It is official, Infiniti has confirmed that they will be unleashing a G37 convertible. 

The car will be available to dealers in Spring 2009 and will be unveiled at the 2008 LA Car Show.

Last year I got into a major car accident and my car was totaled. For about 2 weeks I was in a rental car courtesy of my insurance company, but that went sour when I got a call on a Friday afternoon saying that my rental car was due the following Monday. I had a deadline: I had to test drive and buy a car in 3 days.

These are the steps I took to buy and finance a car in three days. Did I mention I went by myself? By the way, I look like I am 16 so just make sure you are informed and I’m sure you score huge!

• Get a recent copy of your credit report. There are currently 3 credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Your credit score determines what kind of interest rate you qualify for (the better your credit score the better (and lower) your interest rate).
• You are also entitled to a free annual credit report at annualcreditreport.com (or by calling 877.322.8228), this is a credit reporting website jointly operated by the 3 credit reporting agencies mentioned above. If all this internet stuff freaks you out go here to www.ftc.gov for an actual form or for government endorsed info. (Please note you should be checking your credit regularly). Note: the information between the three reporting agencies can widely.

This is the LEGIT site. Don't be fooled by impostors!

• Take your score and look at it. Is there anything you can work on to improve your score before buying your car? Paying off/ or paying more than the minimum due on your installment loans and revolving balances can add points your credit score if you have a few months time before purchasing your car.
• Once you are financially sound: you got your credit score and it looks good, you have started saving for your down payment for the car, and you have figured out if you want to go with new or used car? (Don’t look at your car as an investment, cars depreciate too fast to be considered an investment. Used cars depreciate less because you buy them for less moola. However, used cars are not for everyone.)
• Find out how much car you can afford. I did this by first applying for an auto loan with my bank, Bank of America. I figured they would give me a pretty good parameter of how much car I can actually afford, since they know how much I deposit and withdrawal. With the amount that BofA quoted me, I chose to go the conservative route (since at the time people were getting pre-qualified for way more than they could afford *cough cough the housing crisis*). I took the amount that I was pre-qualified for and reduced it by $3000 to make sure my monthly payments wouldn’t wipe me out. Getting your car repossessed can’t be fun.
• After looking at Bank of America’s high interest rate I chose to shop around for better interest rates than what BofA had offered me. If you do all of your inquiries all at once, it does not affect your credit score. So try to shop around all at once.
• I headed to www.bankrate.com to finish my search for the oh so low interest rate that I deserve. It is extremely important for you to get pre-qualified for a loan before stepping inside a dealership. (Dealerships bring in a lot of money by screwing the people they finance, in- house or by brokering deals to other banks). I use www.bankrate.com to find out what the auto rate interest rate for the day is. (Interest rates fluctuate much like the stock market, so make sure you are getting a competitive rate by checking www.bankrate.com). Here is an example:

36 month new car loan		6.71%		6.70%
48 month new car loan		6.50%		6.49%
60 month new car loan		6.51%		6.51%
72 month new car loan		6.44%		6.44%
36 month used car loan		7.08%		7.07%

• Type in your zip code and a whole bunch of banks that service your area will pop up. You can do a sort by interest rate or discounts with automatic debit bill pay. (After BofA’s outrageous interest rate I chose Capital One for my financing, they sent me a blank check via overnight mail). And looking on bankrate.com today, Capital One has the best rate at 5.54% for new car financing, term 48 months.
• Remember you are trying to get the lowest car price at the dealership and the lowest interest rate from a bank that will qualify you. Goal: You want to win not lose to the “man in the financing department”.
• You might also want to try credit unions, they usually have better interest rates than your regular big brick and mortar bank such as Bank of America. Why? Credit unions are cooperative (members only) financial institutions, and low financing rates are a perk.

