Lighting Up My Garage

I previously just had 2 bulbs in front of garage and there were 2 bulbs on the garage door opener placed in middle of garage. When we upgraded our house to chandeliers, I used 2 of the left over lights that had 3 bulbs each in them. A bit better but still no way was there enough light. I thought of putting in Spotlights all over garage but i wasn't too sure of how well they would perform.

Then I came across these 48" Fluorescent Shop lights at Rona for $22.99 each that can take 2x T8 34watt Bulbs. The bulbs were extra with 30000 hours life for about $12 a pair. I bought 5 of them, along with 10 bulbs which cost about $193 inc. taxes. 

I also purchased 20m 14/2 Armored Cable for $50.85, one 4" Round Junction Box for $7.99 and 2x 4" Round Covers for $1.09 each.

I have a lot of shelves in the back, on the sides and on the ceiling. So I decided to put 3 lights in the rear and 2 in the front. I didn't used the chain hooks but i opened up the light and screwed 2 directly onto the 2 shelves on each side of garage and one directly to ceiling in the middle. For the 3 lights in rear I changed the wire on them to armored cable then wired them to the junction box that I put in the middle of the three lights. Then I used these rather than twister caps to connect up the wires. This is because it is hard to twist 4 wires together and these little push connectors are easier to manage if you have lots of wires.

I ran one wire to the from the junction box to my light connection in the front. In the front i changed the 2 lights also to these fluorescent lights and used the cover to cover up the Junction box. Again the lights were mounted directly to the cieling. For under $300 I had my whole garage lit up.

My Vinyl Wrap Kit

Dawn Dishwashing Detergent

- Solvent Based Cleaner, Grease Remover

- Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA)

- Lint-Free Towel or Lint-Free Paper Towel

Squeegee w/ felt tip

- Heat gun

- Utility knife - homedepot

- 3M 94 Tape Primer

- 3M Edge Sealer

- WrapCut Tape

- Cotton gloves

- Masking tape

- Tape measure

- Infrared thermometer (optional)
- Roller

Fixed the oven for 50 bucks Error Code F9 LG Double Wall Oven

Shame on LG for not supplying a $10 part part for my $4000 broken oven that is less than 2 years old and already thermostat is gone. So after 3 hours off being bounced back and forth on the phone to them and their local authorized appliance repair company Shaugnessey Appliance I had enough. At first LG told me i just give Shaugnessey Appliance their reference number and they can deal with it form there. Shaugnessey Appliance wanted me to set it up separately with thim which is $90+ tax for showing up abd diagnosing and then parts and labour. I wanted to go through LG. But last LG agent told me that since my oven is out of warranty and since they don't have any of their repair people in my area i have to do whatever Shaugnessey Appliance is offering. So I went online and found out that actually the F9 Error that was showing on upper oven is because thermosat is broken and i need to replace it with part number 6930W1A003X. LG However refused to sell me he part (against their policy for some reason) and no appliance place apart from Shaugnessey Appliance can actually carry LG Parts. Not only that the cherry on top is that I have to get Shuagnessey Appliance to come and repair my oven. Since their start rate was $100 I really wasn't looking forward to a few hundred dollar bill that they were going to make for me. I wasn't going to give up thoug so finally I found my part at Sears Parts Direct Canada. I gave them a call and gave them the part number. The part was $8.99 with fla rate shipping of $9.99. Total about $20. Within a week i recieved the part and asked my handyman to come over as I wasn't too confident on handling it on my own.

I googled "service repair manual for LWD3081ST" to see what i have to deal with and if i could do it myself. To my surprise I found it.

http://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/content/pdfs/148178-8.pdf

If you scroll down to page 22 section 3-7 you will see the thermostat and its location.

