honestautoestimates.com

Did you ever think gas below $2 ? Live it up, it will not last, with the market coming back oil speculation should follow. Winter is coming and demand for heating oil is going to push prices back up for gasoline. The current price of oil is artificially low because of low use and OPEC dumping oil on the market without a big fan fair. What better way to derail the need for alternative fuels than to have gas get really cheap. Americans are great reactors to problems, but we don’t think ahead sometimes. We cannot stop developing our own energy just because we can buy an SUV again. What will happen is we will be convinced that we can always pay less than $2 per gallon and stop thinking about the future. We have a big problem facing us, the economy. We can’t let this stop us from thinking about our energy future either because they are tied together. If we get caught with our pants down again and ignore the warning signs of an economic heart attack as we did this time, energy cost will be out of control and people will have to get a loan to pay for a tank of gas. So remember, the people of the U.S. caused the price of fuel to go down by conserving fuel. This made demand go down thus the price went down, but if we go back to using more fuel the price will go up. The key is conserve and explore our own solutions!

People who paid top dollar for their car last year are seeing their investment plummet just like stock prices. Because car dealers have a more difficult time finding financing for sales, car sales have dropped. This means that car prices have dropped dramatically and there is no end in sight. Normally when you buy a car you can expect to lose about $1500 to $3000 dollar when you drive away due to the immediate depreciation of the vehicle. Now, with car prices falling at the dealer, your car actually lost as much as 30% of its original price over this past year. Example: if you bought a car that cost you $25,000 last year your car is now worth about $17,500 or less. Of course the amount of your loss has a lot to do with the deal you originally made. Most people have no idea of the “Right price” to pay for a car even with price guides like Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book. The best thing to do now is just hold on to what you have and hope the auto industry rebounds when credit availability comes back. Right now the only people that will buy your car are bargain hunters that want to take advantage of this depressed market. If it breaks and there is no warranty to fall back on, you may want to consider repairing for now because trading in could leave you upside down in your next car deal.

We have been tracking an increase in frequency and amount of overcharge that is alarming to say the least. This is having a profound impact on the average Americans wallet. We recently had a client that took her car to a repair shop in L.A. and was told the transmission had an issue that would cost over $2500 to repair. This woman, who was a single mother of 3, was shocked and could not afford this amount. She had to make a choice between paying her rent and providing a roof or repairing the car to keep her job and feed her children. Fortunately a friend recommended our services, which she used promptly, and found that she was being overcharged by an unbelievable $1100 for the repair. She removed the car from the shop that had given her this ridiculous estimate and took it to the shop that we directed her too that has agreed to honor our estimates regardless of what they might normally charge. She called our company to thank us for the help and to let us know we had saved her from an impossible situation. The point to this is that she should not have had to make this choice.

Have you ever thought, “Should I just replace this car?” you are not alone. Most people at some point get fed up with their car and threaten it with being replaced if it does not start acting right. They say things like “If you don’t start, I swear I am going to replace you” or “God, if you just let it start one more time I promise I will get a new one!”. One of the most frustrating situations to be in is having a car that will not start after a hard day of work and it’s raining and cold. The best way to decide if you should replace the car is to keep things rational and calm. Make these kinds of decisions when you have time to calculate all of the aspects of trading your car in for a new one. There are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Has my car left me stranded?

2) How old is my car?

3) How many miles does my car have on it?

4) How much have I spent on repairs over the last year (exclude maintenance)?

5) Is your car paid for?

6) Can you afford a car payment of at least $350 (most cars will cost at least this much)?

7) Do my repair costs exceed $350 per month on average?

Do you feel that your car is reliable?

9) Is your car safe?

10) How much is your car worth?

If you answer these questions rationally you should be better suited to make an informed decision about repair or replace.