Cash For Clunkers in Seattle

After the recent announcement that the Cash for Clunkers program was active again, we at Seattle Auto have been fielding lots of emails from visitors wondering if their car was eligible. To be honest, even we were unsure of how the program worked, so we did a little research and here’s what we found out.
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Best Convertible Cars for Seattle

You don’t live in Southern California. You don’t live in Florida. You live in the state of Washington where it rains a good 200 plus days a year (give or take some crazy summer). So when it comes to looking at buying a convertible car in Seattle, you ARE taking a chance. Rag top or hard top? The answer is simple, considering the convertible will be closed most of time, better make it a hard top. Read more

Car Negotiation: The 10 Step Guide – Part 2

Step 6: How to Set a Price For Your Car

The trickiest part of the negotiating game is to set a price that is fair to both you and the dealership. As good or bad as a dealership might be, they still have to make a profit. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that dealerships average about a mere 1% profit per year on total sales. Read more

Car Negotiation: The 10 Step Guide

For most people, buying a car is the second biggest investment of their lives, right behind purchasing a home or condo. Yet, as a whole, even street savvy consumers can be confused and taken advantage of when it comes to purchasing a car. That’s why we’ve put together this summarized, ten-step guide to turn you from a negotiating novice to a confident buyer. Read more

You Always Remember Your First Car

Whenever I’m in one of those conversations where people get to reminiscing about their first car, I sometimes will say my first car was a Mustang. Thing is, that’s not really true. I wanted a Mustang, just like any teenage boy of my generation, but what my Burger King salary could actually afford was a 1979 Mercury Capri, the bare bones “twin” of the Mustang. Read more

Do Seattle Car Owners Need AAA Services?

All it takes is one time for your car to break down on I-90 in a snow storm, or getting a flat tire in downtown when all the bars have closed, to realize the importance of owning a AAA card. Read more

Updated! Great Deals for Seattle Car Buyers

If you’re looking to buy a car sometime soon, here are some deals to consider. Be warned many dealers will make up for these savings by trying to sell you other items you may not need. Luxury items and options in the finance office such as sealant or warranties are classic examples.

Don’t forget to take a look at some of the protection incentives from Ford and GM. These will essentially pay your monthly car payment if you lose your job. Be aware that each car maker has different rules for their plans, such as owning the vehicle for a few months before it actually kicks in.

If you don’t like the dealership experience, check out the SeattleAuto.net buying service, as we have teamed up with a customer focused auto buyer. Email cam@seattleauto.net with the make, model, year, and color you are looking for. The more specific you are the better help we can give you. We can find essentially any new/used car at a great price and you won’t have to step foot into a dealership.

Here are some great deals that will come to an end this month.

Buick, GMC,
Cadillac,Chevrolet,
HUMMER, Pontiac,
Saturn, Saab- 0%  APR financing for up to 60 months on many models.  New GM Total Confidence Plan includes payment protection, some protection against negative equity.  Expires: 4/30/09

Ford- 0 % APR  financing for up to 60 months, plus rebates up to $5000 on many 2009s, plus payment protection under new Ford Advantage Plan- Expires: 6/30/09

Toyota- Many models have 0% financing and cash back offers. However deals vary depending on region. Cash back rebates can reach up to $4000 on certain models- Expires: 4/30/09

Mazda- 0 – 0.9% APR financing for 36 months, can also be combined for cash back offers on certain models- Expires: 4/30/09

BMW- 0.9% APR financing (up to 60 months), plus no payments for 60 days on most 2009 models Expires:  5/31/09

Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep- Employee Pricing Plus Plus sale – 0 % APR financing for 36 months, plus employee pricing discounts, plus cash back offers varying by model

Volkswagen-0% APR financing (60 months) on 2009 Passat Wagon, Routan, and Toureg 3.9% APR financing on most models- Expires: 4/30/09

 

Cars that Are Selling…or Are They?

Seattle drivers, for the most part, are smart. They follow the beat of their own drum and rarely do we follow any type of national trend. But seeing between the lines of national statistics can tell you a lot.Take into consideration the Top 15 Cars Americans Are Still Buying by Forbes.com.

