Think you are buried under your car debt? It might help change your perspective if you see some of the world’s most expensive cars – and how much they would cost if you chose to finance them. Would you pay thousands in interest just for the privilege to own one?

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

This luxury sports car costs nearly $2.6 million at the time of purchase, but if you chose to finance it for five  years at an APR of 10%, you’d pay an additional $55,242. That would make your total purchase closer to $3.3 million.

Maybauch Landaulet

The chauffeur’s compartment can remain fully closed while the rear can be opened like a convertible, but is it worth $1.4 million? Finance it for five years at 10% APR and you will wind up with a total cost of $1.8 million total.

Ferrari SA Aperta

This exclusive Ferrari V12 has a price tag of $520 thousand at the dealership. But over five years at 10% APR, you’ll actually end up spending $662 thousand total.

Audi A8L Sedan

A performance luxury sedan, the Audi A8L has a more reasonable asking price than the vehicles listed above – a mere $84 thousand. But add in an APR of 10% and a five year loan, and you’ll be paying closer to $107 thousand for your ride.

Chevrolet Avalanche

This versatile truck has the lowest price tag in this comparison, at $46 thousand. But finance it at 10% APR for the next five years, and you will pay closer to $59 thousand total.

Curious about the difference between a Bugatti and a Chevrolet, if they are financed at different APRs?

Consider this: if you finance a $2.6 million Bugatti for five years, you will pay an additional $343,000 at 5%, $525,000 at 7.5%, and $714,000 at 10%. For your Avalanche, if you pay $46,000 with a five year loan, you will pay an additional $6,084 at 5%, $9,034 at 7.5%, and $12,641 at 10% APR.

So the next time you are worried that your car is too expensive or that you are paying too much in interest – you might want to remember these luxury cars and remember that it could be much worse!

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Avoid the Cheapest Auto Insurance if You Have an Auto Loan

When you have an auto loan, your vehicle is not really yours.  Yes, you’re the one who puts gas in it and lovingly takes it to the car wash each week, but it doesn’t belong to you.  Sorry.  That means if you are in a car accident, you have to continue paying for your car or they will take it away.  Even if your car is totalled.  Wondering why you should even care if the car company repossesses your totalled vehicle?  The repossession will show up on your credit report, making it difficult for you to purchase another vehicle in the future.   Also worth noting:  in some states, full coverage is required by law if you have a lease or loan on your vehicle.

Avoid the Cheapest Auto Insurance if You Live in a Dangerous Neighborhood

Live in an area full of crime?  You need a good car insurance plan.  Studies have shown that cars in crime-infested areas are more likely to be stolen or damaged.  If you have the cheapest auto insurance plan, you won’t be protected.  Don’t let thieves or vandals ruin your day.  Protect your vehicle.

Avoid the Cheapest Auto Insurance if You Don’t Have Any Money

You’re probably thinking that you definitely need the cheapest auto insurance plan if you’re broke, but that’s not necessarily true.  If you have no money and the cheapest car insurance plan, what do you think will happen if you’re in a car accident?  You’ll be responsible for any damage to the other vehicle, but your insurance many not cover the cost of repairs for your own car.  If your insurance plan doesn’t cover the other vehicle, the driver can sue you.  You think you’re broke now?  Wait until your wages get garnished to cover the accident costs that your insurance refused to pay.

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The General has Gone Green

On March 18, 2011, The General announced that they now have a paperless option for paying your insurance premium.  This might be an ideal option for you, not just if you have a soft spot in your heart of the planet, but also if you are a busy person.  Have you ever written that check and then forgotten to mail it?  Or put a bill in your ‘to-do’ pile only to rediscover it after payment is due?  With paperless billing, you can pay instantly online.  No need to dig out the check book and run to the post office for stamps.  Auto insurance companies also often offer the option for reoccurring payments, so you literally don’t have to lift a finger to get that bill paid.

No Checking Account?  No Problem!

