So you want to look for a new car but can’t seem to make your finances stretch far enough? Or maybe you’ve already found the car of your dreams, but know there’s no way you’ll ever be able to afford it. You’re not alone – the car industry has been hit hardest of all by the recession and car sales have reached an all time low. It seems no one can afford to think about purchasing a new car right now.

But don’t let that discourage you – there is still another option. There is a way you could still get the car you want, without even having to pay upfront for it. Car contract hire or leasing agreements are a great way to choose the exact car you want and you only have to pay one manageable monthly fee.  

I know what you’re thinking, there has to be a catch, right? Well, in fact, no there really isn’t. Yes you have to sign a contract but you get to choose from any car on the market, including those that would normally be out of your price range. In fact, the more desirable the car, the better deals you can get. It’s not like buying a new car where the value decreases with time, most contract hire agreements are based on your projected usage so they take wear and tear into account and when the contract ends you can trade it in for a newer model.

Choosing contract hire will usually also help with the running cost of having a car – often the road tax and servicing costs are thrown in to the monthly instalments so you won’t find yourself suddenly landed with huge repair bills. And it’s less likely to break down as you can trade it in every couple of years, so you’ll always have the latest new model.

Basically, it’s a great way of getting a new car without any of the worries of buying outright – and it really does make sense, especially now when times are hard. And who knows, you might end up with that dream car after all!

Technorati Tags: car contract hire, cars, contract hire, credit crunch

Originally, it started as an engineering concept at the turn of the 21st century. Gas-Electric “hybrid” cars were the dream of the modern society and they were displayed at auto shows to gauge public reaction and market potential. Yet within a few years alone ( a small wink in the vehicle industry), hybrids have evolved into one of today’s most important automotive trends. Electronic components have really developed over the last ten years and are now more geared than ever to accommodate for the ‘greener solutions of our time. Every bit of a car from basic fuses to solenoids have been updated and modified to be friendlier for the environment. Numerous other components have come into play in the advancement of this technology, but one element in particular, copper, has been indispensable in helping to propel the growth of hybrid vehicles.
According to GM (General Motors) Chief Engineer, Time Grew, “Copper has two important roles in hybrids: It runs the electricity, so you have large amounts of copper in the motor and battery, and, more importantly, the copper technology is making hybrids viable commercially”. Fortunately enough, hybrids have come into the market in a big way. People are more than keen to get their first hybrid car and contribute to saving the world’s energy resources.
These days there are not many cars that are not hybrids. Car companies have a responsibility to now be far more conscious about polluting the planet. It is interesting to try and comprehend where technology will be this time in a couple of years. Will our vehicles be even more energy efficient? Only time will tell but I am sure that automotive technology will have a lot of surprises for us. It simply depends on what is going to be viable from a commercial and marketing point of view.

Technorati Tags: cars, fuses, hybrid cars, solenoids

Over the last couple of weeks the UK has been hit with some of the most extreme weather we’ve seen in a long time. The first week of February brought the heaviest snowfall we’ve seen for 18 years, causing hundreds of schools to close and leaving over 6 million people stranded unable to get to work. Most public transport was disrupted or cancelled and many roads were deemed unsafe due to the icy conditions and closed off.

The continuing bad weather is a real worry for drivers, with an increased risk of accidents on the icy roads as well as other problems caused by the extreme conditions. There have been a number of incidents of sudden heavy snowfall causing trapped drivers to have to be dug out, while in other parts of the country the melting snow has been replaced with heavy rains and severe flood warnings have been issued.

All this is bad news for car owners, not only because the personal risk of driving on the roads is higher, but also because a damaged car can be a costly business. With the recession, most people really couldn’t afford to splash out on a new car if something happened to theirs. And that is the real problem with owning a car. It’s brilliant until something goes wrong, but then it can just become really expensive. You might think it won’t apply to you, that you’re a careful, safe driver who won’t get into that sort of situation. But as the last few weeks have proved, you can’t predict what will happen on the roads, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.

The problem is that once your car is paid for, it then becomes entirely your responsibility. Then the older the car gets the more likely it is to go wrong, especially in extreme weather conditions, and the more money you’ll have to shell out when it does. And even when you get it fixed, it still won’t be worth half what you paid for it in the first place as a car only ever decreases its value over time.