We turned off the breaker at the mains so no power at oven.
We took 6 screws out to detatch the wall oven from cabinet. Removed the doors and kept it aside.
The we put cardboard down on the hardwood floor to make sure we don't scratch it and slid the double oven out onto it.
Once we had access to the back panel we took the screws out and took off the back panel.
The Thermostat was attatched on with one screw. We took it out and put the new one in.
Then I turned the breaker on and tested the oven and guess what it was working absoolutely fine.
Turned breaker off and put everything back as it was.
All in all for 2 people who have never fixed an appliance before this took us under one hour easily.

So shame on you LG for really poor customer service and product support. I will think twice before buying your product again.

Plastidip on Winter Wheels using Rustoleum Flexidip

Since i wrapped car matte black i had been itching to do something to my wheels to make em stand out. So I thought of plasti dipping my winter tires gloss black.


Total Cost = 4 Cans of Matte Black Flexidip @ 10.49 ea

4 Cans of Rustoleum Gloss Black Orotective Coat @ 7.99 ea

Plastic Sheets @ 1.25 ea

Masking Tape

Before i got started i cleaned the alloys to the best of my ability.

  Using plastic sheet which you can buy for $1 from the dollar store i covered my tires and then used masking tape around edges so i dont get any paint elsewhere. Also tires are laid on one sheet too so I dont get any paint on ground below.   First coat of plastidip. I think i put it on too heavy. There was a few drips etc.   Some chips but gonna do a couple more coats.         Plasti dipped all 4. Waited about 10-15mins between coats and 45mins to dry. before doing clearcoat.         Finished Product

Wrapping my Land Rover LR3

7 year old car. wrapping in mate black.
       
    

Fleebay and Paypal Explained for Buyers

 

After buying 100s of items on ebay here is a bit of advice for buyers on eBay.

1. Always check description very carefully and make sure everything is as described and you haven't overlooked anything.
2. See Youtube videos and try and google the product name to see if anyone has reviewed it or made a video on it. It'll give you a much clearer idea of the product before you purchase it.
3. Make purchase from ebay and I have only paid through Paypal because I find them safe to pay through. You will not need to pay any fees if you are a buyer.

How Paypal works

Paypal is a mediator between the seller and the buyer. It works for both.

1. If you have problem you can start a dispute within a particular time frame. That is 45 days from date of transaction. Normally, if you are buying stuff from abroad it takes 3-4 weeks to get to you anyway. So you are only left with about 15 days in order to try out item make sure eveyrthing is good.

2. If you start a dispute and seller asks you to end the dispute, the seller is trying to scam you. DO NOT CLOSE A DISPUTE UNLESS YOU HAVE REACHED A RESOLUTION. Because then you can not ever start anoter dispute and it is completely upto seller to give you a refund, and yes you will never get your money back. e.g., I wanted to get my older phone unlocked but wasn't with my previous provider anymore so i had to get my phone unlocked through third party. i contacted a few and went with the cheapest option of $49. The guy send me his PayPal address via text message. So I paid him and then he asks for $10 more. So I said no and ask for a refund. His action made be wary and i opened a dispute. the guy flips and says if I don't close dispute he is going to blacklist my phone and that i and ruining his paypal history. All this is a lie and a pressure technique. I immediately phoned paypal and described to them the situation and not only they added this report on his account so if he tries to do it again they will close his account, they immediately escalated the dispute to a claim and the guy was forced to give me back my money. And as far as blacklist is concerned the cellphone provider has record of me as the original purchaser of phone and if he did try to blacklist my phone (i'm guessing he worked for a company celling cell phones or something like bestbuy) he'd be easily tracked down.

3. You can also ask for a partial refund because sometimes items can be too expensive to send back. For Example, i ordered a set of wheels for my landrover from the states. I paid around $1200 after shipping and taxes and the seller said they will fit my vehicle. When I went to get them installed it turns out the front ones were hitting my caliper so they had to take it off and put my old ones back on. I had to buy spacers that cost me another $300 in order to get those wheels on. I started a dispute on PayPal and asked the seller to go half on the spacers which i thought was fair. So the seller did end up refunding me $150 to avoid the hassle and it worked out really good for both of us.

