Car sickness is the feeling you get when the monthly car payment is due. Most of you would agree? And why not, there is good reason for it, as unlike your home loan payments, the equated monthly instalments (EMIs) towards your car go for a fast depreciating asset.
However, some smart moves can help you get a better deal on your car loan and soften your monthly EMIs, besides giving you what you actually want.
Smart Move # 1
Keep your priorities clear: Decide what car you want to buy, do not leave it to the salesman. First shop for the car and then for the finance. Identify your requirements, your budget and whether you really need features like a four-wheel drive. Otherwise, you might end up buying a car that does not have the features you need, or shelling out extra money for no real purpose.
Bangalore-based businessman Stefan Erasmus, 32, had his priorities clear when he decided to buy a car. He needed a spacious car with good air-conditioning for personal use as well as for airport pick-up and dropping services.
His focus helped him zero down on the car he finally bought -- Toyota Innova. He initially chose four cars -- Toyota Innova, Chevrolet Tavera, Nissan X-Trail and Ford Endeavour. After comparing prices and features he settled on Innova.
Nissan X-trail and Ford Endeavour were out of his budget, and the significant extra feature these cars had was the four-wheel drive, which he could do without in the city. He chose Innova over Travera as he felt that as far as looks, design and comfort were concerned, the former had an edge.
Smart Move # 2
Spend time shopping around to bag the best deal: Ask yourself an essential question: Have you spent time researching the new car you are going to buy? Answer that in the affirmative and then spend an equal amount of time shopping for the finance. Take your time, months if need be, and be an aggressive and price-oriented buyer. Do not stretch your budget -- even a few hundred rupees extra EMI every month can pinch over the years.
N R Narayanan, group business head (vehicle loans), ICICI Bank [Get Quote], says, "Customers should decide on the car they want go in for after looking at the overall budget. They should look for a combination of down payment and EMI that they can easily manage."
Avoid dealer's finance. It may be hassle free and offer huge discounts, but the fact is that interest rates charged by them are almost invariably higher. Pay as much of the price as down payment as possible.
Remember, a car is a depreciating asset and will give you no returns. So, the less you pay as interest, the better off you are. Check out the rates of direct selling agents of banks, or even banks themselves. Only when you have shopped around considerably, can you zero down on the best deal.
Erasmus did just that -- shopped around and got a good deal for his Toyota Innova. During his research, he found out that different dealers had different deals to offer and that they varied widely. He bargained extensively and the final deal got him a much lower interest rate than the one that was quoted first.
Also, focus on the total price interest repayment amount than just on the interest rate. Be clear about the other charges -- nameplate, registration and insurance.
Smart Move # 3
Buy good cars, not hot cars: "You aren't what you drive" goes a chapter heading of The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. The book reveals that a majority of the millionaires surveyed do not drive the current-model-year automobile. There's your cue: to get low rates of interest and bigger discounts, consider not going for the model with a waitlist, but a car that has been in the market for some time.
When a new model comes in, there is a huge demand for it and dealers are eager to sell off older models. It is easy to find out which car is moving slow. It might not be the car of your dreams, or fetch you the highest resale value, but will be a good car to own nonetheless.
For example, right now, you get Rs 5,000 discount for a Suzuki Swift, but Rs 15,000 on a Maruti [Get Quote] Wagon R.
When you have zeroed down on a car, shoot for the slowest selling variant. Most of the time a particular variant, which is usually the top-end one, is not the fastest moving. So the dealer will be eager to push it and you can negotiate more and get a better bargain. You can get a lot of additional stuff at a price a bit higher than a lower variant.
Smart Move # 4
Look at net acquisition cost. While trading off your old car for a new one, if you try to get a good bargain for your old car, the dealer will normally tend to jack up the price of the new car. If you want a big discount on the new car, he will push down the price of your trade-in.
Either way, he will try to keep his margin fat. Your aim would be to slim it down and, thereby, reduce your net cost of acquisition. So, you should look for the highest price for the old car and the lowest price for the new one. If your new car dealer is not giving you the best price, sell somewhere else. Some minor repairs and a thorough cleaning might cost you a little bit of money, but will help you get a much better price for your old car.
Smart Move # 5
Skip the freebies, shoot for cash: If your dealer tries to lure you with free goodies -- stereo, floor mats, or seat covers -- do not go for it. They will, more often than not, be of questionable quality. When the dealer puts a price on them to show you what a good bargain you are getting, tell him to give you a cash discount of the same amount so that your loan burden comes down.
