The image of the feebleminded female wandering into the showroom, ripe for the salesman’s manipulation, has, for the most part, been replaced with the vision of a woman who is a savvy, knowledgeable buyer. There is no doubt that today’s women are educated, independent and capable of making informed consumer decisions. We are financially literate, market intelligent, knowledgeable of our credit scores and savvy users of our credit cards.

It is a fact that over 70% of everything that is sold in the United States is purchased by women. This includes the family or personal automobile. In respect to this awesome purchasing power, dealers out there are working hard to cater to the woman buyer. After, all, really, why shouldn’t they? In today’s challenging markets, car salesmen or salespeople must develop sensitivity to their loyal supporters in general and the holder of the purse-strings in particular. Those car dealers who intend to survive the current financial reality now work hard to provide women with a comfortable buying experience.

Therefore, dealerships have lately adapted their marketing techniques to dignify women who enter their merchandise areas. To begin with, if you have not visited a showroom lately, I advise you to spend a Saturday afternoon shopping for cars. Today’s dealers now employ professionals that are helpful, friendly staff who offer expert advice based on your personal needs. Due to strong competition in the automobile market, dealerships are aware of the reality that women say all they need to with the use of their feet – if she start to feel pressured or uncomfortable they will walk – right out of their dealership and into another. So, today’s dealers now ensure that each and every detail of the car buying process is easily explained. Women are given all of the information asked for such as what is required to get the best finance rates, the most amount of money on her trade-in and the very best price on the car of her choice and not the car the salesman wants her to have so he will make the most commission!

For those women who are still hesitant to buy an automobile without a man present, here are a few final tips to bolster your confidence. First, seek out a salesperson that is either a friend or a friend of a friend. These people tend to be more honest. Next, only buy a new or used car from a woman. Finally, consult with other female car buyers. Now get out there…and happy car shopping.

A lot of people have this problem; they just can’t keep their car clean. They complain about it to no end, but they do nothing to fix the problem.  Of course, there is another extreme too, those who always have a clean car. They seem to be almost perfect, or from another planet or something. What is their secret? Do they have a secret? It couldn’t be that hard, could it? Well, a clean car can be had by anybody, just follow these simple steps.

First of all, they don’t really have a secret, they just use common sense. When somebody makes a mess, they clean it up just as it happens, they don’t wait until later. They aren’t lazy about keeping their car clean; they make sure that everything is kept orderly. If you clean up everything as it happens, you will have no huge messes to clean up later on. It seems so simple, but many people just don’t do that on a regular basis.

Secondly, don’t people eat in your car. This will make your car much cleaner, without even really trying very hard. You probably won’t be able to get around eating in your car completely, but try to avoid it as much as possible. This is where quite a few of the messes in your car might come from, and it is best to just not eat in your car unless absolutely necessary.

Also, beware of how much paper you let sit in your car. You get some of it all the time, and somehow it always ends up floating around your car, right? Even just coming from church, you always have a church bulletin, and at some point that always ends up plastered to the floor. I would suggest having a garbage set up in your car, that you can put unneeded papers into. This will make things much simpler, and make sure to take the papers that you do need wherever they need to go, because generally the car is not the place for them.

These are just some tips pertaining to this subject. There is always much more you can do to keep your car clean and at its best. Follow these tips, and the basics should be more than taken care of. Try not to go overboard though, because if you do that you’ll never be able to keep up with it. Just do what you can manage, and work from there.

Selling a used car can be a daunting experience.  You have to first decide what the car is worth and what someone will pay for it, and they are not necessarily the same number.  You then have to decide how to sell it.  Do you find a street corner to park the car on and put a sign in the window, or do you list it in the newspaper, auto magazines, online, or do you do it all? 

First things first.  How much do you want to get out of the car, and how much do you need to get out of the car?  Will the money go toward a new car?  Do you need to use the money to finish paying off the car you are selling?  Will you be using the money to pay off credit card bills and other debt, or take a vacation, or put your child through ballet school?  How you will be using the money will be the greatest determining factor in how much money you need to get out of the car.  If the car is worth more than you need, then you can decide how much more you want to get out of it.

Parking the car on the street corner is a great way to allow potential buyers to get a good look at the car before bothering you on the phone and asking you to meet them to give it a test drive.  But, if that is the only way you will be advertising the car then you are limiting your potential buyers to people who happen to be on that street.

You can list your car for sale in a local newspaper or two for very little cost.  The easiest way to do this is to come up with a good for sale ad and give the paper a call.  They will take your information, your ad, word for word as you read it to them, your credit card number to pay for the ad, and before you know it you will be getting calls for your car.