• Now that you have all the financing out of the way, aren’t you relieved? You can now chose a car that fits your $$$ parameter. Since I only had 3 days to test drive and buy a car I headed over to CarMax (since they have all makes and models of cars) to test drive about 15 cars that were around my price range (or what I was pre-qualified for).
• I picked 1 car out of the 15 cars I test drove and went straight to the dealership the next day. Note: if you have your eyes on a few cars call your insurance company and get quotes on how much your insurance will be. This might help you narrow your choice if you are torn between two- three cars. After all do you really want a car that is going to cost $4000 a year to insure?
• If you are looking at used cars Carfax.com is a great resource. You can get the vehicles history before you buy. Some dealerships will give you a carfax.com report for free but private sellers might not. You can always subscribe for a month.

• Talk car first, talk financing later. Pick the car you want and mentally set the price you are willing to pay for it. Get them to agree to a compromising price before crunching numbers at the financing department.
• But don’t sweat it, you are savvy! You don’t need their financing because you are PRE- QUALIFIED already. Remember your goal is to talk salespeople down, whilst they are talking you up. ALWAYS LOW LOW LOW BALL so you have more room to compromise to your advantage. The salespeople are always going to HIGH HIGH HIGH BALL you. Low ball so you have more room to barter and meet at a price point that is closer to what you want. Negotiate your brains out! Haggle the salesperson to get the best deal, the worst they can say is NO. (Like you didn’t hear that enough from your mom growing up).
• I haggled and haggled I even had another dealership on the phone with me negotiating a car that I had previously looked at. As we were slowly chipping away at the price. My friend was online at home looking up market prices and MSRP (be aware of wholesale and retail prices on cars) on Kelly Blue Book and Yahoo! Autos, just to make sure they didn’t pull a fast one over me. Apparently it worked.

• Also, don’t let them know how much you can afford in monthly payments. Unless you are really savvy with a financial calculator, the dealership will most likely rape you once you give them this number. My blank check came in a booklet and it had helpful parameters such as: $30,000 car for 48 months would be $560 payments monthly. (This is what I used as a reference point to see what my monthly payments would be).
• Toward the end, however, the dealership wanted to run my credit report (note: they need your permission to run your credit). Being the bargain shopper (with good credit) that I am I had them run my credit report to see if the dealership would beat my financing with Capital One. The dealership beat Capital One’s interest rate. If I wanted to be really thorough you could have called Capital One to see if they would beat my dealership’s interest rate. =D
• Read everything before signing and make sure they don’t add any extra fees onto your invoice. Ask to borrow their calculator when in doubt.
• I walked out of the dealership with a car that was below market price. Oh, how I love saving money! I WON! Or at least I think I won.

Additional resources:

Forbes/ Yahoo

Auto: How Stuff Works

Fool.com

BankRate.com

1. Do yourself a favor and try to avoid hitting parked cars. But if you hit one, be a good samaritan, and leave your information on their windshield.
2. Also, law enforcement officers are required to give warnings in lieu of citations (for the first 30 days after installing a red light camera). So, if you get a ticket at a new camera, fight it.
3. It is illegal to make a U- turn in front of a fire station. But while you are there make sure you park 15 feet away from the fire station driveway.
4. Parking downhill, steer your wheels into the curb and set your parking brakes. Goal: You want your car to roll into the curb if the brakes fail.
5. Parking uphill, turn your front wheels away from the curb and let your car roll back until the rear of one wheel touches the curb. Goal: You want your car to roll into the curb if the brakes fail.
6. Park 15 feet away from a fire hydrant.
7. You are considered intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%. A DUI conviction can cost up to $15,000.
8. Teenage drivers are more than twice as likely than drivers over the age of 21 to be involved in an alcohol- related fatal accident. Hey kiddos, if you are drunk, please call your sibling or one of your parents to come pick you up.
9. If only Britney’s mother knew… Parents can cancel provisional licenses.
10. Babies should not be placed in the front seats, airbags can seriously injure the baby.

Britney Spears Driving With Jayden In Front Seat

Over the past year I have been in more car accidents than I would like to remember.

(Clearing the cobwebs from my head).

