Great Deals to be Had in the 2008 Car Clearance

You will always get a good deal on a new car when the dealerships want to clear out their inventory to make room for the cars of the New Year. The 2008 car clearance, though, has been the best one in recent memory in terms of the deals offered to customers. One only has to listen to the news and see the line ups of cars waiting at the docks in San Francisco to see that the sale of cars has diminished to next to nothing. As a result of the global economic situation, car manufacturers are finding themselves in financial difficulty and have drastically cut prices in order to move the cars.

If you watch any of the ads on TV featuring the special deals associated with the 2008 car clearance (http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/auto), you will realize that now is the time to get one of the best deals of your life on a new vehicle. Companies that offer financing of new cars have 0% interest in place so your payments are based on the purchase price only. In addition to this savings, companies and dealerships are throwing in discounts of $2000 and $3000 as well as cutting the cost of the vehicles they still have on their lots.

There are many incentives offered by individual dealerships in order to speed up their 2008 car clearance. It is important to negotiate with the salesperson about the trade in amount you receive for your vehicle, which will reduce the overall purchase price. You will get a better deal, though, if you go in to look for a 2008 car without a trade. You also have to look at a car that has low fuel costs and low maintenance.

The 2008 new car clearance (http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/auto) actually started in July, as it does every year. With so many people losing their jobs, though, car sales did not reach the anticipated levels. Thus, by September, most dealerships were in panic mode with not having enough room for the 2009 cars they had on order. This is when the offers for incentive really went into high gear. Most car dealerships do not have many vehicles of the previous year in stock in January, but this is not the case in 2009. Ads are still running on TV for very expensive 2008 vehicles on which the prices have really been reduced.

Leasing a new 2009 car used to be an option. Due to the credit crunch, many companies have now eliminated this manner of obtaining a new car and this too has impacted the 2008 car clearance. Consumers like the option of being able to lease a vehicle for three or four years and then return it without having to bother with haggling over the price of a trade. The financial state of the “Big Three” is such that a few of them have cut out leasing, although you are still able to lease a car from Ford.

It is not just the car companies of the United States that are having difficulty moving their inventory through a 2008 car clearance. The foreign made cars that are often cheaper in price are also in the same situation. Anyone who can afford the payments on a new car is tending to hang on to their old car just in case there may be changes in their individual financial situation.

Safer Car Seats for Children

Through the years, cars have undergone a lot of improvements performance wise. But performance is not the only aspect of cars that has received much attention from car manufacturers. The safety aspect has also surely been looked into.

Volvo is the forerunner in producing safe cars and they have raised the bar for safety time and time again. While car safety has much improved from those times that cars have no rear safety belts as standards and employs no airbags, there is still room for improvement that car manufacturers need to work on. At present, car safety does not only depend on how well the brakes work even if it is EBC Greenstuff brake pads being employed. An example of that is the recent findings of consumer watchdog Which? which cites problems on the design of safety belt buckles on some of the cars that are being produced today.

Improvements in the safety of car occupants, specifically children, is what First Seat, LLC is concerned about. This producer of child car seat safety systems has been producing safe car seats since 2003 and is based in Monterey, CA. Their dedication to develop safe child car seats is evident on their recently announced design of a passive child car seat safety system which, when tested, shows that it can protect children in cases of crashes much better than any available car seat system for children in the market. The design of the safety system for toddlers and the good result in its testing promises that this will raise the standard for child car seats.

The design of the car seat is aimed at reducing the risk of injury or death of a child in cases of crashes. Their research shows that side impact is potentially the most dangerous kind of collision since side-to-side rotation of the head leads to internal stretching forces on the brain. These will likely result to the stretching of the output wires of the nerves which will then make them stop them from functioning. Research shows that the damage caused by rapid rotational movements, which is what happens to a car’s occupants in side impact, is more damaging to the brain than those movements suffered from frontal impacts.

To lessen such side to side movements of the head of a child during side crashes, First Seat designed a child car seat that has viscoelastic foam that protects the head of the child. The foam used in the construction of the head protection is the same as the ones used in Formula One racecars. The seat itself is made out of a rigid material that protects the body of the child. The Formula One racing inspired technology employed by the company in producing this seat will introduce a new standard in the industry which presently has no standard on side impact safety of child car seats.

Another safety innovation from the company is their technology for decreasing the stress on the child in cases of front collisions. While contemporary child car seats relies heavily on the belt stretch to decelerate the child as it moves forward, the new car seats from First Seat uses a different patented technology. Their technology allows the car seat to glide forward while gradually decelerating while the child is held firmly onto the seat. This reduces the amount of stress exerted by the seat belt on the body of the child, reducing the risk of injuries.

The product is currently on the final stages of testing and the results of previous tests shows that the child car seat protects the child better on side impacts.

The Danger of Teenage Drivers

Perhaps it is time to re-think how we are teaching driver’s education at high schools. I remember taking driver’s education at my high school at 7am every Saturday for an extended period of time (perhaps a couple of months or so).

We had a combination of instruction that was given in a classroom where we went over the rules of the road as well as watched safety videos and had periodic quizzes. Then we also had the portion of the class immediately following in which we got into the driver’s education car with our instructor and two or three of our other group members. We would take turns slowly navigating the busy streets of Long Island (yes, they were even busy at 7:30am!).

