USED CAR

CAR DEALERSHIP FINANCE MANAGER ARRESTED ON FRAUD CHARGES

noreply@blogger.com (NSHAZ) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:07:00 +0000

Osvaldo Batista, 39, accused of stealing customers' credit card information

A finance manager at Kendall Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram was arrested Thursday after stealing customers' credit card information to make high-end purchases, police said.

Osvaldo Batista, 39, faces charges of organized fraud, credit card fraud, white collar crime and identity fraud.

According to police, detectives with Miami-Dade police's Economic Crimes Bureau linked Batista to a string of fraudulent transactions after they were contacted by a department store.

According to an arrest report, between June 5 and just this past Sunday, Batista made 25 phone purchases using more than 20 credit cards at Saks Fifth Avenue in Dadeland Mall for a total of $51,284.11.

Detectives said Batista illegally obtained some of the credit card information from customers of the car dealership.

The general manager of the dealership told Local 10 News that he was shocked when police arrived to take Batista away and said Batista was fired on the spot.

"I was shocked when they arrested them," Hector Collado said. "I had no idea what it was about when they took him away until this morning. This morning I was absolutely shocked."

Collado said he wasn't aware of any customers who had been affected, but said he would do everything he could to make things right.

Detectives said they searched Batista's home Thursday and found documentation linking him to fraudulent purchases. About $5,000 in new merchandise was also discovered at his home.

Police said Batista purchased "high-end clothing and miscellaneous items" with victims' credit card information.

How an unconventional startup plans to speed up online car sales

noreply@blogger.com (NSHAZ) — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 16:14:00 +0000

Car Lister’s car-buying platform doesn’t sidestep auto dealers; it includes them.Car Lister is unlike its competitors—in just about every way—in the increasingly crowded online used car marketplace.

DreamWare, the parent company that built Car Lister, isn’t a product of Silicon Valley. The company is based in Naples, Fla. Although in true tech-startup style, three developers who helped build the e-commerce platform all live in a house together (they even have a dog).

The company roster isn’t chockablock full of Stanford and MIT alums, nor has it attracted the same kind of headline-making venture capital. Of the company’s 37 employees, five are ex-military, including founder Bryan Harmon. Nearly half of its employees are women, two of whom are designers. To date, the company has raised $6.5 million in seed money from individuals.

The more important difference, however, is the company’s business model. Unlike many of its rivals, Car Lister isn’t trying to cut out or sidestep automotive dealers; it includes them.

“To be successful online you have to understand how to scale, especially in the automotive industry,” Harmon told Fortune. “You need to know the industry, you can’t just come in and bypass them altogether. They have all the inventory.”

Now the company is working to make the financing—often the slowest, most arduous part of car sales—a speedier process. The company announced Wednesday that it has partnered with eLend Solutions to integrate an online credit application product into the Car Lister platform. The upshot? The time it takes to pay for a car should be minutes, not hours.

Car Lister, which launched in October 2014, allows dealers and consumers to instantly list, buy, and sell new and pre-owned vehicles directly from their mobile device. Once users provide the vehicle identification number and answer a few questions, the application instantly generates titles and vehicle descriptions, allows for the upload of images and video, and includes a full vehicle history report at no cost. The whole process takes about two minutes, Harmon says. The service is free for individuals. Car Lister charges dealers a flat $999 fee.

Car Lister also created a built-in social network for car enthusiasts, experts, manufacturers, businesses, sellers, and buyers. Users can message buyers and give them a virtual tour of the vehicle using video streaming applications like FaceTime.

While the Car Lister platform makes it easier and faster to list a car for sale, there hasn’t been a process for paying for the vehicle—until now. Buyers either had to have the cash or go through the financing process with the dealer or another lender. Under the partnership, eLend Solutions’ system will be integrated into the Car Lister app. Buyers will be able receive instant pre-qualification and direct access to near-final payment terms from multiple lender programs through the Car Lister app without impacting their credit score. Buyers can select their loan preference, payment options, and term, and place a down payment to hold the vehicle.

