The FCX Clarity hydrogen car is now available for lease from participating Honda dealers for Southern California residents who live in Santa Monica, Torrence or Irvine.

The FCX Clarity lease runs at$600 per month which includes maintenance and insurance costs. Honda is currently limiting the lease to residents who have access to fueling service areas.

The 270 mile range car runs off a hydrogen fuel cell and is refillable at designated filling stations provided by Honda. Honda has also partnered with Plug Power Inc. to develop a Home Energy Station which is small enough to fit in the home owners garage.

Financing the purchase of your car can be difficult. Recent research has highlighted the fact that most consumers have decided how to pay for their vehicle even before visiting a forecourt. Reasons for this include high interest rate charges and the motor trade’s poor reputation. Showroom finance is often not considered as an option, with high street and online lenders greatly preferred, perhaps not surprising considering that they do traditionally provide better car finance deals.

There are six main ways in which a new car can be financed. The first is a credit card. However, high interest rates mean that this should only be used as a short-term measure, possibly to pay a deposit. One of the most popular ways of paying for a car is through a personal loan. This simply involves taking out a loan with a bank or other financial institution, and can often be arranged over the phone. Interest rates are competitive and you can pay for the whole cost of your car. Alternatively you could deal with your existing lender if you have a mortgage. Money can be borrowed from a mortgage provider, either by getting a second mortgage or withdrawing equity from your house. The advantage of this is that you can deal with your existing lender and interest rates are very low. However, mortgage loans are over a longer period and a penalty may be imposed if you decide to repay the loan early.

Personal loans, mortgage top-ups and credit cards are the three most popular and well-known methods of paying for a new car. However, three additional options are available which may suit certain people. The first is Hire-Purchase or Conditional Sale, whereby you discuss and agree with the dealer how much you need to borrow. The dealer then gets in contact with the Motor Finance Company and pays for the car on your behalf. You then agree to make monthly payments to the dealer, with the car only owned by yourself once the car has been fully paid for. Low interest rates, deposits and flexible payment terms are associated with this form of payment.

If the car you wish to buy is slightly out of your price range you may want to consider a Personal Contract Purchase. In this option you defer part of the cost of the car until the end of the payment agreement, at which point you can decide to trade-in the car, hand it back to the dealer, or pay the outstanding amount and keep the car. This is an excellent way of being able to afford a car which would otherwise be too expensive. The final option for financing a car is simply to rent it, known as Personal Leasing or Personal Contract Hire. In this case you agree to rent the car from the dealer for a fixed period of time, which includes all maintenance costs. This is an excellent choice if you only require a car for a set period of time, such as 6 months. It eliminates the hassle of buying a selling a car and is simply fixed cost motoring.

To decide exactly what car finance deal you should choose you can fill out a questionnaire on financingyourcar.org.uk – it’ll then recommend the type of finance deal that will suit you best, potentially saving you hundreds of pounds.

By leasing a used vehicle, you can obtain a luxury model car or an SUV at much lower monthly payments than are imposed when you buy a new one. However, you must do your homework in order to find the best deal available.

When researching leasing costs, pay close attention to the initial market value and the estimated residual value of the used car you are considering. This value is more difficult to predict for used vehicles than for new ones because there is no "sticker price" as set by a factory on a used car. You can use a variety of sources to obtain a rough estimate of the used vehicle’s value, however. These include local dealerships and online car evaluation tools; a quick search on the Internet will find a host of these car evaluation tools and most are provided free of charge. You can also get a good estimate by comparing the lease on a used car to a lease on a new car of the same model and make. Used vehicle leasing is best when residual value has depreciated least. You’ll find better bargains at the luxury end of the vehicle market where cars retain their value better.

Initial mileage and overall vehicle condition should be two other things to consider when leasing a used automobile. With a used car, the maximum mileage should total no more than 12,000 miles per year. A car that is three years old with 50,000 miles is not a good leasing deal. You should also examine a vehicle for worn fabric on the seats, worn pedal pads, or a dirty engine. These are signs of excessive use and might indicate a rolling back of the odometer. If the used car has not been certified, it should be inspected. You can ask the dealer for a certification program sponsored by the manufacturer or have it certified by a qualified service or mechanic.

Most used-car lease arrangements do not include gap coverage. Gap coverage is a special kind of insurance that is usually offered on new-auto leases. It protects the consumer if the leased automobile is lost, damaged, or stolen. Car insurance policies usually only cover what the car is worth at the time of the loss or damage and not what you may still have owing on the lease. This difference could total thousands of dollars. Therefore, you shouldn’t consider a used-car lease that does not include gap coverage. This coverage can be arranged separately, either with the lease dealer or with your own car insurance company.

Sunny Tan, author of the controversial fuel saving guide for motorists, Gas Mileage Tactics, is re-releasing his latest edition of his book with more additional ways to help drivers save their gas money.

Part fun and part enlightening, just about anyone can flick through a few pages from the book and expect to get serious results with their way of driving, which ultimately cuts down their gas mileage expenses.

According to Sunny Tan, many drivers out there resort to using different sorts of high tech gadgetry and equipments and have their cars modified, just to maximize the use of every drop of liter of their gas intake. However, in the long run, this will not only cause serious damages to their vehicles, but also burn big holes in their wallets.

“The reason car manufacturers like Toyota and Honda spend millions investing in R&D is to develop vehicles that are safe, reliable and roadworthy. What makes you think that some backyard mechanics in your area have that sort of capability in modifying a car while ensuring it is still roadworthy?”

“The fundamental thing about saving up your gas money and reduce the petrol consumption of your car begins all the way from when you start your car, how you maneuver the steering wheel and how you step on the pedals,” says Sunny Tan.

In some other countries like America, the IRS has provided a way for the drivers to claim some kind of deduction out of their mileage claim usage.

“Basically you need to maintain proper records of all you business use of you vehicle. You need to learn how to keep tax records for your vehicle, how to keep and log mileage records and vehicle expenses,” according to Sunny.

When asked about how much potential savings of the tax reduction for gas claims, he quoted an example that based on 2002 gas allowance of 36.5 cents per mile; one can get a rough estimate of $292 - $365 worth of tax reduction in a year.

In the book, Sunny writes about tips and techniques to get best possible gas saving out one’s car. The whole book was divided into several chapters such as good driving attitude, taking care of certain crucial car components and engine, getting the best wheels for the car and even some discussion on few popular gas saving devices.

Drivers who have learnt and practiced some of the techniques have discovered amazing results from their gas mileage savings alone. “I’ve recently tried some of the methods described in Sunny’s Gas Mileage Tactics book and I’m satisfied with the noticeably increased fuel mileage I am getting”, says one of the satisfied readers.

“In such trying times of rising petrol costs which could easily burn holes in many motorists’ pockets, Sunny Tan’s easy-to-read-and-apply e-booklet bearing tips on fuel-saving is like welcomed rain on parched earth during prolonged drought”, as described by a prominent and well-respected author and speaker. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: ways to save money | gas mileage | mileage expenses | gas money