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.

When people are feeling negative, they want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on.

A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed. Study participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip offered to pay nearly four times as much money to buy a water bottle than a group that watched an emotionally neutral clip.

The new study released Friday by researchers from four universities goes further, trying to answer whether temporary sadness alone can trigger spendthrift tendencies. The study found a willingness to spend freely by sad people occurs mainly when their sadness triggers greater “self-focus.”

The researchers concluded sadness can trigger a chain of emotions leading to extravagant tendencies. Sadness leads people to become more focused on themselves, causing the person to feel that they and their possessions are worth little. That feeling increases willingness to pay more — presumably to feel better about themselves.

Check Out Their Company’s Reputation 

A federal court handed down indictments against 14 moving company employees for extorting money from customers. Allegedly, they would sucker people in with low estimates, then ask for much more money on delivery, and not release the goods until the price was paid. Of all the moving company complaints we receive at The Consumerist, this one is the most common.

It’s always important to check out a moving company’s rep beforehand; ask friends for recommendations, look up their BBB report, and see if they’re talked about on sites like MovingScam.com and MovingSham.com. Don’t just go for whoever is cheapest, a low-price could end up costing you a lot.

Each of the following mistakes can cost you $100,000.

1.) Investing too conservatively during retirement. If you follow conventional wisdom and, as you approach retirement, shift money out of stocks into more stable investments you could miss many opportunities. Instead of parking too much of your assets in bonds, invest in an asset mix that leaves enough room for Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index.

2.) Launching a divorce war. A full courtroom showdown can easily cost $250,000. Try to soften the financial impact by using a lower-cost mediation option. Or try to work on saving your marriage.

3.) Underinsuring your home. If you’ve lived in the same house for at least 10 years, it’s probably worth 50% to 100% more than you paid for it. But if you haven’t updated your homeowners insurance, you could lose those gains if disaster strikes. Ask your insurer to reassess your home’s replacement cost and adjust coverage accordingly.

4.) Overpaying for your mortgage. The annual percentage rates on mortgages in a given area can vary by close to a percentage point. Over a typical 30-year term, this can cost you $27,000 on a $299,000 home. Shop for the best mortgage rate by checking local banks, your credit union, big-lender Web sites and mortgage-related sites.

5.) Maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle. Bad health habits not only catch up with you as you age but they can also hit you in the pocketbook in the form of higher life-insurance premiums. Before you apply for life insurance, consult your doctor about the best way to get your health status in line with the “preferred plus” underwriting requirements.

6.) Paying needless fund fees. If you buy mutual funds from a broker, you could pay a commission, or “load,” of up to 5.75%. Annual expenses can also vary among funds, from 1.5% or more a year to as little as 0.1%. Fix: Choose no-load mutual funds with low expense ratios. You can buy them directly from investment companies such as Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard.

What An Auction Consumer Should Be Aware Of

Auctioneer Tricks   Let’s say an oil painting drops to $300.00 and several hands shoot up. The correct procedure is for the auctioneer to acknowledge the first bidder he sees or, if he sees several at once, to just pick one and carry on from there. But here’s the trick… A slick and slippery auctioneer will see three hands go up at once (each intending to bid $300.00), and he’ll point quickly to each, “$300.00, now $325.00, now $350.00″ There are two things wrong with this: First, none of those bidders offered a bid any higher than $300.00. Second, those two bids above $300.00 were “phantom bids” to the tune of $50.00. That’s illegal. It’s an offense reportable to the state licensing board.

So why would bidders allow an auctioneer to assign them higher phantom bids that they didn’t make? The auction is so fast-paced and adrenaline-charged that the auctioneer’s sleight-of-hand may not immediately register. They also probably defer to the auctioneer’s authority thinking, “Well, I had my hand in the air.” And most people do not know this little secret: By law, a bidder may retract his or her bid at any time before the auctioneer says “SOLD!”
[ Uniform Commercial Code §2-328(3) ]

At a live auction this means interrupting the auctioneer and bringing the sale to a temporary halt, which is another reason bidders let auctioneers get away with such antics.

Shill Bids As most people know, shill bidding is a scam whereby the auctioneer has one or more cronies pose as bidders to run up the final auction price. At live auctions, shill bidding is so transparent and risky as to be downright stupid. At a live auction you can watch for phantom bids and shill bids by standing in the back of the the crowd and observing both the auctioneer and the bidders simultaneously.

Reserve or Absolute? Per the Uniform Commercial Code [ §2-328(3) ], all auctions are deemed to be with reserve unless stated otherwise. If the advertising doesn’t specify “absolute,” then it’s automatically a reserve auction. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every item will have a minimum price. Most items probably will be sold absolute, even at a reserve price auction. It just means the auctioneer, acting on behalf of the seller, retains the right of refusal.

Buyer Beware As soon as you win something at auction, the staff will immediately hand it over to you. As the auction progresses, piles of merchandise will begin to accumulate around each buyer. Why don’t they just mark these items with your bidder number (like they do with large items) and hold them until you’re ready to leave? Under the arcana of auction law, the sale is consummated when the auctioneer says “SOLD!”, not when you check out and pay. Therefore, the risk of theft or damage immediately passes to you…unless the auction company volunteers to safeguard your purchases. And this is why your auction winnings get dropped in your lap forthwith.

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” ~From the movie Fight Club

Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. They also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents. Researchers found that even a simple gesture to raise self-esteem dramatically decreased materialism, which provides a way to cope with insecurity.  By the time children reach early adolescence, and experience a decline in self-esteem, the stage is set for the use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth.

