Quick Cash Auto Blog

Mention an Extended Warranty plan for an individual interested in buying used cars or new cars and a number of opinions will be available. Some view the Extended Warranty as almost a scam or an easy way for dealers to make extra money. Dealers generally insist that their Extended Warranty is a good investment into the long-term protection and care of the used car. The answer is really more dependent on what the buyer’s purchasing habits are than the specific terms spelled out in the Extended Warranty policy.

If one were to look at the value from a purely statistical standpoint, it is easy to see that an Extended Warranty does not provide enough benefit to justify their cost. The buyer will oftentimes end up spending more on the Extended Warranty than they would have on paying for any necessary repairs and essentially cost the buyer thousands of dollars. Though some buyers have been able to save thousands of dollars thanks to the protection afforded to them by their Extended Warranty.

The best way to determine the value of the protection afforded by an Extended Warranty is to compare it to one’s own personal situation. It may be beneficial, it may not, but considering the following points will allow one to reach an informed conclusion.

*Economic Security: A buyer should be comfortable with a $1500.00 repair without needing to seek financing. Acquiring a loan or putting a large repair on a credit card will cost additional interest. If one would have to borrow to be able to make such a repair, then it may be in their best interests to purchase an Extended Warranty. The savings they will enjoy from the Extended Warranty are generally more favorable than going into debt and needing to pay out interest to a lender.

*Length of Automobile Ownership: The type of buyer that prefers short-term ownership of an automobile will not find as great of a benefit from an Extended Warranty as those that favor long-term. In general, if the plan is to replace the vehicle within the next 5 years then it will probably not be a good investment to get the Extended Warranty. The longer one owns the automobile, the more likely it is they will end up needing repairs that justified the purchase of the warranty.

*Cost of the Extended Warranty: There are some warranties that provide a good value at a reasonable cost, and then there are others that are simply there to rake in money. A close examination of the terms of the warranty and coverage provided for the price is necessary to determine whether or not it is worthwhile. If the Extended Warranty appears to be overpriced, then pass it over.

The push to go green and drive hybrids is all the rage nowadays. Plenty of people advocate making the switch as our society will be pushing towards alternatively fueled, more efficient automobiles in the future. This approach is problematic for many automobile purchasers. The front-end investment into a hybrid is a significant amount of money more when compared to a traditionally fueled automobile. There is a great way to do your part for the environment that does not necessitate the purchase of a pricy hybrid; purchase a used car!

Purchasing a used car provides a way to actually help prevent more carbon monoxide fumes from entering the atmosphere. A hybrid automobile takes over 100 million BTUs of energy to produce. That hybrid has used roughly the same amount of energy as 1000 gallons of gasoline before it even hits the showroom. That requires the driver of the hybrid to put almost 50,000 miles on their automobile to offset the carbon from its production. Not only that, but studies have shown that hybrid drivers end up driving 25-30% more than those with regular automobiles due to the association with fuel efficiency.

The used car can fill a comfortable niche, provide decent gas mileage, and has already consumed the necessary energy it needs to for production purposes. Automobiles prior to 2000 are soaring in popularity under this line of thinking. Cars like the Toyota Tercel, Geo Metro, Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva, Mazda Proteges, and Dodge Colts all provide approximately 30 miles per gallon average. This renewed interest and way of thinking have pushed prices up on buying used cars but not to the same extent as a frontloaded hybrid payment.

A representative of Kelley Blue Book states that most used car buyers prefer their automobile to be no more than 5 to 7 years old with fewer than 100,000 miles. This is actually not a big problem when it comes to buying a used car. Automobiles such as the Chevrolet Prizm, Mini Cooper, Toyota Echo, and Honda Civic are all recent models that feature near an average of 30 mpg. Not as high as a hybrid would get, but these automobiles are already produced and simply waiting for a new owner.

