Car insurance estimate
Car Buying Tips, Techniques and Resources
Car Buying Tips Blog has all you'll need to quickly arrive at a decision that results in you finding the best car you've ever owned.
- Feb 14, Background Check Services
What to look for in a background check and a Background Check Services Company - Jan 28, Really Stupid Law Makers in Kansas City Try to Legislate a Law Against Stupidity...Huh!
Yes.A really stupid move was afoot in the Kansas City halls of justice wherea proposal to ban smoking in cars carrying children was floated on theback of a larger bill and was ultimately nixed. ThankGod. Currently, the proposed law stops people from lightingup in restaurants, most bars and other public places.
Theproposal to ban smoking in private vehicles lasted only a day as partof this larger bill dealing with smoking in publicplaces. Kansas lawmakers removed language from the bill thatwould make it illegal to smoke in cars with children.
Thatdecision was made by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Smart move!
I'm asmoker and I don't have a problem with that. I'm respectfulof others around me and their right to breath clean air, so if I wantto smoke I'll go outside.
But sorryfolks...this floated bill was just plain STUPID.
Don't theselawmakers have more important issues to contend with?
Let's faceit. It's pretty dumb to drive in a car with children andsmoke in their presence knowing what we know today about the effects ofsecond-hand smoke. But come on now! What'snext...legistation against people smoking in their own homes becausenon-smokers are present? Smoking bans in public places areone thing, but now non-smokers are infringing on smokers private placestoo...no not down there silly!
It's apersonal choice to smoke. People around smokers who don'tsmoke don't have that choice. I realize that and I respectit. Maybe some folks still don't realize the effectsecond-hand smoke has on their children. Maybe they don'ttake it seriously enough. Or maybe their just plain STUPID!
However youcut it...raising public awareness further is needed, not governmentinvolvement our private lives. Let's face it, you can'tlegislate STUPID. - Dec 15, J.D. Power and Associates says that customer satisfaction with new vehicles purchased in 2006 up 5 points from 2005
JDP's 2006Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study released in November showed thatcustomer satisfaction with the new-vehicle sales process has reached arecord high. On a 1,000-point scale the new car industry achieved anSSI score of 847, a 5-point increase from 2006.
The 2006SSI Study was based on responses from 42,218 new-vehicle buyers whoregistered their vehicles in May of 2006.
Overallcustomer satisfaction was measured based on five factors: dealershipfacility, salesperson, paperwork/finance process, delivery process andvehicle price.
A leadingcause cited for lost sales at new-vehicle dealerships was poor customertreatment, according to about 50 of all shoppers who walked away froma dealership.
Vehicleshoppers hit the new car dealerships better informed than ever beforeand ready to buy with more than one-half visiting only their sellingdealer.
A majorconcern that customers had dealt with the time it took to purchase anew vehicle. On average, the entire purchase process takesapproximately 3 hours. Vehicle selection typically takes the most time,averaging 47 minutes, followed by negotiating the deal (38 minutes) andpaperwork/finance (32 minutes). One area impacting sales satisfactionis the time customers wait between negotiating the deal and beginningthe paperwork and financing process, which currently averages 31minutes. It was determined that auto dealerships need to do abetter job managing the buyers time productively by doing things likeintroducing the customer to the service department or acquainting themwith the features of the new vehicle.
It wasdetermined that nearly one-third of all new-vehicle sales occurred oneither a Saturday or Sunday. However, satisfaction was consistentlylower on the weekend compared to weekdays on every factor, primarilydue to a longer process (more people = longer wait). It took an averageof 22 minutes longer to purchase a car on a Saturday or Sunday verses aweek day.
The studyshowed that Jaguar ranked highest in satisfying buyers with thenew-vehicle sales process. With an SSI score of 912, Jaguar lead itsclosest competitor, Cadillac, by 21 points. Jaguar ranked highest forits third consecutive year.
Also, thepurchase experience set the tone for the subsequent relationship withcustomers during the entire vehicle-ownership cycle, according to thestudy. While four of five new-vehicle buyers expressed a generalinterest in spending future service dollars at the selling dealer, lessthan one-half (45) indicated that they definitely planed ondoing so. It appears that when sales satisfaction declines, theintention to return also declines, which is what you would logicallyexpect. - Dec 2, 50 Million Souls May Now Be In Reach Of Credit Bliss!
Listen upall you credit underserved (no...not undeserved...silly)! Fair Isaac, those FICO score guys, recently completed a study for thecredit industry, whereby, they proved that they could reliably andconsistently predicts credit risk levels using non-traditional creditdata.
Yeah, yeah,I know what you're thinking..."so what does this mean and what does ithave to do with me?"
Right!Well...
Maybenothing if you've got a long established credit history, but this isreally big for the younglings just starting out on their own, orimmigrants for that matter.
Why? Because now th