hautexotics automobile dealer blog

If you answered “I am” to the question posed in this blog’s title, you’re in luck. Even though many luxury automakers have a reputation for being less fuel-efficient than other brands, that is quickly changing due to rising environmental concerns and gas prices. Luckily, you now have a choice of many fuel-efficient luxury cars at your local luxury car dealerships. Here are some of the most fuel-efficient choices so you can save money on gas while helping the planet at the same time.

Porsche Boxster/Cayman
With a 2.7-liter V6 engine, this luxury car runs best and farthest on premium fuel. On the highways, you can get nearly 30 mpg with this car. In the city, it gets about 19 mpg, giving it a combined fuel-economy rating of 22.36. The car’s small design and lightweight structure make it more efficient than most other cars in the same class. You can even choose the S-Series of these models for a more powerful engine.

Lexus IS 250
This luxury brand and model starts at a price just over $30,000 and offers great fuel economy for the environmentally-aware luxury car driver. It has a combined fuel-economy rating for 22.40, which is even better than some of the domestic cars that aren’t luxury brands. This is also the lowest price Lexus on the lot. The units with an automatic transmission are a little more expensive, but they offer a 15 percent increase in gas mileage over the units with manual transmissions.

Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec
The Bluetec innovations are the talk of the auto industry. These are typically more efficient diesel engines with fewer carbon emissions for the eco-friendly luxury car driver. The engines are even clean enough to pass California’s strict standards! These models start out at about $52,000 and they have a fuel rating for 26.33, which is higher than any other luxury car at this time. But don’t think the iconic automaker has sacrificed quality. Once you get inside and drive, you’ll definitely know you’re in a Benz.

Of course, there are even hybrid models of luxury cars these days, too. Check out the entire inventory at your local exotic car dealer to find the right one for you.

When you buy a luxury car, you know you’re getting quality and the latest technologies in the auto industry. But which luxury cars have the best quality? Which one do you choose when you have a choice of any car that you want? Forbes Magazine and JD Power and Associates released a study that named the 10 best luxury cars. Here are three of those cars and what you can expect from each one.

Infiniti G Series
This premium vehicle starts at a price of about $32,000 and gets 25 mpg on the highways. It has six standard airbags, dual front airbags, a tire pressure monitoring system and other features that you won’t find on normal vehicles. Its sleek look makes you know that it’s a high-quality luxury car, too.

Mercedes-Benz CLK Class
At a price starting at about $67,000 for one of these new models, this is the leader in compact premium sports cars. Several airbags surround the interior of the car and the driver and passengers alike will enjoy the leather seating and 10-way power adjustments for ultimate comfort. You can also choose the convertible option.

Porsche Cayman
You don’t need to spend $100,000 for the pinnacle of quality if you want to invest in a Porsche. The Porsche Cayman starts out at less then $50,000 as the base MSRP and gets nearly 30 miles to the gallon. Airbags help ensure safety, but the Stability Management feature also helps you drive fast and stay safe.

Why not visit your local luxury car dealer today and see if these or any other high-quality luxury cars are in stock today? Once you get behind the wheel, you won’t be disappointed!

Still think you need to be a millionaire to own a luxury car? Think again. Luxury cars are becoming more and more affordable and many motorists are investing in them because of their quality and innovative features. But there are still some that are out of most people’s price range. If you want to afford a luxury car but simply don’t have the money to do so, here are some ideas to help you think like a millionaire and get that extra money you need.

Be Stingy
If you watch most millionaires or people with a lot of money, you’ll notice that most of them don’t spend their money on small indulgences. At $4 for a cup of coffee, Starbucks isn’t on their daily agenda. Other indulgences prevent people from saving as much money as they can. These expenses add up.

Get Disciplined
One of the things that keeps people from becoming millionaires is that they are not disciplined with their money. If this is you, stop! Create a written budget for your monthly income and expenses so you know where each dollar is going. Make adjustments based on how much you spend each month on things that are frivolous or unnecessary. You’ll be surprised how much money you can actually save once you see where it’s all going.

