Category: Cars

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The Smart Girls’ Guide to Buying a Car

If you’re tired of your car wax because it breaks down every so often, then the ceramic paint protection is exactly what you need. Buying a new car, or a car that’s new to you, can be a minefield. Women are traditionally vulnerable to con men when buying cars, taking their cars for a service or anything else related to motoring for that matter. Although we’d like to think that times have changed, and in the most part they have, there are still car sales people waiting for an innocent looking female to trot through the door. This applies to men too, so don’t be offended! At CoverGirl Car Insurance we want you to get the best deal, cheap insurance and above all a great car. So, we’ve compiled a concise guide to what can be one of the most expensive purchases you’ll have to make.

The first thing you will need to do is decide whether you want a new or used car. You probably have a make and model in mind already, so it’s best to do as much research into the car as possible. You can look in trade guides and on the internet to get some ideas about the production and engineering of your desired car. If you go to the dealer armed with this information then you will know what to look for and will know about any parts of the car that are particularly expensive to replace. Whilst doing your research you could also look out for any common problems with your car. For example certain vehicles have notoriously bad electrics and you could be left having to pay a large bill to have them repaired.

So what’s the best bet, new or used?

Buying a new car

Buying a new car gives you the peace of mind that your car hasn’t been rescued from an accident and ‘cut and shut’ (more about this later). Plus you don’t have to worry about service history and recurring problems.

If you decide to buy a new car then you have three options. You can either buy from dealership, from a broker or by personal import from Europe. There are pros and cons to each option so you should look carefully at each to decide what’s best for you. The benefits and pitfalls of each are as follows:

Dealership: Many dealers offer cheap finance schemes with frequent special offers, you can take the car for a test drive and you also may be able trade in your existing car. This is often a more expensive option so it’s worth looking around.

Broker: It is often cheaper to buy through a broker and relatively easy to organise. You may not be able trade your car in.

Personal imports from Europe: Cheaper in the majority of cases. However this is not the easiest way to buy a car. You’ll have to put in quite a bit of work.

What to check when you collect your car
We advise that you check your new car over before you drive off the forecourt. There are a few key things to check:

o That you’ve got a copy of the dealers pre-delivery inspection form

o Check that all lights, electrics, sound systems, alarms, door locks and windscreen wipers work

o Check for any scratches and check that there is no damage to the interior

o Check you’ve got the spare tyre and any tools that are supposed to come with the car

o Make sure you’ve got the manual and service book

Buying a used car

When you buy a used car there are a few more pitfalls to look out for but you can bag yourself a bargain if you look in the right place. It can also be great fun deciding whether you want a sexy classic like an Alfa Romeo Spider or a bargain run-around like a Ford Ka. Whether you chose to buy from a dealer or from the private market you’ll need see the history of the car. This is really important. You can either buy from a franchised dealer, a used car dealer or privately. Here are some of the pros of buying from each:

Franchised dealer: One of the safest places to buy a car. You’ll get a great choice from a franchise. You can get used or nearly new cars. A franchised dealership also might know the entire history of the car. They will also provide you with a warranty, so if anything goes wrong you can take it back and they will fix it.

Used car dealer: They will usually have checked that there is no bad history or outstanding finance. Most dealers have an excellent reputation but you should exercise some caution and again, do your own research about the type of car you’ve chosen. You will usually get at least a 3 month warranty from a used car dealer. But check to see what it covers. Service items like tyres, exhausts and brake pads are not usually covered.

Private purchase: Best place for an excellent bargain. This is the riskiest way to buy a car as the car could have been involved in an accident, and might not belong to the seller. You should ask to meet at the sellers’ home or work and ask the following questions:

1. Is it your car?

2. Has the car ever been in an accident?

3. Can I have a signed receipt?

‘Cut and shut’, counterfeit parts, car ringing and clocking

Unfortunately there are many unscrupulous people out there wanting to make a buck out of the innocent car buyer. Some of the tactics undertaken by an unethical minority leave drivers with dangerous, illegal and unreliable cars. Many cars are stolen and sold on or taken from accidents and patched up to look like new. The following are some ploys that con men use to cheat the buyer:

‘Cut and Shut’

This is when two cars are taken from a scrap yard after write off accidents and welded together. This is extremely dangerous and potentially difficult to spot. Look for mismatched panels, traces of paint on window seals and door handles, mismatched upholstery and signs of serious repair work. It is very difficult to spot a cut and shut but it’s worth a closer inspection in case the person who carried out the work has cut corners.