Do Customs Clearance Locally on Low Value Goods and avoid Brokerage Fee

Self Clearing remotely is only for low value items that are valued at Maximum of $2500 CAD. This is only for Personal items. For business purpose the process is slightly different. What you need to do is track your parcel and once it has cleared customs, phone your courier and ask for a Cargo Control Document or Manifest. They can email it to you. Print it out and take it to your local CBSA office along with your invoice and payment receipt. Pay your tax and collect the B15 form form the customs officer and then send the B15 form to your courier company to give proof that you have paid taxes. If in meanwhile your package is being delivered show the B15 form and receipt to the delivery person as proof that you have already paid the taxes. If you haven't done the payments and your package is beibng delivered tell delivery man to hold package at local facility and that you are in process of paying taxes yourself to avoid brokerage fee.

My First Experience with UPS and Self Clearing

18th June 2015
Parcel was shipped. I phone UPS and told them I will be doing self accounting.

19th June 2015
I recieved call from UPS in the morning. I told them again I will be doing self-accounting. Ask them to email me invoice. I took invoice and original invoice form ebay and paypal to my local CBSA office. Paid 10% ($12.30 CAD) customs tax and got the B15 form. Came back home phoned UPS on international number and informed them i have already paid customs and have the B15 form on hand and aks them where to fax it to. At this moment in time package hadn't entered Canada.

Weekend

22nd June 2015

I missed a call from UPS in morning and a voicemail was left. I called the number left on voicemail and pressed Option 3. Informed them I have the B15 form and would like to send it to them. She said it still hasn't cleared customs and I need to wit until shipment is released.
An hour after it showed on my tracking that shipment was released. I couldn't remember the above phone number as i had deleted my voicemail so I phoned UPS international number and told them i was asked to phone when shipment was released to find out where to send the B15 form. The representative told me that she'll put in a request for a call back tommorrow between 8.30 to 4.30 am.
I looked up on my home phone record and found the number left on my voicemail and called them again. Explained to them I was asked to call back after shipment had been released. She had the exact same response as the previous person. So I guessed i should wait for a call.

23rd June 2015
I wait whole day and no call from UPS. I was so furious when I got home and wife told me there was a package she had to pay $25.80 COD for. I immediately phoned UPS and just snapped. I asked the agent why i was charged tax if I had already paid tax before and everything has been recorded under my account. Agent was very apologetic and after speaking to the spervisor the agent said I will get my money back provided I send them the B15 form but it'll be subject to a $15 fee (can't remember what for it was something ridiculous). I said this to the agent.

"You are kidding right. You do know what you are doing is illegal. I have already paid the customs tax and have the B15 form and you are charging me for what. If you do not refund me the money i will be taking this case further at my local CBSA office."

Agent put me on hold to speak with the supervisor with not much better response so I told the agent to just put me through to the supervisor since they are not being very helpful. After a few minutes the supervisor picked up the call and again the supervisor was apologetic for this. I agreed with the supervisor that she should apologise because this is absolutely ridiculous. I explained to her the situation. After 25minutes of grilling her and aurguments and with her having no proof as to why i should pay $25.80 extra if I had already paid tax and realising it is an error on their end she agreed to give me full refund and gave a reference number. The supervisor was well confused. She said tax in Saskatchewan was 5%. I constantly kept reminding her that paying the tax is not what I have problem with and that it is 10% in SK.

UPDATE: They took payment out from my credit card on 3rd July and I was told that I will get a refund of $25.80 within 10 days and that was on 25th June. Today is 17th July and I still haven't recieved the refund.

My Second Experience of Self Clearing with DHL

So I recieved text and call from DHL regarding paying taxes on my upcoming delivery of bulbs from China this time. Bulbs cost $25 USD and they were asking for $17 CAD for taxes and brokering.

I Phoned DHL on:

1-855-345-7447

Select Option 5 for Brokering, then Option 4.

