hautexotics automobile dealer blog

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.

You’ve probably heard about the major car manufacturers coming up with strategies to fight the rising gas prices. These days, luxury car makers are doing the same thing. Even with the utmost sportiness and luxury, it’s tough to sell consumers on luxury cars if they’re not fuel-efficient. That’s why many of them are focusing on this characteristic for new models.

Fuel efficiency has really been a major selling point for any type of car in the last year or so. Before then, some consumers would make their decision based on this, but it was just an afterthought for most car buyers. “For years, fuel economy was not a top concern among customers in [the] mass market when making a purchasing decision, though [it became] important when [they] got home,” said Kathleen Hamilton, the assistant VP of PR at a major automotive firm.

Luxury car owners haven’t had the reputation of caring about the type of mileage their car gets. But with the recent global warming and environmental hype, many of them are looking for something that’s more fuel-efficient so they don’t get “made fun of,” according to the president of JMPR, a company that represents luxury automakers like Ducati and Bentley. Manufacturers are listening now and there are several options that combine fuel efficiency and luxury on many authorized lots throughout the country.

Are you torn between enjoying the car of your dreams and saving the environment? Many luxury cars aren’t what you would call “eco-friendly” and that may stop some enthusiasts from enjoying this entire genre of automobiles. But there are several luxury cars that offer the best of both worlds – style, comfort and lavishness with environmentally-friendly features. Following is a list of the 10 luxury vehicles (named by Forbes Magazine) that you can enjoy without feeling that tinge of guilt.

10. Lexus IS-F
9. Infiniti M-35
8. Jaguar XF
7. Lexus LS 460
6. Mercedes-Benz GL Class
5. Lexus RX-400 Hybrid
4. Mercedes-Benz M Class
3. Mercedes Benz E320 Bluetec
2. Audi A6
1. BMW 5 Series

To arrive at this list, Forbes looked at vehicles that were priced between $40,000 and $90,000 when new. The researchers also used Kelly Blue Book values at the end of three years to see how much they would be worth then. If the residual value was above 50 percent after that time period, they considered it a luxury car. They then compared those cars with the EPA’s mpg estimates to arrive at this list of ten.

One common misconception about wealthy people is that they are self-centered and avaricious. But according to Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, about 85 percent of the people who are worth at least $5 million got their money the hard way – they worked for it. As such, they tend to be very frugal with their spending habits. So eco-friendly and fuel-efficient luxury cars are ideal for them.

If you’re like me, the fact that you’ve invested so much money into your exotic car means that you’re going to do what you need to do to keep it maintained. In fact, one of the reasons I got into exotic cars in the first place is that I enjoy tinkering around, and these cars provide great opportunities to do so.

One of the most basic areas of maintenance for your exotic car is in your tires.An exotic car, even more than a regular car, requires a high degree of maintenance to keep it in top shape. One of the best ways to improve the way that your car handles and to extend the life of your tires is to frequently check for tire problems. Tire problems are most often caused by either a misalignment of the front end or just general wear and tear on the tires. Here are some of the things to look for on your tires that may indicate a problem:

• Camber. If the top of your tires seem to tilt either inward or outward when you look at them from the front of the car, it’s called camber. A small amount of camber is normal, but if it looks severe, there may be an alignment problem.
• Toe-In or Toe-Out. This refers to the degree to which your front wheels point toward each other. A small amount of toe-in, where your car’s tires point toward one another, is normal when the vehicle isn’t moving. This keeps the tires from being forced out at high speed. If there is severe toe-in, or if the tires point away from each other while not moving, there is a problem.
• Inflation. Tires can be over- or under-inflated. Too much air inside the tire makes the center of the tire push outward, and causes just a small band on the tire to actually meet the road. This causes the tire to wear quickly. Too little air in the tire causes the tire to wear at the shoulders, causing uneven wear and causing the tire to wear out sooner.

You know the economy isn’t going so well when makers of luxury cars need to come up with plans to keep their customers. That’s what the makers of Lamborghini and other exotic car makers are doing lately.

One of the latest plans is to offer a certified pre-owned vehicle program. This new program is available through more than 30 authorized dealers in the United States beginning this month. Two of the used models include the Mercielago and the Gallardo, but there are several others as well.

Pietro Fregerio, the Chief Operating Officer at Automobili Lamborghini America, is confident about the new program. He says customers are going to enjoy getting “the same high standards we demand of new Lamborghini vehicles.” That means more customers will be heading to luxury car lots for vehicles instead of trading them through brokers, private sellers and auctions.

