are sick of the song.

The company used Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” for 11 years, helping drive up truck sales 61%. Chevy spokesman Terry Rhadigan is aware of the negative buzz but has no plans to throttle back.  When it comes to building awareness, experts say, nothing succeeds like excess—even at the risk of overkill. Just great!

The Expert Service Problem

A few years ago, an economics graduate student named Henry Schneider drove his dad’s old Subaru station wagon up to Montreal. He had heard about a Canadian consumer interest group that had done undercover investigations of auto-repair shops, and he wanted to try a more academic version of its experiment. He handed the Subaru over to the mechanics working for the group, the Automobile Protection Association, for a complete inspection. They found that it had a small hole in its exhaust pipe, a blown taillight and several other relatively minor problems. Mr. Schneider took careful notes. But he also did something that no ordinary car owner would do. He asked the mechanics to show him how to mess up the car in a couple of serious but obvious ways.

They taught him how to loosen the battery cable (which can prevent a car from starting) and how to suck out coolant (which can leave an engine vulnerable to overheating). Armed with this knowledge, Mr. Schneider drove home to Connecticut and undertook a devilish little test. Schneider is trying to answer a question that has occurred to pretty much all drivers who have ever been given the unsettling news that a car needs more repairs than they had expected: Does it really? Or is the garage just looking to make some extra money off me?

Over the next few months, he took the Subaru to 40 garages, loosening the battery cable and draining some coolant before each visit and telling the same story, “We bought the car recently, and we should have had it looked at before we bought it, but we didn’t. It hasn’t started a few times. Can you check that out?” He also asked for a thorough inspection.

In most of cases, consumers aren’t sophisticated enough to make an independent judgment. That’s why they went to the expert. Economists sometimes refer to this situation as an “expert service problem,” because the same expert who is diagnosing the flaw is the one who will be paid to fix it. Anytime you call a plumber or roofer to your home or anytime you visit a doctor or dentist, you’re at risk of having an expert service problem.

Schneider’s results: Only 27 of the 40 garages did mechanics tell Mr. Schneider that he had a disconnected battery cable, the very problem to which he had pointed them by saying his car didn’t always start. Only 11 mentioned the low coolant, a problem that can ruin a car’s engine. 10 of the garages, meanwhile, recommended costly repairs that were plainly unnecessary, like replacing the starter motor or the battery. In all, only about 20% of the garages deserved a passing grade.

The Big Question: How can you be sure you’re not getting swindled? For an expensive repair, a second opinion makes sense, but it will be hard to know which garage to believe. Schneider noticed no performance difference between garages that talked him through what they found and less forthcoming garages. Until some savvy entrepreneur starts a garage-rating business, the best solution may be the oldest one: asking for a recommendation from someone who is knowledgeable enough to distinguish between good service and bad.

You can’t kill an electric car you can’t catch

Tesla Motors is a car company that’s both decades ahead of its time, and a year behind schedule. Soon, it will become clear which is more important to Tesla’s long-term future, and the future of the disruptive ideas the company represents. For those who somehow missed the blizzard of publicity that has swirled around this company for the past 18 months or so, Tesla (www.teslamotors.com) is a Silicon Valley start-up, bankrolled by some of the same people who brought you the Internet boom of the late 1990s. The company’s stated ambition is to develop over the next several years a full array of electric cars. Many influential leaders of Silicon Valley’s “clean tech” green-technology movement see Tesla as an icon of the broader effort to make big money by unshackling the U.S. economy from petroleum.

Tesla’s first model will be a $98,000 electric roadster, developed around the architecture of a Lotus Elise, that uses 6,831 lithium-ion batteries similar to those used in laptop computers, a patented electric-motor system, and a highly sophisticated package of controllers and software to deliver an exotically attractive car that zaps from standstill to 60 miles per hour in under four seconds and can travel up to 245 miles on a single charge. Tesla isn’t planning any traditional advertising, but if it did, one slogan could be: “You can’t kill an electric car you can’t catch.”

Tesla recently told potential customers that it can no longer guarantee delivery of 2008 models. Newcomers to the waiting list might well get 2009s. Tesla’s Big Idea was to start with an electric car that appeals to the id, not the superego. From the start, co-founder Martin Eberhard says he wanted a car that could outrun a Porsche in a 0-60 trial, and would go 250 miles on a charge. The production Roadster will hit the under four-second target for the 0-60 dash, and will get very close to the original goal on range.