I explained that it is a low value shipment and that I want to pay the taxes locally. Although at first the agent said that i would have to be at the border to do that, once I explained the low value shipment law to her for items under $1600 CAD and asked her to confirm with her supervisor, she did say I can go ahead and do that myself. I asked her to send me the commercial invoice. I printed out my Paypal invoice and Paypal payment receipt and took it to my local CBSA office.

When I went there the officer said I needed a Cargo Control Document or Manifest from DHL. So I phoned DHL and asked them to send me that instead. They emailed me the Manifest, it was about 7 pages long and then I forwarded the email to the CBSA officer's email address. Along with my papers and the manifest I paid a total of $2.90 tax with my Mastercard and took the B15 form. Once I got the  B15 form I scanned it and emailed it to:

codhold_ca@dhl.com

in Subject i was told to write Paid Duty & Taxes on Waybill Number: xxxxxxxx and attached the form and payment receipt. I was also advised to show the receipt to the delivery person to show that I have paid the taxes. I got an email reply very quickly from DHL saying that duties have been paid and that I should show this to delivery person. When delivery person came I wasn't home but my sister told him we had already paid taxes and he didn't ask for anything and gave the package.

Never buy LG

Life is not so good when you buy their $2500 wall oven and it breaks under 2 years under very light usage; 3 hours on phone with their customers service and their "authorized repair" here called Shaugnessey Appliance, I am convinced never to buy LG ever again in my life. This is my web chat session from LG recently.

Christie: Hello, nayyer iqbal. Can I help you with anything today?

iqbal: hi i need to to order these parts... 6930W1A003X and EBG51439301

Christie: I would be happy to help you with that.

Christie: These are internal parts, only authorized technicians can order them, I can provide you with a service center information for you to get in touch with them is that ok?

iqbal: yes but i do not want them to install it

Christie: It can only be ordered through them, but they will also install.

iqbal: yes and they'll charge me a lot of money to do so

iqbal: its just a thermostat and i can do it myself

Christie: I am sorry for the inconvenience this must have caused

iqbal: yes t shouldn't happen on an oven thats less than 2 years old

iqbal: it*

Christie: We have a special promotion called Flat Rate, by making a single payment of 175.00 + taxes we can repair any issue the unit may be having including parts labor and diagnose, it will grant you 90 days warranty on that repair.

iqbal: comeone are you kidding

iqbal: its a $20 part that takes an hour at most to repair

iqbal: how can you justify charging $2000

iqbal: $200*

Christie: That will cover diagnose, parts and labor. LG does not sell parts separately, only authorized technicians can order them. normal service call would cost around 95.00 for the diagnose only.

iqbal: i don't need diagnosis i know the problem. i need someone to repair.

Christie: We can send a technician wither with the Flat Rate or the regular rate.

iqbal: basically you are ripping me off.

Christie: I am sorry for the inconvenience this must have caused

iqbal: you are kidding right. i want a simple part and you can't give it to me. what is your reason.

iqbal: i bought your oven and paid over $2500 for it. less than 2 years it breaks and i cna tell you i am not the only one with the problem on this oven.

Christie: Please understand that it is not me not wanting to sell the part, there is no reason for me to do that. This is how the LG policies work, LG does not sell internal nor functional parts separately, only authorized technicians can order these as well as install them.

iqbal: yes but the oven is mine. i paid for it. it breaks so i should be able to buy the part and fix it myself.

Christie: i wish that I was able to do more, regretfully this is not in my hands.

iqbal: well let me tell you i will never buy LG again in my life.

iqbal: I'd be grateful if your supervisor could call me on +1 306 881 8601 and explain to me as a lg customer who have spect thousands on their prodct why they can't sell me a $20 part so i can fix an oven that shoudn't break within first 2 years of very light use.

Christie: For supervisor assistance, please contact us at 1-888-542-2623, they can only be reached over the phone.

Basically, if you are out of warranty for LG you are made to pay ridiculous amounts of money for repair (unfairly charged). They won't do anything and you can only get it repaired from their "authorized dealer". They will not sell you the part and be prepared to sell your kidneys for next repair which could happen very soon and on a recurring basis. I am going to give that number a call and demand why they can't sell the parts.