The people who manage to avoid these worries are those who opt for a car contract hire deal instead of buying a car outright. It doesn’t mean the car’s not yours, it just means that you pay for it in regular monthly instalments and often you get extra benefits thrown in as well like road tax and servicing costs. So if something was to happen, you wouldn’t have to foot the whole bill yourself. And the best thing is that when the contract hire expires after a couple of years you can trade the car in for a new one, meaning you’ve always got the latest updated model. And as you’ll always have a new car, it won’t have had time to wear out and is less likely to break down in the first place!

Technorati Tags: car contract hire, cars, contract hire, driving

The Toyota Motor Corp., the second largest automaker around the globe, is now in hot water along with other auto giants. The situation has been triggered by the increasing number of recalls and customer service campaigns.

Seiichi Sudo, the president of Toyota’s North American engineering and manufacturing unit, said “the increasing recall trend” is the key risk about the latest challenges encountered by the automaker. During the presentation, Sudo showed a chart about recalls and less-formal customer service campaigns or CSCs. The chart revealed a dramatic increase in recalls and CSCs in 2005 and 2006. Said occurrences are pointing to “design issues” and “high project workload” as the culprits.

Another chart showed that warranty claims have decreased. This is a positive indication that quality is being maintained. However, one commentary stated, “chronic issues still exist.” A particular “planning document” that covers Toyota’s challenges in the next five years is now held by the Free Press. According to the automaker’s spokesman, “It is unfortunate that a confidential and proprietary Toyota document was released outside the company.”

Lately, Toyota has been receiving affirmative predictions from analysts in the industry. These analysts have even predicted that the automaker will dethrone GM as the world’s largest automaker. And the said prediction is expected to transform into reality any time this year. The prediction was anchored on the increasing global production and demands. In 2006, Toyota produced 9 million vehicles which is an increase by 9.5 percent from the previous year’s production. In the same year, GM produced 9.18 million vehicles. This year, Toyota is working on the margin.

Despite the concerns that the automaker is facing, Toyota has fewer 2006 recalls in the United States than GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda or Volkswagen. As reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Toyota recalls dropped by about two-thirds to 814,507 vehicles in 2006.

Before the launch production of the new Toyota Tundra, Gary Convis, senior vice president of manufacturing in North America for Toyota, said maintaining quality is critical to Toyota’s success. “The quality has got to be perfect. Every truck has got to be perfect.” The aim to perfect quality is common among automakers. Ford engines, Volvo power steering pump and GM radiators as well as other auto parts are all aimed at quality.

However, Toyota had a series of high-profile quality issues in the previous year. As a fact, it has conducted a worldwide recall in May covering approximately 1 million vehicles that include two-thirds of the Prius hybrids sold in the United States. In January, Toyota recalled 533,000 Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs manufactured at Indiana factory due to a flaw that causes difficulty in steering.

Toyota has settled a class action, which has started in the late 1990s, for potential sludge damage in some of its vehicles including the Camry. Analysts and critics alike are studying closely the moves of the automaker including its manner of solving problems. Toyota Way plan formulated by the automaker ensures that each year is stretched further to expand and improve.

According to Neal Oddes, the director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power and Associates, “Redesigns and new vehicle launches often lead to a higher number of quality issues, but expansion has not affected Toyota’s overall quality so far.” The Lexus brand ranked second and the Toyota brand fourth in the previous year’s J.D. Power Initial Quality Study for fewest problems per vehicle after three months on the road. Porsche and Hyundai were first and third, respectively.

Oddes added, “The competition has closed the gap, but Toyota has continued to improve to keep its position at or near the top of the rankings. We haven’t seen any dip in quality. They continue to perform the same, if not better, than what they’ve previously done. Toyota stays at the top because it has an obsession with quality. Their whole culture is built around reliability.”

I removed my old battery, took it to the store. They looked up the new battery that I needed and I turned my old one in to be recycled. Upon trying to install the battery at home, I found out that the positive wire is a SAE Post (?) connector. The negative wire was simply a clamp that tightens but the positive wire is what can only be described as a cone-shape bell that fits on top of the battery terminal and has a bolt that spins in place. Apparently there is supposed to be a screw that sticks up from the battery terminal to connect to the bolt on the wire? I've had no luck calling auto parts stores (I either can't explain the problem correctly or they've never heard of it). Any ideas?

It's a fairly common connector and your auto parts 'technicians' should know about it. The quickest and probably easiest fix it so replace your positive connector with a standard clamp type.