AUTOFIX.COM.AU

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  Young drivers face an uphill battle when trying to get Car Insurance at a reasonable price, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. The Car Insurance companies see young people as a high risk, particularly us male’s and for good reason. Drivers under 25 are more likely to make an insurance claim than any other portion of the population. So what steps can you take to ensure you get the best deal?

  Where possible stay on your parents Car Insurance policy. The extra amount that it costs them will pale in comparison to going out and purchasing your own policy. Another advantage is if you have your own car your parents can put this car on their policy and they may recieve a discount for multiple cars on the one Car Insurance policy. When you turn 25 you can go and get your own policy at a reasonable premium.

  Putting yourself through a Defensive Driving Course can sometimes earn you a reduction of your premium. Aside from being a great idea anyway some Car Insurance companies will regard you as a safer driver and therefore offer you a lower premium. Check with your Car Insurance company or ask if they offer this discount before signing up with them.

  Protecting your vehicle with a good quality alarm with an immobiliser can also be of benefit to you. Once again some Car Insurance companies will see this as a measure to reduce their risk and reduce the premium accordingly. Be sure to check with prospective Insurance companies about this one as well.

  These tips may not save you a fortune but any money saved can be put to good use, like buying more stereo gear or that next engine modification!!

Take care and be safe on the roads.

Craig

Having adequate insurance cover for your vehicles is just as important as having regular maintenance carried out. I don’t think anybody would want to find out the hard way why Car Insurance is so important. Accidents do happen, it’s a fact of life and not having Insurance can make the experience a very costly one. Gone are the days of metal bumpers and solid bodied cars that take a decent hit to bend, now we have cars with crumple zones that are designed to take the force of the impact and protect the car’s occupants. The downside to this is that the repairs needed for minor collisions can run into the thousands and if you are not covered by Insurance that money comes out of your pocket.

Insurance companies are making things easier for us motorists these days by offering a pay-by-the-month service for most policies. If you are under 25 or have a shocker of a driving record this can be a great way of keeping your car insured without having to fork out a large lump sum in one go. Check with your chosen Insurer, but sometimes the downside can be that if you have to make a claim the remaining years premium is payable before any repairs are done.

Owning a modified car is an expensive hobby at the best of times and I remember when I was in my youth there was no option but to take the risk and drive without insurance because as soon as you mentioned modifications the Car Insurance companies wouldn’t touch you. Fortunately those days are over and more and more Insurance companies are realising there is a market in car enthusiasts looking to insure their vehicles. Companies like Shannons and Just Car Insurance offer cover for legally modified vehicles with drivers of any age. That’s not to say that the cover is cheap but compared with the alternative it can be tens of thousands of dollars cheaper!

There are a lot of things to consider when shopping for Car Insurance, the type of cover that suits you, the number and age of regular drivers and what value you want the car to be insured for. The Internet is your friend when looking for Car Insurance as you can easily get online quotes and there are a few sites which will help you compare the different companies and the cover they offer. Over the course of this week we will have an in-depth look at all the different aspects of Car Insurance Cover, where to find the best deal and how to chose the cover that is right for you.

Take care and be safe on the roads.

Craig

  In the latest round of badge engineering Holden have decided to market a re-badged Daewoo Tosca as their entry in the mid-size category, competing with cars like the Toyota Camry and the Mazda 6. After the success of the all new billion dollar VE Commodore, you’ve got to wonder if Holden hasn’t shot themselves in the foot with the Epica.

  This is the fourth Daewoo sourced vehicle for Holden. The Barina, Viva and Captiva are all products of the South-Korean factory and given the public’s seemingly strong dislike for previous models in the Daewoo range, I wonder if that stigma will follow the Epica. There is no doubt that the build quality across the Daewoo range has increased ten-fold in the last few years but it could be a case of too little, too late.

  Speaking from a mechanics point of view, nothing that came out of the Daewoo factory before 2005 looked like it would stand the test of time. I am not qualified to offer an opinion on post-2005 cars as I haven’t picked up a spanner in two years due to a back injury and shut-up shop in early 2006. Some of the common problems that we saw were timing belt failure due to a plastic tensioner pulley, twice in 30,000km on one vehicle and Holden refused a warranty claim as the car was older than three years but had travelled only 68,000km when the second belt failed. On both occasions the repairs were done at a Holden dealership yet they wouldn’t honour their repair guarantee. Admitting a design fault was out of the question I guess!

  Horribly soft brake rotors was another issue we encountered. It was not unusual for the rotors to need machining at every service due to being out of round causing pedal and steering wheel vibrations. Holden’s answer to this one - the car must have been driven through water when the discs were hot. More than likely this was the case, so what are you supposed to do? Not drive the car if there is any water on the road?! Disc rotors are not made as well as they used to be, but this is just ridiculous!

  I could go on for ages about the common problems found with these vehicles, however that is not the point of this post. As I stated the vehicles that I have worked on were pre-05 and I hope for potential Epica buyers that the engineering behind these cars has improved. I think only time will tell, once a few km’s have been racked up we should be hearing if they are a success or not. If previous models are anything to go by I don’t hold out much hope for buyers of the Epica though.

  Pricing of the Epica may be the thing that gets them out of the showroom doors - $26,000 for the base model and a top of the range CDXi can be had for around the same money as a base model Camry. For more information on pricing and specifications see here.

  Time will be the deciding factor on the success of the Epica. It will be interesting to see if the public will take to it or if the stigma of the previous Daewoo models is still strong enough to scare buyers away from it. I will keep you posted!