In short, the current economy can be a great benefit for you. If you’re in the Dallas area, why not visit your local luxury car dealer and see what they have on their lot? With certified pre-owned luxury cars by some of the world’s top manufacturers, you’re certain to get the car of your dreams at an unbelievable price.

If you talk to a lot of luxury car owners, many of them will tell you that the Bugatti Royale is the pinnacle of the industry. Its rarity and specifications make it one of the most, if not THE most expensive luxury car in the world. But if you’re just a passive enthusiast of luxury cars, you may not know too much about this iconic vehicle. Following are some facts about it so you can discuss it with others if the topic ever comes up.

The full line of Bugatti Royale cars was built in 1927. Only a few of them were built, but nobody knows the exact number. Most agree that it was six or seven.

Before creating the Royale, Bugatti designed cars for manufacturers like Mathis Hermes, Deutz and Automobiles Peugeot, among others.

When World War I began, Bugatti was forced to take a break from car manufacturing. People weren’t buying cars and many of the factories were transformed to produce military machines. When hostilities ended in 1918, Bugatti became a citizen of the French Republic.

Bugatti wanted to outdo every single automobile when he designed his Royale. It was his masterpiece for which he wanted to be remembered.

The Royale’s hood was almost seven feet long and had a 14.7-liter 8-cylinder engine underneath. The engine was about five feet long and weighed about 850 pounds by itself. As such, it had about 300 horsepower. When in second gear, the car would go from zero to 93 miles an hour with top speeds at about 125 miles per hour.

If you’d like to read more about the man who created this awesome machine, you can read an article here. “And now,” as Paul Harvey would say, “you know the rest of the story.”

If you own a luxury car, you probably don’t want to keep it hidden under a cover in your garage all the time. Chances are that you want to show it off and make people take a second look when they see you drive by. But what are some good ways to display your expensive car to make people take notice?

Take it for a drive to the grocery store. Nothing is more noticeable than pulling into your local grocery store and stepping out of a Lamborghini or a Porsche. You won’t want to do all of your errands in a luxury car, of course. But every once in a while is nice.

Post the car’s picture on an enthusiast’s forum. There’s something for everybody on the Internet and car enthusiasts is no exception. Find several online car clubs and post pictures of your precious baby. You can also share your interest with other people who have the same hobby.

Enter your luxury car in a car show. There are several car shows for exotic and luxury cars all over North America and beyond. You can probably find one in your local area or within a couple hundred miles. You’ll also be able to see other cars and meet with car owners just like you.

Have you ever wanted to buy a car that a foreign dignitary drove to important meetings and events? Last week, several luxury cars from the Communist era were auctioned off in Sofia to some lucky new car owners.

These cars were once driven by some of the elite officials in Bulgaria. Twenty of these cars were built by the Soviets and they are some of the world’s most exclusive automobiles ever made. According to the head of the service garage that held these cars, all of the “heads of states and prime ministers who visited Bulgaria from the late 1960s to 1990 were given a lift in those cars.”

One of the more prominent passengers in these black limousines include Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly into space in 1963. Fidel Castro also took several rides in one of these luxury cars.

The Chaikas (the brand name of these vehicles) had lush Persian carpets and electronic gadgets that no other car had at the time. They also had chrome accents and fittings that made them look even more luxurious.

Prices for some of the cars that were better maintained started at $18,500. Other cars that were up for sale included some Soviet-made Lada and Volga saloon models.

With home foreclosures at a record high and gas prices going crazy, it’s no wonder that car dealers are repossessing more cars than ever.

As a result of the current economic situation, repo companies are enjoying a boom in business. Their business is so good these days that many repo businesses are securing more lots where they can store more cars from deadbeat buyers.

You might think that most of the cars that they are repossessing are normal cars that people buy to drive back and forth to work. But nobody is safe right now. Many of the vehicles they repossess are high-end trucks. Many repo companies are even going into private gated communities and taking luxury cars from owners delinquent on their payments.

Experts are expecting a 10 percent rise in car repossessions this year. That means about 1.6 million vehicles will disappear from driveways in 2008.

So why are so many people falling behind on their payments? The reason is simple. Some auto loan companies are loaning car buyers more than they can afford, causing them to take the money and buy the most expensive car they can find for that price. Unfortunately, they don’t find out until a few months later that they can’t afford the payments while still putting food on their table.

Use this as a reminder. Just because a bank or finance company loans you thousands of dollars doesn’t mean you should take it all. Do some math and only take what you can afford to pay back.