In the meantime I called Sears Parts in Canada (18004MYHOME) and ordered the replacement thermostat and fuse for $40 inc. shipping. Planning to get my Family Handyman to change it which will cost me $40 in labour (2 hours). Costing me $80 and they quoted me $200 flat rate (which is not covered where I live) and if i go with Shaugnessey $100 just to diagnose problem.

Get Your Money Back from Payment Protector Premium Insurance

This is a story on how i got 75% of my refund for paying for this service for the last 21 months. And this is only because I DIDN'T PAY MY BALANCE IN FULL FOR THAT AMOUNT OF TIME and THAT I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS CHARGE FOR THAT LONG which can be argued that it is totally my fault for signing up for the product and that I hadn't notice a charge so i should just suck it up. My total that I paid after I had put all the data into an excel sheet was $1080 CAD.

13-08-03
13-09-03 11.70
13-10-03 15.88
13-11-03 21.00
13-12-03 33.95
14-01-03 35.80
14-02-03 6.18
14-03-03 23.37
14-04-03 89.09
14-05-03 60.37
14-06-03 85.27
14-07-03 61.37
14-08-03 71.38
14-09-03 52.19
14-10-03 47.93
14-11-03 61.50
14-12-03 55.21
15-01-03 76.53
15-02-03 73.87
15-03-03 55.12
15-04-03 71.22
15-05-03 71.18
$1080.11

YES I HAVE BEEN A VERY CARELESS CREDIT CARD USER but that is not the point. Most people feel that because of their spending habits or bad credit history they should just ignore this charge and cancel it for future charges and not ask for any refund. I would say a BIG VERY HUGE NO to this. You are entitled to this money back and if you are already paying extremely high interest on the unpaid amount why should you be subject to this extra charge.

1. Payment Protector Premium is an insurance product that you sign up for and is only offered on credit cards (according to lady on the phone). This is either done at the bank when you are applying for your credit card or someone phones you after for this product and you sign up over the phone.
2. Once you've wrapped this idea around your head ask yourself why on earth would you sign up for something that's ridiculously expensive unless someone MISSOLD YOU THE PRODUCT or you are really dumb. If you want your money back i would stick with the former.
3. BE POLITE AND CONTENT in your phone call. Although you are livid that you have paid so much and your heart is thumping and adrenaline is rushing through your body make sure NOT TO BECOME LOUD AND RUDE.
This is how my experience with Payment Protector Premium went recently.

i phoned the number mentioned on the bill and chose options to speak to someone regarding cancelling the policy.

Me: Hi I called to speak to someone regarding this charge that has been recurring on my bill every month.
Agent: Yes. I'd just like to confirm some things for security purposes. SECURITY CHECK. Now How Can I help you.
Me: So I don't know why I am being charged this.
Agent: It is insurance that you must have signed up for. It covers payment of your bill if you lose your job upto $10,000.
Me: I don't know why I would need that because i have a insurnace policy with Great West Life that i have had for the last 5 years and that covers me for all incidental, critical illness. And when i signed up for this I didn't have a job anyway because I was a student so i don't know why i would sign up for something that is not relevant to me.
Agent: It also gives you health coverage upto $2000.
Me: but i already have had health insurance through Great West Life for the past 5 years. I am unhappy about this charge because i have been a loyal CIBC customer and I don't think this is a fair charge.
Agent: You must have signed up for this in the bank or on the phone?
Me: I don't remember signing up for this service and it wouldn't make sense for me to sign up in the first place since I already have coverage through Great West Life.
Agent: What i can do is cancel this coverage and give you refund for the last 3 months as a gesture of good will?
Me: I have paid for quite a long period of time for some charge i didn't even know about and I don't think 3 months refund is fair?
Agent: OK let me speak to my supervisor if you can hold on a few minutes?
MUSIC
OK So I spoke to my supervisor and we can give you refund for the last 6 months as a gesture of good will?
Me: I guess 6 months is better but still.
Agent: There is nothing else i can do. I can only do last 6 months as a gesture of good will?
Me: Yes but still you understand where i am coming from right. I just feel a bit like I have been charged for something i shouldn't have. it doesn't seem something I would ever sign up for.
Agent: But last 6 months is all that I can do.
Me: What is the amount coming to.
Agent: Ok let me calculate....... long pause... it is coming to $400?
Me: I gues you can cancel the insurance policy from further charges and issue me that refund for the last 6 months but I am stll not happy though with these charges.
Agent: ok I will do that. if you like I can get someone from CIBC to give you a call back sometime.
Me: Ye thank you "Agent". You have been very good but i am still unhappy though because i feel like i shouldn't have been charged for this in the first place. I'd be grateful if you could get someone to give me a call back.
Agent: yes. is there anything else i could help you with.
Me: No, that'll be all "Agent".