Explore Options
You might have a job that you’ve been at for years. Often, this makes people nervous about exploring other opportunities. But those other opportunities could be your ticket to increasing your income. Staying loyal to an employer is admirable, but you still need to do the things that are in your best interest. If that means leaving your job for one that pays better, why not give it a try?

These are just three simple things you can do to increase the amount of money you can save in any given month. These three ideas may not make you a millionaire any time soon, but it will certainly help you afford that luxury car of your dreams.

Did you know that most of the features you see in today’s economy cars were once the latest and greatest features on the most sophisticated luxury cars? That means if you want to know what will be in the average car a few years down the road, simply look at some of the more sophisticated car dealerships in your area.

Luxury cars are always ahead of the curve when it comes to innovative features and technologies. Concept cars are the beginning stages of the luxury vehicle, but they aren’t in production when the car companies show them at auto shows. Sometimes, these concept cars never make it to the production stage. But engineers who design concept cars are often creating something that won’t be available in cars for another 20 or 30 years.

Luxury automakers are constantly trying to keep up with what drivers want in their cars. BMW is one of the leaders in this area. The company is creating a car called a GINA, which stands for Geometry and Functions in ‘N’ Adaptations. This luxury convertible only resembles a car in that it has the basic parts, including wheels, a water-resistant aluminum frame and seats for the driver and passengers. But it also has another feature that allows the driver to reconfigure the car’s appearance and body. The driver can simply add a spoiler to the car by pushing a button! How’s that sound for futuristic?

Regardless of the company, the future of luxury cars is exciting. Engineers are really “thinking outside of the box” to bring the newest and most imaginative developments to vehicles for you. Check out your local luxury car authorized dealer today and see what innovations are already available.

I remember growing up in a small Midwestern town. Back then, in the late 1960s, Corvettes were everywhere, at least during the summer. The people driving those corvettes were, almost invariably, young adults and teenagers.

This was the day of muscle cars, of cars that had more horsepower than most of today’s SUVs. Those were also the days long before Corvettes were considered exotic cars. Back then, if you waited around long enough on a Saturday afternoon, you were bound to hear about a street race going on nearby. No matter what the other car or cars involved, one was almost always a Corvette.

When I got my first regular job, my first purchase was the registration fee for the business program at our local college. My second purchase, however, was a 1978 Corvette. It had 18 miles on it, and I had to have my father co-sign the loan.

I drove that car all summer long. I didn’t race it; I was too worried something would happen to it. I waxed and washed it every week. I babied that car, hoping it would last forever.

It didn’t, of course. In fact, it only made it to September when someone ran a stop sign and plowed into it, totaling it. No one was hurt, but it wasn’t until this summer that I finally drove another Corvette. This new one is definitely more stylish and exotic, but it still makes me feel like I’m 19 years old again.

As if gas wasn’t expensive enough, Prince Charles recently converted one of his many luxury cars so it would run on champagne.

In an effort to reduce his carbon footprint, the Prince of England is also trying to set an example for others in the region. Last year, he converted his Ranger Rover and Jaguar so they would run on the more eco-friendly biodiesel. But now he’s gone a step further and converted his Aston Martin so it would run on British wine distilled into ethanol.

The Prince’s Aston Martin is a classic at nearly 40 years old. It’s a DB6 Volante that gets just a tad bit more than eight miles to the gallon. Now, it’ll get less than that on the ethanol fuel, but it’ll be better for the environment. He only drives the car about 300 miles in a given year so it’s not going to make that much of a difference either way. But my hat’s off to him for at least becoming an example for people in his country. That’s more than we can say about many of the members of our Congress and even our local governments.

The first Porsche 911 I ever saw was in the movie Cannonball Run. The 1991 Hal Needham film featured everyone from Dean Martin to Burt Reynolds to Farrah Fawcet to Jackie Chan. I’ll never forget the exotic car road race movie. It left an impression on my young eyes, and was probably the first time I considered becoming an exotic car enthusiast.

The Porsche 911 has gone through significant changes throughout the years. There is speculation about even more changes for the 2009 model year. Porsche announced, among other things, a new rapid-shifting dual clutch transmission. This new transmission technology replaces the TIptronic, and gives the Porsche 911 an additional two tenths of a second off of its acceleration.

