The Downside of Leasing Used Cars

You are ready to buy your used car but you can’t decide whether to lease or buy. Before getting talked into a lease, consider the problems one can incur as opposed to buying.

The first consideration is that when you lease a car, you will always have a car payment. As long as you lease your car, you never really own it.

The second is the mileage restrictions of leasing. Most leases restrict your mileage usage to 15,000 miles per year (sometimes even lower at 12,000 per year. If you go over your allotted miles, you pay extra: the going rate is about 15 cents for every mile over your limit, and 20-25 cents for luxury cars. So, if you go over, say, 4,000 miles on your luxury sedan, you can expect to pay about $800 at the end of the lease. Think about how those cell phone minutes add up once you go over your plan and it is much the same.

Third, insurers usually require higher coverage costs for leased vehicles.

Fourth is trying to evaluate what the car will be worth when it’s over a few years old. If you choose a vehicle that is five-years-old, there is a great deal of variation in the five-year-old market. This information is important as your monthly payments hinge on its supposed retained value. If the dealer sets it too low, your payments will be higher than they need to be. If the dealer sets it too high, it gives the dealer latitude to push up the car’s initial price while offering what seem to be acceptable monthly payments.

The fact is that instead of the owner/dealer paying for the most expensive years of a vehicle's life, you will be. The amount for which you lease is the difference between the purchase price and the salvage, or residual, value, which is the predetermined value of the car at the end of the lease period. The amount of the salvage value that the dealer includes in your contract directly impacts your monthly payment.

Lease payments are made up of two parts: a depreciation charge and a finance charge. The depreciation part of each monthly payment compensates the leasing company for the portion of the vehicle's value that is lost during your lease. The finance part is interest on the money the lease company has tied up in the car while you're driving it. In effect, you are borrowing the money that the lease company used to buy the car from the dealer. You repay part of that money in monthly payments, and repay the remainder when you either buy or return the vehicle at lease-end.

So what are the benefits of buying your used car? By far the greatest benefit of buying a car is that you may actually own it one day. Implied in this benefit is that you’ll become free of car payments. The car is yours to sell at any time and you are not locked into any type of fixed ownership period. If you plan to own your car for at least three years, buying will undoubtedly be the much more cost effective way to go.

Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.

Taking A Look At Tires

Tires are more than those things that go round-n-round beneath your car. A good set of tires can provide better safety to you and your passengers improve your vehicle’s performance and even improve the look of your car.

Let’s start with safety. We know a good set of tires can prevent an accident. Different kinds of vehicle require different kinds of tires so do some research on your car type when buying tires. Do not trust the previous owner to have done this homework if you are buying a used car.

Tires vary in quality and type depending on your needs. Take into consideration your budget, how long you want the tires to last and most importantly the conditions under which your tires will be exposed. Extreme heat, frequent rain or snow, or heavy winter weather are all important and unique considerations.

As for safety, many car accidents originate with the car’s tires. To add insult to injury, most car insurance companies will refuse payment of accident damage to their clients if they can prove old, faulty car tires had been the cause. If your tires are old and beat up, consider making an investment now rather than later.

When it comes to appearances, there is nothing easier in improving the look of your car than getting a new set of tires. Just by switching over to some new rims or tires, you will be giving your car the equivalent of a facelift.

When you are going to pick out your new rims and tires, you will first have to answer some simple questions. Do you want to upgrade to a new set of wheels that has the same diameter and width of your old tires? Or, do you want to get something bigger? If you opt for wider wheels, your car will have that much more contact with the ground surface, which will give you a better rate of acceleration and a tighter grip during turns, as well as giving you more stopping power.

If you go with taller rims, you will draw more attention to your wheels. This gives your ride a striking, powerful feel that demands looks from those you drive by. Don't worry, necessarily, about fitting taller tires onto your car. There are specially designed low-profile tires that maintain the same tire diameter as the tires that came with your car. Getting taller rims with low-profile tires is called plus-sizing your car. The benefits of this are that, instead of recalibrating your speedometer as you would if you changed your wheel diameter, your car will be ready to drive immediately after your new tires are installed

It is most likely can’t go wrong in choosing the right tires for your vehicle, so spend some time and make the investment – you will find that you’ll add value and life to your vehicle and yourself.

Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.

Car Emergency Kits

Many of us never think about keeping certain ‘emergency’ items in our car until it’s too late. But by just compiling a handful of items, many which may be laying around your house, keeping these items in your trunk or behind the seat, could help you or another drive at some point in your life.