Tesla so far has raised $105 million from venture-capital firms and Chairman Elon Musk, the PayPal founder who was a ground floor investor. That’s a lot for a tech startup, but it’s chump change in the auto industry, where car programs with century-old, conventional technology can easily cost $500 million to $1 billion.

How did they pick the name Tesla? Tesla is named for Nikola Tesla, the godfather of alternating current and radio who nonetheless died poor, in part because his weirdness wound up obscuring his genius. In recent years, Tesla has become a patron saint of Silicon Valley.

Honda Makes Stylish Attempt With Hybrid CR-Z

Hybrids can be muscular and stylish, too. That’s the message Honda hopes to send at this month’s Tokyo auto show with its new gas-electric hybrid sports car CR-Z. The vehicle has maintained “the essence of the sports car” while still delivering good mileage and less pollution, he said.

Hybrid vehicles tend to be bulkier than sleek sports cars because of the size and complexity of the hybrid systems, which include a battery, motor, engine, converter and other parts. They’re usually not known for their torque, acceleration, handling and innovative design. The CR-Z comes with a new hybrid system developed by Honda whose breakthroughs allowed designers to get around such restrictions to achieve its lean cutting-edge look. The model will be on display at the biannual Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public Oct. 27 in the Tokyo suburb of Chiba.

I don’t want to get run over by a quiet car

Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from the blind. Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to those who rely on their ears to determine whether it’s safe to cross the street or walk through a parking lot.“I hadn’t imagined there was anything I really wouldn’t be able to hear,” said Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the National Federation of the Blind’s Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety. “We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn’t hear it.”

The tests (admittedly unscientific) involved people standing in parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to signal when they heard several different hybrid models drive by. “People were making comments like, ‘When are they going to start the test?‘ And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or three laps around the parking lot,” Stein said.

National Federation of the Blind President Marc Maurer was quick to point out that they’re not advocating a return to gas guzzlers. They’d just like the fuel-efficient hybrids to make some noise. “I don’t want to get run over by a quiet car,” Maurer said. Manufacturers are aware of the problem but have made no pledges yet. Toyota is studying the issue internally. The Association of International Auto Manufacturers and the Society of Automotive Engineers are considering the possibility of setting a minimum noise level standard for hybrid vehicles.

…while maintaining total and absolute control over the sales process.

1. Pick the exact make and model of car you want. Don’t let a salesman change your mind.

2. Call around first anonymously and get prices. Tell them you are calling everybody, and the best deal wins. Write down the prices you are given, and note any difference in packages.

3. Pick the dealership you think you want to do business with based on the results of this phone call. Price should not be the decider (demeanor and gut feel should).

4. Go to the dealership you absolutely NEVER want to do business with. Nail down the details on the options — go for “loaded,” then whittle it down to find the approximate prices for each option. Make a detailed list with prices. Mark the options you must have and those can do without.

5. Do your research online and compare your pricing research with others and experts. Set an “ideal price” and an “I can live with it” price for the car you want with all the options you want, and again for the car you want with the minimum options. You now have a low and high figure for the car.

6. Go get cash or a pre-approved car loan for something less than the upper amount. Put the cash or check in a blank sealed envelope. Find out ahead of time how to deal with the pre-approved loan if the negotiated amount is less than the amount on the bank check. You do not want to have to leave the dealership to get a new check for a smaller amount, so try to arrange something in advance for this contingency.

7. Call your insurance carrier and tell them you are buying a new car. Do as much of the paperwork ahead of time as possible and determine the hours they can service you so you can avoid delays or surprises at delivery time. (Any delays benefit the dealer.)

8. Go to the dealer you want to deal with on a weekday, in the morning. Get dropped off or, ideally, have a friend or significant other go with you. (It always helps to have a witness.) Bring a sack lunch and drinks with you. You’re not leaving or letting your attention wander until you have a car.

9. Find the exact car you want. Use your list…this shows you’ve done your homework. Don’t be surprised if your salesman suddenly has to handle an emergency and hands you off to someone else. This is a good sign that you have the upper hand already.

