Guide car

Archive for July, 2009

A Look At The Pleasures Of Caravan Ownership

There are thousands of keen caravanners out there who enjoy all the pleasures of a caravan holiday but have not yet headed to their local dealership and experienced the thrill that is owning a caravan. But why are so many people heading to their local dealership and forking out for these mobile homes? Currently the pursuit is experiencing a boom as people shy away from foreign holidays and instead chose to use a caravan and holiday at home.

Another reason more people are heading to their local dealership a caravan provides its owner with freedom of destination. With so many great sites abroad and at home a caravan will help you see them all. Added to this a caravan will let your family holiday for a much cheaper sum. Without having to pay for lodgings and just paying for a spot in a campsite holidays can be made far cheaper giving you more money to spend on enjoying your offtime.

Your local caravan dealership will tell you that a caravan can give you all the fun and freedom of camping but from the comfort of your own home. If you like to travel on a shoestring but enjoy the finer things in life a caravan could be for you. A caravan allows you to take all your creature comforts with you when you travel. This way you never have to worry about the accommodation; you can focus on the location and having a great time.

Before you head down to the dealership there is a vital decision that you must make whether to invest in a caravan or a motor home? Naturally there are advantages and disadvantages of both. A towing caravan allows you to leave the outfit at the site and use the car to tour the local area a motor home means you must take everything with you at all times. A caravan is also the more cost effective option with motor homes costing more to purchase and maintain. A motor home of course takes away the danger of towing but as any dealership will tell you a short course can settle your towing nerves.

Once you have made the decision to head down the dealership and purchase a towing caravan there are other considerations to be made. Whether to buy new or used is the first major debate. The dealership forecourt is a great place to start if you really have no clue what kind of outfit to purchase while the dealer may try and impress on you an overpriced model it will be useful at least on your first visit just to look around and see what is out there. Do not buy; tell the workers at the dealership that you are purely there to research a future purchase.

New caravanners tend to neglect the importance of a car in their purchase. While the dealership may you want your to roll away with an all singing all dancing top of the range model if you have a 1.2 litre little hatchback you are never going to pull it. Thankfully there are many websites on the internet that offer a matching service all this requires is to enter the details of your towing vehicle and it will produce a list of caravan models that your car will be able to tow safely.

If buying used there are many more factors to take into account. When visiting the dealership it is like buying a used car. You will need to take a careful approach and consider many things. Inspect the caravan in detail and look for signs of neglect. Of especial importance is to look for damp as this will ruin an outfit wholly and structurally weaken it.

Hopefully this article has gone some way to educating the caravanner in the process of caravan ownership. Today as this pass time becomes more popular by following this advice you could join the masses and experience the unbridled pleasures of caravanning.

About the writer:  Caravanning expert Thomas Pretty looks into what considerations to make before heading to your local caravan dealership.

Selling Your Lotus The Easy Way All You Need To Know

When I tell people I have to sell my Lotus I am met with a myriad of opinions; anything from people presuming I have to sell my Lotus because of the credit crunch to people asking if I’m bored with my Lotusas if!!! They’ve obviously never driven one otherwise they would never suggest such an idea. I haven’t told anyone the real reason mainly because as soon as the subject of my Lotus is brought up I am bombarded with questions about what it is like to drive how fast I have driven her etc and then the conversation inevitably drifts onto Formula1 racing.

However there is more to the Lotus brand than fast racy cars. As an owner of the Lotus Esprit for the last 5 years I can stand in firm testimony to the fact that the Lotus is unique and quite a few features are yet to be seen in other competitive brands. Easily spotted on the road the Lotus Esprit is genuine proof of the company’s formidable reputation of its unceasing quest for engineering innovation. Powered by a V8 engine the 2003 Model that I possess has revamped features as opposed to earlier models. The redesigned rear body panel together with an aerodynamic uplift puts the Esprit in my opinion way above other similar two seaters. As someone rightly said the Esprit exterior has a ‘complex mix of sharp edges and subtle curves.’ What an appropriate oneline summary!

The interior of the Esprit has to rank among the best. Together with conventional features such as airconditioning and power windows there are a host of other features that make an owner like me be assured of its comfort for all practical purposes. A remote keyless entry coupled with an antitheft system is in place. There is a distinctive and seemingly deliberate aluminium theme on show all across the interior that endears it to one’s eyes.