Counterfeit parts

These are fraudulent copies of genuine manufacturer branded components. They are intended to deceive motorists and can be incredibly realistic. They are however not intended to be safe. Their makers don’t care about the potential safety threat to future drivers. They have started to make fake brake pads, discs and steering linkages. All of these could cause fatal accidents if they go wrong. You probably won’t have the opportunity to check parts before they are fitted to your new car, but it is something you should be aware of when buying a second hand vehicle.

‘Car ringing’

This is where a stolen car has its identification number changed. The vehicle identification number is taken from vehicles that have been written off in an accident. By forging these details thieves can pass off stolen cars as the genuine article to innocent car buyers. Once you’ve paid for a ‘ringer’, it’s too late. It does not belong to you and if it is traced it will be returned to the original owner, so you will lose out considerably. You can look out for this by checking all documents to see if they look forged. If there is little or no paperwork you should also be suspicious.

‘Car clocking’

This is when the car’s odometer is reduced to make it look as if the car has not done as many miles as it has. This makes cars look more valuable than they are. If the mileage of a car looks suspiciously low you should look for other tell tale signs such as wear and tear to the pedal rubbers and seats.

All of the above are seriously detrimental to the buyer and will leave you with a stolen, dangerous or faulty vehicle. If you have any doubts it is advisable to get an independent vehicle inspector to check the car before you buy it. This will avoid any potential fraud and will eliminate the risk to you.

Good luck!

Buying a car should be fun. You could end up with the car of your dreams – if you follow our guide. It really is worth checking for any discrepancies before you make the purchase. There are many ways to check the history and safety of the car so it’s easy to do and worth it in the long term.

Once you’ve bought your car you’ll need to insure it. Visit CoverGirl Car Insurance http://www.covergirlcarinsurance.co.uk 0800 195 48 52 to get car insurance exclusively for women.

Editorial notes: CoverGirl provide cheap car insurance for women. Great value quotes are available online at http://www.covergirlcarinsurance.co.uk

By Sophie Evans

CoverGirl Car Insurance [http://www.covergirlcarinsurance.co.uk]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sophie_Evans/8454

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/61290

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5 Tips to Keep Your Car Looking Great

Some people made a wise decision in choosing car paint protection Adelaide, others are afraid of the risk will regret it. Having a car is convenient, but it takes a lot of responsibility to be a good owner. As with all material things, a car deteriorates over time. But if you know the proper way of taking care of it, you beloved vehicle will stay pretty and reliable much longer than an average car does. It takes some sacrifice, and a great deal of patience, but then you decide it’s time for a replacement, you will find that all your sacrifice will pay off when you try to resell it. So how do you keep your car looking great? Here are 5 tips.

Avoid scratches as much as possible. Are you the type who mindlessly drives against those bushes along your driveway? Then you should be reading this. Scratches are the biggest enemy to your car’s finish. Avoiding scratches is the best way to keep your car finish looking great. Although your paint is made to last some minor torture, that dirt and grime on the car’s surface needs to be rinsed off first with running water before you ever start washing it. Why because some of that dirt can be abrasive, and when rubbed against the surface, it may cause deep scratches. Anything that comes in contact with your car’s finish should be soft – like fresh clean water, wash mitt and chamois.