Keep these smart moves in mind so that when you drive out of the showroom, you are a happy man behind the wheels who is not likely to experience 'car sickness' in the years to come.
(http://us.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/06car.htm)
Monday, July 16, 2007
5 innovations that will change our lives!
International Business Machines, the multinational computer technology giant, on Monday unveiled the 'IBM Next Five in Five' study, which is its view on five innovations that have the potential of changing the way people the world over work, live and play over the next five years.
The list is based on market / societal trends (expected to transform people's lives) and also on emerging technologies from IBM's Labs around the world that could make these innovations possible.
Usually it is the adults who teach the kids. But IBM scientists and business consultants say that some of today's most popular pastimes from teens to post-graduates are on course to changing the way people will communicate, shop and work. Who would have thought that IM chats, text messages and video games would change the world. . . for adults!
'IBM's Next Five in Five' indicates that technology developed primarily as 'playthings' for teenagers is set to radically alter the workday world for their parents. It is likely that in five years, adults will be sitting down at their desks and working with 3D Internet programmes that look more like PlayStation games than spreadsheets. Your mother's mobile phone will use new IM technology that will ping her about special sales at Big Bazaar as she's driving by the store or strolling through the mall.
"Our researchers are focussed on the application of technologies in ways that matter to people, business and society," said Daniel Dias, director of IBM's India Research Laboratory. "Open collaborative research and real-world innovations are going to shape the future. In the next five years, our lives will change through technology innovations in the following ways," he said in a statement.
The five innovations that will change people's lives over the next five years are:
1. We will be able to access healthcare remotely, from just about anywhere in the world: Millions of people with chronic health problems such as diabetes, heart, kidney or circulatory problems will be able to have their conditions automatically monitored as they go about their daily lives. Device makers and healthcare professionals will take a proactive approach to ongoing, remote monitoring of patients, delivered through sensors in the home, worn on the person or in devices and packaging.
These advances will also allow patients to better monitor their own health and help clinicians provide the on-going preventive care regardless of a person's location. Hardware and software advances in the field of remote-control healthcare will be a major source of consumer and enterprise innovation by 2012.
2. Mobile phones will start to read our minds: Advanced 'presence' technology will give mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) the ability to automatically learn about their users' whereabouts and preferences as they commute, work and travel. 'Presence' technology -- used in instant messaging -- already makes it possible to locate and identify a user as soon as the user connects to the network.
In five years, all sorts of mobile devices will have the ability to continually learn about and adapt to your preferences and needs. Your phone will know when you're in class or in a meeting and divert automatically to voicemail. Your favourite pizza joint will know when you're on your way home after a late night and ping you with a special-price, take-home meal just for you.
3. Real-time speech translation -- once a vision only in sci-fi -- will become the norm: The movement towards globalisation needs to take into account basic human elements, such as differences in language.
For example, IBM speech innovations are already allowing media companies to monitor Chinese and Arabic news broadcasts over the Web in English, travellers using PDAs to translate menus in Japanese, and doctors to communicate with patients in Spanish.
Real-time translation technologies and services will be embedded into mobile phones, handheld devices and cars. These services will pervade every part of business and society, eliminating the language barrier in the global economy and social interaction.
4. There will be a 3-D Internet: The popular online immersive destinations, such as Second Life and the World of Warcraft, will evolve into the 3-D Internet, much like the early work by the likes of Darpa, AOL and Prodigy evolved into the World Wide Web.
In this immersive online world, you will walk the aisles of supermarkets, bookstores and DVD shops, where you'll encounter experts you'd rarely find in your local store. The 3-D Internet will enable new kinds of education, remote medicine and consumer experiences, transforming how we interact with our friends, family, doctors, teachers, favourite stores, et cetera.
5. New technologies the size of a few atoms will address areas of environmental importance: Governments and companies are increasingly trying to improve environmental stewardship and secure reliable and cost-effective resources like water, energy, etc. Information technology, materials science, and physics will help meet environmental needs.
Nanotechnology -- the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules to form tiny new structures -- has already had a major impact on microprocessors, making electronic products like PCs and mobile phones smaller, better and cheaper.
In coming years, nanotechnology will likely be used for water filtration. This could advance ecology and conservation, helping to address the growing worldwide shortage of potable water supplies. Other areas where IT, physics, and material science will have a big impact are advanced water modeling and improving solar power systems.
