Third party insurance

Much as with bikes, Third Party Insurance offers the most basic level of protection, covering you financially if you are liable in an accident causing damage to another car and/or injury to a passenger in your own vehicle. In the case of passenger injury, the policy will probably cover the costs of emergency medical treatment, but not longer term care. In addition, the name ‘third party’ insurance clearly indicates what it does not protect you against: injury to yourself or damage to your own vehicle. This is often, though not always, the least expensive type of car insurance policy, making it best suited to those on low incomes such as students.

Third Party Fire and Theft insurance

As the name suggests, this is Third Party Insurance with extra coverage. This type of policy will also cover the theft of your vehicle, or damage to it, caused by fire. It may include protection against other forms of damage, but these terms will vary depending on the company.

Fully Comprehensive Insurance

Again, the name fairly clearly indicates what this covers. Although these policies often carry higher premiums, the total coverage they provide, usually including optional extras, means that they often prove to be cost effective in the long term.

Short Term Insurance

This type of car insurance is more specialist oriented, suiting those who will only be using a vehicle for a limited time but need to remain within the law. If you are buying a car, Short Term Insurance will cover you while you have the vehicle for a trial, test-driving period. Equally, if you are unable to use your own car, Short Term Car Insurance will allow you to use a temporary courtesy vehicle or a rented one, for a short period.

Pay As You Drive Insurance

This is a comparatively new option, where premiums are based on when, where and how often you drive. For example, if the vehicle is utilised on motorways during peak traffic hours, the premium will be more expensive compared to that of someone driving in a remote area in the early hours. It is considered a cost effective option for people who drive either infrequently, or during non-peak traffic periods.

In our everyday lives, driving can often be a chore. We drive to work, to go shopping and to do the school run. It’s not often that many people in the UK drive for sheer pleasure. Our congested roads, high petrol prices and urbanised environment mean that it’s difficult to imagine driving for fun. However, this isn’t the case everywhere. There are many roads in the world that are a joy to drive, while you relax and enjoy the scenery.

Atlantic Road, Norway

Voted the Norwegian construction of the century, this road bridges small islands and crosses wild seas, making for a thrilling ride as the waves crash beneath you.

Route 6, New Zealand

Taking you through the southern Alps, where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed, this road winds its way past glacial lakes, through narrow mountain scenery, and then descends down to the coast, where you can unwind on the beach after the drive.

Route 6A, New England, USA

A scenic drive through one of the most historic parts of America, this road trip New England will take you through an older America, free from modern commercialisation. The route hugs the coast and is lined with charming villages, salt marshes and open land.

Great Ocean Road, Australia

This road follows the south Australian coast for around 155 miles and combines the best of both worlds: ocean scenery with mountains. There are lots of places to stop along the way when you want a break, and with the beach on one side of you and a pristine national park on the other, there are lots of opportunities to explore.

Col de Turini, Austria

This is not a road for the faint hearted, but one which will be remembered forever. The mountain views will take your breath away. Soaring to 5,275 feet, the road is narrow and twisting – drivers need to concentrate hard to negotiate it successfully. Those that do will be in good company – it has been used as part of the World Rally Championship for the last fifty years.

Route 66, USA

The historic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles no longer appears on maps, but it is still possible to drive it using a guidebook. Route 66 holidays will take you between east and west through six states. You’ll see a microcosm of America, both good and bad, along the way, as you follow in the footsteps of the many migrants who have worked their way from the east coast to the west.

The cost of purchasing a car nowadays can sometimes escalate into ridiculous figures – some cars can cost as much as a small house. Considering the drastic rise of car prices during the last decade or two, more and more people are now relying on buying used cars for their transportation needs. Buying a used car is a proposition that makes a lot of people nervous, especially because the idea of getting into a bad deal or getting burned with a car that does not perform well is a common fear. Let’s consider some of the steps you can take to make sure you have a successful deal.

Things to keep in mind

For the sake of clearness, here is a list of maxims you should keep in mind at any time during the process of buying a used car. Take this with a grain of salt though, these are only general rules that can guide the selection process. Before breaking them, however, it is best to learn them well.

• Make sure you look at used cars in broad daylight. You will rarely end up making your purchases during the evening, but it is always good to remember that you need to stack the odds in your favour and make a decent inspection of the vehicle. Poor lighting doesn’t help that process one bit.
• Don’t buy a car older than 5 years. Bear in mind that the actual number of years will change depending on the market and your location. The main thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to buy a car so old that will have no residual value when you want to sell it on. Re-selling your purchase is one of the best ways to make up for the cost of the car and get a newer model.
• Don’t buy a car that has more than one previous owner. The standard reasoning is that, the more owners the car has had, the less the value of the vehicle and the more chances it has of having been mistreated.
• Buy a well-reviewed car model. This does not necessarily mean a popular car, but a car that has been well received and is well remembered by the people that have owned it for providing a satisfactory driving experience. You might have to do some research into this, luckily the internet is bustling with forums and websites that can give you accurate reviews about specific car models. Not every discussion is about fancy Ferrari driving, after all, you are not the only one looking to buy a used car.
• Buy a car for which parts are readily available. Cars that are very old or that have been particularly unsuccessful in the market might be struck off the manufacturer production line, which will make getting new parts (in the case of an accident or merely for maintenance) a big problem. Always assume that the car will eventually have problems (every car does) and that you’ll need easy access to new parts for completing the repairs.