Protect your car against the elements. Where do you keep your car parked? To maintain its beauty, try to keep it parked in a garage or covered area. If you do not have a garage, then the use of a car cover is recommended. Exposing your car to direct sunlight all the time will cause significant fading of its paint. Sometimes, due to extreme changes in weather (extreme heat to rain to near-freezing temperatures) can make your car paint fade in severe cases the clear coat can fail and peel – and that’s the end of your beautiful car finish. One more thing you must remember – never park your car under a tree, where tree sap can drip on the surface, or under power lines where birds love to perch on. Tree sap and bird droppings, plus petrified bugs on the windshield can do much damage to the car’s paint and glass. Anything that was once organic will oxidize and leave a lasting mark on your car finish – so take it off asap, and don’t let it marinate on your car.

Always maintain a good coat of wax or paint sealant. Keeping a coat of wax on your car will prevent minor scratches, plus it also protects the car against the elements. Even if bird does their thing on top of your car, the paint is less likely to incur damage, since there is a coat of protection to prevent the preventable. Even too much sunlight will not affect a waxed as much as a non-waxed one. Think of it as some sort of sunscreen for your car. Wax your car every three to six months depending on the was/sealant (too much waxing is not recommended also) Cars that are parked under direct sunlight need to be waxed more often to maintain the shine and sheen of the car.

Keep the interior clean – always. Nothing is more pretentious than a car that is so shiny and clean outside, but extremely dirty inside! It’s like a woman who is so physically pretty but ugly deep inside. A car’s interior is just as important as a car’s exterior where appearance is concerned. Fabric covered car seats and car mats can be cleaned with an interior brush to remove dirt particles, then vacuumed. Vinyl or leather seats may be cleaned with a mild commercial detergent or leather cleanser. Clean the interior windows with a commercial glass cleanser. Keep the dashboard spic and span too by vacuuming the nooks and crannies, as well as wiping it with a mild cleanser. Some people even use leather conditioner for leather-lined dashboards. The dashboard takes the blunt of dirt and dust since it’s one of the most exposed and used parts of the car. Besides, all those crevices do have a tendency to gather plenty of dust and dirt. Keep the seats free from rubbish and food crumbs also, as these greatly diminish the beauty of your car.

Detail your car. By detailing, we mean extremely thorough cleaning, polishing and waxing of an automobile, both inside and out, to produce a show-quality level of detail. Besides improving appearance, detailing helps to preserve resale value of a car.When your car is subject to tough conditions, wash your car every 2 weeks – and this is the minimum. Never use dish washing detergent to wash your car with, as these remove the wax coating you spent hours putting on.. Use a PH Neutral car shampoo. Use clean water to rinse your car with, and then dry with a chamois to avoid smears or streaks. And don’t ignore the tires, because the true mark of a serious car owner is attention to all details. Scrub the tires with a brush, then give it a coat of tire shine to make it really stand out. The tire shine also prevents your tiers from going brown. Keep it looking new!

A clean car will be a sight to behold, so keep it looking shiny, bright and pretty. A beautiful-looking car says much about its owner.

Tim is the Owner of Northern Beaches Car Detailing [http://www.northernbeachescardetailing.com/]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tim_Matthews/1172256

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7178087

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How to protect paint work on a new car?

Nano paint protection for cars is the very best possible sort of surface for your automobile s area since not simply does it keep the shine of your paintwork gleaming as though it has merely left the showroom, but it is additionally self-cleaning.

The procedure behind it is interesting and is based on something from attributes. It is called the lotus effect because it was found that the lotus blossom has self-cleaning residential properties on its fallen leaves. This likewise puts on other plants such as walking cane, nasturtium and irritable pear. On top of that, some pests such as specific butterflies and dragonflies have the very same capacity. Ceramic pro Australia is a long-lasting sealant that enhances the paint’s clear coating.

When Was The Lotus Result Found?
Researchers initially began to examine this phenomenon in 1964, and the work was more developed by Barthlott and Ehler in 1977; it was they who initially created the term the lotus result. The leaves of the lotus blossom have a very higher water repellent residential property which is called super-hydrophobicity. When it rains, water droplets roll throughout the leaves and pick up dirt, eliminating it from the surface area, hence allowing the plant to remain tidy and the leaves to do their function of photosynthesis to allow the plant to grow.