Listing your car in one of those free car trader magazines that you see at the grocery store is a bit more expensive than a newspaper ad, but the exposure is priceless.  You can put a photo of the car in the magazine and a detailed description.  You usually don’t pay until the car sells, too, which is nice.  They will still take your credit card number when you place the ad to insure you will pay, though.  The only drawback to this method is the number of people you will be giving your phone number to, and you can imagine the problems that can result from that.

Selling the car at an online auction is another option.  You are taking chances here, though, that you won’t get what you need out of the car.  But, if you start the bidding at the price you need and get even two bids on it, then you are coming out ahead.  You will need to consider the listing price into the total price of the sale of the car, which can be expensive, but the good news is that you don’t have to give your credit card number to anyone to list the car at auction in most cases.

When purchasing a new vehicle, the typical costs factored into the finances required to cover the monthly costs include the car loan payment, insurance and gasoline.  More often than not, the owner of a new car relies heavily on the bumper-to-bumper new car factory warranty to take care of any problems that arise on the vehicle, and neglects to execute a proper regime of preventative maintenance which will not only prolong the life of the car, but also prevent certain costly maintenance problems from arising after the factory warranty has expired. 

An excellent example of preventative maintenance that does not show its worth until after the factory warranty expires, is the routine oil change.  Most drivers are aware that the oil should be changed every 3,000 miles or every 3 months to protect the interior components of the engine.  Slacking on this practice will cause corrosive materials in the oil to settle into the inside of the engine and cause friction where there should be fluid motion of engine components.  Regular oil changes will dramatically reduce the incidence of major problems with bearings, rings, cam and valves on vehicles that have under 100,000 miles on the engine.  Unfortunately, the knowledge of the regular oil change is so common, that it is easy to “let it go” when sticking to the schedule is so vital to the longevity of the vehicle.

Making sure to check and change the oil filter, air filter and fuel filter during each oil chance is an very inexpensive way to help ensure many thousands of trouble-free engine miles.  The air filter and the fuel filter are usually easy to access and replace and will be much less expensive if changed by the owner on a regular basis, rather than having them replaced by the oil change technician.
Having the transmission serviced every 30,000 miles is a $50 to $60 maintenance item during which the transmission fluid will be flushed and replaced, the pan will be cleaned and the pan gasket replaced to prevent excessive and premature wear of the shifting mechanisms due to oxidation of the transmission fluid. 

Servicing the brakes through inspection and replacement of worn brake pad, shoes and accessory components, in addition to preserving safe driving conditions, will also prevent accessory damage to the rotors and drums. 
Finally, regular tire rotation, while not necessarily preventing breakdown of adjacent or secondary components of the vehicle, is valuable in it’s monetary benefit by substantially extending the life of the tires and increasing fuel efficiency.

When researching the expenses of the purchase of a new car, checking on current prices for the above mentioned items, and working them into the purchase budget will go far in extending the life of the vehicle and preventing costly repairs that wind up going on a credit card.

I’ve decided that my car is my haven and my home.  It’s the only place that I can choose to be completely uninterrupted for a fixed amount of time.  It’s the only place I can listen and enjoy my music without reservation, without apology.
It’s cheaper, though probably not by much, to drive around for an hour and talk out my problems to myself that to pay for a therapist.  I can stick a few unlit scented candles to the dashboard, turn on the heated seat massage, and call it a spa visit.  Probably the best part of it all, is that I am always accomplishing two tasks simultaneously when I am in my car, so I always feel that I am getting things done. 

In my car, on my morning drive to the office is where I generate my “to do” list for the evening.   It’s where I eat, it’s where I relax, it’s where I do my banking and pay my credit card bills. My morning commute is where I generate all of my best ideas and where I make all of my most important business calls.  My evening commute is when I make and return phone calls to my extended family.   My car is where I find out what’s going on in my kids’ lives while I shuttle them to and from school and extracurricular activities.  It’s where I have my most meaningful conversations with my husband, undistracted by noisiness or nosiness of people around us.  It’s where I’ve slept on an occasion or two, after an unsuccessful attempt at meaningful conversation with my husband, and it’s where I can think out loud without repercussion. 

Most importantly, it’s where I have uninterrupted time and peace to pray. 
Surprising that we don’t personalize our vehicles the way we personalize our homes.  After all, my car is what gets me to the job every day to pay for the embellishments to my house.  And while commonly noted that we spend more time at work to pay for the house than we actually spend in the house, we also spend a notable amount of time per week in our car, but many times have I frustratingly tried to get the doors to unlock in a parking lot, only to realize I can’t tell my car from the one two rows over.  Pity really.

My car interior is grey.  I’m not grey.  Perhaps a tie-dye project this weekend is in order…