Car Blog

Whilst purchasing a home will probably be the most expensive thing you ever buy, buying a new car is almost certainly the second biggest thing and, if you already own a car, you want to make sure that you receive the maximum possible part exchange car value.  If you have already decided not to sell your existing car yourself but to try to do a part exchange deal with your local car dealership in Portsmouth, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the best possible price for your car.

Firstly, you need to collect all of the relevant paperwork together, including the V5 (logbook) document, the current MOT certificate, service history documentation and invoices.  You might be wondering why anyone would be interested in the service history but, if the car has been serviced regularly (preferably by a main dealer), in line with manufacturer’s recommendations, it’s likely to be worth more than a vehicle that hasn’t.  Have a look round the car and see if there is any damage that needs repairing.  Consider having any minor paintwork scratches or bodywork damage fixed but make sure you consider the costs carefully.  It may be that repairs would cost more than the value it would add back to the part exchange price.  Also, make sure you find any spare keys or the service key and, lastly, clean the car!  A quick wash and vacuum makes a world of difference to a cars appearance and makes it look cared for.

Before you head off to your Portsmouth car dealership to begin negotiations, make sure you have a clear idea of what the trade in value of your car is likely to be.  There are plenty of online tools to help you calculate this, and you can always start where the dealerships do and consult Glass’s car valuation guide.  Glass’s Guide provides guidelines for the trade price (the price the dealer will pay) and the retail price (the price the dealer will sell the car for) for nearly every car of any age, specification and mileage.  Don’t forget that the dealer will have two numbers is his head, your part exchange car value and what you’re going to pay for a new car.  If you add in the possibility that you might be purchasing your new car on finance, then the maths can get a little tricky but do remember one important point: you’re the boss.  If, after all the negotiations, you’re not happy with the deal, you can just walk away.

After taking in all of the above, you may be thinking that perhaps it’s easier to sell your car privately after all.  There really is no right or wrong answer.  If you have time to spend marketing and selling your car yourself then you may get a better deal on a private sale price than the part exchange car value.  If you’re short on time, then part exchange with a Portsmouth car dealership might be a better option.

Find loads of great deals on part exchange cars at Unbeatable Car.

The First Time

If you’re sitting at a party and the conversation lags, you can always spark a lively discussion, particularly among guys, by asking the question, “What was your first car?” That query will often spark many wistful smiles. With glazed eyes those present will look back a few decades to their part of the American rite of passage, getting the first set of car keys, long-awaited tickets to freedom.

The classic car restoration market has a lot of serious collectors and investors. However, a large number of fans take the time to restore only one classic, the car they first owned. Like rediscovering an old love affair, many will invest any amount of time and money to find and fully restore this memento of their teen years.

You will often see an older man pull up at a light in a gleaming classic. You’ll see him smiling as he sits there and, as he glances around to see who’s checking him out, he’ll beam an even bigger smile and maybe even give you a little nod of the head or mock salute. As he drives off, a quick mental calculation of the age of the car and the man will usually put it in his teen years as a good used car. Nostalgia lives.

It’s All Relative

For more than a century, successive generations of young people have found their first independence behind the wheel of first, the family car, and then their own set of wheels. Uncountable scenes in movies and TV shows have captured scenes of these early love affairs and, before computerized autos, young men leaning into engine compartments with the hood raised up.

It makes perfect sense for this form of time travel to captivate so many classic car buffs. There are few things in life that allow you to revisit your younger lives, and in a more perfect version than the original. With a focused effort, most ensure their modern reincarnation of that firs love is perfect, totally fit out with pristine paint jobs and sparkling engines. No compromises are allowed when it comes to these babies.

While there isn’t much in life that can be made perfect with a checkbook, you can come very close when finding, buying and restoring a replica of your first car. Or, even better, finding the exact car you used to own and restoring the real thing. Wouldn’t it be great if we could so simply restore other such old memories?

The choice of whether to repair your car through a dealership or independent auto- repair shop seems to be the question many car owners are asking, but without certainty. Despite numerous existing myths, independent auto repair shops can service and repair cars just as well as the trusted auto-dealers. When seeking for a qualified auto-mechanics, the most critical factors to look for, include; convenience, customer service satisfaction, cost and availability.

Myths regarding Auto-Dealership Repair Shops

Most people believe that car dealerships understand cars better than independent automobile repair shops, because they possess the technology to fix cars better. However, this belief is usually not entirely truthful because most independent auto-mechanics also posses the relevant technical knowledge, and experience of fixing different car models. There is also a wide held belief that auto-dealerships are always too busy fixing other peoples cars. The reality is that the busy schedule is mostly as a result of the dealers fulfilling appointed warranty’s or recalls. This is, however, not usually done at the expense of service customers.