Next Day I get a call back from CIBC headoffice from one of their executive supervisors. I couldn't asnwer the phone because i was on another call. So I phoned that specific person back but she wasn't in office so I was put through to someone else.

Agent: He asked if he could be of any help. Did SECURITY CHECK.
Me: I explained to him my situation.
Agent: I am sorry i can not do anything but "executive supervisor" is dealing with your file. if you can phone back before 4PM EST tommorrow she'll be able to help you.
Me: (Almost felt like he tried to avoid my situation) Yes I can do that but i am very busy tommorrow. i was wondering if you could leave a note for the "executive supervisor" to let her know that i did call back and if she could call back tommorrow if she gets time but I'll try to call her aswell.
Agent: ok i will leave a note for her. is there anything I could help you with.
Me: No that was it really, thanks very much.

The Following day I recieved a call from the "executive supervisor". And this is how our conversation went.
Executive Supervisor: Hi. This is "executive supervisor" from CIBC calling you regarding the insurance on your credit card.
Me: Hi "executive supervisor". Yes.
Executive Supervisor: SECURITY CHECK. We have been going through your file and we can give you a total refund of $750.
Me: But I feel like I should get full money back because it is an unfair charge. I don't know why I would sign up for this. Almost seems like it was mis represented if I did sign up for it.
Executive Supervisor: At the moment we can give you $750. But if you'd like the full refund we'll have to gather evidence to prove this this was missold to you. that's going to take more time and if it goes against you, you will not be liable for any refund.

Now at this point I had to consider my option. I know that there is no audible evidence they would have for me signing up to this policy since it was done at the bank. The only thing they'd be able to dig up is my credit card file with my signature on it for this policy. But then again they can not prove that this was mis sold to me because of my circumstances. But I thought to myself whether it is worth it for me to take on all that hassle for $300 more. So I agreed to a refund of $750. A 75% win for me i guess :)

What I Plan To Do in My Nissan Altima

Considering the great price I got on the Altima, financially it gives me room to put some upgrades on it without "wasting" money on it. Here is what I plan to do.

LED Light Upgrade

1. Headlights - $700


2. Tail Lights - $700

3. LED DRL - $103.60


Total = $1700

For The Winter

4. Tires & Wheels

1x 235/45R18 Nokian Hakkapellittas 8 98T XL - $302

1x 215/55R17 Nokian Hakkapellittas 8 - $

4x TPMS Sensors - $

4x 17" Rims - $

5. Husky All-Season Rubber Mats - $180

6. Husky Rubber Trunk Liner - $150

Total = $1600-$2400

Cosmetics

7. Rear Spoiler - $172.67


10. Illuminated Red Nissan Logo for Back (Activated by Brake) - $14.90

11. Chrome Insert for Upper Grille - $74.01
12. Chrome Insert for Bottom Grille - $101.68


13. Window tinting - $242.50 DONE

Total = $605.76

Technology

14. Rear Parking Sensors in Brown Color - $47.60

Total = $47.60

My Review of the 2013 Nissan Altima 3.5 SL

Price I paid: 20,900 + Tax + Admin + Licensing

What I got: 2013 Nissan Altima 3.5SL with Tech Package with 24,200 kilometers.



