November 7, 2010 ~ Automotive Cars

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Jaguar Cars

10:32 PM

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Jaguar Cars Ltd. better known simply as Jaguar, is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors Ltd. and is operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business.

Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before evolving into passenger cars. The name was changed to Jaguar after World War II due to the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials.

Following a merger with the British Motor Corporation in 1968, subsequently subsumed by Leyland, which itself was later nationalised as British Leyland, Jaguar was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Ford in 1989. Jaguar also holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.

Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar/Land Rover's engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at Gaydon in Warwickshire, and are manufactured in two of Jaguar or Land Rover's plants; Castle Bromwich assembly plant in Birmingham and Halewood Body & Assembly near Liverpool.

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Posted in Auto Cars , Jaguar Cars

Used car vs new car prices

10:00 PM

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Lott argues that it is only a common myth that a new car loses 15% - 25% of its value when it first leaves the lot.

He backs up this argument through analysis of new and certified used car prices using manufacturer MSRP; Kelley Blue Book New, Used,Excellent Condition Trade-in, and Private Party prices; and Yahoo! Auto Certified Used prices for 55 certified used cars (15 with less than 5,000 miles and 40 with about 15,000 miles).

Lott demonstrates that the cars with 15,000 miles on them (about a year's worth of driving) are substantially less valuable than the relatively new cars with less than 5,000 miles.

A few of the cars with less than 5,000 miles were actually worth more than MSRP.

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Posted in Auto News , Mercedes Benz

Shelby Mustangs

3:42 AM

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Automobile racer Carroll Shelby transformed a conventional Mustang into a serious track racer designated as the "GT-350".

The fastbacks were shipped from the San Jose, California assembly plant and fitted with a "Hi-Po" 289, 4-speed manual transmission, and included front disc brakes and heavy duty rear drum brakes.

Additionally, shortened hoods and deleted rear seats with identifying trim were among the visual variations.

These select Mustangs were converted to street, road racing, and drag cars in Shelby's plant at Los Angeles International Airport.

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Posted in Mustang , Shelby Mustangs

Ford Mustang variants

3:38 AM

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Ford and several third party companies offered many modified versions of the highly popular Mustang in order to cater to specific portions of the marketplace outside of the mainstream.

High performance enthusiasts seek more powerful, sharper handling, sports cars, while collectors and purists seek limited production and alternate or nostalgic styling, such as is commonly found on many commemmorative editions.

Still, others were made purely for experimental concepts such as the McLauren M81 (turbo) and SVO, which later influenced production model design. Most variants include both performance upgrades, and unique cosmetic treatments that are typically minimal to maintain the familiar appearance of a stock Mustang.

Although most of these Mustang variants were aimed at enthusiasts, a notable exception was the Special Service Package (or SSP), which was designed specifically for law enforcement.

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Posted in Ford Mustang variants , Mustang

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Independent Auto Repair vs. Dealership Auto Repair: 5 Things to Consider

10:01 PM

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by Marjorie Steele, Cars for Keeps Social Media Manager

"Your dealership alternative" is becoming a familiar slogan among independent auto repair shops. To be sure, independent auto repair shops - like Cars for Keeps - would like to drink some of that warrantied service milkshake, but it's not just a ploy to steal business from auto dealerships. More and more vehicle owners are actively looking for better customer service, better prices and more comprehensive repair service than auto dealerships offer.

There are many factors to weigh when choosing between auto dealership repair service and service provided by independent repair centers. In some cases, the similarities between the two may be very close, making it difficult for vehicle owners to choose. To make matters worse, a lot of misinformation has been spread to consumers about warranties, cost and parts availability.

If you, a friend or family member is struggling to choose between auto dealership service and independent repair service, we encourage you to take the following into consideration:

Vehicle warranty. Contrary to popular belief, vehicle owners have the legal right to choose anyone to be their auto repair service provider to perform services not covered under warranty, without risking losing their warranty. There will always be some services and recall-related repairs which auto dealerships can offer at a lower cost (or for free) under warranty, but these are limited, especially as the vehicle ages.

Additionally, standard dealership warranties usually expire after 12 months or 12,000 miles; highly certified independent auto repair centers (like Cars for Keeps) can often offer extended parts and labor warranties which cover terms as long as 3 years.

OEM parts. Quality independent auto repair shops like Cars for Keeps have access to the same original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts auto dealerships do; independ

ent repair shops are often able to get OEM parts from less expensive suppliers than dealer direct, passing those cost savings down to the customer. Also, OEM parts may not always be the best solution for auto repair, and they are certainly not always the most cost-effective, yet OEM parts are the only parts auto dealerships offer. Independent dealerships offer car owners a range of parts brands, allowing car owners to cut expenses by choosing non-OEM parts, if they need to.

Labor cost. Auto dealerships and independent repair shops track their technician's hours differently; dealerships tend to standardize allotted work time, offering technicians incentive to finish jobs more quickly. Independent repair shops typically track technician work by actual hours, passing along cost savings to the customer. Independent repair shops as a whole generally offer labor at 20% less than dealerships.

Technician experience. Last but not least, auto technician experience is a very important factor when it comes to auto repair. Auto dealership technicians receive highly specialized training specific to the auto brands the dealership sells. This gives dealership technicians firm expertise on a handful of auto brands, but it also means that technicians lack expert knowledge of other brands, hindering their breadth of expertise. Highly qualified independent auto technicians are cross-trained to work on a wide spectrum of vehicles, and for technicians who work at AAA approved, Bosch and NAPA Certified independent repair centers, their level of mechanical training and knowledge is quite extensive. Experienced independent repair technicians often develop better problem solving skills as a result of their diverse experience, allowing them to fix vehicles faster, more permanently and more thoroughly.

Of course, we at Cars for Keeps are biased towards independent auto repair, so if you're still skeptical, we encourage you to try making the comparison yourself. If you do, be sure to drop us a line and tell us about your experience!

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Posted in auto dealership repair