Tips for finding the right used car

"DON’T BUY A CAR ONLINE"  is the top tip on The Car People site. They equate the experience to buying a house and I guess, I would have to agree with that. Before buying a used car, I would definitely want to see the car and more importantly, take it for a test drive before I actually buy it.

Buying a used car can sometimes be a bit of a gamble if you are not very car savvy. I bought my current car from a used car dealer and the experience was not that great. The reputation of used car dealers (and quite unfairly I should add) has been ruined by some rotten eggs and people are quite wary. One of the things that most people hate about used car dealers are the over eager pushy salespeople. However, there are several great used car dealers out there with great customer service and no irritating salespeople.

If you live in Manchester, Wakefield,  Sheffield and surrounding areas in the UK, and are looking for  reputable used car dealers, do check out The Car People. They have been operating for over 10 years and many of their customers go back to them again and again.

They have put together a list of 10 very useful tips you need to consider before buying a used car, which you can download as a pdf document on their website.

Check out their really funny TV ad.

Land Rover wallpapers and screensaver

Land Rover has come a long way since the the launch of the first ever 4x4 in 1948. The company is based in Solihull, England near Birmingham, and is a subsidiary of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company.

Land Rover now produces a number of four-wheel drive vehicles, including the Range Rover range. This vehicle range is Land Rover's flagship vehicle. It was first introduced in 1970 and is claimed to be the first first luxury SUV. the Range Rover is still among the most expensive vehicles in it's type. A new Rage Rover now starts from around £55,100 (on the road price). and is the Queen's favourite ride of choice.

If you love Land Rover vehicles, you should have one as your desktop. Check out the Land Rover Range Rover wallpaper below.

You can download other Land Rover wallpapers and screensavers. You have the choice of downloading them in 3 different resolutions, namely, 1280x1024, 1024x768 and the lowest, 800x600 (the one I am using here). The quality of the pictures are OK for use as a wallpaper. I wish there were other colours though. The ones on the site are all in Amalfi Blue (Metallic) only.

I love their dynamic Land Rover screensaver which comes with a calendar and clock as well. The screensaver features different Land Rover vehicles as a slideshow. It is available for download on computers running Windows, OS X as well as Linux operating systems.

There are loads of other wallpapers as well as screensavers of vehicles of different brands on the VCARS site. VCARS is a network of 50 manufacturer specific websites helping you find used cars in the UK. When I last checked, they has over 100,000 used car offers of all makes. You can compare prices nationwide by make and model as well as year on the site.

The site has an interactive 3D street location map of dealers throughout the UK. After you find the nearest approved car dealer in your area, you can print out full details of your chosen vehicle (along with any special offers) and a location map of the dealership.