The Model Info Center

Nearly a half million cars were destroyed by two of this past season’s biggest hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Some of these cars may not have received much apparent damage but they were totaled nevertheless because of water, mud, and debris which flooded engine bays and the interior. Damaged cars are supposed to make their way to the junkyard for scrap, unfortunately some unscrupulous parties are gaining a hold of the vehicle titles and turning around and selling damaged cars to the public. Should you be concerned? Absolutely! Read on to learn more about this problem and what you can do to avoid being stuck with a vehicle that is certain to be a lemon.

Let me just say this: it is not illegal for weekend mechanics to buy a salvaged vehicle, repair it, and sell it to you. What they must disclose to you is this: you are buying a salvaged vehicle. This is where most of the problems begin: the dishonest purveyors are not sharing this information.

Only 22 states require that the titles of flood damaged vehicles [which were totaled by insurers] be stamped with that information. So, if you live in any one of the 28 other states, be extremely cautious about buying any used car [check your local laws to see which group you belong to].

One organization is doing its part to help fight the problem. The National Insurance Crime Bureau [NICB] this past summer and fall sent teams to flood damaged areas in affected states to work with local police authorities. What the teams did was try to catalog all of the flood damaged vehicles and enter that information in a database, which is accessible online. Because of their diligence, nearly 200,000 car identification numbers are now available for car buyers to search at www.nicb.org

Car shoppers should always invest in obtaining a car history report from an independent company, such as Car Fax, as a back up source to verify information about a vehicle. Although the information supplied by these types of companies isn’t always 100% accurate, it can usually reveal whether a car has been salvaged, rebuilt, is a lemon, or has been flood damaged. Some guarantee their information so check the individual contract/agreement before you use their services to see what recourse you would have in the event a lemon sneaks by them and you purchase one.

So, how can we know for sure that there will be problems? Well, if Hurricane Floyd is a measuring stick then the potential for fraud is huge. In 1999, nearly 80,000 cars were damaged by Floyd and taken off of the roads due to storm damage. About half of that number were repaired and resold, many to unsuspecting consumers.

You don’t have to be a victim, so get informed. If a car is priced well below book value that can be a big clue that a problem exists, however don’t rely on price, instead do some research first before buying your next used car.

Matt Keegan is a contributing writer for the
Race Pages, a supplier of quality
Honda catalytic converters and
Toyota oxygen sensors at discount prices.

You have just had your car serviced / repaired and you have paid
your bill and left a happy customer and then bang the car breaks
down and won’t re-start.

You contact the garage and they recover your car back to there
premises and then inform you it has something to do with the
laughing shaft haven fallen of the giggle pump? Makes no sense
to you until they tell you it’s going to cost lots of money and
its not there fault although they have just serviced / repaired
the car. 95% of people have no idea how cars work and they have
no intention of ever finding out and quite rightly so.

Statistically 80% of car problems occur after having some kind
of work recently carried out on your vehicle by a garage /
repair centre.

Our advice is give us a call and explain simply what has
happened, believe it or not but we will probably be able to
finish your story once you start to tell us what the problem is.
Now we are not psychic but we are very good at problems,
disputes and arbitration in the motor industry.

We will listen to the problem and let me tell you sometimes it
can be a very long story to tell. We then make a decision as to
whether or not our services can help YOU. We are not in business
to take money from people and not help them. If we feel that you
do not have a case to answer to then we will tell you whether
you like it or not. This costs you nothing but the phone call.

CAR DEALER TOP TEN RIP OFF’S

A car salesman is a salesman not a motor mechanic, most car
salesman no nothing about cars or how the work or how the break.
They only want to sell, sell, sell because that is what pays
there wages.

Many car salesmen will tell you what you want to here. Yeh we
will service it before you buy it. Yeh we will replace the worn
tyres and brakes and fix the broken door handle and paint the
scratch on the bonnet. These will all be done when you come to
collect the car.

Then you arrive to collect your new pride and joy and various
things have not been done. Excuses range from;

* The parts are on order. * The parts are on back order and we
will phone and arrange the car to be rebooked. * I told the
service department to fix that it’s there fault but don’t worry
about we will fix it later. * I have been on holiday. * I have
been on my days of and left it with someone else to do. * The
bodyshop have a 2 week waiting list and I know you want the car
now so I will re-book it later. * Paperwork not ready mainly the
sales invoice or part exchange details not completed correctly
with no figures present on what you’re paying against your trade
in. * The salesman telling you it’s a one owner car but when the
paperwork arrives six weeks later it’s had three owners or been
previously owned by a hire company or rally school!!!. * Being
told the car has a warranty when it does not. * Being told the
warranty covers everything when it does not. * Garages selling
the car hoping that the problems that are present you don’t pick
up on until later. * Garages selling the car hoping that when
the defects present arise the warranty will cover them.