10. Show them the envelope. Tell them you have cash/a pre-approved loan check, and three chances to get it from you if you can drive out by an exact time (by 3 PM is usually good), all paperwork done, taxes paid, and every other fee under the sun taken care of for less than the amount in the envelope. Do not give any hints about the amount, make them name heir price. If it’s way out of sight, don’t say anything. Just laugh and head for the door. They’ll chase you down and give you a much better number. If they don’t, go elsewhere. 11. Read everything. Twice. Have your friend do the same. Line out anything you don’t agree to or doesn’t apply, initial and date this and have the dealer rep do the same. Do not leave any blank spaces. Count the papers and make sure you get copies of all of them. Ask if there are any programs you need to opt out of to avoid being automatically signed up for them. Do whatever is required to opt out.

12. If at any time they give you attitude or BS, walk out. They will chase you down. Tell them they have only one chance left because they gave you attitude. Now they will deal. If they don’t, go elsewhere.

13. Try another city if yours is full of slime balls.

Buying A USED Car: Stay civil, do not let any emotion in. The same technique works for buying a used car, but tell them that you will not talk price until YOUR mechanic looks over the vehicle and gives you a report on it. Watch how much the squirm. 90% of used cars have a defect. Have the mechanic lined up for the time you will be needing the car checked out. NEVER use a mechanic who is near the dealership.Tell your mechanic “check this car like you would if your 16 year old daughter was going to have to drive it to Alaska and back alone.” Go back to the dealer with a list of all defects and an estimate to fix them. Negotiate a price adjustment. In some cases, you may agree to let the dealer do the repairs, BUT specifically put in writing that these repairs will be accepted only after a re-inspection by your mechanic and no crappy used or after-market parts will be used. Figure on devoting at least a month and looking at 200+ cars to find a good used car. Never rush to buy a car. These things take time. Another awesome article from the Consumerist.

Car Consumers Are More Decisive To Which Car To Buy

Ask most garden variety auto industry marketing executives about the “sales funnel” and they will talk to you about a six month process during which a car buyer typically starts the cycle of buying a new car:  from the first time they decide that there is a new car in their near future to the time they take delivery. This six-month cycle idea influences the way car advertisers “flight” their ad campaigns in the media, and allocate brand building ads versus retail ads meant to drive people to the dealership.

Google’s automotive practice says their research shows that the sales funnel isn’t six months at all, but more like 1 month. 70% of car buyers start the search for a new car less than a week before they make a purchase. 17% start just two weeks ahead. 19% start a month in advance. That’s almost 70% of the car-buyers starting the process no sooner than a month in advance.

Each of these have very appalling stories. Make sure to read them.

1. You’re Paying Too Much. If you have a good driving record, the odds are you can a better deal on auto insurance. After years of 5% rate increases, most major companies are either leveling out their prices or even rolling back rates. Why? Profits are on the upswing, and more significantly, accident rates are going down. Make an effort to shop for a new policy every year.

2. Forget Your Driving Record. We Want Your Credit Rating. A lot of factors are used to determine your premiums, including your driving record, age, the type of car you drive, marital status and, most important, your address. But increasingly, companies are using your credit history as an indicator of how likely you are to file a claim. You could have a spotless driving record, but maybe your business failed, or you have an error in your credit report. That would make you unavailable for preferred insurance, and you’d pay a lot more in premiums. Only twelve states now have laws that limit the use of credit scores in auto insurance.

3. We’re Pocketing Your Deductible. Most states give insurance companies up to 6 months to go after the money owed by another company. After that, they’re required to either give you the deductible or let you go after the other company on your own. If they win only a partial settlement, a whole new set of rules kicks in. Usually, the winnings are split between you and your insurer. In 1996 State Farm paid out a $22 million settlement in Texas for failing to refund deductibles. That case set off a chain of 22 additional settlements by major insurers for the same offense, including Geico, Allstate, Prudential, Liberty Mutual and Nationwide.

4. We Can Dump You On A Whim. The first 30 to 60 days after signing up for insurance is called the “binding period,” and during that time the insurance companies can cancel your policy for just about any reason, often without explaining why. If you want to find out why your policy wasn’t renewed, good luck. Insurance companies aren’t required to divulge specific details. Even more common is “nonrenewable,” when you’re simply cut off after your policy expires. What happens if you get nonrenewed? You’ll find yourself banished to the dreaded high-risk category of auto insurance, along with drunk drivers and Corvette-driving teenagers.