In short, the customer will have financing squared away before walking into the dealership to pick up the car.

Pete MacInnis, CEO of eLend Solutions, told Fortunethat Car Lister is one of a number of players that is bringing a renewed energy into the auto industry around improving the entire buying process and contributing to the “connected car-buying experience.” “We are actively engaging in companies not satisfied with the status quo,” MacInnis says.

Car Lister still faces a mountain of competition from a numerous companies, each one putting its own spin on buying and selling cars online. There are the car referrals sites like TrueCar and AutoTrader.com as well as online used car startups such as Beepi, Carvana,Shift Technologies, and Vroom—all of which have raised more money.

It’s also a relative newcomer. Car Lister rolled out its platform to dealers in January 2015, following a beta period with individual sellers and select dealerships in Colorado to test the platform.

Still, Car Lister has had success in the short time it’s been available to dealers and individuals—and former Morgan Stanley President Bob Scott is now its chairman. Today, the company has signed on 254 automotive dealers in 35 states. The company is also starting to see traction among dealers in using the FaceTime feature, which Harmon says creates a level of transparency that has not always been associated with the used car industry.

The company plans to continue to add features. A “buy now” button is under development and the company is testing interstate shipping. The goal is for the “buy now” button and shipping features to be integrated into the web app by the first quarter of 2016. Car Lister is also testing a third-party integration with a platform that allows users to schedule a mechanic to come to their home or office to fix their vehicle.

HOW TO BUY USED CAR

noreply@blogger.com (NSHAZ) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:28:00 +0000

The hot car that was out of your price range just a few years ago may be much more affordable today--preowned. Here's how to buy a used car from a dealership or a private party.

9 Found This Helpful

Instructions

1. Follow Steps 1 through 3 in How to Buy a New Car. Browse the Kelley Blue Book for used-car pricing (see Resources).

2. Search car ads from as many sources as possible, including dealer ads in newspapers and private ads in print and online classifieds to find out what's available in your area. Many dealers offer manufacturer-certified preowned cars; they generally charge more, but may offer a limited warranty.

3. Make a list of the features that you want, along with acceptable mileage limits and condition of the car you're willing to buy.

4. Set up appointments to see your top choices in person, and bring your most car-savvy friend. Take notes.

5. Ask for maintenance records and inspect cars closely. Fear rust. Web sites such as Cars.com and Auto Web have used-car buyer's checklists that can be helpful (see Resources).

6. Ask the seller questions in order to rule out lemons . Check the car's history using a service such as Carfax, which can list a car's actual mileage, number of title changes and if it's been wrecked or salvaged (see Resources).

7. Test drive the car. Does it feel good? Take it on the freeway to check for alignment issues. Accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 kph) to see how punchy it is. Brake sharply and see if the car pulls. Turn everything on at some point and have your friend walk around and see that they're all working: brake lights, headlights, tail lights, hazards, turn signals, dome light, wipers, fluid lights, radio, heater and AC/fan. Test all the doors, windows and the horn. Check that the tires have good tread since new tires can put you out hundreds of dollars (See How to Choose the Right Tires).

8. When you've found the car you want, take it to your mechanic and have it checked out for about $60.

9. When you've agreed upon a price with a dealer, you'll get the necessary forms, including a bill of sale and the car title (or pink slip). If you're financing, you won't get the actual title until the car is paid for. Some dealers handle all the paperwork, including tax.

CAR DEALER FOR THE USED CAR

noreply@blogger.com (NSHAZ) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:19:00 +0000

One of the best sources to get a great deal for a new car or used car is from Car dealers. Car Dealers provide you all the latest and quality car brands, makes, models options and at lower rates to add on. No wonder, nowadays most of the car lovers and customers prefer car dealers than any other choice.

Which Car Dealer can serve you the best?