WHY INSPECT BEFORE YOU BUY

You cannot buy a house without it being inspected / surveyed
first.

This is for the benefit of the buyer not the seller.

Why are cars so different from houses, they are very expensive
and can cost lots of money to maintain.

Things go wrong with cars just like things going wrong with a
house, a house survey is there to save you money and give you
the piece of mind knowing that what your are paying for is the
correct price and if there are any problems then you know about
them up front. This is exactly the same for a car inspection.
For more information go here - Eliteinspections.co.uk a>

Where is it most convenient place to search when you need discount auto parts for your Toyota, Chevy or BMW? There are three requirements to a good source of such parts:

• the discount car part selection
• the cost of the auto part
• a security that you’ll get the particular vehicle part you need, and not a part that don’t fit your vehicle make and model.

Most of us car owners have one or more times experienced the annoying feeling of receiving an incompatible car part that we were unable to use.

There has been a shift in the aftermarket auto part market from the time where

• the availability of such parts dependend largely on where you lived and whom you knew to
• ordering the vehicle part you need from your own home in matter of minutes.

Why this shift?

Because of the internet and some intelligent auto part company owners. In the older days some car owners were so lucky that they happend to live nearby a few cheap car parts suppliers. Though they had to pay the often exorbitant markups such suppliers commanded, lots of people didn’t even have that option. So from being a sellers market a total change took place, thanks to a handful of top automotive aftermarket experts with an excellent understanding of e-commerce.

The internet has definately become the number one place to find auto parts of all types. Everybody can reach it in matter of minutes and the prices have decreased significantly. These websites are global marketplaces for precisely the vehicle parts you need. This remarkable next-generation solutions stands in a huge contrast to the days when a few auto part dealers were able to treat their customers like puppets on a string.

How to access the new auto part market

It so simple that it’s hard to believe:

1. Find the discount automobile part’s’ website

2. log on to the site

3. order the auto parts you need

4. receive a vast array of parts in a few minutes.

And the only thing you need is an internet connection.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website cheap-used-cars.w-eland.com.
Terje gives advice and helps people with automotive issues like
finding discount auto parts online and finding auto repair manuals on the internet.

Each year experts in the automobile industry come up with their
lists of the top ten vehicles of the year. Some experts put the
vehicles through a series of tests, while others create their
lists purely on market and consumer response. Vehicle choice is
certainly a personal one, but experts like Cars.com, Consumer
Reports magazine, Automobile magazine, and Car and Driver
magazine, are certainly worth listening to. What did they have
to say this year?

Well, the Cars.com list of most popular vehicles in 2005 was
topped by the Honda Civic. Cars.com analyzes the vehicular
market to come up with the most popular new car models based on
consumer interest (i.e. on the number of email requests for
price quotes sent to dealers) and not car tests. Here’s their
top ten list for 2005:

1. Honda Civic 2. Honda Accord 3. Toyota Corolla 4. Honda
Odyssey 5. Toyota Camry 6. Toyota Prius 7. Toyota Sienna 8.
Honda CR-V 9. Toyota Highlander 10. Toyota Tacoma

The Consumer Reports magazine list was also topped by a Honda,
only this time it was a Honda Accord Hybrid, but the method of
choosing the top cars is very different. Consumer Reports
magazine took 200 vehicles and put them through 45 tests. At the
end they chose the top cars according to nine categories. For
example, the Subaru Forester was the best “Small SUV”, the Lexus
RX330 was the best “Midsized SUV”, the Lexus LS430 was the best
luxury sedan, the Subaru Impreza was the “most fun to drive”,
and the Toyota Prius was the best “green car.” Meanwhile,
Automobile magazine chooses the top vehicles in 13 different
performance categories, such as, Coupe, Family Car, Luxury
Sedan, Minivan, Pickup, Small car, Sports car, Sport sedan,
amongst others. They come up with one “ultimate vehicle” and
this year it was the Chrysler 300C.

According to Car and Driver magazine, the Chevrolet Corvette
topped the list as a best “performance car” and the Ford Mustang
was the best “muscle car”.