In addition, the new 911 is going to be surprisingly fuel efficient. The 911 Carrera with the PDK transmission gives 28.8 miles to the gallon.

The interior of the 911 will see some minor changes, and come more along the lines of being enhancements instead of brand new designs. Also inside the vehicle, the communication management system receives an upgrade.

If you’re not an enthusiast, you probably won’t notice many of the changes to the Porsche 911 for 2009. If you’re like me, however, you’ll not only notice them, you’ll love them as well.

One of the best things about test driving luxury cars is that new car smell you get every time you take a breath. But do you know what that scent is made from?

The adhesives that the manufacturers use are the main thing you smell when you get into a new car. These adhesives are usually left unstable when they leave the production line so they are still releasing gasses into the air by the time you get to the car.

Scientists have also identified about 50 other organic compounds in the new car smell. Some of these come from sources like new carpeting, vinyl or leather treatments, exhaust fumes and cleaning products.

Over the course of a few weeks, though, the smell begins to dissolve. By the end of week three, only about 10 percent of the smell remains.

For years, researchers have warned against prolonged exposure to this scent because of their toxicity. But a recent article stated that the smell has no negative effect on a person unless they have allergy problems. A toxicologist at the Technical University of Munich in Germany investigated the odors and concluded that the smell is not toxic. It can, however, trigger an allergic reaction, not unlike the same reaction that one gets when working in a new building.

People have been buying cars straight from the factory for years. I haven’t heard of anybody dying from the new car smell yet. Have you? I suppose if you’re concerned about it, you can always consider a used luxury car from an authorized dealer. The choice is yours.

If you own a luxury car, you probably fit into one of two groups. There is the group that is virtually unaffected by the rising gas prices and then there is the group that has luxury cars that they can’t afford to drive because of gas prices. Everybody’s playing the “blame game” when it comes to gas prices, but who is really to blame?

The Oil Companies
Everybody wants to blame the oil companies for rising gas prices. After all, they are making a profit from selling this precious commodity. But are they to blame? Most oil companies have cut their profits in half in order to help keep prices low, yet more than 75 percent of Americans still want to blame them every time they pump a gallon of gasoline into their car.

The Government
Recently, George Bush lifted the ban on drilling along our coastlines for oil. That would bring prices down considerably. Although it’s a “quick fix,” it would ease the burden on consumers until more alternatives were available. However, Congress hasn’t agreed to lift the ban and they also have a list of things the oil companies cannot do in order to increase production. About 68 percent of Americans see this and blame Congress while about 64 percent also said the Bush administration is to blame.

Other Nations
China and India are planning on putting about 10 million more cars on their roads in the next year. That increases demand for oil which inevitably raises the price. Nearly 65 percent of Americans surveyed recognized this as partly to blame, too.

Gas Stations
Luckily, only about 20 percent of Americans thought gas stations were to blame for the oil prices. It’s true that some have their prices jacked up sometimes more than 20 cents than the station down the road, but most of them are still trying to be competitive and offer the best prices they can.

Who do you blame for the high gas prices? Is it one of these that I mentioned or do you blame somebody or something else?

At one time or another in your life, you need to get to Italy.

If you’re like me, a trip to Italy is almost like heaven. Between my love for Italian food and my taste for exotic cars, I could spend a year in Italy and not miss home too much.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Italy. Here are some of the amazing exotic car-related experiences I had there:

• I visited the Ferrari factory in Maranello. Now, I’ve had the opportunity to take tours of several car factories in my life. This one blows them all away. It has to be, in my mind, probably the most beautiful, as well as the most modern, car factory I’ve ever seen.
• The Lamborghini factory was impressive, as well. The neat thing about my tour of thatfactory is that, while I was there, a former Lambo racing champion was visiting the plant, as well. Everyone from the line workers to the head office swarmed him to ask for autographs.
• Now, I didn’t drive the Mille Miglia - the 1,000 mile road race that took place in the early 20th century, but I did get to visit its starting (and ending) line in Brescia. I could only imagine all of those cars lining up for several days worth of wide-open racing on public roads.