Numbers can be deceiving. They can be manipulated to serve a purpose by just about anyone. In terms of the Forbes story they used recent sales numbers provided by Autodata based on sales each month. They compared the number of sales from February 2008 and February 2009. But take it with a grain of salt. While individual models made gains, it wasn’t enough to save the overall losses by the company.

According to the Forbes.com story written by Hannah Elliot:

Despite the gains, individual models don’t reflect the industry at large; most of the cars with the strongest gains come from brands that lost ground last month. Audi’s A5 and S5 coupes, for instance, gained 28.6% in sales from February 2008, but the brand declined 24.4% in overall sales. Models like the Audi A3 (down 51.6% in February), Audi A6 (down 47.5% in February) and Audi A8 (down 67.5% in February) did more than their part to drag Audi down.

Similarly, the Nissan 350Z’s 33% gain couldn’t fully mitigate the brand’s 37.1% loss compared to February 2008. All told, only Kia (0.4%), Smart (28.5%) and >Subaru (1.4%) posted overall gains last month over February 2008.

Manipulation of individual numbers is a good way to avoid the doom and gloom of the overall auto industry. Take the BMW M3 convertible, according to last years sales there was only one sold in February 2008! All they had to do was sell two and it would’ve doubled their sales for 2009.

Therefore, the best thing to do is eliminate the sales that are less than 1,000 and take a look at the rest. When you do that, what’s left is a better overall picture of cars that sold better to the masses.

If you go by that method, Hyundai is making a lot of waves this year with the Genesis, Elantra, and Accent. This isn’t the first “top” list they’ve made this year. Check out these individual sales for Hyundai models in the United States from last year to this year.

Hyundai Accent
MSRP: $9,970

February 2009 sales: 4,334
February 2008 sales: 3,335
Increase: 30.0%

Hyundai Elantra
MSRP: $14,120

February 2009 sales: 8,978
February 2008 sales: 6,750
Increase: 33.0%

See the entire article and list at Forbes.com.

Understanding a Vehicle History Report

As a follow-up to our earlier article on Ten Reasons to Get a Car History Report, we’re now going to walk you through the process of actually reading and understanding vehicle history reports. You’ll quickly learn how to spot the good, bad and the ugly, so that you can be one step closer to buying your used car.
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How to Avoid the Unlicensed Car Dealer

The internet has all but revolutionized the process of buying a used car, as buyers have access to a seemingly unlimited supply of vehicle listings online. Unfortunately, one of the criminal elements that is becoming more popular due to the internet are unlicensed car dealers. To help you identify and avoid these shady dealers, we’ve asked the experts for help. Read more

Ten Reasons to Get a Car History Check

Buying a used car is no easy task. From finding the right car to cutting the final check, there are literally dozens of pitfalls that you can get trapped in if you aren’t careful. One of the best ways to mitigate your risk when buying a used car, is to get a vehicle history report. Read more

The 2010 Toyota Prius is in Hybrid Heaven in Seattle

It’s rare when a vehicle actually lives up to the hype. But by all accounts, the 2010 Toyota Prius will do just that and maybe more. Unveiled at the Detroit auto show, Toyota made a big splash, and maybe even sent a message to other hybrid automakers. Read more

Consumer Alert: Snow Chain Price Gouging

It’s come to our attention in the last few days that there have been a number of incidents around Seattle involving auto parts stores gouging customers on the sale of snow chains. In Redmond, one local shop was charging $89.99 for a standard set of generic snow chains. Is your store ripping you off? Read more

Beware Buyer: The Used Car Listings

This is the third part of SeattleAuto.net’s series on Buying a Used Car for Under $1,000.

You’ve got your car requirements down: that was the easy part. Now comes one of the hardest aspects of buying a used car, finding the car you want.
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Where to Find a Working Bare Bones Used Car

This is the second part of SeattleAuto.net’s series on Buying a Used Car for Under $1,000.

It’s hard to think that it’s possible to buy a working, semi-reliable car for under $1,000, but if you cut out the plush comforts, it’s still a reasonable goal. Read more

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