Do you usually pay your auto insurance premium by wiring your payment or obtaining a money order?  Tired of having to pay money just to make your payment?  On the same day that The General auto insurance company announced their new greener payments, they also announced the release of a new payment option.  Using their partner Netspend, you can pay your bill with a prepaid debit cart.  To launch this new option, they are offering a limited time promotion; receive a bonus $10 on the debit card after making your first qualified transaction.  See Netspend’s or The General’s website for specific details and the restrictions on the offer

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Of course, even with all of that, it is still possible to save on auto insurance, but the truth is you are going to have to work at it.  The savings are out there if you use the internet for fast research, comparison shop and reexamine your basic auto insurance. The two methods for saving money include finding identical coverage for a cheaper price and cutting out extras and unnecessary items from your policy.

Comparison Insurance Websites

Make the most of your time looking for discount auto insurance by using comparison-shopping websites. Comparison websites have you fill out a form indicating the auto insurance requirements you need, such as collision, comprehensive, liability, towing and so on. They search databases of several insurance carriers and return quotes and results to your email. You compare the results and select the cheapest rates that provide adequate coverage. To locate comparison sites search on “comparison shopping car insurance”. Both esurance and QuoteWizard are two examples of insurance comparison shopping websites you can use for comparing quotes from multiple insurance companies. Using these tools is a great way to speed up the shopping process. Compare like information for accurate quotes and dispense with unneeded coverage for discount auto insurance.

Buy Car Insurance Online

Purchasing insurance and maintaining it through an online website has several advantages. Everything you need to maintain your car insurance is all in one place. You can make changes to your policy online instantly such as adding another driver or removing unnecessary coverage to save money. Make monthly or yearly payments online and save on stamps. Several online auto insurance sites charge less for their services because they are not supporting all the costs involved in traditional brick and mortar locations. Many sites exchange information through email or provide live chat.

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1. Paying the Price for Online Car Insurance Quotes
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The biggest part of the scam to get personal information is to use very low online car insurance quote rates. In June of 2010, AutoInsuranceQuote.com, reported that companies will post largely discounted online car insurance quotes People see the quotes and see a much lower rate than the one they are currently paying. The consumer in turn goes to the site, hits the landing page, gives over their personal information, and then is sent to a page that shows a rate nowhere near the one that was originally given. It does not matter if the policy is sold at this point because the information that the marketing company required has already been obtained.

All online car insurance quotes, however, are not behind this ongoing marketing scam. In fact many of the major players in car insurance quotes, such as Geico and Progressive, are telling customers to go directly to the website for a quote rather than using an online reward system. They warn that only a direct link to their site and their online car insurance quote information will be secure. That direct links are the only way to ensure that private information is not being used or sold to other companies.

It is also advised that consumers requesting online car insurance quotes should read everything before clicking on continue or accept. There are check boxes that are automatically marked and could mean the difference between keeping your information safe and secure and giving it out to every marketing company that has the funds to buy it. Everything comes with a price even online car insurance quotes.

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With this becoming more common, it is more important now than ever to know how to make a car insurance comparison. Everyone wants to save money on auto insurance, and if that is the name of your game, you will want to get the absolute minimum that your state requires. That does not necessarily mean that you are going to have great insurance, though, because it will most likely just be liability. If your car still has some value to it, this may not be the best for you. If your car is totaled, you will have no way to recover the loss.

If you are already covered under a health insurance plan, it may not be necessary to get additional medical coverage with your auto insurance. If not, this could be crucial. Other additions that you will have to consider include towing, comprehensive coverage, theft, extra liability, car rental and a number of other options your agent will be happy to show you.

Making a car insurance comparison is definitely worth your time. It will help you find the least expensive way to keep up with your state laws, and at the same time find the least costly way to cover damage to your own vehicle, medical expenses, find the right deductible and even add some extras to your policy for very little extra on the premium.

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The monster trucks that you see plastered across billboards and revving it up at rallies cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars for the people who own them. The average truck really lives up to its “monster” name – they usually weigh in between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds and are usually 11 feet tall by 12 feet wide. They are built specifically for short bursts of intense power, so their engines usually average about 1500 horsepower. Because these trucks are so huge and powerful, they are equipped with three shut off switches: one with the driver inside the truck; one on the rear of the truck, and one remote control kill switch which is held by an official in case the safety of the crowd is threatened. The driver is required to wear a five-point safety harness, helmet, gloves, a fire-proof suit and a HANS (head and neck support) device.