What should you have in your emergency kit? The sky is the limit here. According to the FAA, not sure why they are concerned with cars, they suggest the following:

* Battery powered radio and extra batteries
* Flashlight and extra batteries
* Blanket
* Booster cables
* Fire extinguisher (5 lb., A-B-C type)
* First aid kit and manual
* Bottled water and non-perishable high energy foods, such as granola bars, raisins and peanut butter.
* Maps
* Shovel
* Tire repair kit and pump
* Flares

Click and Clack, the famous auto gurus have similar suggestions. Here is their list along with some of their comments:

1. Heavy-Duty Jumper Cables

This is one area on which not to skimp. Why? Because a lot of jumper cables on the market today simply aren't up to snuff. In fact, in our humble opinion, most jumper cables stink. They're either too short, too thin or won't stay flexible in the cold — which is when you really need them.

When you're shopping for cables, we'd recommend that you buy ones that are at least 20 feet long, which gives you plenty of length with which to work. They should be at least four-gauge, and thicker if possible. And, finally, they should be made of copper, so there's less resistance.


2. Tire pressure is very important — it affects everything from handling to braking to gas mileage to tire wear. We recommend that you never use one of those cheap, pencil-type tire gauges. They're notoriously inaccurate. And don't trust the gauge on the air hose at Phil's Quikie Gas either. Gauges at gas stations are often completely out of whack as well.

Tip: Don't check tire pressure after you've been driving. The friction of the tires on the road creates heat and will give you the wrong reading. Check the tire pressure *before* you start driving. What is the "correct" tire pressure? It's different for all vehicles. Look in your owner's manual, which will usually refer you to a label on the doorpost.

3. Breaking down on the side of the road is bad enough without a bread truck plowing into you. We recommend you have a sturdy, heavy triangular folding reflector on hand.

Tip: The best ones have a base that's loaded with sand so it won't blow over when that semi comes barreling down the road.

4. Someday, somewhere, you'll be really glad you have a can of Fix-a-Flat in your car.

If you do get a flat, you'll want to use Fix-a-Flat as soon as possible, before all the air escapes from the tire. Otherwise, the tire may separate from the wheel, and then it won't work.


5. A safe container for carrying gas.

Tip: No matter how desperate you are, you should never, ever carry gas in milk jugs or anything else that's not designed for carrying fuel.

6. Vise-Grip Straight-Jaw Locking Pliers

Vise Grips are the emergency alternative to carrying around a full set of English and metric sockets. In our opinion, a pair of Vise Grips is the most versatile tool you can have in your car. Get the original ones, too--not cheap knockoffs from Outer Mongolia.

There are all sorts of uses for vise-grips, including removing stubborn nuts and bolts, and tightening battery connections. There are more creative uses for vise-grips, too. For example, if you have a leaking coolant hose, clamp the vise-grips onto the hose and temporarily stop the leak. If your alternator bracket breaks, you can hold it in place with vise-grips.

7. 20 feet of 18-gauge galvanized wire.

Tip: Mechanic's wire is great for reattaching loose mufflers and exhaust parts, wiring trunks shut — or securing anything else that's falling off.

8. Duct Tape

Duct tape is great for temporarily fixing hose leaks, fixing busted side mirrors and hiding rust holes before your annual inspection. Duct tape is very easy to tear in both directions. You can make a piece of duct tape fit just about anything.

9. Four-in-One Screwdriver

We especially like this tool because it's four screwdrivers in one--two straight blades and two sizes of Phillips ends, which sure beats carrying around a box of various sized screwdrivers. Look for one that's not a piece of junk, and feels sturdy and durable.

10. Flashlight/Lantern

Look for a flashlight that's durable and dual-purpose, which doubles as a lantern or beacon. An alternative that we like is the Mag-lite brand flashlight. They're indestructible, but pretty costly. And, like any flashlight, after months of sitting in the back of your car, the batteries are often corroded. For a neat alternative, see the generator light below.

Tip: Store the batteries outside the flashlight, in a Zip-loc, if you want to make sure the flashlight doesn't accidentally turn on and drain the batteries. And have extra batteries on hand — who knows how long you'll need that light when the time comes.

11. Mylar Space Blanket

Will our Mylar space blanket save you at 40 below in blizzard-force winds? Of course not! A good space blanket, however, will reflect back a lot of your heat--they're used by rescuers of all sorts. Having one in your car might just help keep you keep cozy when you're broken down next January in East Moosejaw.

Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the used cars for sale in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.