Doing our part for the environment is an everyday activity that is an investment into the future. If you would like to do your part but cannot afford the high cost of a hybrid, take a look at some of the older used cars. There are plenty that offer a good number of benefits and excellent gas mileage. It can be harder to find the older models that aren’t well beaten from extended use. However, the newer models of the past decade can offer great fuel efficiency with a modern look and less wear.

Doing any amount of research about new or used automobiles will undoubtedly stir up the name of J.D. Power and Associates. This group is a business unit of McGraw-Hill Companies that specializes in rating and data gathering from consumers. Founded in 1968, J.D. Power and Associates listens intently to business customers and consumers about their experiences with products they actually own or regularly use. Their perceptions are used to help formulate a factual basis on how a given item is performing for a group of people.

This greatly differs from traditional methods of stress-testing done by the manufacturer to see the limits of their product. Instead, this real world application allows J.D. Power and Associates to paint a realistic view of how other consumers have fared with a given product.

J.D. Power and Associates is a great source of information for consumers in addition to businesses. J.D. Power is constantly refining their techniques for data gathering and analysis to offer the most efficient approach. Their studies and compiled reports are used by several businesses to help gauge how well or poor a product is doing in real world applications.

The group prides itself on being a neutral source of information and refraining from interjecting its own opinions into its casework. J.D. Power and Associates offers everyone the same platform and consideration regardless of the size and scope of the company.

Their reports are a great consumer tool because one can research a given product before purchasing it to see how it performs. There are reports for different products across many different industries. An array of categories are established to help people find the “Most Safe”, “Most Efficient”, “Longest Lasting”, etc. products with a minimum amount of frustration.

Before buying your next used automobile, take a look at what J.D. Power and Associates had to say about it. Consumer Reports offers a great review that can easily be supplemented with a report from J.D. Power. Of course, this is not the way to find out information about that specific, individual car. For that, one should rely on a VIN history search either from the local Department of Motor Vehicles or from Carfax. Establishing the kind of merits and flaws the general production had will help paint a clearer picture of the automobile you are getting.

Drivers interested in some of the most reliable vehicles on the road will be interested to learn of a recent announcement from J.D. Power and Associates; Lincoln and Toyota rank the highest. Lincoln was an often overlooked brand in favor of other luxurious models. Changes in approach and design pushed Lincoln ahead of Toyota, Porsche, Jaguar, and Lexus in reliability.

Domestic brands largely rate at lower than imports in reliability. Even still, brands are not a good measure of the overall quality one should expect from a vehicle. Manufacturers such as Chrysler provided a fairly weak offering early on, but have further honed their automobiles into much more efficient machines. Judge a vehicle based on its individual merits and flaws, not by the brand as some would claim.

J.D. Power and Associates conducts and distributes several quality studies a year. The most recent one took stock of consumers’ opinions after a three-year ownership. Three years is generally considered long enough for any real problems to develop with an automobile, if they are going to. Overall, vehicle dependability has never been higher since J.D. Power and Associates started this study in 1990.

This ranking is great news for Lincoln as it enters an era when Ford looks to sink more money into the brand. Ford has since sold off European luxury brands Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo. Freed money will undoubtedly be poured into advertising programs to help bolster sales of Lincoln and help grab consumer interest in the vehicles.

It should be noted that some of the vehicles featured in J.D. Power and Associates’ study were remodeled to fix problems and efficiencies at some point. Recalls were taken into consideration but they often did not cause the same kind of difficulty one would have with an unexpected breakdown.

Toyota Motor Corp. automobiles won seven of the available categories in the study. The 4Runner, Sienna, Tacoma, Tundra, and Prius all ranked highest in their respective categories. The Scion xB and Lexus RX also won their categories.

Ford scored in four categories with the highest dependability with the Lincoln MKZ and Navigator. The Ford Mustang and Fusion also ranked top in their divisions. GM and Honda both walked away with three categories of their own.

The study was conducted by J.D. Power and Associates; one of the leading arbiters of quality that consumers tend to listen to. Their study was conducted on approximately 43,000 owners of 2008-year model vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was conducted toward the end of 2010.