Legal & Authentic: The car dealer must be registered from the government and administrations. It's quite risky to do a deal with dealers that cannot show their registration details.

Good Track Record: Check the history of the dealer and their service quality and promptness. Also, inquire how the other customers reacted to their services.

Good Communication: throughout the deal, the car dealer and car yard should keep you informed about every stage of development. In addition, inputs all your suggestions and requirements.

Assists till end: A good car dealer and car dealership helps you more than just handling the car. Car loans, maintenance services, car delivery, and more a good car dealer will assist you in all your requirements!

Serves all the papers! : Whether be car history, customer details, pin number, registration or any other car papers; the car dealer or car yard must keep all the papers intact.

Quality Services: You should not compromise with the quality and the promptness of your car services. It is a good idea for your car to be well maintained with some warranty options.

Affordable: Best car dealers offer you the best services at the most nominal rates. In addition, serves you plentiful options to choose from. Doc Fee or for any other purposes, the car dealer and car dealership should provide competitive prices and affordable options!

Following the above steps and suggestions can guide you to get the best from your car dealer and car yard! However, it is also important to use on-the-spot improvisations and common senses. Live interactions will give you a better idea on how to deal with car dealers!

TIP FOR BUYING USED CAR

noreply@blogger.com (NSHAZ) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:12:00 +0000

If you plan to buy a car at a used car lot, a car auction, or through an individual, it is unlikely that you will get completely honest answers to all your questions. Let me give you several weapons that you can use against the automobile industry.

Get A Paint Meter

With one of these paint meters, you can detect paintwork or factory original tape. It will also show bondo-body puddy or replaced metal. And very few car salesmen will even know what you have!! At the very least, the salesman's eyes will bug out when you ask him why the car you are interested in was painted. Was it because of an accident or just repainted to make it look good.

Remember that 99% of all salesmen do not know what goes on behind closed doors - otherwise known as the business end of the auto business. They are there simply to sell a car for every penny that they can squeeze out of the public buyer.

Why do I suggest that you get a paint meter? Because repainting a car is a very prolific practice in the auto business. I cannot prove it, but if I had to make a guess how many cars sold to the open market via dealership have paint work done to them, I would guess at LEAST 40%. Every week, I personally see thousands of cars lined up at the "paint shop" to be repainted. This "paint shop" is located on the auction grounds and is otherwise known as the recon-facility.

Not every car is being fully repainted. Most are having their bumpers repainted. It makes sense to have the bumpers repainted because, though the rest of the car is flawless, the bumpers are often scratched up pretty badly. Next time you visit a dealership, notice how many of the bumpers are flawless - not a scratch on them even though the car is three years old.

The problem comes in with the dealers. Many retail dealers have the audacity to lie and claim that their cars are original. And people believe them because the work is just too nice to have been repainted. Do you know what the average price is to have these bumpers repainted? A mere $200. Perceived value by the public and exploited by the retail dealers? Thousands of dollars.

Well, if you have a paint meter, then you will know the truth. So, what is my policy on repainted vehicles? If the car was properly repainted and done so professionally - a factory repainted process - then I have no problems buying the car. A professional paint job would make the car look the way it did the day it rolled off the assembly line.

The point of the paint meters is to give you more inside information than what Carfax discloses. Just because it does not show up on Carfax does not mean that the car is free of any negative history.

Determine The Warranty Time

You have to determine the correct warranty time and can do this by checking the drive side door and seeing when the car was manufactured. It will give a date like 5/11/99.

Let's say you are interested in buying a 2000 Nissan Maxima with just 22,000 miles on it and it is currently September 29, 2002. You ask the salesman or the neighbor that you are buying the car from what the factory warranty is and he tell you 3 years or 36,000 miles. What many people fail to realize is this: a 2000 model is actually 3 years old!!!!

Don't believe me? Let's count the years: 2000, 2001, and 2002.

