Are you in the market for a new ride? The easy part is figuring out which car deserves your affectionate glances. And with a seemingly endless number of financing options, it’s typical to avoid thinking about the money until you have your heart set. Take it from someone who has bought and leased both new and used vehicles… it pays to do your homework. One financing option that can be somewhat cloudy and mysterious, but doesn’t need to be, is leasing.

Generally speaking, monthly lease payments are much lower than the loan payment you would make if you purchased the same car. Of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Leasing a car is like leasing an apartment, and buying a car is like buying a house. With a lease, you are paying on a monthly basis for the right to use the item, and signing a contractual agreement that you will make that monthly payment for a certain period of time. If you purchase (using a loan), at the end of those payments, you own something.

The decision to lease should be based on your finances, how you plan to use the vehicle, and your “five year plan”. If you are someone who puts a high value on having a relatively new car, and you expect to trade-in your vehicle for a newer car every few years, leasing may make sense. It may also be the right option if you don’t have very much (or any) money saved and available for a down payment. If your “five year plan” includes kids, but your “two year plan” looks more like a coupe than a mini-van, a lease may be the way to go. There are any number of website resources that will help you decide whether leasing may be the sensible decision.

Regardless of your reason for leasing, you should treat it just like buying; do your homework, and know what the dealer paid for the car, so that you will know how much they are trying to make from selling or leasing it to you. Because lease structures are a bit more complex than a straightforward auto loan, many people make the mistake of focusing only on the size of the monthly payment, simply because they don’t understand all of the terminology. Again, there are any number of website resources that will also explain how car leases are structured. CarBuyingTips.com is one site that is excellent at explaining things and providing you with some great links, tools, and calculators.

At the end of the day, you negotiate a lease in the same way that you would negotiate a purchase with the dealer, but in either case, time spent doing your homework will help to balance out the emotional side of the decision-making process, and you won’t end up paying more than you needed to pay for that shiny new toy.

Do you want a Dodge Challenger? If you do, and are just trying to find time to get to the dealer, you should do something soon. Chrysler has stated that after December, it is very likely they will not be taking any more orders for the new Challenger SRT8. And no, the author of this site does not believe that this is simply a marketing ploy.

DodgeChallenger08.com is dedicated to what the author believes to be simply the greatest car of the 21st century - the Dodge Challenger. The author of this site is truly knowledgeable about the Dodge Challenger. For instance, they know that at least 7,000 orders for the Challenger have been placed and that the company is not planning on 10,000 Challenger SRT8s to be built for the 2008 model year in order to keep the model truly limited. They know that this [saying that there is only a limited amount left] is not a marketing ploy because there are 2009 Challengers that are coming out, most likely, in July. Those are the models that have no production limit, but the 2008 model does have a limit! That is why if you really want one of these limited, fast, and good-looking cars, you need to purchase one soon!

There is not a site that is more dedicated to the Dodge Challenger than this one. If the URL does not tell you that, then check out the well put-together site. With images, thoughts, news articles, details, videos, and more, you’ll find everything that you want to know about Dodge Challengers on this site.

Although over $90 billion a year is spent by Americans, experts estimate that money lost to fraud and incompetence could amount to between 25 to 50%.

One ripoff that is common is that the computer needs to be replaced which can be between $400 to $900. In fact the problem maybe related to the computer but may be something as simple as changing a sensor that signals the computer. You should be wary if you are told that the entire computer system is down. When this happens get a second opinion.

A repair such as brake job encompasses repacking the wheel bearings but a common trick is to recondition your rotors and brake drums at an average cost of $130 and then tell you that they also need to charge you an additional $80 for repacking. This is a ripoff that is called charging someone for items in addition to the actual job even though both are part of the same job. The best solution is to get a written estimate of all parts and labor before you start and then you have a written estimate to take to a competitor to match costs and procedures that are necessary. This estimating is essential.

When the repair price is to good to be true it probably is to good to be true. You could be lured in on a $9.95 transmission tuneup and after they drop your transmission they develop fictitious repairs that need to be made and you are captive since you car as apart. Your protection is to get references from friends who have done business with a certain auto repair shop over a number of years.

Preventive maintenance that is not needed is the best rip off of all. Lets assume you are told that your shocks could go out so they should repair them. Your light bulb might go out but you don’t replace it when it is working. Granted parts that wear such as radiator hoses and timing belts must be changed before they fail. But in many other items the old rule of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it “ might be a better rule to follow.

Protect yourself from auto repair ripoffs by getting a second opinion, going to shops who have references, and when auto parts or motorcycle accessories are replaced request to see the worn out parts.

Imagine yourself on a trip. You don’t know where you’re going, you don’t have any plans. Everything is free to change; news is exciting. You’re driving and you come to a great town. You want to tell all of your friends and family about it, and besides, you told them you’d call. You whip out your cell phone and have your fingers ready on the buttons, but you see some unfortunate news: you have no service. Of course, this quaint town has phones, but you know those calls you want to make are going to cost a lot. Your relatives are chatty and never let you go. So what would you do? Your family members are expecting a call. You begin to imagine an immensely scary phone bill, but wait! Save yourself from those thoughts. Be prepared and buy calling cards.

Phone cards are simple to use. Usually, you’ll have to buy the card for a small fee. After that, depending on the card you get, the calls that you make can cost as low as one cent a minute. Imagine, a half hour chat with your cousin might cost you 30 cents. That’s less than half a dollar.

It all depends on what kind of card you get. Phone cards can be very general, or extremely specific. A USA call card can probably be purchased in a local convenience store. This kind of card can be perfect if you love going on road trip, but hate the long distance phone call fees when you call home.

The possibilities are truly endless. Going to Italy? I hear the roads there are beautiful. Get an Italy phone card, they exist. How about an Israel phone card, did you ever think of that?

Seriously, who knows? Do you want to phone to Korea? Phone cards can make this kind of call (the idea of such a call might even frighten some) cost less than a cup of coffee.

So, picture again, you and the road. The road enters a picturesque town. You’ve got to tell your family about it. This time, you find a phone, whip out your phone card and begin dialing. You talk for hours but are left with no worries about the cost. You continue your trip as a satisfied driver.

A phone card (card personalisation is even possible) is really a good idea. It’ll come in handy on the long and winding road that’s ahead of you. You don’t want to miss out on your chance to ride away carefree from a potentially scary phone bill. Save yourself the trouble and look into to getting a calling card soon. You’ll avoid some nasty bumps in life that could ruin an otherwise smooth drive.

If it moves you, it’s on RideLust. Cars, trucks, SUVs, jeeps, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, ATVs, skidoos, seadoos, foot scooters, skateboards, inline skates, skis, you name it (including the irmscher opel astra), they’ll have something written for you. Their site is made up of an extreme amount of blogs about categories that you will want to read. Educate yourself about the newest concept cars, or maybe learn the five tips for perfect tire.

At RideLust, they make it easy for you to read about what you want because they organize their blogs into categories such as diesel, electric cars, road-trips, toys, etc. Or maybe you want to read about recent car shows or the find out what is newest in auto show news; there is a category for you as well! This car news blog is full of interesting articles to read or things to learn about.

Not in the mood to read? Watch some videos! They have videos about cars doing some laps and a Shelby mustang video collection points too! The videos on their site could entertain you for hours!

You can read the articles or watch the videos on RideLust from time to time, but you could also subscribe to their e-mail list or RSS feed so that you can get the newest news right away! If you are looking for some fun or interesting news about almost any moving object (even ones that don’t exist yet!) RideLust will have something for you.