Owning and operating a motor vehicle is an expensive process. Besides coming up with the money to actually buy the car or truck, owners need to pay for maintenance, auto insurance and most of all, gasoline. With the price of gasoline reaching ever-higher levels, more and more motorists are trying to find ways to save money. And every time the price rises, the media are suddenly flooded with advertisements for a wide variety of devices that purport to perform miracles with the internal combustion engine while providing owners with huge increases in gas mileage. Almost everyone has heard the ages old story of the guy who invented a carburetor that would allow a car to travel up to 200 miles on a gallon of gas. The device never reached the market, the story goes, because General Motors or Big Oil or some other Corporate Entity bought the rights to the device to prevent it from reaching the market. The story isn't true; there is no such device and never really was one. It is true that in the 1930's an inventor did patent a carburetor that claimed to do such things, but the devices was never manufactured and working prototypes were never demonstrated. The patent has expired, but no one is pursuing this device. It doesn't work. Just like that mythical carburetor are hundreds of other devices that are put on the market each year in order to entice economically-minded drivers to save on gas. The devices vary; some are electronic, some are magnetic and some add some sort of "slickness" compound to fuel or oil. Some atomize the fuel to make it burn more efficiently. Still others involve moving parts to stir the fuel or spray mists of water into the intake manifold to cool the engine temperature. All of these devices have two things in common - they promise to save you a fortune in gasoline costs, and they don't work. The internal combustion engine is well over a hundred years old. It is proven, it is understood and it is a relatively mature product. Engineers are certainly finding ways to refine the ways the engine works and each year new ways are found to improve the product in some way. Small increases in performance or economy are commonplace. Dramatic increases in economy, such as those that might yield a threefold increase in gas mileage, are simply not possible. It might be tempting to respond to the late-night television commercial or magazine ad in order to increase your car's mileage by ordering a device that "Detroit doesn't want you to have." If you order them, you are just throwing your money away. The best money saving tip you will receive regarding gas-saving devices is this one - they don't work. Save your money.
Buying a car or truck is an expensive proposition. With new cars often costing more than $20,000 and car loans averaging nearly six years in duration, it only stands to reason that consumers expect those vehicles to work reliably when they buy them. Sometimes they do not, and for those cases, each of the fifty states has passed an auto lemon law. Those laws were passed to simplify the process by which a consumer with a habitually defective vehicle could seek relief in the form of either a replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price. Understandably, dealers and manufacturers are often reluctant to hand over the money or a new car, and frequently offer a variety of excuses for failing to do so. Here are some of the more common excuses offered by dealers when presented with a defective automobile: The vehicle is neglected or abused - All fifty states offer exemptions for vehicles from their lemon law statutes if the vehicle has been abused, neglected or modified by the owner in a manner that is not approved by the manufacturer. There are certainly cases where neglect or abuse may apply, but dealers often suggest these problems right away in order to chase the owner away. If you know that you have not abused, neglected, or modified your car, then you know that you still have a valid claim. Don't let the dealer chase you away by simply declaring the vehicle to be misused. The vehicle's defect is not a significant one - The laws declare pretty clearly what is and is not a qualifying defect. Such defects need not, by definition, be significant; they need only adversely affect the safety, use, or value of the vehicle. These things are best determined by courts of law or arbitration panels; don't let the dealer scare you away by telling you the problem isn't important. Suggesting that the defect is not actually a defect. In this case, the dealer suggests that the problem is common to all similar vehicles. It's not a defect, so much as a manufacturing problem. It's not your car, the dealer will say, they are all like that. If they are all like that, then the problem can't be a defect, can it? Yes, it can. Don't fall for this one. Suggesting that you haven't qualified due to an insufficient number of repair attempts. Each state has its own rules for the number of repair attempts that qualify a vehicle as a lemon. You should check with your state's Attorney General's office to find out how many repair attempts qualify a vehicle as defective in your state. Don't take the dealer's word for it; he isn't looking out for you. It can be difficult, time consuming, and frustrating to file a lemon law claim. Under the laws of your state, you are entitled to a replacement or refund if your vehicle qualifies under the law. Don't expect your dealer to go out of his or her way to offer your refund; you will have to insist upon it yourself. But if you do have a case, make sure that you stand your ground.
It's expensive buying a car and it only gets more so as time goes on. Over time, the price of new cars has increased faster than the rate of inflation. This isn't entirely due to greed on the part of automakers; cars are also more complicated and useful than they used to be. Sure, they were cheaper in the 1960's, but they didn't include air conditioning, air bags and video systems. Convenience and safety comes at a price. With the increase in price comes an increase in the length of time people are taking to pay off their cars. Few people pay cash; most people take out loans and pay over time. The average car loan, which used to be repaid over a period of three years, now averages about six years in duration. That's a long time to pay for a car, especially if you have no plans to own it for that long. Taking six years to pay for a car has its advantages, as the payments are lower than they would be over a shorter loan term. Such a long loan does have a significant disadvantage, though - you can find yourself in a negative equity, or "upside down", situation. This can be a serious problem - if you should total the car in an accident, your insurance company will only pay you the value of the car, and not the amount you still owe. A buyer is described as being upside down when he or she owes more on a car loan than the car is worth. It's easy to find yourself in an upside situation, and it can occur under any of the following circumstances: Insufficient down payment - Cars depreciate as much as 25% the minute you drive them off of the lot. If you haven't provided enough of a down payment to cover that depreciation, you may find yourself upside down immediately. Trading in too often - Buyers like to trade cars in and roll their outstanding balance into a new loan. These unpaid debts can contribute to negative equity. Too long a loan - Five and six year loans often lead to negative equity. You can often avoid it by keeping the length of loans to three years or less. In order to avoid a potential problem in the event of an accident, you should contact your insurance provider to make sure that you have "gap insurance." Gap insurance will make sure that you are protected should you have an accident while in an upside down situation. Without gap insurance, you may find yourself still making car payments even though you no longer have a car. That is the last thing any car owner wants.
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