Traditionally, most new and used cars were bought from a car showroom or garage forecourt. However these days it’s not uncommon for one to buy a new or used car via the internet. I’m sure many people are still reluctant to purchase a car from a website as they feel they’re putting all their faith in a photograph and description rather than being able to test drive it prior to purchase.

This is a common misconception as all the main websites from which one can purchase both new and used cars feature vehicles which are for sale in garages and car showrooms up and down the country, and the buyer should only look at cars for sale in the garages local to them. Finding used or new cars online is no different than checking the classified ads or motoring section in your local newspaper. If the model and price is right, and the garage is local enough, of course you can can give it test drive before spending your money. If you need emergency cash you do have options. Although, you need money fast, take the time to reflect on the options. Having done that, you can make the decision that is right for you.

The beauty of using the internet for looking for your next car is it’s far more convenient. You can browse the new cars only if that’s what you’re after, or for used cars only in a specific geographical area. Additionally one can narrow their search to within a specific price range or if they’ve set their heart on a certain model of manufacturer, tailor the results accordingly. It should be noted that where one is looking for a specific model within a certain price range, it’s advisable to widen the geographical area of the search as what you’re looking for may not be available within say a 5 mile radius.

For those who feel they are not ‘internet savvy’ enough to use one of the many car sales websites when looking for used or new cars, don’t despair. There’s usually at least one person in every family who can instinctively navigate most websites, so why not ask them to ‘drive’ for you? Often such websites will deliver a large number of results as they’re affiliated with a large number of car showrooms, even when searching for a specific model in your local area, the results can be overwhelming. However the results can usually be sorted in order of price ‘low to high’ or ‘high to low’ or by distance (determined by entering a post code), which will show the closest showrooms’ selection of cars for sale at the top of the results.

Once you’ve found a few cars which you’re interested in having a look at, just go back to traditional methods; call the garage or showroom to make sure the car is still available, find out their opening times and go and have a look. Nobody in their right mind would buy a car without taking it for a test drive and obviously giving the tyre a kick to ensure it’s structurally sound, and using the internet is no different.

The sales of new cars so far in 2011 have been disappointing to the car industry as sales for June 2011 fell by 6.2 percent over 2010 figures. And the average rate of decline for the first half of 2011 stands at 7.1 percent. But it’s not all bad news for the car industry as a slow and steady economic growth in the second half of 2011 should see volumes increase.

The big winners in the showrooms are diesel cars as customers seem to be focusing on buying what they perceive to be more economical vehicles. Figures show that the petrol-car market share fell by over 14 percent in June 2011 while new diesel car sales were up 4 percent.

The top selling new car in June was the Ford Fiesta followed by the Ford Focus and the Vauxhall Corsa. The Vauxhall Insignia was the best selling diesel car and in fourth place in the overall sales.

The top three cars are all small family cars which also substantiate the belief that the consumer is turning towards more economical cars or cars which are cheaper to run. Getting a smaller car with a smaller engine or buying a diesel car are ways the consumer feel they can be more frugal in their car purchases.
The Ford Fiesta can be bought for as little as £9,995 and is said to be a great and comfortable ride with a decent boot and enough leg room for back-seat passengers. The Ford Focus is larger than the Fiesta and is described as a great family car. Starting price for a new Ford Focus hatchback is £15,995. To view the top selling Fords you can visit a Ford dealer, London.

So far this year hybrid cars such as the Vauxhall Ampera are beating predicted sales forecasts; sales of the Ampera in Europe are expected to reach 10,000 a year by 2013. It’s 2011 that has been hailed as the year of the electric car though, we will have to wait until the end of the year to see if sales figures match this statement.

But although sales figures have been down for 12 months running, the overall rate of decline is falling which means the car industry at least have some positive news. The hope now is that the decrease in decline will be followed by a further rise in sales in the near future.

They say Gauteng is the only place in the world where you can park your vehicle, walk a hundred metres and buy your own wheels (from the vehicle you just parked!) from a street vendor. Yes, it may be tongue in cheek but the reality is that syndicates of this nature do exist.

Working at a well-known dealership in the West Rand of Gauteng, I noticed that virtually on a daily basis, individuals would come into the spares department to purchase rims for their vehicles. The dealership found it difficult to keep up with demand and at times, a customer would be advised to try roadside vendors at certain places where he would be able to purchase the rim and tyre combination for less than the dealership charged for the rim only. Passing these vendors on the side of the road, one could see that rim/ tyre combinations were even sold in matching sets of four.

I thought to myself that there is a huge market which targets the drivers of light delivery vehicles, double cab vehicles, utility vehicles, 4×4 vehicles and even heavier delivery vehicles. Once this triggered in my sub conscious, I noticed while driving daily that vehicles in front of me had their spare wheels missing. It was obvious that it was stolen because the chain and bracket keeping the wheel in place, was dangling underneath the vehicle. It made me realise that those spare wheels are extremely easy remove – only a jack handle is needed to lower the wheel onto the ground and the bracket is released. One, maybe two minutes are required for a person to remove the wheel and to take ownership thereof.

25 years in the security industry got my mind working on a plan to prevent this insane trade to continue. The sad part is that vehicle owners created the lucrative market by purchasing stolen wheels from roadside vendors! A vicious circle if ever there was one.

The answer dawned upon me. Make a bracket with a lock that holds the spare wheel secure in its cavity. Normal spare wheel locks do not seem to prevent the theft of spare wheels as they are simply broken which increases the time to remove the spare wheel by approximately 2 minutes.

Obviously, when criminals are desperate, they adapt their ways to ease their operation. I decided that an alarm should be fitted that triggers as soon as the spare wheel is moved out of position. The alarm has to have an override facility for when the owner needs access to the spare wheel. It also needs to be waterproof for those fanatics who enjoy a 4×4 trip through water and also driving in the rain could render the system useless if it gets wet.

I also keep in mind that all newly manufactured vehicles are bound by warranty issues and therefore the system cannot be incorporated into the electrical harness of the vehicle. The thought also crossed my mind that trailers for example, do not have their own power sources. For months, I designed, redesigned, gave up, went back to the drawing board and eventually patented the protect-a-spare concept that integrates a lockable bracket and alarm to secure the vehicle’s spare wheel.

We all know that when a vehicle alarm activates in a car park with many vehicles around, nobody takes notice which brought me to the next idea to link a strobe light into the circuit which lights up the vehicle being tampered with. Security and passersby will easily identify the vehicle and surely, anyone found in the act of removing the spare wheel will be in a most uncomfortable situation.

The system needs to be rugged for obvious reasons and cannot work with sensors as these activate easily for no apparent reason.

Protect-a-Spare commits itself to provide peace of mind security in terms of all accessible spare wheels. It is like having a personal guard on duty looking after the spare wheel.