5. We’ll Stiff You If Your Car Is Totaled… Your collision policy entitles you to fair market value for your totaled car’s worth, but the amount you actually get could leave you feeling ripped off. Until the mid-1990s, insurers determined car values by averaging the prices in the National Market Reports Automobile Red Book and the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Official Used Car Guide. Now companies like CCC Information Services in Chicago control the market and the prices they give out are almost always lower than the book values. CCC looks at cars for sale in your area in similar condition, along with local ads, to determine values. There’s no guarantee that your insurer will pay you even CCC’s figure.
What can you do to protect yourself? When your insurer hands you a CCC report, it usually lists the actual cars the company used for comparison. Jot down the vehicle identification numbers to make sure they actually exist and that there are no mistakes.

6. …And Even If It Isn’t. Ever hear of “diminished value“? The insurance companies are betting you haven’t. Even if your car is repaired after an accident, there could be flaws in the repair process. Either way, your car’s bound to be worth less in the resale market, and your insurance company is obligated to pay you the difference. By just raising the issue of diminished value before the car is repaired, consumers can get a much better deal. If your car has lost some of its value, you can file a supplemental claim to recover the difference. While insurance companies may try to fight you on it, diminished-value claims have been paid out in every state and by every major insurance company.

7. You Need A Lawyer. Insurance companies don’t like to deal with lawyers, but few go to the lengths that Allstate does. Since 1993 the company has been sending brochures to its customers who’ve been in accidents, advising them that they don’t need a lawyer. Allstate even tells this to people insured by other companies after they’ve been in an accident with an Allstate customer. Fourteen states have complained about the brochures. The company claims it’s a freedom of speech issue and still sends the brochures out in every state but Connecticut and Massachusetts.

8. Our Body Shops Work For Us, Not You. Most insurers have a list of body shops that they prefer to use through what’s called a “direct-repair program.” It’s similar to managed care, in that you can take your car elsewhere but your insurance company might not pay the full cost of repairs if you do. The catch is that these direct-repair body shops get on the list by keeping their costs low — sometimes spending less time on repairs, using cheaper parts and overlooking damages that only an expert could spot. State Farm’s Service First program even includes a gag clause that prevents shop owners from talking to customers about their cars until they’ve cleared it with State Farm first. And because the companies hold so much clout, many shops can’t stay in business unless they stay on those preferred lists.

9. We Make Money By Sitting On Your Claims. The average claim takes nine months to settle. It’s not entirely the industry’s fault, since most experts say you shouldn’t accept a final settlement until your doctor has cleared you of all possible injuries. That process can take months. But insurance companies are in no rush to write checks. The typical auto-insurance business model is to break even on premiums — that is, to pay out about the same amount that the firm takes in — but profit from investing the money while the company holds it.

10. We Own Your State Insurance Commission. The insurance industry is regulated at the state level, unlike banking and securities, even though many of the 1,500 insurance companies do business in more than one state. The result is a patchwork of often under budgeted state agencies, each trying to control its own small corner of a multibillion-dollar industry. In Florida, California and 10 other states, the insurance commissioners are elected officials, making them willing and often eager recipients of campaign donations from the companies they’re supposed to be regulating. In the remaining states, the position is a political plum, appointed by the government. No wonder so many former commissioners (and 9 of the last 11 heads of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the central organizing body) left for private-sector insurance jobs.

After reading each story, here is my conclusion after reading this article: Do not buy from Allstate. You’re Not In Good Hands.

Common Slips We All Make

Insurance is the product you buy in case the unthinkable happens. Unfortunately, by the time you need it, it’s too late to make sure you have the right type and amount of coverage. Make sure you don’t make any of the following seven mistakes while buying financial protection against disaster.

