Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Ford Mustang! What a beauty

Ford Mustang

There is something special about old school muscle cars. They exude both beauty and power. They represent freedom. Oh, and that's just looking at them. Driving one is another experience altogether, something that I hope everyone may experience in their lifetime.

I stumbled upon this article the other day: a tribute to muscle cars, and for a while I reminisced as I scanned the ample pictures of the Ford Mustangs of old. The final question was posed... Do you like old or new Ford Mustang? I think for me its a no brainer, old school is cool! Muscle cars for me will always be represented by the old school beauties, and while the new cars are lovely in their own regard, they do not hold the same nostalgic power over me.

I cant wait for the next muscle car day in South Africa, so that I can once more delight in the sights and sounds of good old school muscle cars, especially the Ford Mustang.

The effects of car depreciation

Car depreciation

Car depreciation is a nasty reality, one which we as South Africans would much rather not talk about, but alas we cannot ignore it. Depreciation can cost us a lot of money over time and is something that needs to be addressed very seriously. While there is nothing one can do to stop one's car from decreasing in value over time, there are definitely ways to control the effects. 

Controlling car depreciation

Cars.co.za has put together a comprehensive article on the effects of car depreciation. This article looks at car depreciation as a whole, the factors affecting depreciation and what one can do as a car buyer to control the effects of car depreciation. It is a great read for anyone planning on buying a car in the near future.

More reading on car depreciation

Here are some other helpful resources on Car depreciation:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/20011226a.asp - discusses car depreciation from an international perspective.
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=435652  - 10 best and worst cars for car depreciation.

Conclusion

Car Depreciation is here to stay, hopefully with the aid of the above mentioned resources, we can get the best car value going forward.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Korean cars making waves

Korean car manufacturers Hyundai and Kia have been steadily making waves in the South African Car Market. The motoring giants have all but dominated the budget section with the Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto respectively. While these two models shuffle between first and second positions on various ranking or best buy list I have seen, they are always up there.

This is not the only segment of the car market under attack from the Korea. Both Hyundai and Kia are having great success in other sections, including the SUV market with the Hyundai Ix35 and the Kia Sportage. Hyundai have also taken the sedan market by storm with their new Elantra, which met with raving reviews.

It will be interesting to see how the new car and used car landscapes in South Africa change in the future, but I will not be surprised if we continue to see these top Korean brands growing in leaps and bounds.