It was an extremely difficult class with little room for error. After we finished the class, we all scheduled our separate road tests at varying locations across Long Island. And guess what? All of us passed our road tests on the first try. There must’ve been about 20 of us or so. Now, you may attribute this to the preparation we received in class or maybe it was due to something else. But sometimes, I wonder how difficult the driver’s education classes are elsewhere in the country because having lived in North Carolina now for the past 8 years or so, it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly inept many of the young drivers are. And as we all know, many of the habits we develop when we are young only get worse as we grow older. From failing to indicate when you want to change lanes or make a turn to following others too closely, there are accidents waiting to happen everywhere I go.

If anything, living in North Carolina has taught me how to be a better defensive driver than living in New York (not what you would think!). The teenagers today are growing up in an age of technology. When I took my road test in high school, cell phones were just on the brink of coming into existence. We still used beepers and thought they were “cool”. We didn’t have as many distractions with GPS systems and DVD players in our vehicles. Ipods hadn’t even come out yet. Geez, it makes high school seem like forever ago for me, even though it was only 8 years ago now. The point is this, teenagers need to have tougher instruction during their driver’s education classes. New York has a cell phone law in place for a reason; it’s distracting! Even if you’re having a conversation with a hands-free cell phone, the emotional converastion you might be having is enough to distract you and cause an accident.

I’m not saying that cell phones are what is causing teenagers to drive poorly. Surely, there are a number of other factors. But it definitely needs to be emphasized to teenagers everywhere that while driving may seem like a lot of fun and may give you the so-called “freedom” you so desperately crave at that age, it is still first and foremost a “privilege” and not a “right”.

Yamaha 4 Wheeler

Have you ever had the experience of going to buy a vehicle and the salesman at the dealership did not want you to go home and do any product comparisons or market research before you bought?  That is a red flag that something may be wrong with the product when the people selling it fear a knowledgeable consumer.  But it is crucial you are well informed especially when buying a four-wheeler.  Whether you are buying an ATV for racing, just for weekend recreation or to have it do hard work, the engineering must be top notch and that has to be verifiable.
You will not have that problem when you look at the Yamaha brand of all terrain vehicles.  Not only do Yamaha dealers not fear you doing the research on whether their ATVs excel in all areas of performance and engineering, they welcome the scrutiny.  They know that if you dig deep and use independent testing sources to find out which ATV manufacturer knows how make a quality four-wheeler for you and your family, Yamaha will consistently come out on top.
When you shop for a new four-wheeler, the “wow factor” is what draws your eye to a particular model.  But as a wise consumer, you know that what really counts in a quality four-wheeler isn’t the snazzy look, the sexy body design or the flashy colors.  It is the engineering of the inner workings of that vehicle that will make it a good investment no matter what you plan to do with your new ATV.  And when it comes to quality and sustaining a history of four wheelers that perform day in and day out and that endure the rigorous life that ATVs live, Yamaha stands out as a model that has that engineering you are looking for.
This is not to say that a Yamaha ATV will not jump out when you take it out to a four-wheeler event and turn heads.  The designers at Yamaha are just as aware about how to make your ATV to look great as the engineers are aware that the machine underneath must meet with the highest standards of quality and safety.  An ATV is always a hard working vehicle.  Whether it is racing, at off road explorations, going camping or being uses as a workhorse machine, an ATV must be tougher than even your standard family car or truck so you can come to depend on it to be there for you when you need it.
That kind of reliability is the hallmark of Yamaha ATVs and has been for decades.  That is the reason that Yamaha has dominated the four-wheeler market so successfully.  It is not just because Yamaha four wheelers look great on the show room floor and have that “wow factor”.  It is because Yamaha ATVs continue to perform and look great for owners years after they are new and do so reliably and safely.  That is the kind of thing that will make any prudent ATV shopper go “Wow”.

Things You Should Know Before Buying 4 Wheelers Parts

Orlando Home for Sale 6 Reasons to List

You don’t list your Orlando home for sale on a whim; you don’t just decide you don’t like the one you have. Selling a home carries significant financial, emotional and family repercussions. Selling your home is one of those life decisions, the ones you discuss with your spouse, look over with professionals and use experts to move forward.

While you might have been able to list your Orlando home for sale and have it sold quickly at the beginning of the decade, that’s no longer the case. Now, you have to be truly motivated in order to get your home sold. Unmotivated sellers, those without concrete reasons, are not serious sellers.

If you’re a motivated seller, on the other hand, you have several new marketing weapons at your disposal. These include government incentive programs, short sale practices, state-of-the-art technology and creative marketing plans to help consummate the transaction.

Are You A Motivated Seller? So, think about it. Are you a motivated seller? There are a number of reasons people are motivated to sell. These reasons include:

Lifestyle Change – The time for a quieter way of life has arrived. The nest may be too empty. You may want more freedom and less household commitment. In any case, a change of lifestyle is a very strong motivation to sell.

Relationship Changes – Partners get together and partners divide. Marriage, divorce and newborns all set the stage for household change.

House Too Small – As families expand, it can be more cost effective to move rather than over-improve. For example, it can cost over $10,000 for a room extension on your home.

Time to Upgrade – Prior to the recession, American families moved an average of seven times per marriage. Although those numbers have dropped some, we do still seem to seek the greenest pastures.

Changes in Neighborhood – Many homeowners move because of local community issues. A school system may trim budgets or the homes may not be increasing in value. A desire for neighborhood change could be your motivation.

Health Issues – People with health issues who cannot continue or afford household upkeep are moving to smaller, more protected and service oriented communities. If this is you, you can definitely consider yourself a motivated seller.

If you’re motivated and have an Orlando home for sale, you already know the market is competitive. However, professional representation, an astute marketing plan and expanded reach can help you locate the perfect buyer.