I see people making this mistake over and over. And to make matters worse, when you open the driver side door and it says manufactured in 5/11/99, the warranty starts within 3 months of THAT date!! So really, what you have is a warranty that started in the middle of 1999!!!

And then you need to check to see whether the warranty even transfers to you at all. Some manufacturers allow up to triple transfers of owners with the warranty intact and some do not. The best way to check is to call the dealership and find out. You can also have them run a VIN check to let you know the status of the warranty on that car.

Open the Oil Cap

This is good for everyone, but especially for those of you buying an older car. Open the oil cap and look at the cap carefully. If there is sludge (thick black goop) on the back of the oil cap, it means the oil never got changed---or not often enough!! Do NOT buy the car!!

If there appears to be a caramel color syrup goop on the cap, it means that the anti-freeze is leaking into the engine. This is terminal cancer to an engine, so do NOT buy the car.

The problem with this tool is that most dealers know about this, too, and know to clean up the cap and change the oil so that everything "looks" fine.

Ask For a Cold Start

When coming to look at any car, request to be able to start the car cold. This means that the engine has been at rest for a minimum of 12 hours, but preferably 24 hours.

Why? When starting cold, a lot of problems with the motor can be seen and heard. If you hear any sounds that are not "normal, like loud clanking or scraping noises, that go away when the car gets warmed up, do NOT buy it without a thorough check by YOUR mechanic.

If you see a lot of blue smoke on a cold start, this means that the car is burning oil. If it blows out white smoke, then there is anti-freeze in the engine. These are NOT good signs!!

Check The Compression of the Engine

You can check the compression of the engine simply by revving the engine while in neutral and looking at the RPM's. A RPM's of a car with good compression will go up quickly and back down quickly. If the car has trouble getting the RPM's up or when they do get up come down very slowly, then the engine is losing compression. Do NOT buy it!!

Know The Loan Value On The Car

Finding out what the loan value for the car you want from the current year models to 5 year old models is essential to knowing what a good wholesale price is. Call the bank to get the loan values. This helps you to determine what price you want to pay.

You also need to get the appropriate mileage deductions built in. The mile deduction is 12,000 per year. So, if a car is 5 years old, then the mileage deduction is 60K. If the car is 3 years old, then the mileage deduction is 36K.

Always try to buy cars with the appropriate mileage deduction on them. Knowing what the loan value is lets you know pretty closely what the dealer paid for the car.

Be Sure That The Vehicle's Body Is Straight

Stand behind the vehicle and check to see if the rear wheels line up squarely behind the front wheels and that the body is angled properly. If the car seems slightly off-center or even crooked, it's a sure sign that the car was in an accident and its frame is bent.

Check For Water and Flood Damage

According to the American Automobile Association, there are thousands of used cars on the market that have been victims of floods and other types of water damage. So:

*Check for dried mud in cracks and crevices under the hood or behind trim panels inside the car

*Notice any damp or musty odors in the vehicle

*Look for any newly replaced carpeting or upholstery.

These are all clues of water damage.

Look Under the Vehicle

Check for any fluids that might have leaked out onto the pavement. If you see a small puddle or damp spot of oil, water, or some other fluid, the car may have expensive-to-repair mechanical problems.

Check The Odometer

The "normal allocation" is 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year. If the car has unusually high mileage for its age, you may want to consider another vehicle.

If the car has unusually low mileage, you may have reason to be suspicious. Odometer tampering is a widespread and difficult-to-prove crime.

Have Your Mechanic Inspect The Vehicle BEFORE You Buy It

Your mechanic will be able to tell you what repair work the car needs now and what repair work it may need in the future. Having your mechanic inspect the car before you buy it is one of the best things you can do to insure that you're not getting a "lemon." If the seller won't allow your mechanic to look at the car, you should be highly suspicious.

By purchasing a used car you can save a lot of money. You may be able to buy a loaded model with all the bells and whistles that you couldn't afford had you bought a new car. However, buying a used car can be a gamble. You can breathe easier when you follow these tips.