DriveBlog

Caught in the middle

Ouch! It hurts to be a car dealer at the moment. In an effort to pass on a larger benefit to the end-consumer, banks are on the verge of cutting interest rates on car loan deals. Trapped in between are the car dealerships who will consequently see their own margins slashed by almost a third.

Car Deal Secrets

More often than not, wearing your best set of threads and getting the best deal on your car don't go hand in hand. Here's why. =)

Dances with wolves

For me, one of the more interesting aspects of the car-buying process has surprisingly been the series of exchanges I've had with representatives of various banks and similar other hungry-for-your-money financial insititutions. Initially something that I was rather wary about, you start enjoying yourself when you realise, that with just a little patience and some good acting, you can swing the deal just the way you want it. And it gets even better when you have multiple options to choose from. Competition is cut-throat, the undercutting is fierce, company loyalty is a sham and in most cases, the customer does end up having the last word . In short, it's everything you would want from a car loan.

But it's also vital that you keep a cool, clear head when you're negotiating a car finance deal and here, therefore, are some tips to help you get the best (or close to that, atleast) deal on your shiny new set of wheels.

Gonna Getz me a new car!

After about 7 intense but completely enjoyable months of reading tons of printed matter, sifting through a gazillion webpages, looking at loads of pictures, talking to all the right people, thinking, rethinking, reading through all that stuff again, dreaming, daydreaming, checking, double-checking, test driving and lest I forget, blogging, I finally made a decision a few days ago and acted on it today.

I'm just back from having signed the dotted line and spilling some hard-earned greenbacks as an advance on a Hyundai Getz GLS in Ebony Black. All things going well, I should have the new car by Thursday, the 2nd of December.

The next 8 days are going to crawl by inexplicably slowly. I know it, I just know it... =)

DriveBlog does the Getz

Some time ago, I had mentioned on this weblog that in the search for my first car, someone had yet to give me a compelling reason to buy the Hyundai Getz. Well, over the last couple of days, someone did. With nothing else to do over the rather long weekend, I decided to make the best of it and took the Getz, the Ikon Flair and the Palio nv Sport out for test drives.

Disclaimer:
1. While I'm going to be talking mainly about the Getz here, I will draw comparisons now and then with the Palio and the Ikon.
2. This is the first car review I’ve ever written. Go easy on me.

Let's Getz this started then, shall we? =)

Test breakdown

There's a lot riding on the test drive (no pun intended). No surprise then, that for many, it ends up being one of life's more stressful exercises, especially for new drivers and first-time car buyers. Here then, is a little tip to make it a little easier: take the test drive one step at a time (yeah, there's a before, a during and an after) and you won't find yourself thinking about ten things at the same time. Oh, and see if you can carry this checklist with you.

Dealer spoilers

It's crucial to get the car-buying process started off on the right foot and key to that is your relationship with the people selling you the car. Understanding how the wheels turn (pun not intended) in a car dealership will help you appreciate the dealer's concerns a little better. Remember: he's not the good buddy he's trying hard to make himself out to be, but that doesn't mean he's your sworn enemy either.

Spec check

If you're a first time car buyer, you're bound to feel a little overwhelmed from time to time at the kind of specifications and technical stuff that information about a car is bound to include. Well, guess what. You don't have to be an automotive genius to figure out what's going to be right for you. Just trust your hunches, good advice from others, your takeaways from the test drive and guides like this one and you should do just fine.

Make the best of the Test

New car shoppers, this way please! So you're all set to dish out those hard-earned rupees on that new set of wheels, are you? But no matter how much you have your heart set on the car you like, no matter how great that one colour looks on it, no matter how good you think you'll look in it and no matter how many times you've stopped to stare as one of them goes by, your decision isn't complete until you've taken it for a test-drive.

So if you pay attention to the details in this rather thorough article, you should be able to tell pretty quickly if you and the car you've picked are meant to be riding into sunsets together.

Check that loan paper again!

On why it helps to you better be bloody sure that you closely read and re-read all the fine print in your car loan documents.