Monster Jam Events in Dollars and Cents

On average, 3,000 cars from junkyards are crushed as part of monster truck rallies every year. It takes a crew of eight people between 18 and 20 hours to construct a course for a monster truck rally. It gets dirty, too: 700 cubic yards of dirt are used for an arena, 3,500 cubic yards for a stadium. In fact, 700,000 cubic yards of dirt are used annually for the USHRA Monster Jam event.

The average Monster Jam fan is 36 years old, male and married with kids. In fact 61% of monster truck fans are male, 54% are married, and 55% have kids at home. Kids are big fans of the monster truck jams too: 35% of attendees are under the age of 12.

The Main Attraction: How Much Do Monster Trucks Cost?

The race team itself is one of the least costly aspects of owning and operating a monster truck. The team in charge of repairs and refueling, plus their food, lodging, and uniforms typically cost $250,000 per year. If that sounds pricey, consider the following:

Monster Trucks cost $250,000 to build, as all are custom-built. They also have $100,000 in spare parts.

Budget and repairs, including routine maintenance, emergency repairs, and equipment typically averages $120,000 per year.

The engines, which measure 575 cubic inches and use between 2 and 2.5 gallons of methanol per run, usually cost $35,000.

The body of the truck, made of a durable kind of fiberglass, costs $20,000.

Tires averaging 66 inches tall and 43 inches wide (at $1800 each), shocks (at $2000 per kit) and custom paint jobs (at $7000) round out the rest of the costs usually associated with monster trucks.

Add these costs together and you can see why ticket prices to these events can be expensive – the main attraction costs hundreds of thousands of dollars just to keep it up and running for each rally!

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Ever wonder what those nifty shapes emblazoned on the front and back of your automobile are supposed to mean?  I mean really, what do two over-lapping ovals have to do with the Japanese auto maker Toyota?  The wonky ‘h’ used by Hyundai sort of makes sense to me and the masculine blocky ‘H’ of Honda is also logical because both auto makers used the first letter of their company name to create an easily recognized logo.

Really, a logo is supposed to create brand recognition in sort of a short hand, visual way. It is the advertising equivalent of making an ‘x’ for your mark instead of a full signature.  Logos are very effective. Not many people would want to run around with a tire or windshield wiper on their baseball cap, but plenty of folks are keeping the sun off their heads beneath a fancily drawn f-o-r-d on a blue oval or sport a VW on their T-shirt encouraging farfignugan.

It makes sense to have a logo, but who decided what the logo should be and why it should work?  Some logos are more chance than anything else. One of the most universally recognized logos on the planet is the Chevy logo.  It was designed in 1913 appearing for the first time in an advertisement in the Washington post and is said to have been copied from a wallpaper design.

Other auto makers put a little more thought into their logos.  Toyota is one such example. The loopy over-lapping oblong O’s are deceptively simple. These loops not only hide the letters in the name ‘Toyota’ but they also tie in the roots of the car maker’s beginnings as a fabric maker. Looking closely, you can see the thread passing through the eye of a needle. To see how the ‘t-o-y-o-t-a’ is hidden, click the graphic to the left.

BMW is another thoughtful logo and has changed very little in the last 100 years.  BMW started as an airplane maker at the time of World War ll.  Due to it’s aviation roots, the blue and white quartered circle represents a propeller in motion.

To explore other auto makers and their logos, see the graphic on the left and become enlightened.

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When I was a kid we drove. A Lot. It was a sort of entertainment for my parents and a means of teaching us kids patience and self control.  I called it torture.  How many wiggly seven year olds do you know would relish the idea of sitting in a confined space sardine-style with their four siblings for endless miles along a deserted back road?

We did come up with a game to pass the time: counting road kill.  Not the kindest game, but we were obviously limited in our entertainment choices.  On the other hand, we did see some really neat specimens like a four-point buck, the huge porcupine, and even a rattle snake.  My personal favorites were the skunks because they sparked much conversation in the car for miles afterward, and I figured it was a very poetic way to repay my parent’s for the forced confinement.  I’ve always had a very well developed sense of irony.