Pros

- Stylish Look

- 3.5L engine provides plenty of power with 0-60 in 5.2 seconds.

- Decent fuel economy considering the powerful 3.5 engine.

- Blind Spot detection and Lane Departure Warning included with Tech Package. (Tech Package standard on 3.5 SL models from 2015)

- Reversing Camera has MOD sensors which detects movement and warns if moving object is detected (but no front or rear parkiong sensors)

- A very nice amount of leg room and head room for the rear passenger. (only car in its class with slightly more leg room is the 2014+ impala)

- Very nice instrument cluster with a lot of information.

- Heated Steering Wheel. Great for places with really cold winters. I.e., Canada

- Comes with factory remote starter that can detect outside temperature and can set climate inside car accordingly.

- 9 Speaker Bose Sound system is nice but not great.

- 18" Alloy Wheels on the 3.5SL model.

- Cheap maintenance.



Cons

- No LED lights (can be upgraded though with LED DRL, Tail and Headlight but will cost around $1500)

- No memory seating.

- Passenger seat is manually adjusted.

- No Parking sensors (atleast until second half of 2015 and only in USA at the moment)

- Leather of the seat is not high quality. My 2 year old with only 24k on it i find cracking already.

- CVT engine has had a lot of bad reviews and lots of people with their transmissions failing.

No heated seats for rear passengers.

- The navigation systems seems a bit slow when putting in data.

- Poor quality reversing camera.



Good value for what you get as long as transmission doesn't go it's an awesome car.

Negotiating a Car Deal

I am all about saving money wherever I can. I have been involved in purchasing a vehicle countless number of times and I just thought I should share some of my experiences. One thing you must know is that no one is going to force you into buying something and you have plenty of options available in the market when you are deciding to purchase a vehicle. So don't feel tied down and as if you have no options or nowhere to go to get a good deal. You can buy a vehicle from:

1. Private Sale.
2. New from dealer of car manufacturer.
3. Used from dealer that is affiliated with the car manufacturer.
4. Used from dealer that is not affiliated with the car manufacturer.

When considering to buy a car you should first consider your options of whether you should buy a brand new car, or a demo car, or a slightly used one or a used one that is more older. I will discuss all the options that you have. You really need to consider your pros and cons of buying a new car vs demo vs used but still good vs old. In my experience of purchasing cars I would only buy a new car if there is a very good incentive, like this one time the British government was giving a £2000 incentive if you trade in your vehicle that is more than 10 years old and that was on top of dealer incentives. The car I had was worth a few hundred pounds so i traded it in and cashed in on two of my older cars for 2 brand new cars. Apart from that i haven't found it profitable to purchase a new car because of all the extra charges you have to pay. I have found that demo cars or executive demo cars have a really good value as compared with new cars and you can end up saving quite a lot of money. Advantage of demo cars is that they have really low mileage and you don't pay those extra charges you pay on new cars. For example, recently on our Altima purchase, we had offer of a brand new demo loaded model that would be close to $40000 brand new the dealership was selling for $32000 all in. That's $8000 dollar saving and the car only had 2500 kilometers on it. Another good option is to buy a car that has low kilometers and 2-3 years old. This is because car depreciates the most in the first 2 years. But when you go to this option make sure that you get a Carproof/Carfax of the car to make sure it hasn't been in any accidents or it doesn't have any lien/finance on it. The same goes for if you want to buy older cars as well. One thing you don't want is to buy a car then have to spend extra money fixing things in it. Also if the car has a rebuilt status or history of accident, it lowers its value and resale value. When deciding a car, see what your family/friends have and look on the manufacturer's website and if you like something, try to find reviews on edmunds and various other auto websites. See videos on youtube and see features on manufacturer's website so you know about the vehicle before you go to see it. This will give you more power to negotiate as you will already know about the product. Also keep in mind when the new shape of that model will be coming out. You don't want to buy something that has a new shape coming out the following year.