In all my years of owning the car there has been little effort on my part for actually driving her. A fine steering system and an effortless but rapid acceleration in all five gears make driving her a pleasure. However I now find myself only using her occasionally as I need a bigger car these days. So I need to sell my Lotus although I am rather hesitant as I feel as though I am losing part of my youth. But needs must.

Anyway I’m not the only one who has had to replace their cars to match their changing lifestyle. A couple of my friends have recently sold their prestigious cars which is rather handy for me as they have already researched the best way to sell such topend cars. Therefore I’m going to go down the same path as they did as I was very impressed with the results they had. All they did was contact a company on the internet that specialised in buying used prestigious cars. They filled in an online form giving some personnel details and some information about their car and in no time they were contacted with a very acceptable quote for their car. Once my friends had accepted the quote the handover details were completed. One friend chose to have the sale of his car completed at his workplace and my other friend chose to have the sale of his car completed at his home. Both transactions were smooth and painless. I think this is an essential criteria for when I sell my Lotus.

As I said I am sad I have to sell my Lotus but I feel confident that the selling process will be smooth thanks to a company that specialises in selling prestigious cars.

About the writer:  Tony Byrne wrote the Article ‘Selling your Lotus the Easy Way All You Need to Know’ and recommends you visit http://www.iainmutch.co.uk/sellyourcar/lotus.php if you’ve ever asked yourself “Where can I sell my Lotus Exige?

Honda

* 2009 Honda Civic LXS check drive and review
* 2009 Honda Civic LXS photo gallery

CIVIC: photo The front fascia has been redesigned and the taillights now have clear turnsignal lenses with amber bulbs. A new DXVP model sedan only adds air conditioning and a CD player to the basemodel DX for an extra 750. The LXS adds alloy wheels “sporttrimmed” seats leatherwrapped steering wheel trunk spoiler and a chrome exhaustpipe tip for an extra 600 over the midline LX. New standard equipment for various Civic models includes a threespoke steering wheel all models electronic stability control EXL Hybrid USB audio jack EX EXL Si Hybrid fog lights Si and new alloy wheels EX EXL Si. The optional navigation process now includes Bluetooth phone connectivity and Hybrid models can be had with an optional 1200 leather package similar to the seven introduced on the 2008 Civic EXL.

CRV: two new paint colors have been added.

CRZ: Honda has confirmed that a sporty hybrid automobile is in the pipeline though no production timeline has been announced. The new automobile will be patterned after the CRZ concept shown at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show.

FCX CLARITY: Leasing for the hydrogenfuelcellpowered FCX Clarity started in summer 2008; actress Jamie Lee Curtis took delivery of the second customer automobile.

ELEMENT: The boxy crossover will get updated styling for 2009.

FIT: photo Just two years after introducing the Fit to the US market Honda has a new version for 2009. Though the elderly Fit’s trick rear seats and centermounted fuel tank remain the new Fit gets radically improved styling an updated engine and an obtainable GPSlinked navigation method.

* 2009 Honda Fit check drive and review
* 2009 Honda Fit photo gallery

ODYSSEY: No significant changes.

INSIGHT 2010: Honda’s new small hybrid now has a name and it’s a familiar one. The new Insight is a fivepassenger fivedoor hatchback that looks in concept form at least like a cross between a Civic and a Toyota Prius. Honda will show the Insight Concept at the 2008 Paris Auto Show and the production automobile will go on sale in the spring of 2009. Honda says the Insight will be “the most affordable hybrid vehicle to date.” The rumor mill says pricing will start around 18500 about 5 grand below a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid. Honda designs to sell around 200000 Insights half of those in North the united states.

* 2009 Honda Pilot check drive
* 2009 Honda Pilot photo gallery

PILOT: Honda’s large crossover gets a complete redesign for 2009 with Elementinspired exterior styling improved accommodations for 8 and a roomier interior.

S2000: No changes.

RIDGELINE: Honda’s pickup gets updated front rear and interior styling slightly more power for its 3.5 liter engine revised transmission gear ratios and a host of new features including optional Bluetooth phone compatibility and a backup camera.

iDTEC DIESEL: Honda’s new 2.2 liter tidy diesel engine which reportedly will meet 50state emissions requirements without the want for BLUETECstyle urea injection is expected to debut in a Honda vehicle for 2009 or 2010 though which automobile that will be remains a mystery. Best guess: the Accord or the CRV.

RUMORED:

About the writer:  Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars trucks and SUVs. Since 1959 Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.