The higher surface tension of a water droplet suggests that it has a tendency to lessen its surface in an undertaking to achieve a form which is as close to a round as possible. On reaching a surface area, forces of attachment source the surface area to become moist. The surface might end up being partly damp or totally moist and this will certainly rely on the liquid tension of the water droplet and the glue attributes of the surface.

The much less of the water droplet that touches with the area, the greater that area s hydrophobicity is claimed to be. This hydrophobicity can be assessed by the call angle of the water droplet on the area. The reduced the get in touch with angle, the lesser the hydrophobicity and vice versa. If a contact angle on a certain surface is much less than 90 levels the surface is described as hydrophilic. Higher than 90 degrees it is hydrophobic.

Some plants have a call angle of as much as 160 levels therefores that simply around 2 % of the water droplet touches with the surface area. When it come to lotus leaves, the get in touch with angle is as high as 170 levels. These surface areas are claimed to be super-hydrophobic. The surface area of a water droplet touching a lotus fallen leave might be as litlle as 0.6 %.

How Does Dust Acquire Washed Off The Surface?
When dirt jumps on to such a surface area the quantity of adhesion between the dirt bit and the surface is far less compared to on other surfaces. When a water droplet rolls throughout the area the amount of adhesion between the surface area and the gunk particle is less compared to that in between the filth bit and the droplet, so the dirt bit is gotten by the droplet and carried away leading to automated cleansing of the surface area. Nonetheless, this only works due to the high degree of surface stress of a water droplet and does not work in the same way with natural solvents.
In essence, that is how it works for the lotus fallen leave. Exactly the very same principle is made use of in nano paint innovation for car paint protection Melbourne.

Exactly how Does Nano Paint Protection Work For Autos?
Nano technology has actually advanced to the point whereby a difficult protective ceramic finish can be put on the lacquered finished surface of the car s paintwork when it leaves the manufacturing plant. The lacquered surface is not immune to bird droppings, UV, or chemical etching and can be conveniently ruined or scratched. When this takes place the only option is to brighten off the scrape marks or swirl marks thereby lessening the thickness of the manufacturing facility paint layer. In time this suggests that at some point a respray will be needed.

Many individuals will certainly utilize a wax polish or a polymer paint sealer on the paintwork, however this still leaves the paint surface prone to harm from scratching, bird droppings and more, as these can permeate the polish or sealer.

What Is the Answer?
The solution is to use a difficult nano paint innovation layer to the surface area of the paintwork. The covering is far less prone to damage compared to any other area coverings, however even if swirl marks or many others damages must happen the coating itself can be brightened off and re-applied. This suggests that the manufacturing plant paintwork will not be damaged and will keep its thickness and shine.

Essentially nano innovation duplicates the effects located in nature in a general way and super-hydrophobic layers have actually been made use of on man made surface areas for a considerable variety of years. One such application is self-cleaning glass made use of for windows, however they have been used in different many others applications also. Super-hydrophobic coverings integrating Teflon fragments have actually been made use of on clinical diagnostic slides.

The exact same modern technology has been utilized for things as unique as roofing floor tiles and natural leather furniture. It can be made use of on satellite tv recipes, for example, in order to lessen the probability of rain fade and to deal with any kind of accumulate of ice and snow on the antenna.

It has actually even been utilized for plant growing. The Groasis Waterboxx is a device created for planting small trees in locations of extreme dry spell which enables the young sapling to have enough water reach its root systems up until the roots go down far good enough into the ground to get to water. The Waterboxx can then be gotten rid of and utilized once more in other places. Nano technology allows the Waterboxx to collect dew and condensation and channel it down to the roots of the sapling even in locations of desert.

In order to secure the paintwork of your automobile and keep that fresh from the display room appearance with none of the hard work, nano paint protection is the solution for the critical driver. You will certainly never need to bother with scrape marks or bird droppings, and your automobile will just need a quick rinse to take out any sort of dust. It doesn’t matter whether your vehicle is brand new, or numerous years old; we could keep it the method it is, or restore it to the way it was.
You will also manage to make fun of your next-door neighbors cleaning and polishing every Sunday morning!