Motor Vehicle Tips

Right now every automaker form Japan to Detroit is hurting to sell or unload their 2009 models. Detroit over produced their full size trucks and are offering huge incentives if you buy now. Ford and GMC are offering zero percent interest, Ford for forty-eight months and GMC for sixty months. Ford is offering an insurance program that will pay your payments for one year if you lose your job. Dodge is a part of the recently bankrupt Chrysler and is offering huge incentives with cash back and zero percent interest. They are all also willing to sell for base invoice price or close to it. Making this the best time ever to buy, assuming you can get the approval for the loan or have the twenty to forty thousand dollars to spend.

Ford has the all time best selling full sized pickup and vehicle, the Chiltons Ford F150 Manual. For the last twenty-three years the F150 has been the best selling vehicle in the United States. It is hard to find a bad review for a new or used one. It has been redesigned for the 2009 model year and boy did they go all out. It is designed to be able to run a small business from it, they have added wi fi, an invoice printer, and hanging file storage. On top of that it has a more powerful engine, better transmission and stronger frame giving it the capability to out tow its competition. The Ford F150 is highly customizable giving it a wide price range of twenty one thousand dollars for the basic all the way up to thirty eight thousand dollars. The gas station is where you make your second payment for this beast, it only gets 14 mpg city and 19 mpg highway.

The Chiltons Chevrolet Silverado Manual comes in 2nd to the Ford F150. But it is hard to find a bad review or owner who does not praise the truck. It rates very high for reliability, performance, safety and resale value. The Silverado has a regular Cab, Extended Cab, and Crew Cab option with a choice of three different box sizes. For 2009 Chevrolet chose to focus most of its new upgrades to the exterior adding flares for the back wheels, bigger headlights, and grille. It also has a wide range of trim options giving a wide spread of prices from the basic nineteen thousand dollar to the fully loaded forty one thousand dollar top end model. It is a gas-guzzler getting 14 mpg city and 19 mpg highway.

The Dodge Ram Chiltons Manual has a strong history and very loyal following amongst owners. It is probably the most attractive of the three but let’s face it your not buying one of these thirty thousand dollar trucks because of the way it looks. It comes with a coil over suspension giving it the best ride in its class and giving it a car like ride. It has mediocre reviews from the automotive world getting average or lower than average marks for safety and performance but where it gets very low marks is for reliability. The all new Dodge Ram can be purchased for twenty five to fort five thousand dollars making it the highest priced of the three. Its gas mileage is nothing to be proud of getting 14 mpg city and 19 highway.

If you are going to buy a full size pickup truck, make sure you need it for work or work. These things can add a second car payment to your budget with the gas the bill. Make sure to bring along a mechanic and automotive repair manuals if you are buying a used one, for $100 you can save yourself a nightmare of thousands later.

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A recent TV commercial for the Volkswagen Polo featured a singing terrier dog that was strutting around full of self-confidence whilst it was a passenger in the Polo but as soon as it left the car for different surroundings it became a nervous wreck. The closing caption of the commercial read “Polo Confidence.”      

I guess they were conveying the fact that the dog was unhappy when removed from its comfort zone. The same could be said for people too although maybe not to the same degree as the poor dog. Cars mean a lot to some people and they often feel immersed in their own little world listening to their favourite song and safe from harm.

This feeling can be hard to achieve in a small car but thanks to its solid build quality and good insulation VW appear to have managed it with the Polo.

For many years the Volkswagen Polo was the benchmark by which all small hatchbacks were measured. Today the competition has just about managed to catch up and if you are buying a new car the Polo doesn’t quite have it all its own way. From another perspective with twenty three years of production and in excess of half a million units sold, there are plenty of used examples to chose from with prices starting at just a couple of hundred pounds.

These days a budget of £1,500 will get you an early “mid-life model” Polo. Introduced in September 1994, its looks were changed very little until February 2002 when the new “round-eyed” Polo hit the showrooms. These early cars do have some downsides. VW equipment levels were particularly sparse in the mid-1990s and only top spec CL models came with power-assisted steering as standard.

It’s also best to avoid the rather under powered 1 litre examples. Although cheap to insure in all other aspects they are not up to standard. Performance from the 45bhp engine is not terribly good and cabin noise levels are high because the engine is working hard all the time.
A better bet is the 1.4 or 1.6 with 60bhp and 75bhp respectively, both of which also gained power-assisted steering as standard from October 1998.

Volkswagen reliability is legendary, but like most legends the truth can sometimes be different. The Polo scored badly in the J D Power customer satisfaction surveys of the late 1990s, being less highly ranked than the Ford Fiesta and even the Rover 600. Owners complained of problems with gearboxes, early failure of front discs and pads and even rust spots on door frames. These problems are not on every car but they should be checked for closely when buying a used example.

On the plus side the little Volkswagen does drive well. It has a more solid feel than many of its competitors and interior space is good. Minor switchgear has a reassuring quality feel about it, and if serviced correctly the engines rarely cause problems.

Buyers looking for the small car/ auto gearbox/ power steering combination will also find the Polo appealing. Both the 1.4 and 1.6 litre cars are available with a four-speed automatic box. It’s worth paying extra for the 1.6 as the 1.4's low level of power can cause problems when changing from first to second gear.

In 2000 the VW Polo was given a facelift. The external changes made where small such as larger head lamps and a deeper front spoiler but the far bigger changes happened under the skin. Effectively a completely new model, these cars have a wider front track, giving improved handling, a fully galvanised body and antilock braking and power-assisted steering as standard.

During this time the engine line up was changed.4 litre unit was boosted to 75bhp. Volkswagen introduced a new diesel three-cylinder engine as well.4 TDI, also found in the Audi A2 meaning the Polo at last had a diesel engine to rival the offerings from French rivals Peugeot and Renault. With 75bhp and bundles of torque, it runs a 1.4 petrol engine Polo close on acceleration and is still capable of more than 60mpg.

Car makers such as BMW and MIni have come close but the VW Polo still sets the standard for small cars.

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