Ok, it is 7. I have been in 7 accidents since 2007. (Including an altercation with a runaway shopping cart). =(

Dayam…

So here is a list that I have compiled after numerous… Oh, I should have written that down, huh?…

Heaven forbid you get into an accident, but if you do…

This is what I, my insurance company, and my attorney have found useful.

1. Try to gather your thoughts and remain calm (I’m usually a shaking like a leaf after an accident).
2. Make sure you are not bleeding or in pain. Don’t forget to check in on any other party.
3. If it is safe, get out of your vehicle and take pictures (camera phone if handy) of the accident scene. It will be beneficial to you (if you are not at fault) to take pictures of your car, the other person’s car, and the surrounding areas. Note, try to get pictures of the lanes/ and or lines on the road.
4. Draw a diagram including the number of lanes, number of cars around you, and the location of the other vehicle. (You want to do this just in case you have to relocate to a “safer” area to exchange info and just in case the police do not show).
5. Take pictures and draw a diagram because the police might not show up to take a police report. When I called they said they won’t come out unless: 1. Someone is hurt. 2. Damage to city property. 3. Someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. (To sum it up in LA they won’t come unless you are dead or drunk). (Sounds fishy to me since I get parking tickets for going 1 minute over the allotted time, but that’s another blog).
6. If you smell alcohol on the other party. Call the police and let them know, so they can come and make a police report.
7. Don’t talk to the other person about whose fault the accident is… Vice versa you don’t want to get out of the car and exclaim it was your fault… Just as you shouldn’t ask the other party, what happened? The simple truth is your best alibi. Your insurance company along with your attorneys will be better able to figure out who is at fault.
8. Exchange information. Ask for their cell phone number. (I usually ask for it and then call right away to see if they are lying to me). Since liars lie, I find that it is in my best interest to make sure to be extra thorough. Ask for supplemental phone numbers, take more pictures, and take pictures of their VIN# (usually located at the driver’s side dash with a really long barcode). 
9. Copy down his/ her drivers license number, address (ask if it’s current), expiration date and date of birth.
10. Copy their registration (once again ask if the address is current).
11. Copy down their insurance. Dear God, please don’t forget to write down the insurance company, policy number, name of insured (including address), VIN #, make, model, color of car, and expiration of policy date.
12. If you live in Los Angeles, I highly suggest you add uninsured motorist coverage to your plan. Everyone I spoke to including I, has gotten hit by an uninsured motorist.
13. If you are going to retain a personal injury attorney do so immediately, if you are going to handle the accident yourself call and report the accident to your insurance company.

*Please drive safely and please don’t drink and drive.

Before making a beeline for the body shop I want you to ask yourself this, “Did this huge dent chip my car paint?”

If it did NOT chip your paint you may want to look into paintless dent removal. It takes minutes not days and it’s a lot cheaper than having body work done on your car.

Tada!

It took 30 minutes and $60. My car wasn’t out of commission for days on end. The PDR specialist made a house call. PDR saved me time and close to $200.

It all started when I was at the market parking lot when a lone shopping cart rolled right into my car. I was mortified. The shopping cart left 3-4 little dents in the form of a dotted line right down the left front panel.

Argh! Where can I take my car to get this dent out in LA? Can I just put clear nail polish over those bloody little dents/ dots? Do I have to paint the whole car? How long is my car going to be out of commission? Will I need a rental car?

I spent a full Saturday looking for an auto repair place, I hit up 3 but 2 of them were closed. The last place I got to was open and they gave me an estimate of $250. The body shop told me it would take two days and that they would push out the dents, smooth the metal, patch it up, paint the whole panel and finish off with a clear coat.

Instead I called my buddy (he had a huge dent) and we arranged to have both of our cars fixed and the technician met us the following weekend. I believe it is cheaper the more cars you have for the technician to work on. Buying in bulk after all is cheaper.

* If you need help looking for a specialist in your area check out www.yelp.com or www.youtube.com a lot of technicians have demos with contact info on their clips.

** If you are in Los Angeles, CA and need the number for my guy. Shoot me a comment.