When I was a teen, I had my first experience with being the producer of such road kill. I was driving my beater truck after dark and the deer just jumped right in front of me. The truck didn’t stand a chance and was considered totaled.  Road kill accidents take a heavy toll not only on animal life, but on pocket books as well.

The numbers don’t lie; there are nearly one million animals killed by cars every day pouring more than eight billion dollars into repair shops’ registers every year.

The type of animal varies by topography, traffic patterns and geography, but speaking generally, squirrels and rats are the biggest victims of road kill incidents.  Find out what road kill is most common in your neck of the woods by clicking the graphic.

If you look at the statistics and think that those numbers just can’t be right, consider how many squirrels you see on the roadside when compared to deer. Stop and consider this: what are you more likely to observe when you are streaming down the freeway at 60 mph: an animal the size of a teacup purse pooch or a 150+ pound deer?

Not only is the deer more visible, it also makes a better story to tell at parties.  How many would relate the sad tale of running down a fuzzy little squirrel?  Only the most cold-hearted or unrefined persons. But when you show up with a new car, the story about that deer just tumbles out whether you really wanted to tell it or not.

In spite of providing one with a story to tell, road kill really isn’t a laughing matter. I never saw any of the deceased grinning as we played our game. The cost in terms of life and insurance bills is huge.  The lesser thought of toll is that of family loss: 32 million cats and dogs are victims of road kill each year.

Fortunately for your wallet and for those lives senselessly taken, road kill can be reduced in a number of ways.  First, try to avoid driving at times when animals are most active.  Also, having your headlights in good working order and adjusted to the proper height is very important as well.  Finally, keeping your braking systems maintained and not driving too fast, especially after dark, will keep your bumper from making contact with those fuzzy animals that share our roads.

The seven year olds of today have other means of road trip diversions.  They won’t miss out.

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Fast cars. Now that I have your attention, what is one of the most iconic figures associated with speed and the automobile?  Mario Andretti? Dale Earnhardt, perhaps?  There’s always the heroic paring of the bat mobile and the masked avenger.

Me, I’m partial to James Bond. There was just something about those winding European roads, the flirtatious chases with a mysterious woman (that you know is no good) and the Aston Martin complete with a champagne dispenser in the glove box and rocket launcher in the tail pipe.

There is something that Q missed however: a car that really means speed.  I mean really hooks.  The James Bond Aston Martin is laughably slow when compared to the Bugatti Veyron.  This tight piece of machinery is currently the fastest, and not coincidentally, most expensive car in the world.

Boasting a land speed capability of 267 mph, this car really lays down tracks. And with the blazing ability to arrive from a stand still to 60 miles per hour in 2.05 seconds it can achieve top speed before .007 could ask for anything to be shaken, not stirred.

The Bugatti Veyron is not the only car that outmatches the efforts of Q or now his replacement, R.  The list of the top 10 fastest and most expensive cars on the planet is conspicuously devoid of the Bond Aston Martin – with or without aquatic capabilities.

Perhaps, being the top super agent of the super secret, super spy organization of such a small country makes certain tools out of reach, even for Bond.  These super cars cost about as much as M uses to fund the entire working of the MIS. Starting from the top the Bugatti Veyron costs over a million dollars new. The bottom of the barrel, the Porsche Carrera GT, which is laughably out matched by the Bugatti, would still leave James smirking in its rear view mirror with a retail cost of a mere $440,000.00. To see which cars round out the top 10 most expensive cars list, click the graphic.

Maybe there are other factors at play.  Super cars aren’t only super fast and super expensive; they have super high upkeep costs as well. Even James Bond needs to refuel every now and then. Super cars cost about $10,000 annually for fuel. This compares to other, less super vehicles that cost about $2,700 each year to run 20,000 miles.

The difference is the fuel economy.  Super fast cars are not planet friendly green machines that only sip at the gas tank. NO, these engines are built to SWALLOW gallons whole, generating speed, not savings.

Other costs are likewise high: insurance, maintenance and licensing fees.  I don’t know about you, but I think I’d rather see Bond sticking with the Aston Martin and able to spend his money in other ways like drinking, gambling, and on impeccable clothing.

For the rest of us, there’s still the dream: super spy and the bigger better super car.

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