]]> http://www.voxturbo.com/how-best-to-choose-a-used-car.html/feed 0 http://www.voxturbo.com/visit-your-local-junk-yard.html http://www.voxturbo.com/visit-your-local-junk-yard.html#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:43:38 +0000 admin http://www.voxturbo.com/?p=212 If you like to save money and don’t mind getting a little down-and-dirty to do so then visiting your local auto recycling yard is a great way to keep your old junk car running better and longer! Don’t fall into the trap of forking out thousands for a new car because your old one has a few bumps and bruises. If you have a local auto junk yard that is trustworthy they can extend the life of your old car by many years and at a much lower price than buying or leasing a new car.

Make sure to bring your own tools and look for a junk yard that offers a self service section because those are where the best deals are had. One of our local auto recyclers even has a ‘free parts day’ a few times every year and you pay one flat fee ($49.95) and you can leave with all the parts you can carry! Now that is a sweet deal and by saving money on my car it allows me to take at least one extra vacation every year. Ask around your local area and find out if there is a good junk yard nearby.

And that’s the best explanation we can come up with for this, the FAB Design Full Broadside Porsche Panamera. The “extrovert Wide Bodykit” is fashioned entirely from carbon fiber, not that it helps any. If we have anything nice to say, it’s that we don’t mind the wheels or three trapezoidal exhaust tips. Nor do we mind the upgraded engine doing 690 hp. But that wrapping… oh, the humanity…

FAB suggests this is what its customers want, saying that its tweaked Panamera is the first of its new FAB Exclusive line. Praise be it will be limited to 15 units. The press release is after the jump, and to those that can, have a look at the FAB Panamera from every angle in the gallery of high-res photos below. Hat tip to Johannes

Let’s be clear, this is a pure concept car. There are no side mirrors (but there is a back-up camera). Bumpers? Bah, Honda barely put headlights on this thing. Still, the Honda ‘Personal-Neo Urban Transport’ could make for a pretty sweet ride through a city, with lots of sight lines for the three inhabitants (a driver in the front middle, two passengers arranged behind and to either side) to see out of.

The P-NUT does succeed in Honda’s stated goal to get the most space out of a small footprint, and we wouldn’t mind some sort of production version BEV someday. Chances are, though, that this is the last we’ll ever see of it.

None of the display vehicles sported any detail changes but it was still fun to see all of them packed into a booth the size of Toyota’s Venza section. Ian Robertson of BMW did share a few more details about the future of MINI, with the “R60″ 4-door-4-liter-4wd about to get a real name and even more models in the works. For now we have the Coopers and Clubmen and the coupe and roadster to keep us happy. Check out the gallery below.

Dang because we really like the new EVO-nosed Colt, especially in Ralliart trim. Additionally, now is a wonderful time to bring over a small car. Don’t believe us? Just ask Ford (Fiesta) and Mazda (Mazda2). The Colt will be going up against some pretty hefty (albeit lightweight) competition in the form of established B-segmenters like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Sentra.

And while we haven’t driven the new Colt, the stats aren’t exactly overwhelming – in top trim, a 1.5-liter MIVEC four-cylinder spits out 104 hp and 104 lb-ft of torque. Routed through a CVT transmission that’s probably plenty of grunt for day to day small car activities. And odds are Mitsubishi will drop a slightly buffer mill into the Colt for US duty. But just picture this – what if Mitsubishi gives us the Ralliart Colt? Maybe with a turbo. We, for one, would really be in favor of that (hint, hint). Either way, here comes the Colt.

Based on the 308 GTB, the Super 8 made our Top 10 Mid-Engined Hatchbacks list, but that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Sbarro’s done everything from converting a 365 GT4 into a Mille Miglia spyder to giving the 550 Maranello the wide-body treatment. Among the most intriguing of his projects, though, has been the Alcador series. The first Alcador, based on the Testarossa, debuted at the 1995 Geneva salon. The second, called the Alcador GTB, came a baker’s-dozen years later at the 2008 Geneva show, borrowing its chassis and engine from the 348. Sbarro tweaked the design and came back to the Palexpo the following year with a new Alcador GTB based on the 360 Modena.

Now, a Swiss collector by the name of Lienhard has commissioned the coachbuilder to craft him another example, and the result was unveiled to the public this past weekend at the Essen tuner expo in Germany. Strangely called the Lista Office, Sbarro’s latest is underpinned once again by the 80s-era Testarossa, packing its 450hp 5-liter boxer 12. Say what you will about the styling, but one thing’s for sure: it doesn’t look anything like a 512TR. See for yourself in the image gallery below.

Magna claims it has already invested a significant amount of money on development to prepare for production. As a result Magna is seeking €400 million in compensation from Porsche. There’s no word from Stuttgart on its plans to repay Magna, but with VW’s legal arm exercised and ready to go, the battle is sure to be drawn out over the coming months and years.