LESSON 1: Do your research

Once you have done your research, you will have a fairly good idea of what you want and how much you should pay for it and what vehicles are available in your area. Make a list of all the dealers that offer the vehicle of your choice and phone them one by one and ask information that you need on the car, like confirm owner history, accident history, features and options of car, take down name of person you spoke to. Considering everything turns out ok on the car, and if you really like the car it wouldn't hurt to throw a reasonable offer on the car. But before throwing an offer you must be experienced enough. If not then you can always go on the next step. When giving an offer you want to be careful to not make an offer that is too low. In my experience make an offer somewhere between $500-$2000 below asking price. Anything beyond $2000 the dealer might find offensive and feel you are just a waste of time. Anyhow be polite, serious and firm in your offer.

LESSON 2: Make enquiry on vehicle beforehand and if you are a pro thrown an offer.

When you walk into a dealership or into a private sale the first thing you should do is look around and talk to the person selling to you. Talk to them about general stuff and be friendly and polite. Do not jump into test driving and turn down the offer to your salesman because you will become more obliged to buy if you test drive. This gives you more negotiating power and lets the sales person know that you know about cars and you are not there to waste time.

LESSON 3: Build Rapport with the person selling to you.

Regardless of what you buy all you should consider is that final number that you will pay to take the car home which includes, the cost of car, all admin/licensing fees, taxes etc. The dealership will try and negotiate with you on car price or a lot of times and then when you sit down the final number will be a few grand above what you negotiated and then the dealer would say they can't do anything about those fees because it is out of their control. So make sure you make it clear to them you want the final number of what it costs you that includes all taxes and everything. You can say to the dealer like ok I will pay the asking price as long as they can take care of taxes and admin fees. Something to think about when negotiating.

LESSON 4: Always keep the final number in mind

Now consider your financing options. If you have cash to buy, great. But if you don't then you need to look at financing. When considering financing you need to have a good credit rating unless you want to pay extremely high interest rates which again is not good value for money. You have two options, either go to a financing bank or credit union before you go to the dealer or apply for financing at the dealer. Obviously if you want to buy a vehicle privately the seller will most likely want cash and option one is your only way. When financing, there's a few things you should consider.

1. Who's offering the lowest interest rate.
2. Sometimes the dealer offers cash incentives if you go for really high interest rate. This is slightly more complicated to understand. So what you can do is ask them the minimum amount you can finance. If you have cash, pay whatever the amount they are asking minus the minimum amount you can finance. If you don't have cash, you could apply for financing outside the dealership for that amount and again minus the minimum financing amount at dealership. Or you could just opt for the highest interest rate on the full amount at the dealership. keep in mind every time you apply for financing your credit score will lower. Let me give you example. For the Altima above the dealer offered me $32,000 only if i chose their financing option of 4.99 percent over 5 years or else it would be $33,500, so i was getting $1500 off the car if i chose financing through dealer. The minimum amount that Nissan finances is $7,500 dollars. So I would have to pay $25000 cash and finance $7,500 at a really high interest rate. Also Nissan offered that I could pay off that $7,500 at any time without penalty.
3. When financing at the dealership, they charge most of the interest in the first months of your financing so your principal payment initially will be really low and you'll mostly be paying interest. This is really cheeky of financing companies because just incase you do want to pay your financing early they have already taken most of the interest amount anyway, so keep that in mind when financing through dealer. It is different how they charge you interest in the bank.
4. Ask wherever you are getting financing from whether there is any early payment fee and accommodate that into cost as well.

LESSON 5: Make sure that you are fully aware of what you are getting into. Normally when you financing the person selling you the finance should explain everything and clear any doubts you have.

One final thing I want to touch upon is the extra protection packages offered at the dealership like paint protection, rust protection, leather/fabric protection, upholstery protection, tire protection and mechanical protection. To be honest, I will never opt for any of these. I'd rather save money and if something goes wrong use that money towards fxing the problem.