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4 Questions to Ask When You Are Buying a Car
The are 4 questions to ask when you are buying a car or else you may end up paying too much for the car, or getting ripped off. Car salesmen are trained daily to divert your attention from these basic, but important questions. They even may seem elementary, but in the heat of the negotiation, you may not know all of the answers.
What is the price of the car? – Seems basic, right? Well, car salesmen are trained to keep a customer’s mind off the actual price of the car and onto the payment. If the salesman can get a commitment on the payment that a customer is willing to pay, the actual price of the car becomes a variable that can be adjusted at will.
What is the interest rate? Or better yet, what is the interest rate that I qualify for? – If you get to the point in your negotiations and agree on a payment, you may be surprised at what the interest rate is that the dealership is charging. This is because dealerships get paid on the reserve, or spread between what rate they sell to the customer and what the bank buys it at.
What is the term of the financing? – So many times, a customer will agree to the negotiated payment on a car and not even realize how long the term is for. A $500 payment for 60 months is drastically different than a payment for 72.
How much did I get for my trade in? – Used cars is a great profit center for dealerships and trade ins are the gravy! They will try to “steal” the car you are trading in so that they can resell it for a profit. The lower they give you, the more they can make on the resale.
These 4 questions to ask when you are buying a car will allow you to understand how good or bad of a deal you negotiate. If any of these answers are missing, you run the risk of being scammed by the car dealer and paying too much.
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Ford’s Disposal of Aston Martin Now Complete
Aston Martin is the sleek sports car popular for starring in the action block buster James Bond franchise. The sexy silvery gray Aston Martin DBS for instance, was the James Bond car in the 2006 movie, Casino Royale. Although Aston Martin wowed all of us being James Bondâs car, it didnât hit the blockbuster in the car market like the movie did. In August 2006, Bill Ford, who handed the reins over to Mulally last year, put Aston Martin up for sale, saying the money-losing brand may be “an attractive opportunity to raise capital and generate value.”
Ford Motor Company succeeded in selling the Aston Martin Division last March, when the deal was made to a consortium of big time investors lead by racing executive Dave Richards. The group also included John Sinders, a famous Aston Martin collector and two other Kuwaiti firms of Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co.
“The deal gets Ford liquidity it desperately needs to help restore its higher-volume product lines, and it leaves Aston Martin in good hands, as well.” Dave Healy, an analyst at Burnham Securities was quoted as saying before the Dearborn automaker put its luxury brand up for sale.
In a statement before the sale, Ford CEO and President Allan Mullaly said, “The sale of Aston Martin supports the key objectives of the company, to restructure to operate profitably at lower volumes and changed model mix and to speed the development of new products,”
Ford announced in March that it would receive $848 million and retain a $77 million stake in Aston Martin.
The transaction of the maker of the Aston Martin catalytic converter was completed in the second quarter of this year. Becky Sanch, Ford spokeswoman confirmed that they have not completely given away the sports car division because the automaker retained a stake by receiving preferred stock from Primrose Cove Ltd., the holding company of the group that acquired Aston Martin.
On Tuesday Ford received $931 million in cash and preferred stock for its sale of a controlling stake in the popular luxury brand.
Fordâs Jaguar and Rover divisions, also part of the Ford Premier Auto Group are also being prepared for disposal as Ford continues on its plan to bounce back from its recent financial troubles.