Benefits of using Independent Auto-repair shops

Most independent auto-repair shop mechanics are passionate about their work because this is the essence of their business. Because their business revolves around customer service satisfaction, independent auto mechanics are usually dedicated to building long term relationships with customers by delivering customized services. Another advantage of using independent repair-shops is that most of them are on-call 24 hours a day, to offer customer’s services such as vehicle drop-off, free-pickup and delivery and even on-line vehicle clinic scheduling.

Visit Mobile Auto Care’s website for more information.

Perfect Valet are a local independent valeting service with over 30 years experience Car Cleaning in Woking. They offer a friendly yet professional service and use only the very best products on the market in order to ensure that they achieve the right results for your car.

Products are sourced from a number of well-known suppliers including Car Brite and Supagard.
Car Brite are the industry’s leading manufacturer of professional automotive reconditioning products and have a comprehensive line of products available from waxes and polishes to paints and dyes. Supagard on the other hand is the UK’s market leader in professionally applied quality car care products. Approved by the majority of leading car manufacturers their offering includes protection solutions for paint, fabric, vinyl and leather. They also offer additional services including Key Recovery and Security Marking.

When it comes to Car Cleaning in Woking, it’s not just the quality of the products that are important though. Perfect Valet acknowledge this and treat every job with is much importance as they did the last putting customer satisfaction at the forefront of everything they do. Not only are they able to valet any make of car they do so ensuring that they place the same amount of emphasis on each valet regardless of whether it is a one-off or a regular clean that is required.
With regards their customer base they provide a regular commercial fleet valeting service to various local businesses and a number of main dealerships including Jaguar, BMW and Landrover. They also have a broad range of residential customers ranging from the general public to a number of well-known celebrities.

Perfect Valet are also proud members of the Guild of Master Craftsman and have been awarded master craftsman status due to the high quality of their work, their commitment to customer care and the overall level of service that they provide. Not only does this provide you with piece of mind you can be assured that you are receiving value for money.

If you would like to arrange to have your car valeted in Woking you can either give Perfect Valet a call direct or go onto their website and complete the contact form asking them to get in touch with you.

With public liability insurance of 5 million pounds not only are they fully covered to carry out the valet they are also insured to pick up your car and take it back to their premises. Once the clean has been completed they are then able to return your vehicle back to you meaning minimal effort required on your behalf.

For mobile car valeting visit http://www.perfectvaletlimited.co.uk/.

Sometimes I like to take my car for a ride just for fun. I don’t have any specific destination to get to and I just enjoy driving around. When moments like these happen, I like to play music in my car really loud. Loud music simply sounds so much better than its quieter version. After all, I don’t buy casio cdp-120 at wwbw to make music quiet, but to make it as loud as it can be.

From time to time, each one of us might require the services of a car locksmith. You might even need such services when you don’t expect them like in the middle of the night after a long party or early in the morning while trying to get to work. This is probably why hiring somebody right for the job is such a big deal.

Before you hire somebody to work with your car for you, I suggest that you look at some of the characteristics of this type of person. In a nutshell, a good car locksmith such as a locksmith from http://www.carlocksmithinlondon.com/ can be described in a few ways:

1. He has to be available around the clock. If you get stuck needing a car locksmith in the middle of the night, know that you can have the phone number of somebody who can gain access to your car instantly. A reliable car locksmith should understand that you usually don’t have time to wait till dawn if you need his help immediately.

2. His services have to be affordable. What use is a car locksmith if nobody can afford his services? Everybody, even those on a budget, should be able to know that when they need to hire a locksmith, they can do it without breaking the bank.

3. A good car locksmith is somebody with good overall knowledge about cars. When you want to hire somebody for the job, don’t hire a rookie, but you should make sure that your car locksmith has years of experience behind his belt. This way you can always be sure that you are not going to waste your precious time and money on the services offered by somebody who doesn’t even know what he is doing.

Stick to those tips and you are very likely to end up hiring somebody who knows what he is doing.

If you are a proud car owner, you probably know by now that things can sometimes go wrong, especially if your car is slightly older. So many unpredictable things can happen every day that it is better to be prepared for them rather than being surprised that something like this can occur.

When you buy your brand new car, you really don’t have to worry about the so-called car warranty. Your car is straight from the oven, delivered to you and ready for you to use it immediately. You can still probably feel the smell of paint as it left a car factory very recently. When you sit behind the wheel for the first time, you might still be aware of the distinct smell of freshness that every new car has. Well, it won’t stay like this forever, and you need to get used to the fact that at some point your car is going to get older.

When your factory warranty runs out, it might be usually time for you to seek an extended warranty. You might want to look at places such as www.AutoWarrantyResources.com. One reason to do it even before your original warranty runs out is to have the protection you need against any repair costs that can take you by surprise. It is better to be prepared for them rather than paying for all the repairs from your own pocket.

Another reason to become interested in car warranties is to make sure that you have everything to cover the increasing costs of repair your vehicle. I am sure that you are aware that as you get older, more and more bad things are going to happen to your car. This is simply how it is. After all, your car is becoming older, not newer, and you simply need to accept this obvious fact. An extended car warranty can definitely help.