Most of us want more income so we can consume more. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe and Japan. Statistically people have more things than they did 50 years ago, but they are actually less happy in several key areas. There is also the considerable cost of what materialism does to the environment. We don’t yet know what final toll that could take in terms of quality of life and overall happiness. What many people don’t understand is that if we want to save the environment then at some level we have to buy and consume less.

The reason people want whatever is currently “hot” is because they believe it will contribute towards their satisfaction and happiness in life. The word “believe” is the key here. People believe that buying more and more things will make them happy, when in fact research has shown time and time again that this simply isn’t the case.

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.

Here’s 20 Websites Loaded with Coupon Codes, Bargains, Cash Back Deals, Etc.

If you hate crowds, don’t bother trying to tell yourself this year will be okay in the malls. Thank goodness there’s internet shopping.  Kiplinger.com tested and picked 20 Web sites we think are easy to use and will help you save money this holiday season. Take a look!

Credit card reward cards are extremely popular but odds are you aren’t getting the most out of yours. Some of the greatest rewards your credit card offer are the ones they don’t advertise.

 An interesting article from DumbLittleMan about getting the most of your CCs.

1.  Choose the Right Card   Finding the right rewards card is the first and most important step towards maximizing your rewards. About 95% of all rewards cards offer the exact same reward; 1% cash back. They each package it differently such as airline miles, points, cash, hotel discounts, etc., but the truth is a “point” or “mile” is generally worth 1 cent. There are a handful of cards out there offering 1.25% or 1.5% cash back. By using these cards you’ll earn 25%-50% more rewards than you would otherwise.

2.  Don’t Be a Sucker for Promo Rates   Why settle for 1.5% when I saw a commercial last night advertising 5% cash back? The reason is these promo rates have ridiculously low limits which you’re going to hit very quickly when trying to maximize your rewards. Afterwards they drop to the standard 1%.

3.  Opt for Cash Back
Take the cash back. There’s no sense in dealing with the headaches and restrictions that come with the points or miles when they are not providing you any extra benefit.

4.  Find Cards that Offer Benefits without Spending
Some cards can offer you significant benefits without you ever spending a dime. For instance, the Citi Drivers Edge card offers you one point (i.e. one cent) for every mile you drive in your car. You just send them a copy of your last oil change statement that shows the mileage on the card and they’ll send you the cash. There are also cards that offer a free companion airline ticket (Amex). By using these only when you want to take a trip you can still save 50% on your flights.

How Much Are You Ready To Spend  

Projected holiday-related spending: An average of $816.69 per consumer

 Shopping timetables: 40.3% of shoppers will begin holiday shopping before Halloween.

The average allocations for $816.69* per consumer in holiday-related spending:

$469.14 on family

$90.13 on friends

$22.79 on co-workers

$37.45 on others (clergy, teachers, babysitters, etc.)

$20.53 on flowers

$49.76 on decorations

$94.69 on candy

$32.21 on greeting cards and postage

Total is $816.70 because of rounding.

Here are 15 hand-picked articles from the Consumerist.

THE NICE ROUTE
How To Complain
How To Write A Complaint Letter (Remember that if you can find the appropriate bodies that oversee the company’s industry, CCing your complaint letter to them can help)
How To Record Customer Service Calls
How To Never Get In Trouble For Recording Customer Service Calls
How To Escalate To The Most Powerful Levels Of Customer Service

THE HARDBALL ROUTE
The Underlying Principle For Forcing An Uncaring And Adversarial Company Fix Your Problem
How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb
Unlawfully Billed? Threaten To Report Them For Mail Fraud
How To Fax A Company To Death That’s Ignoring You
How To Get Your Problem Solved By Posting It To A Company’s Stock Forums
How To Start An Online Campaign Against A Company To Shame Them Into Fixing Your Problem
How To Get Unscrewed By Threatening To Stand Outside The Store Passing Out Flyers About Your Experience
(several of these are based on material from Ron Burley’s excellent book, “Unscrewed: The Consumer’s Guide To Fighting Back,” which everyone should read.)
THE LEGAL ROUTE
How To Take A Case To Small Claims Court
How To Win A Case In Small Claims Court Against A Big Company By Delivering Your Small Claims Court Papers To Their Mall Kiosk
How To Find A Lawyer

Do Not Call List Expiring Next Summer

Currently, 149 million phone numbers are on the federal Do Not Call list. The feds can’t claim total success. There are still telemarketers out there skirting, bending and outright ignoring the law. The Federal Trade Commission has brought more than two dozen enforcement actions against companies large and small. The Federal Communications Commission has issued dozens of citations regarding violations and announced consent decrees with several companies, including T-Mobile and AT&T. The Do Not Call list doesn’t apply to:

• Charities
• Polticians
• Surveys
• Companies Who Had Prior Business Relationship With You

 There’s little doubt that the federal Do Not Call list has made dinnertimes much quieter across the nation.

There’s just one problem: Registration of your number on the Do Not Call list isn’t permanent. After five years, the ban on calling your number is lifted unless you renew your registration. FTC spokesman Mitch Katz recommends waiting until next summer to renewing the registration, “By renewing now, you shave at least a year off the protection time you’d otherwise get. If you were one of the early sign-ups, as I was, you’d get protection until summer 2013 if you renew in 2008, when the current five-year period expires. By renewing this year, I’d be protected only until 2012.” Then again, you might not care, particularly if the penalty for forgetting to renew is having to talk to some jerk about time shares.

Here’s a list of calculators ranging from Mortgage APR to Auto Rebate vs. Low Interest Financing to Hourly Paycheck.

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.

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.