Suzuki has been known to make some hideous concept cars. But it looks like they’ve really got it right with this one:

This car isn’t as expensive as a normal Saleen, but looks better. It’s aimed at the Ferrari 430 and other cars in that range.

Few days ago somebody won an auction for a 2008 BMW M3 on Ebay for $60,000. Minutes after he was confirmed the winner, the dealership–selling the car– gave him a phone call; they told him that the listing price was a mistake and he would not be getting the car. It makes sense why the dealer didn’t want to sell the car to him: The new M3 is so popular that many dealerships have been spiking up the price from $70,000 to over $100,000. This incident has sparked controversy all over the online automotive niche; should he be able to purchase the car with the price he won the auction with? To answer this question let’s talk about contracts.

 
What is a contract? It is an agreement between two entities that is enforceable by law.

There are two types of contracts.

• 1. Bilateral- a promise exchanged for a promise( This incident is a Bilateral one)
  2. Unilateral – a promise exchanged for an act.

There are four requirements to a contract

• 1. There must be an agreement made between two parties
  a. Offer
  b. Acceptance
  2. Must have consideration( both parties must give something in the bargain)
  3. Contractual Capacity – all parties are legally capable of entering into contracts
  4. Legality – contract must be legal

 
Obviously, the 3rd and the 4th requirements are met. Both the parties know what is at risk and are competent enough to make their own decisions. There are a few exceptions to this rule; neither party can be insane, drunk, or underage when the contract was made. If any of those qualifications are met, the contract will become a voidable one (legal but can be voided). The 4th requirement is met, because it’s an exchange for two promises that are legal. The guy gives the dealer money, and then the dealer gives the guy the car, nothing illegal there.

 
The 1st requirement is the most controversial to meet. An agreement for a contract happens by two events: an offer and an acceptance. The offer is a promise to perform or refrain from performing an act in the future. In auctions—like Ebay— the seller invites people to bid on their products by submitting offers; however, these offers are not offers to form a contract. Think of it as the sellers are just testing the waters to see how much money somebody would go into a contract for. The seller can revoke bids or all bids, until the auction ends. But when the auction ends a contract is usually formed: All auctions are considered to have a reserve, unless otherwise stated. The reserve means that the seller can refuse to sell and not make a contract. But in this case, the Ebay auction had “no reserve” and therefore entered a contract with the buyer. Auctions that clearly state they have no reserve must be sold to the highest bidder. The Uniform Commercial Code ( I believe chapter 15) states reinforces this concept of the reserve. There is a court case relating to this issue: A plaintiff won a domain name and the company refused to sell it. In the end, the company was forced to sell it because it was a legal contract. Lim v The.Tv Corp. International, 99 Cal.App.4th 684 (2nd Dist 2002).

 
The second part of the 1st requirement requires acceptance. This means that the seller must have shown assent, or agreement to the terms of the offer. The dealership knew what it was getting into by putting no reserve and listing it on Ebay. Additionally, an acceptance can be made through words or conduct. If the dealership had already setup directions on how to pay and what would be done when won; it is basically accepting the agreement before the offer is made.

 
The 2nd requirement for a contract requires consideration. It must have legally sufficient value and there must be a bargained-for exchange. Having legal value just means, the seller and buyer are not obligated to exchange goods but are doing so anyways. The guy doesn’t have to buy the car, there are no legal consequences by doing so; he does it by his own will. Bargained-for exchange means that either now or the future both parties must incur detriment, meaning they must lose something; the guy would lose the money and the dealership would lose the car. Both parties have to lose something. For instance, if Jon said he’ll give you $500 and never does, you can’t sue him for breach of contract: This isn’t bargain-for exchange because Jon isn’t getting anything in return. Consideration is really easy to meet in the case of auctions because. There are no obligations to sign up for the auction and there is always an exchange from both parties. That guy wasn’t required to bid, but since he won he suffers detriment, by trading his money for the car. Both requirements are settled for consideration.

 

That guy has a really good shot at purchasing the car for the price he won it at. It seems like all the requirements for a contract are met; therefore, it’s legally enforceable. Too bad he can’t take it straight to Federal Court: I believe the amount in question has to be greater than $70,000. But I doubt he’ll have to use the courts; most likely, the dealership will settle with him by giving an incentive to release them from the contract.

 

Yeah.

It’s basically styled after cars of the 40’s with the worst modern style incorporated. Green tint?

 
I was listening to the radio today and I heard about Chevy’s promotional deal-60 months with 0% APR on their new cars. So what does this mean financially? Well if you can already have enough money to pay the car full, you shouldn’t; instead, you should pay the minimum down payment and take advantage of that 0% APR by getting financed. This is essentially the future value of money concept.

 
Say the car is $30,000 and you take a loan for the full price; You would be paying 500 dollars for 60 months. If you already had $30,000 you would have $29,500 in the second month, after you pay your first installment. Even at a 3% savings account, you can earn 73 dollars that month(assuming you put $29,500 in savings) . The following month you’ll have 29,000 and earn an interest of $72. After you pay off the car you will have made $2212.

 
Now you earn interest off the interest you make too! For instance, the 73 dollars you make the first month goes back into your savings and you make 11 dollars annually; the total savings on your interest-on the gains from previous paragraph- totals to be 224$.

 
Additionally, you can pay your loans off manually by credit card. Take advantage of that 1% or even 5% that credit cards offer. Since the monthly payments are $500 you’ll make 5 dollars a month by paying with credit card, which saves you 318 dollars; I included interest in the compounding of 1% of 500 monthly. Another good thing about credit cards is, you can delay your payment by another month, or a few months if you have 0% APR on your card. Because you’re delaying loan payments with your credit card, you can earn additional money putting it in savings.

 
These values are very conservative. If you invest your money into something else, such as mutual funds or stock, you can potentially earn a greater interest. Even by using small yield savings rate I managed to save 3.2k over 5 years by taking the loan instead of paying all in cash. This just goes to show that, when given a chance between paying in cash or taking a loan, you should take the loan: The future value of money is always more than the present value.

 
If you’re thinking about used car, forget about the strategies above: The interest rates on used car loans are massive-usually around 8%. The advantage about used cars is it’s a lot cheaper; Cars depreciate faster than a half eaten sandwich, that’s you can buy 2007 models for almost 10k cheaper! Additionally, if you’re buying from a private owner, you don’t’ have to pay tax because there are some loop holes to avoid it; they can claim the car as a gift, thus not paying taxes. But prepared to buy the used car in all cash, or take a loan with a high %APR.

 
The bottom line is that if you buy a new car you can get great financing; If you get 0% APR you don’t lose any money! If you’re buying a used car you will lose the interest earning potential and maybe even pay interest. But you will be paying a lower initial price.

 
If Chevy runs their promotion through the summer, which they probably will, I might get a Tahoe Hybrid! I think their some tax credits that car gives too, which will save me even more money.

Yeah.

These vehicles are basically 3-wheeled motorcycles that are super low and may be a little safer. They’re all very fast, have great handling, and get good gas mileage!

FuelVapor: This one runs on air, getting 92 MPG. Still looks fun!

Campagna T-Rex: This one looks real mean and I’ve seen it in a few rap videos.

Can-AM Spyder Roadster: It looks more like a motorcycle, but still adds something different with a little more stability.

I fell on this picture during my search and had to put it up…it’s Steve Urkel’s car!