These five innovations were selected based on projects from the brains in IBM's Research labs, business research conducted by IBM's business think-tank, and ideas pooled from more than 150,000 people from 104 countries, including IBM employees, their family members, universities, business partners and customers from 67 countries, during a recent online brainstorm called 'IBM InnovationJam.'
(http://us.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/30ibm.htm)
The list is based on market / societal trends (expected to transform people's lives) and also on emerging technologies from IBM's Labs around the world that could make these innovations possible.
Usually it is the adults who teach the kids. But IBM scientists and business consultants say that some of today's most popular pastimes from teens to post-graduates are on course to changing the way people will communicate, shop and work. Who would have thought that IM chats, text messages and video games would change the world. . . for adults!
'IBM's Next Five in Five' indicates that technology developed primarily as 'playthings' for teenagers is set to radically alter the workday world for their parents. It is likely that in five years, adults will be sitting down at their desks and working with 3D Internet programmes that look more like PlayStation games than spreadsheets. Your mother's mobile phone will use new IM technology that will ping her about special sales at Big Bazaar as she's driving by the store or strolling through the mall.
"Our researchers are focussed on the application of technologies in ways that matter to people, business and society," said Daniel Dias, director of IBM's India Research Laboratory. "Open collaborative research and real-world innovations are going to shape the future. In the next five years, our lives will change through technology innovations in the following ways," he said in a statement.
The five innovations that will change people's lives over the next five years are:
1. We will be able to access healthcare remotely, from just about anywhere in the world: Millions of people with chronic health problems such as diabetes, heart, kidney or circulatory problems will be able to have their conditions automatically monitored as they go about their daily lives. Device makers and healthcare professionals will take a proactive approach to ongoing, remote monitoring of patients, delivered through sensors in the home, worn on the person or in devices and packaging.
These advances will also allow patients to better monitor their own health and help clinicians provide the on-going preventive care regardless of a person's location. Hardware and software advances in the field of remote-control healthcare will be a major source of consumer and enterprise innovation by 2012.
2. Mobile phones will start to read our minds: Advanced 'presence' technology will give mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) the ability to automatically learn about their users' whereabouts and preferences as they commute, work and travel. 'Presence' technology -- used in instant messaging -- already makes it possible to locate and identify a user as soon as the user connects to the network.
In five years, all sorts of mobile devices will have the ability to continually learn about and adapt to your preferences and needs. Your phone will know when you're in class or in a meeting and divert automatically to voicemail. Your favourite pizza joint will know when you're on your way home after a late night and ping you with a special-price, take-home meal just for you.
3. Real-time speech translation -- once a vision only in sci-fi -- will become the norm: The movement towards globalisation needs to take into account basic human elements, such as differences in language.
For example, IBM speech innovations are already allowing media companies to monitor Chinese and Arabic news broadcasts over the Web in English, travellers using PDAs to translate menus in Japanese, and doctors to communicate with patients in Spanish.
Real-time translation technologies and services will be embedded into mobile phones, handheld devices and cars. These services will pervade every part of business and society, eliminating the language barrier in the global economy and social interaction.
4. There will be a 3-D Internet: The popular online immersive destinations, such as Second Life and the World of Warcraft, will evolve into the 3-D Internet, much like the early work by the likes of Darpa, AOL and Prodigy evolved into the World Wide Web.
In this immersive online world, you will walk the aisles of supermarkets, bookstores and DVD shops, where you'll encounter experts you'd rarely find in your local store. The 3-D Internet will enable new kinds of education, remote medicine and consumer experiences, transforming how we interact with our friends, family, doctors, teachers, favourite stores, et cetera.
5. New technologies the size of a few atoms will address areas of environmental importance: Governments and companies are increasingly trying to improve environmental stewardship and secure reliable and cost-effective resources like water, energy, etc. Information technology, materials science, and physics will help meet environmental needs.
Nanotechnology -- the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules to form tiny new structures -- has already had a major impact on microprocessors, making electronic products like PCs and mobile phones smaller, better and cheaper.
In coming years, nanotechnology will likely be used for water filtration. This could advance ecology and conservation, helping to address the growing worldwide shortage of potable water supplies. Other areas where IT, physics, and material science will have a big impact are advanced water modeling and improving solar power systems.
These five innovations were selected based on projects from the brains in IBM's Research labs, business research conducted by IBM's business think-tank, and ideas pooled from more than 150,000 people from 104 countries, including IBM employees, their family members, universities, business partners and customers from 67 countries, during a recent online brainstorm called 'IBM InnovationJam.'
(http://us.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/30ibm.htm)
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