1. Not Shopping Around   The most common mistake is that people don’t shop around for insurance. They wind up going to one agent and letting that person handle all of their insurance needs. If you would just read the insurance buyers guides offered by their state insurance departments and then call around to a few companies, it could make a huge difference in the price they pay for insurance.
2. Comparing Only Rate Prices   When you’re shopping around, it’s best to look not only at prices but at companies’ reputations for paying claims. You can check out insurance companies by looking at how they rank with third-party insurance rating companies, such as A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s. Examine a company’s complaint ratio. State insurance departments sometime publish this information, and the Web site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners publishes these numbers.
3. Not Comparing Agents   Not all agents are created equal. First, make sure an agent is properly licensed. Check with your state department of insurance. Then make sure to get referrals and ask each agent some questions. Ask them to explain the policy. Ask what value they’re going to bring to the table. How will they help you?
4. Not Understanding Your Policy   A consumer’s biggest mistake is not knowing what’s in the fine print of a policy. Many people don’t know what their deductibles are and don’t realize what’s not covered until disaster strikes.
5. Not Buying Enough   Don’t skimp on health insurance no matter how robust you feel today.  It’s really important so you don’t just go into such medical debt that you never can dig your way out. People think they don’t have to deal with it until they’re 50. You’re uninsurable at that point. Consider getting life insurance if you have dependents. It can help pay the bills after a working parent dies unexpectedly. Buy it when you’re young and healthy because it’s much cheaper and easier to obtain when you don’t have a chronic disease.
6. Buying Unncessary Insurance   You don’t need life insurance on children, only on people who have dependents. In terms of specialized insurance, don’t buy insurance from somebody you went to buy something else from. If you’re worried about identity theft, don’t rush out to buy identity-theft insurance. Check your homeowners policy. It might already include some identity-theft protection. Credit cards also offer some protection against unauthorized charges.
7. Not Updating Coverage   Evaluate your coverage whenever you go through a life change, such as birth, adoption, marriage or divorce, but at least once annually. If your home has gone up in value, make sure you increase your policy limits. If the kids have left home, you can get more-affordable auto insurance coverage.

72 Hours In Los Angeles

Drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs, according to a national study released Tuesday. The nation’s drivers languished in traffic delays for a total of 4.2 billion hours in 2005, up from 4 billion the year before, according to the Texas Traffic Institute’s urban mobility report. That’s about 38 hours per driver. The study estimates that drivers wasted 2.9 billion gallons of fuel while sitting in traffic. That’s about 26 gallons a year per driver.

The Los Angeles metro area had the worst congestion, delaying drivers an average of 72 hours a year. It was followed by Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington, Dallas and San Diego. The least congested metro areas were Spokane, Wash., and Brownsville, Texas, where drivers were delayed an average of eight hours a year.

How To Increase The Population

Don’t be surprised if the streets are empty and curtains drawn in this central Russian region Wednesday as residents take up an offer by the regional governor to help stem Russia’s demographic crisis. Ulyanovsk Gov. Sergei Morozov has decreed Sept. 12 a Day of Conception and is giving couples time off from work to procreate. Couples who give birth nine months later on Russia’s national day — June 12– will receive money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes. It’s the third year that the Volga River region, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held the contest. Since then, the number of competitors — and the number of babies born — has been on the rise. June 12 is a significant day because it is the holiday known as Russia Day (when the Russian parliament formally declared its sovereignty in 1990).

Russia’s population has dropped since the 1991 Soviet collapse (one year after parliament formally declared its sovereignty), fed by declining birth rates, a low life expectancy, a spike in emigration, a frayed health care system and other factors. Just 311 women signed up to take part in the first competition, in 2005, and qualify for a half-day off from work. The next June, 46 more babies were born in Ulyanovsk’s 25 hospitals compared to the previous June, including 28 born on June 12. Women who give birth to their second or third child receive $10,000 vouchers to pay for education or home repairs. Couples preparing for conception day have given local lingerie stores a financial boost. The town hall also has seen an increase in marriages among wannabe parents.

$300 Toaster Anyone?

High-end auto maker Bugatti is driving into the gadget/home appliance business, giving everyone the chance to spend way too much money on something just because of a brand name. Bugatti is bringing their experience with engineering sports cars into the equally fast-paced world of toasters. Talk about degrading a name. Don’t put this on your Christmas list just yet… Price: $300 a toaster. Perhaps this one toasts bread really really fast. White bread to burnt bread in 8.8 seconds!