Here’s Why Used Car Prices are About to Plummet (Wait and Save Big) – Scotty Kilmer

Here’s Why Used Car Prices are About to Plummet (Wait and Save Big), DIY and car review with Scotty Kilmer. Best time to buy a car. Cheap cars to buy. Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Chevy, and GM, do they still make good American cars and should you buy them now? Should I buy a car now? How to get a good deal when buying a car. Best new cars to buy this year. Car Advice. DIY car repair with Scotty Kilmer, an auto mechanic for the last 53 years.

 

Used Car Pricing Study Shows The Cars That Have Gained Value This Year – Jalopnik

by Tom McParland

You are probably sick of hearing about the steady rise in used car prices. It is very much a seller’s market right now so finding a value in a pre-owned car is a challenge. A recent study from iSeeCars.com reveals the models with the most dramatic price jump compared to last year.

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IIHS, Consumer Reports name safest used cars – The Car Connection

by Robert Duffer

Safety does not need to come at a steep price, according to the latest recommendations from Consumer Reports and the IIHS. The safest cars for teens, inexperienced drivers, or car shoppers keen on crash protection can still be affordable, despite sky-high used car prices, the organizations announced on Thursday.

“This list is intended to point buyers toward vehicles that excel in performance and reliability ratings from CR’s tests and survey data and earn high marks for crash protection and crash avoidance from IIHS while staying within a defined budget,” Jennifer Stockburger, director of operations at Consumer Reports Auto Test Center

Best Choices

SMALL CARS

Mazda 3 sedan or hatchback (2014 or newer; built after October 2013) $8,100
Toyota Prius (2014 or newer; built after November 2013) $8,600
Hyundai Elantra GT (2018 or newer) $15,200
Subaru Crosstrek (2017 or newer) $17,900
Honda Insight (2019 or newer) $18,200
Toyota Prius Prime (2017 or newer) $18,200
Toyota Corolla hatchback (2019 or newer) $18,300
Kia Niro (2019) $18,600
Subaru Impreza sedan or wagon (2019) $19,400

MID-SIZE CARS, LARGE CARS, SMALL CROSSOVER SUVS, MID-SIZE CROSSOVER SUVS…(more)

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Buying insurance can be almost as exciting as going to the dentist.  But since many classic car owners tend to be a little more emotionally involved with their “baby” than with the commuter car that gets them to work…it might be a more passionate endeavor when it comes to insuring them.

Here are the basic topics we’ll cover:

• What is classic car insurance?
• Top 5 classic car insurance companies
• What qualifies as a classic car?
• Coverage options available for classic cars
• How to find the best classic car insurance

What is classic car insurance?

Classic auto insurance differs from a standard auto policy in a few ways. There are not only certain eligibility requirements for classic cars (which we’ll discuss below), but there are also key differences in how an insurance company pays out claims for these vehicles.

Unlike regular-use vehicles, classic cars appreciate in value over time rather than depreciate. To account for this, classic car insurance providers will often reimburse drivers with an agreed value in the event of an auto collision.

Usually, an agreed value takes into account the car’s value over time as well as interest and a professional appraisal of the vehicle. With regular car insurance, companies will only reimburse the vehicle’s replacement cost and deduct any depreciation.

Classic car insurance also has annual mileage restrictions. Since these specialty vehicles are only intended for occasional pleasure driving or auto shows, car insurers cap how many miles the vehicle can be driven per year. This also means that classic car owners are expected to have a separate vehicle for daily driving.

Top 5 classic car insurance companies

While a classic car insurance policy is often cheaper than standard auto insurance, choosing the right insurer is still an important decision. Whether you own a vintage Porsche 911, a hot rod or a muscle car, it’s a good idea to consider multiple insurance companies for your classic auto insurance coverage.

Below, we’ve outlined our top five picks for classic car insurance and collector car insurance. Most of these companies cover collector vehicles, antique cars and exotic cars as well.

CLASSIC CAR INSURANCE COMPANY                         ANNUAL MILEAGE LIMIT                CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE RATING

1. Grundy Insurance                                                                 Unlimited                                                               8.5
2. Hagerty Insurance (Progressive)                                         Unlimited                                                                8.5
3. American Collectors Insurance (USAA)                                7,500                                                                     9.0
4. American Modern Insurance (GEICO)                                Unlimited                                                                7.0
5. Heacock Classic Insurance                                                     6,000                                                                   9.0

 

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When you watch car commercials on TV…you’re often presented with alot of car specss…many of which you think you should understand, but probably don’t.  Some car specs make total sense. Eight airbags means eight airbags. I’m gonna run down the top dozen or so specs make them real simple and most importantly, tell you the ones you can largely ignore starting with 0 to 60…

Zero (0) to 60 is the holy grail of performance benchmarks.

It is obviously how fast a car can go from a standing stop to 60 miles an hour. The quickest it can do that, either with a really good driver on a manual transmission, or relying on automatic transmission. The thing about zero to 60 is you never do that. How often in real life do you go from a standing stop to 60. Nonetheless, it’s a good benchmark because it encompasses a lot of acceleration phases of a car. You see cars don’t accelerate as quickly through all ranges of speed. They may be quicker 15 to 23, then slow down a little bit 24 to 46 and then speed up again 46 to 60. It’s kind of a wavy curve, 0 to 60 captures all that in totality and gives you kind of one big lump number… Horsepower, good grief.

They spent a lot of time screaming about this in car advertisements and specs don’t. Horsepower has this arcane definition from way back in the day. It’s the power you need to lift 550 pounds, one foot off the ground. In one second, there’s a time factor there because it expresses work, horsepower and even more peripheral number than 0 to 60 time. You care about things like acceleration field, fuel economy, towing capacity. Those things are all related to horsepower but they’re not expressed literally by the number.

There is another number I do want you to get more caught up in. Torque. This is how hard the car’s engine can twist something and twisting is the whole idea behind moving a car. The engine twist the guts of the transmission which twist the drive shaft which twist the wheels and off you go. Torque is measured in pound feet. A pound foot is when you have, let’s say, a one foot long lever. This wrench, for example, and I apply one pound of force at the end of it. The one foot mark that is one pound foot, okay? That might undo something that might not. For example, I’ve got a bolt sitting here inside this vise. Stick my socket on it. I’ve got my one foot wrench here. And maybe or maybe not, this one foot-wrench with a pound of force is gonna undo it. If it doesn’t, what am I gonna do? Gonna get a bigger hammer, or in this case, a bigger wrench. Here’s a two-foot wrench, more or less. As you know from experience, if I drop that guy in, and now apply the same one pound of force. I’m probably going to undo that bolt, right? Leverage makes a big difference, more torque. Imagine this wrench was actually 266 feet long, huge thing way out there. And I take a long walk I go to the end of it and I still apply my one pound of force.

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